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Old 9th March 2012, 02:32 PM   #2
Stiglr
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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Default Re: Cutting rounded windows

1) Windows/glass should be independent/separate objects. Simply select the surfaces, Surface > Cut Away Object and rename it as "glass". Your call as to whether to make all glass panels as one "glass" object (such as for a static "ground object"), or to break up into "cockpit_glass" "turret_glass" "canopy_glass" objects, etc, for a "player-operated" aircraft. Depending on your animation/game system, you can then assign the glass panels as "children" to the [parent] fuselage, canopy or turret objects that house them, such that they move together.

There should be no gaps or seams between the glass and the fuselage. You simply take care to properly "isolate" the glass panel shapes while building the fuselage, then simply follow step one above to make glass items that have overlapping vertices wherever they meet the fuselage.

If you make separate glass objects, you can create different materials, and can make the glass two-sided and transparent, leaving the solid fuselage one-sided and solid.

The lateral symmetry method is very important, and should always be used. Build the aircraft in half, then use the power of the computer to create a perfectly symmetrical 'other side' after you've done the lion's share of your editing. Occasionally, you'll have to add a few odds and ends to one side that aren't on the other (pitot tube, the odd vent or protrusion), but your results will always be better than if you attempt to preserve symmetry by doing the same thousands of edits and operations on the fuselage, wings, etc. twice. That's impossible, if you think about it.
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Last edited by Stiglr; 9th March 2012 at 02:36 PM.
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