Setting up extended primitives

[Julio Verani]

Hello everybody,

 

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to set up an extended primitive, but, let me explain a little further what i'm trying to achieve...

 

I'm working at furniture industry and every single project i make, aluminum profile doors are needed/used and each door uses personalized glass and or mirrors, and built-in handles. I have the exact model, but every time i need to customize the size of it by editing poly and everything, so it's really time consuming.

 

I'm wondering if i can create an extended primitive, where i can set up the dimensions(width and height) keeping the depth (that has a default value) and keeping also the proportion of the aluminum profile so whether the size is, the depth and properties of the profile are kept and i need to be able to choose the handle model and size.

 

Also, i want the new solid to have preset material IDs so it becomes easier and faster to personalize according to each project.

 

I'd really appreciate all the help i can get and thank everybody in advance!

[Corey Beaulieu]

Maybe someone has an easier way for you, but the best way for me would be difficult for a new user.

 

You can start with a basic line or plane and then build everything else off of reference copies. The reference copies would all be driven off of the initial lines width or the plane dimensions, but they would each be separate objects. They could have separate materials and what ever and you can keep the controller line/plane/box off to the side. Grouping the rest should then allow you to move them together.

 

Another option would be to look into the wire parameters. It's harder still, but what you are doing is not a native function of max so you have to be clever with the tools you have.

[Julio Verani]

Hi Corey,

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer, but the problem with this approach is that working with reference models implies that each of them will share the same properties and sizes right? Well, this is the problem, since in a single kitchen project for an example i have drawers and doors that have the same finishes (materials) but different dimensions.

 

So i think this idea would not work for what i need

[Nicolai Bongard]

I encountered the same problem recently, as i wanted a specific window different places around a project, but the window sizes was different. The problem with scaling is that as you scale an object, it obviously scales everything, so frames and whatnot get distorted to unwanted dimensions. Also, manually editing/moving verteces is a pain. What i did was create the whole window as a multisub object, then i linked the apropriate verteces to dummy objects (one in every corner so 4, or if you have a...well cant remember the english word but the thing that seperates two panes of glass, then you would have 6 etc...) If you want the depth to vary you would at least have to double up on dummys. Anyway, it was a bit of a pain to set up correctly, but when finished i only had to set my select thingy to helpers or dummys, and put on the snap to vertex function, and it was really fast to place all the windows correctly. I think the modifier was called Linked Xform, but i could be wrong. For even more control, you could create a system where there are limits on the dummy objects as well, for example to keep elements centered etc. Anyway, this worked for me as i only needed the window to scale properly in two dimensions, if you require 3 dimensions and possibly more elements the rig will be harder to set up. But it is definately possible!