#Scalpel? WHY?
7 messages in this thread
I hope no one is really thinking of buying this new Scalpel IPAS. After
looking at the demo flics, all it does is make flat plane cuts through objects.
3DS already has this feature! All you have to do is
1) copy the object you want to cut using Create/Object/Copy without moving
the mouse so it overlays the original(name it whatever you want);
2) create a box larger then the object to be cut;
3) create another adjacent box by using Create/Array/Linear with an object
spacing of 0.0, 2 total objects, and end-to-end alignment(like placing
two dice together);
4) select the two boxes and move/rotate them so that the touching surfaces are
positioned as the desired cutting plan through the intended object;
5) and then just do a Create/Object/Boolean on both object copies, Subtracting
one box from the original and Subtracting the other box from the copy.
Very easy and no need for sharp instruments!
Tom Crage
Not that I am defending slice (haven't even seen it yet), but booleans don't
always work, and that is a lot of steps. If they sold it for 40-50 bucks, it
might be worth it for someone who has a need to slice things.
>>Not that I am defending slice (haven't even seen it yet), but booleans don't
always work, and that is a lot of steps. If they sold it for 40-50 bucks, it
might be worth it for someone who has a need to slice things.<<
I haven't seen the Scalpel routine either but if something needs to slice
things, I would recommend they first try the boolean method before shelling out
money for an possibly unneeded tool.
The steps involved can be shortened by saving the cutting boxes after creation.
Then when you need to slice something just duplicate it, merge a copy of the
cut boxes into the scene, scale and postion them as the cutting plane, and then
do the boolean subtraction. (This costs 0-0 bucks!)
Granted, booleans have been known to fail while trying to cap the cut, but if
the routine the big boys at Autodesk wrote won't work, I doubt you're gonna
have better luck with this IPAS.
The one thing I could see it helping with is doing cuts without capping the
ends. If the purpose of this routine is to allow slices without caps, it may
be useful to some, but I feel the 3DS user would be better served by adding an
option in the boolean dialog in rel 5 to do subtraction without capping. That
would allow cuts of any shape to be performed. (jonas?)
Tom Crage
<< but I feel the 3DS user would be better served by adding an option in the
boolean dialog in rel 5 to do subtraction without capping. That would allow
cuts of any shape to be performed. (jonas?) >>
got it.
>>slices without caps…
You could always turn off Weld Element, and then delete the element.
– Jack
Can't argue with you on those points. I was playing devil's advocate. Seemed
silly to dismiss it out of hand.