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Aligning parts to other objects?

lionheart

lionheart

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us-arizona
Hey all,

Something I have never learned and now need to.

How does one align a part along the side of another larger part that is say a large curved object?

I am making an inner Canopy arch that will have small nuts along the perimeter edge.

Is there a way to clone and align these along the surface of the other arch object?

I checked out Align, and it seems to be by X, Y, Z coordinates instead of surface. Perhaps I have the wrong Align variant?

This project is in Gmax.


Bill
 
Hi Bill,

Did you solve this yet? If not, here is how I do it. (It my first try at using pictures to illustrate... hope it's all clear). This is obviously in GMAX, so I suppose you will have to make some adjustments now that you are using 3ds Max.

1. Here is the canopy bow. I have created it with an edge in the center of the inside faces, but you could also select one of the 'corner' edges.
MWSnap211.jpg

2. Select the entire edge, and choose 'create shape' from the sidebar. It will create an editable spline called 'Shape01'.
MWSnap212.jpg

3. Create your bolt. I find that I have to rotate the pivot so that the blue arrow points up to make the next steps work correctly. As the screenshot shows, you can create the bolt any place. It doesn't have to be near the canopy bow.
MWSnap217.jpg

4. With the bolt selected, click on the 'Spacing' Button in the tool bar. In the 'Spacing Tool' dialog box that appears, click the 'Pick Path' button and choose Shape01. The button label will change to 'Shape01'. In the parameters section, set the 'count' to the number of bolts you want and make sure the type is set to 'Divide Evenly, objects at Ends'. In the context section, make sure the 'follow' box is checked. Do not hit 'apply' yet.
MWSnap218.jpg

5. Now that you have set the number of bolts you want, change the parameter type to 'Centered, Specify Spacing'. Now you can adjust the spacing of the bolts to best fit the canopy bow. Note that if you try to check the 'count' box now and change the number of bolts, it will create strange results. If you need to change the number of bolts, change the parameter type back to "Divide Evenly, Objects at Ends" and make the adjustment. Of course, you will then have to readjust the spacing as well.
MWSnap219.jpg

6. Once you are happy with the number and spacing of the bolts, hit 'apply' and you are done. See the result. You can now delete your original bolt and the Shape01 helper.
MWSnap220.jpg

Hope this helps :)

Z
 
Thanks Zitembre!

That is brilliant!

I didnt know you could create objects from E-Polys either. This will help immensely. Great tutorial as well.



Bill
 
Brilliant! You have the dubious honor of being the author of my "learn something new every day" philosophy... :cool:

Your entire post (with pictures) should now be added to the Wiki for easier future reference by modelers. :D
 
Last edited:
Hey Z,

this is indeed a brilliant solution! Thanks for sharing!!

Vitus
 
Thank you for the kind words guys! I've learned heaps from the members here and at FFDS, so I am just glad to return the favor. :D

cheers,

Z
 
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