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[Rhynder]

Everyone knows that anim8or has a 'connect edges' tool, however it's not as "smart" as the other programs versions. Can anything be done, script wise anyway, to make it more like the 3DS Max version?


Now, for those of you that don't know what i'm talking about, lets say you have a simple shape, and you do connect edges on it. A box will appear with options like how many lines you want to add and a slider to allow you to slide the new line between the existing edges.When you slide the line it stays with the original meshes angle, meaning if it's a 45° angle the line will move up and down along that 45° angle not changing the mesh in any way.  Now how I achieved the images below is the standard way in anim8or, use Connect edges and then manually move the line back into the original angle, however that is very time consuming.


So, now tell me is there anyway to achieve this in anim8or with scripts?

[NickE]

I think this might be possible with scripting, but I cannot determine what you want to do from your explanation and example screenshots.  Can you please be more explicit?

[Rhynder]

have a look here:
http://3dguru.wordpress.com/2007/05/14/tiptrick-edge-connect-and-loop-is-a-huge-modeling-time-saver/

On on that site you will notice three pictures towards the top of the page. The first image doesn't matter, the second image shows how anim8ors original connect edge tools works. You select an edge and it makes an edge loop. Now onto the third image this is where anim8or stops and 3DS max continues. In the 3DS max you can add segments, so instead of only one edge loop you make up to a 100 if you want, however i think anim8or would work better with a max of about 5 segments. You also see Pinch, pinch is how close the edge loops (the ones you just cut) are to each other. Slide is how far each edge loop is away from the bound edges. Now when you use slide or pinch the lines move along the original mesh, they do don't change directions meaning if you have a 45° (Degree) angle and you use the slide or pinch commands it will move the line along that 45° angle.



If you still don't understand what i'm talking about go here this a a tutorial on hard edges. This is the exact video i'm following to learn how to do real edge looping, that same techniques the pros use.

http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/3d_studio_max/hard_surface_essentials/hard_surface_01.php

Requires: latest version of quicktime to play video.

[NickE]

Thank you for the clarification.  Yes, this could be implemented in ASL.  Unfortunately, I do not have 3DS Max and am not sure what the scales are for the Pinch and Slide parameters.  How much is one pinch unit or slide unit?  Is it an offset of where the edge would be created if there were no Pinch or Slide applied?

I could make up my own rules, but I'd rather have the function act the same way as the 3DS Max version to avoid confusion.

If you can help me out with those questions, I can write a script to do this.

[Rhynder]

I don't own 3DS max either, I just figured the tool would be extremely helpful.

However, from a quick search I found out that 3DS Max can use US Standard (Centimeters, inches), Metric (Meters, Millimeters) Or custom inputs (One unit could be 100 meters in customs settings.)

However after a few more searches I found out that these are the recommended settings.

1 unit = 1 centimeter (image below is more precise in values)

Not sure if this helps or not, i'm not a programmer

EDIT: I just found this, the standard when you install 3DS Max is 1 unit = 1 inch.

(...Then I remembered that 3D Studio Max has as unit default 1 unit = 1 inch (in System Units Setup -> System Units) and yes, 1 inch = 2.54 cm, a value very near to the factor my models where scaled up...)

http://forums.xna.com/forums/t/6909.aspx

it's your choice of which one you choose, which ever one works better in anim8ors default settings.

[hihosilver]

I'll explain the pinch and slide a bit:
The slide parameter will slide the entire edge (or edges) over a certain percentage.  So if the slide were 100 or -100 the edge loop created would be created in the same spot as one of the outer edge loops.  If it were 0 it would be in the middle of the two edge loops and a value like 50 or -50 would be inbetween the two (if you need a visual example I can show you) but basically it slides the new edge loop from side to side instead of just allowing it to be created in the middle.

The pinch parameter only affects the edges if you're creating more than one edge.  So for example if you are creating 2 or more edge loops spaced out nice and evenly at once, the pinch value will pinch those edges together, so they're not spaced out as evenly (they will still be spaced evenly with each other, but will be pinched into the center of the group of edges created.) If you need a visual for this I can give it too.
Hope that helps.

[NickE]

Thank you for the further clarification of Slide and Pinch.  I think I know enough now to get started.

The only thing that concerns me is the lack of undo if the parameters selected are not what is desired.  Will have to think about that for a bit.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[hihosilver]

Hm, that's a good question.
There is the delete edge loop script already, the only issue is if the strand of edges doesn't form a closed edge loop it wont delete.  Perhaps a delete edges script that removes the edges, but fills in the faces in-between could be good.   In other words, it would remove the edges but the figure would not actually be opened.

[Rhynder]

Any news on this front?

Not to sound hasty or anything, just there hasn't been an update in a while. I just wanted to know if this has been scrapped or not. Or maybe if anim8or .asl functions aren't capable of this yet.