CompuServe Messages

Hi Gary, Another option, in addition to Wade's, is to use a modeler that allows you to create geometry in direct relation to other objects. The type of task you describe is easier when modeling in the real world rather than in a modal editor. Suppose you've drawn a 2D outline of the wall and its complex window shapes. You'd like to use that same window geometry for the glass pane, the sash, the frame inset into the wall, and the hole in the wall itself. Five copies of the window geometry can quickly create the whole structure. One copy simply extrudes the glass. Two other copies are offset, one larger and one smaller, then both chosen and extruded for the sash. For the frame, the fourth outline can be either group-extruded or used as a sweep profile. The final copy of the window's outline is selected with the wall outline and group-extruded to make the appropriate holes in the wall. I work heavily with MacroModel, a dedicated modeler which can join hand-in-hand with 3D Studio for tasks like this. Because we're modeling directly in the world, instead of in a modal editor, all objects are correctly positioned automatically. The whole operation is quite fast and very straightforward. (One problem in the "windowed wall" example, though, is that DXF doesn't handle holes very well… you'd probably have to adjust this particular model to accomodate the translation format.) G'luck in your work! Regards, John Dowdell Macromedia Tech Support