How to model a Saucer with lots of windows!!

# 1 30-07-2009 , 07:49 AM

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How to model a Saucer with lots of windows!!

How's everyone?

I'm still a bit new to 3D modeling and right now
I've been planning on modeling a Flying Saucer or UFO with a dozen of circular windows in it.
I find this very difficult since the more windows I put on the saucer the mesh becomes more congested when I smooth it! and it's also very hard to put on a circular window in it.
I've also tried using Boolean/Difference operation but the problem is the end result would not be Quads but it created lots of N-gons on the surface of the saucer, plus there are some tears in certain areas when I used Boolean.
I must say creating a saucer sounds very simple but when it comes to creating windows in it it's very complicated, so the questions is there any less complicated way to model the saucer with windows on it? I want to have a good looking Flying Saucer with a clean look of Quads or Tris in it.

If anyone can help, Thanks!!

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# 2 30-07-2009 , 05:19 PM

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Here are a few steps, for when I do a project....

1. Number one rule, ALWAYS and I repeat ALWAYS use references. At least a front and sid reference will help you plan out where all the vertices should lie at.

2. Start the base mesh poly-count as low as possible. In your case I would use a polygonal cylinder and set the radius subdivision to something like divisable by 4's, such as 8, 12, 16 etc. but I would not go over 16.

3. Once the base is done, you can then start by slowly adding more divsions for where the windows will lye, but still keeping in mind you still want to keep the polys as low as possible.

Also, you mentioned about tried booleening circles onto the suacer, and you where almost correct. You can still do booleens, but what you did not do before hand was doing step 3 as well as step 4. I have posted an image below which I will explain after step 4.

4. When working with booleens, you will never get all perfect quads. The trick is making sure that the first 3 steps are completed, and then merge the vertices that are creating nGons.

Down below, is a gif animation on an example of step 4....

Attached Images

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# 3 30-07-2009 , 08:39 PM

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Originally posted by junkyBob
Here are a few steps, for when I do a project....

Originally Posted by

Nice guidence...........:bow:

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# 4 30-07-2009 , 08:55 PM

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One more thing You should know is that you should avoid using booleans as much as possible. The result is rarely satisfactory if you manage to get the function to work in the first place - It takes up a lot of time.
Instead add geometry manually and tweak it to your liking (see the image above as for how to create circles in a mesh)
Benny

When in doubt, delete history and freeze transformations.

My latest snake game
(Requires DirectX9 SDK and Framework)

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# 5 01-08-2009 , 07:09 AM

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How to smooth the Saucer?

But how do I maintain the windows if I smooth the saucer?

Anyway Thanks for the reply!

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# 6 01-08-2009 , 09:27 AM

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What's the problem with smoothing?
Can you post a pic of the wireframe before smoothing?

When in doubt, delete history and freeze transformations.

My latest snake game
(Requires DirectX9 SDK and Framework)

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# 7 02-08-2009 , 05:29 AM

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Originally posted by 3ddon
Nice guidence...........:bow:

Originally Posted by

Thank you for the comment.

kpicx,

I would not even worry about smoothing the model until the basic shape and windows are created. This is where step 2 in my previous post applies. Your problem you are having is with having too many vertices, and and this only creates headaches when you are tring to adjust 100 vertices as oppose to 25 vertices. Using booleans or not, the main focus you want is to have the basic shape of the saucer and the windows layed out as oppose to fully detailing each window one by one. Since your windows are circles, an eight sided edge will be suffice, as I demonstrated in the above image. You will most likely be using the "Insert Edge Loop" tool and the "Split Polygon" tool to cut out the holes for the windows. If you do not know how to use these tools, then I would suggest doing a smaller project to do so that you learn how these tools work first before you hop onto a much more complicated model.

If you can continue with this project, and once all of the window holes are cut out, it will then be easier to add in the windows. Then, when that is finished, there are many different tools that Maya provides to smooth out your model. One of them, my favorite but this is my opinion, is by doing it the old fashion way and convert the polygon mesh into a subdivision mesh. After being converted to a subdivsion mesh, you will than be opertunity to add the details as well as defining the edges who should be partial creases or full creases. However, you are far from being into that stage. Yeah, I know what your probably thinking, "well my object looks to polygonal." And the answer to this is, yes it is suppose to look like it is not smooth enough. If you keep in mind not to jump the gun, you will see things will just fall into place.

If it it all helps, like it did for me, watching the cartoon dog video tutorial is a free video that SimplyMaya offers to there customers. This should give you a feel to how experts work there way from a modeling the basic shape of a model to a very high detailed model, and it goes into using the split polygon tool and booleans.

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# 8 03-08-2009 , 05:14 AM

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Creating squared windows on saucer.

I understand what you're saying, I guess I need to train more!

Anyway, I also want to put square windows too, I plan to just extrude it into the saucer and use the Split Edge Ring Tool to reinforce it then Smooth out the saucer, is this the correct method of creating the square windows?

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# 9 04-08-2009 , 01:33 PM

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Kpicx,
There isn't really any correct way of modeling as oppose to efficiency. Whatever tools you decide to use is a personnal opinion. For instance, many people say you should refrain from using the boolean tool. I say if you like using such and such tool, and the software has that tool, why should someone else tell you what tools you should and should not use. If the software includes that tool, it is there for a reason, and the boolean tool can come in handy at times.

Other than that, preparing your models to fit windows is not that difficult. However, it is kind of difficult to explain in words. Have you tried looking at some of the free videos that SimplyMaya offers? The cartoon dog video tutorial is a pretty decent tutorial. It does not get into how to cutout windows specifically, but it still shows you how to work effeciently. Also YouTube can be your best friend as well. Who knows, maybe you will find a video on how to cut out windows.

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