Lofted surfaces combinde

# 1 09-06-2003 , 07:02 AM

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Can you combine a “lofted” object to another object by pressing the combine tool? Because it’s not working for me. user added image

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# 2 09-06-2003 , 07:07 AM

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Combine is only for polygonal objects, which is why they stuck it under the "polygon" list.

EDIT* Of course, this is assuming that when you lofted, your setting were set to nurbs so your lofted curves came out to be a nurbs. You can change the loft options so that it make the lofted surface a polygonal object. Then you can combine the two.

Note that combing only make both objects into one. It doesn't actually connect the surfaces. If you want to connect the surfaces, you'll have to merge vertices, boolean, or some other technique.

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Last edited by Darkware; 09-06-2003 at 07:11 AM.

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# 3 09-06-2003 , 07:28 AM

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Im not to sure on what I did, I deleted a face in a poly object and lofted a space in between them making a hole in the middel, so Im trying to make the whole as one with the object if that makes any since user added image

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# 4 09-06-2003 , 08:53 AM

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it does make sense. but still, as darkware said both objects must be poly. if you lofted in the default setting, a nurbs is lofted. you could convert it to poly and combine then or you could redu the loft and check in the settings to create a poly object directly.

hope that helps

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# 5 09-06-2003 , 03:03 PM

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Originally posted by BabyDuck
it does make sense. but still, as darkware said both objects must be poly. if you lofted in the default setting, a nurbs is lofted. you could convert it to poly and combine then or you could redu the loft and check in the settings to create a poly object directly.

hope that helps

Originally Posted by

Right on my man, That helps a lot, Thanks for the help:thumbsup:

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# 6 09-06-2003 , 06:49 PM

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you'd probably want to use the Append to Polygon tool that is under the Polygon menu.

-Mike
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# 7 10-06-2003 , 12:46 AM

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Originally posted by mtmckinley
you'd probably want to use the Append to Polygon tool that is under the Polygon menu.

Originally Posted by

RIght on, Good tip to remember Thanks user added image

And If I can ask a real newbie question, starting a body of a character is it better to use nerbs or ploys user added image

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# 8 10-06-2003 , 12:54 AM

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mtmckinley would say polys. Adldesigner would recommend nurbs. It really depends on preference and preference alone. Nurbs have advantages and disadvantages. Polys have advantages and disadvantages as well.

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# 9 10-06-2003 , 02:12 AM

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So What your saying is shut up and find my own way user added image

thanx for the input.

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# 10 10-06-2003 , 03:31 AM

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Well, I say that only because I've heard that very question asked many many times here at SM and know what kind of responces you'll get and from who, so I'm trying to put it all in a nutshell really quick to save you some time. :-)

Oh and I forgot to mention subdivision surfaces if they are avaliable to you. They work really well.

I'll give you a short run down on nurbs, polys, and sub-divs.

Most newbies tend to like polygons because of their manuverability. They're easy to manipulate, modify, combine, etc. Their main drawback is that they aren't nearly as smooth as nurbs unless you make your model have an insanely high poly count, which will slow your machine down.

Nurbs are great because to matter what you do with them they will almost always be smooth since nurb surfaces are based upon the curve. You can "outline" your model with dozens of curves, then loft them, which is a common technique. (note that lofting can also be used for polygons as well)

Patch modeling is another common modeling technique used by professionals, which involves making your model out of many, many curves, then lofting two curves at a time (occasionally more) to make many lofted surfaces that, when looked upon as a whole, make up your model. A face can consist of up to 30 patches or as little as 7. (more or less obviously) This is a difficult texhnique to master, however.

Subdivision surfaces are sort of in between polys and nurbs. They are smooth, yet have a lot of manuverability. You can display sub-divs in a polygonal mode which shows a box-like transparent object around your model. This box thing (is it called a poly-proxy) can be manipulated as a polygon. When you modify it, it modifies your model. Confusing I know, but that's sort of how it works.

So, each have their advantages and disadvantages. People can make terrific models using any of the three. It's just up to you.

www.Darkware3D.com

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# 11 10-06-2003 , 04:22 AM

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Wow, hehe Thanks for the run down my man:thumbsup: your way to cool. user added image

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# 12 10-06-2003 , 04:24 AM

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the main difficulty with nurbs is that they are limited to 4 edged surfaces, hence patch modeling if you try to do anything overly complicated with nurbs (such as characters).

-Mike
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