[starbug]

Hi guys i am having some issue's with a model i am working on. I am trying to make a Dalek Saucer, yes i am wanting to put the daleks in Freespace. I have got the 2 half's of the ship modelled and have lined them up, I have attached the 2 segments together and began to weld the 2 half's. This is where my problems begin, i can weld one edge but then none of the other vertices's will weld together no matter what i do. The other parts of the model i welded together went together fine, its just the upper hull and lower hull that won't play ball. I  have looked at the model and i cant see any closed or capped sections that would prevent it from work. Does anyone have any solutions. I am working with 3DS max 2012

In the screenshot of the ringed vertices's, the middles one will welded but then none of the others will.



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[zookeeper]

I sometimes have similar weld problems, and I think it has always turned out to be due to some kind of a model issue; doubled vertices, doubled edges, a conspicuous poly somewhere I didn't intend, that sort of thing. So, I can't really but suggest double-checking one more time. Weld both halves separately first, run an STL check, make sure that every spot only has one vertex, etc.

[starbug]

I'll give that a try and see what happens.

[starbug]

Aargh still won't do it, would someone be willing to give the file a look for me? just to double check i haven't missed anything please?

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[Colonol Dekker]

Boolean join?

[mjn.mixael]

uh no.

 You can't weld vertecies that aren't connected. Select both, click Connect in your modifier stack. Then you can weld them. If you are just using Weld (rather than Target Weld), then you'll need to make sure your threshold is high enough.

Having actually read your paragraph, there was a better way to do this.

Model your top half. In your modifier stack add the Symmetry modifier and select the Y axis. You can even set this up before you finish modelling the top half. It causes everything you do to be mirrored. However, with this method you want to be sure to collapse the stack and reset the xform in order to make sure all the normals are set properly for FSO. (3ds Max won't care, but FSO is picky.)

[headdie]

in blender I would scale the offending vertices to 0 on the vertical and then merge the doubles

[mjn.mixael]

That could cause some weird issues. Vertecies should always be connected before any sort of weld or merge. If they aren't then the 3D App is now just guessing at poly edges, smoothing, and normals (assuming it allows this at all.)

[starbug]

Cheers guys have got it sorted. I ended just loading a previous save and it weld fine, guess it must be on of those many bugs in Max 2012

[mjn.mixael]

2012 is the worst. So many incompatibilities for such a small upgrade. My studio specifically ignored 2012 and bought 2011 instead.

[starbug]

We were using 2011, which i loved but my university upgraded to 2012, which ment i had to get it to be able to do my uni work at home.

[Scooby_Doo]

I sometimes have similar weld problems, and I think it has always turned out to be due to some kind of a model issue; doubled vertices, doubled edges, a conspicuous poly somewhere I didn't intend, that sort of thing. So, I can't really but suggest double-checking one more time. Weld both halves separately first, run an STL check, make sure that every spot only has one vertex, etc.

Try using Edit Poly instead of Edit Mesh.  Edit poly usually prevents a lot of these problems

[zookeeper]

I sometimes have similar weld problems, and I think it has always turned out to be due to some kind of a model issue; doubled vertices, doubled edges, a conspicuous poly somewhere I didn't intend, that sort of thing. So, I can't really but suggest double-checking one more time. Weld both halves separately first, run an STL check, make sure that every spot only has one vertex, etc.

Try using Edit Poly instead of Edit Mesh.  Edit poly usually prevents a lot of these problems

I always do. That said, mjn.mixael seems to be right in saying that you can't weld unconnected verts. Or rather, you can... but only sometimes, not reliably. I don't understand the logic behind how it works, but it does seem like that was the main problem here.

[mjn.mixael]

+1 for much experience!

The ability to weld seemingly unconnected verts (at least in 3ds Max) is usually because max has put a hidden edge with that vert in order to keep track of triangles. Does that make sense?

So you have a 4 vert poly in the shape of a diamond, for example. You want to weld two of the verts that are across from each other, but there is no edge connecting them visible. 3ds Max will likely put a hidden edge there to make a triangle (Since in my understanding of digital 3D, everything in some way has to be rendered with triangles. I could be wrong though.). In this case, it might let you weld them.

In any case, connecting verts before welding is just good practice. Never make a 3D app do more guessing than necessary.

[starlord]

starbug, that's quite good! I look forward to seeing the model!

[yuezhi]

starbug, that's quite good! I look forward to seeing the model!

agreed!

on a separate note i also like the other dalek stuff on your channel.

[starlord]

starbug, any news on that saucer here?

[Legate Damar]

Having never used this program, I am sad to say I cannot help, but the idea of the Dalek ships is a good one. Are you going to make a TARDIS too?