#cutting windows
6 messages in this thread
I am having trouble cutting windows into a spaceship-like mesh that I have
created using the FIT tool in thre 3D lofter. Is there any simple way to do
this? On top of that, I would like to add tinted glass windows to the holes.
How can I make these shapes come out the way I want? Is there also any dynamic
way to apply decals without having to continually re-render to check if they
are properly positioned? I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks in
advance.
Darin Friedmann
> Is there also any dynamic way to apply decals without having to continually
re-render
If you use the MeshPaint IPAS you can paint directly on your model, placing
things very precisely. Most people like to use it as a positioning tool,
finishing up the final map in their favorite paint program.
Hi Darin
You're probably going to have a lot of trouble making windows using geometry.
A better solution would be to apply a decal of the windows, and if you want
them to have differing shininess or opacity properties than the rest of the
hull, use a matching map in the shininess and opacity slots in the materials
editor, or as masks in the same slots (depending on how you have this hull
material set up). Another solution would be to detach faces from the hull, and
give them a glass material, but your window shape would be constrained to
whatever possible shapes you could make out of the hull faces. You could also
boolian, I suppose, but really, the best solution would be to do it with
materials.
I hope that helps.
M. Samia
>>…windows in a spaceship…
I recently worked on a space station project that required windows to be
lighted on the dark sides. First, I created my texture maps for the station. I
determined the color I wanted for my windows, then located the windows on the
main texture map (in Photoshop using fixed size selections filled with light
color).
Next, I converted my main texture map to a bump map, using it as negative. This
gave me raised sections of hull detail and recessed window openings.
The next step was to convert my main texture map to an opacity map. To do this,
make your windows black and everything else white. The final step is to scale
down a copy of your mesh object and apply to this a 100% self illuminated
material in the color you desire for your lights.
These combine to give you lights that appear to have illumination on the "sun"
side of your model and glow in the darkness on the "dark" sides.
John Hostick
Re: the spaceship window problem:
You could also use your map of the windows as a self-illuminated map, which
would make it so you wouldn't have to make a copy of the mesh, and would save
rendering time. This is possible in releases 3 and 4, but I'm not sure if
release 2 had this capability.
Matthew Samia
I cut windows into 3D airplanes regularly, but I do it in Autocad using a
terrain modelling package (I use Eagle Point's Surface Modelling and Site
Design packages). They have a routine that will superimpose a 2D polyline onto
a 3D mesh and it will break the faces for you, creating new 3D faces. Hope
this helps
Mike Boldrick