Hidden Line Removal
15 messages in this thread
I would like to be able to print a clean-looking image of a 3ds mesh, with
hidden lines removed.
I've tried the 3ds.mli material called "FACEMAP HIDN LIN," but it looks weird
on long objects. The long edges appear sharp, but the short edges are wide and
shaded–no surprise considering the facemap technique.
This is a fence-building project, so all the elements are rectangular solids (8
foot 2×4's, etc.). I've also tried wire frame, with each board composed of a
wire frame "exterior" (to provide edge definition) and a slightly smaller,
white interior (to hide all edges behind). But the wire frame "wires" seem to
taper away at their junctions. Why should that be?
I'm sure AutoCAD could do this for me, but I don't have it. Any suggestions?
Hi Carl,
<< I would like to be able to print a clean-looking image of a 3ds
mesh, with hidden lines removed. >>
If you like any of your views of a mesh in 3ds you can always do a
screen dump to a file and crop what you need. See the hidden
parameter file R3HIDN.txt in the 3ds section of the lib for details.
>> you can always do a screen dump to a file and crop what you need. <<
Thanks for replying, Jonas. I'm familiar with Screen-Grab. But unless I'm
overlooking the obvious, screen-grabbing doesn't really help me at all. None
of the editor display options remove hidden lines. My wooden fence models are
composed of great numbers of rectangular solids–even with Backface displayed
they look a mess in the editor.
Hi Carl,
<< None of the editor display options remove hidden lines. >>
What about from the Keyframer's Display/Geometry/Backface?
>> What about from the Keyframer's Display/Geometry/Backface? <<
Huh? Doesn't seem to on my system!
Maybe I'm not making clear what I want. I'd like to create a rendering that
looks like a simple line drawing of the model–black lines on white paper, with
only visible edges showing.
I've been away on vacation, so I haven't been following this thread. Has anyone
suggested applying a material like the FACEMAP HIDN LIN that comes with 3ds?
For a really clean hidden-line effect, you might want to use a much higher
resolution map than the Hidden1.cel and use different colors, but a face map
material might give you what you want.
– Jack
Render to wireframe only and render it to at least 1024×768 ar1.0. Save the
file and then import it to any windows program for printing. I use render to
TIF and then print the file with my HPIII using page Maker 5. This makes a
nice intermediate for client approvals. Oh yes, you can assign a black
material and render against a white background.
>> Render to wireframe only… <<
Thanks for your suggestions, Don. I'm having better results by using them.
In addition, I have inserted into each object a 99.75% scaled clone, assigned a
white matte material. This 'fills' the original object (making it opaque) and
properly blocks out objects located behind it.
This works very well for my current wood fence design project (of course it
doubles the mesh size). And for more complex shapes, simply scaling down and
cloning an object may cause it to protrude through the original (and hide the
wire framing in that area), but a bit of vertex pulling can tuck it back in.
Assign a wireframe material to the objects in the scene, and then render it
out!
I've tried this, but it only creates a "backface" sort of line removal–not
complete hidden line removal. So I also create an opaque clone inside each
object (and slightly smaller) which does the trick.
Thanks for your help!
Robert,
Don't forget the extra memory overhead of loading that flic into RAM. That
could put you over the edge into Swapland (not a nice place to visit).
Terry Gilbert
F^C
mb. If it looks
good, who cares what's the "kosher" thing to do? <g>
Pennello applies its effects by creating "brushes" based on the underlining
image and alpha masks with all sorts of forms (tiny gray scale bitmaps with
different shapes and textures). These brushes "collect" image data and "paint"
with it. It's sort of like having a [painter's] palette full of colors and
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>> …Modify/Edge/Autoedge… (Was that confusing enough? <g>) <<
No, quite clear, thanks. Unhappily, it doesn't help in this particular case
because my mesh is composed of about 200 rectangular solids (Create/Box), and
some of these overlap and others are arranged in an open lattice-work (these
meshes are board fences). With Autoedge at 90 degrees _every_ edge disappears,
and at 89 degrees _none_ do! <G>
But I'll file away your suggestions for more organic shapes in the future. I
don't have ACAD, but do have DesignCAD 3-D which can print/plot with hidden
lines removed. Unfortunately it chokes on 3DS's DXF files–I'll have to look
into why. Perhaps in the last two and a half years Amer. Small Bus. has issued
an update!
Your reply has confirmed my notion that there's no direct way to do it in 3ds,
and that's helpful! Thanks again, John!
>> >> …Modify/Edge/Autoedge… (Was that confusing enough?
>> <g>) <<
>> No, quite clear, thanks. Unhappily, it doesn't help in this
>> particular case because my mesh is composed of about 200
>> rectangular solids (Create/Box), and some of these overlap
>> and others are arranged in an open lattice-work (these meshes
>> are board fences). With Autoedge at 90 degrees _every_ edge
>> disappears, and at 89 degrees _none_ do! <G>
>> But I'll file away your suggestions for more organic shapes
>> in the future. I don't have ACAD, but do have DesignCAD 3-D
>> which can print/plot with hidden lines removed.
>> Unfortunately it chokes on 3DS's DXF files–I'll have to look
>> into why. Perhaps in the last two and a half years Amer.
>> Small Bus. has issued an update!
>> Your reply has confirmed my notion that there's no direct way
>> to do it in 3ds, and that's helpful! Thanks again, John!
DesignCAD probably expects Acadr10 DXF files which use 3Dfaces for surfaces.
3DS outputs r11/r12 DXF files that use Polyface meshes. I hope ASB has an
update for you.
Terry Gilbert
Forcade & Associates
>> DesignCAD probably expects Acadr10 DXF files… 3DS outputs r11/r12… <<
Ahah! Thanks for the tip, Terry. It's nice to 'know something' when
approaching them; I haven't had much luck with them in the past. I bought DC3
as my initial foray into 3d animation (create a sequence of pcx snapshots in
DC3, then assemble 'em with Animator's NUMPIC). ASB's documentation makes me
reeeeeally appreciate Jack's 3DS docs!
>>Ahah! Thanks for the tip, Terry. It's nice to 'know something' when
approaching them; I haven't had much luck with them in the past. I bought DC3
as my initial foray into 3d animation (create a sequence of pcx snapshots in
DC3, then assemble 'em with Animator's NUMPIC). ASB's documentation makes me
reeeeeally appreciate Jack's 3DS docs! <<
We get a lot of software through here that we write articals about. Most of
the documentation makes me appreciate Jack's 3DS docs!
Terry Gilbert
Forcade & Associates