Defining surfaces and other new questions....

Lucky1 · 3rd February 2009, 06:07 PM

Thanks Lisa, and I understand your constraint.

I'm just wondering though, if my 'piece' is 20 or so panels, even if I go through and extrude each one,
how can I be sure they are all the exact same thickness? Eyeball it? There's no Global command? (If that's the right word)

I am looking at Rapid Prototyping and thickness is supposed to be very exact.

Thanks!
Wes

lisa · 3rd February 2009, 08:27 PM

Couple of options there.

You can multi-select, and extrude them all at once if they are all facing the same direction.

Otherwise "extrude by distance" will extrude the surface by an exact value in the direction of the surface normal. This is probably what you want if you're looking for precise values. You can toggle normal display on and off on the 3D menu to know which direction the surface will be extruded. The normals are the little pink hairs that appear when display normal is on. They show which way the surface faces.

The extrude button is the third button on the top row in the sidebar. If you click that, your other extrude options should show up in the panel below. On a side note: Don't get this confused with the "sculpty extrude" button, I know there was some mix-up about that earlier. Sculpty extrude is a Second Life thing, as SL has some particular constraints beyond what the built-in extrude does. The standard extrude is much more powerful.

Lucky1 · 4th February 2009, 10:15 AM

Great stuff again, thanks! I'll give that a try.

Lucky1 · 6th February 2009, 07:25 PM

Now I feel like I've seen the answer to this before but I forget where.....

Suppose I draw a square using a 4 point polyline, then I guess I would use
the "create ordered surface" method to fill it in, how can I then take that area
and bow it in or out, making it either convex or concave?

And if I want to do that to a long rectangular area....anything else I should know?

Thanks!
Wes

lisa · 13th February 2009, 04:19 AM

Same way as you've been doing... split it into sections (or build it as sections) as need be, add a vertex in the middle of the edge, subdivide and curve, then re-join when you're done. Same basic method as your L-shape should do the trick, you've just got more edges.

Lucky1 · 20th February 2009, 07:01 PM

Thanks again Lisa!

3rd February 2009, 06:07 PM	#1
Lucky1 Junior Member Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Thanks Lisa, and I understand your constraint. I'm just wondering though, if my 'piece' is 20 or so panels, even if I go through and extrude each one, how can I be sure they are all the exact same thickness? Eyeball it? There's no Global command? (If that's the right word) I am looking at Rapid Prototyping and thickness is supposed to be very exact. Thanks! Wes

3rd February 2009, 08:27 PM	#2
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Couple of options there. You can multi-select, and extrude them all at once if they are all facing the same direction. Otherwise "extrude by distance" will extrude the surface by an exact value in the direction of the surface normal. This is probably what you want if you're looking for precise values. You can toggle normal display on and off on the 3D menu to know which direction the surface will be extruded. The normals are the little pink hairs that appear when display normal is on. They show which way the surface faces. The extrude button is the third button on the top row in the sidebar. If you click that, your other extrude options should show up in the panel below. On a side note: Don't get this confused with the "sculpty extrude" button, I know there was some mix-up about that earlier. Sculpty extrude is a Second Life thing, as SL has some particular constraints beyond what the built-in extrude does. The standard extrude is much more powerful.

4th February 2009, 10:15 AM	#3
Lucky1 Junior Member Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Great stuff again, thanks! I'll give that a try.

6th February 2009, 07:25 PM	#4
Lucky1 Junior Member Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Now I feel like I've seen the answer to this before but I forget where..... Suppose I draw a square using a 4 point polyline, then I guess I would use the "create ordered surface" method to fill it in, how can I then take that area and bow it in or out, making it either convex or concave? And if I want to do that to a long rectangular area....anything else I should know? Thanks! Wes

13th February 2009, 04:19 AM	#5
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Same way as you've been doing... split it into sections (or build it as sections) as need be, add a vertex in the middle of the edge, subdivide and curve, then re-join when you're done. Same basic method as your L-shape should do the trick, you've just got more edges.

20th February 2009, 07:01 PM	#6
Lucky1 Junior Member Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20	Re: Defining surfaces and other new questions.... Thanks again Lisa!