An Odd Polygon Problem

[lionheart]

Hey all,

I have been working on a Radial Engine block; 7 cylinder.

I started the blocks center which looks like a half sphere. I then created 7 cyliners via Array and they all surround the top area/sides of the blocks core half-sphere.

I then joined them (Attach tool).

Now, I can weld Vertices together in Mesh mode, but in Poly mode, I cannot 'Create' Polygons. What I am doing is joining the open gaps of the cylinders to the side walls of the half-sphere.

There are 'no' sidewalls on the half-sphere in Polygons, only the edges from the front and rear of the block structure.



Why cant I create polygons that stretch from one cylinder to the other? All is one solid structure. Is this a 'Normal' nightmare I have accidentally created?



Bill

 

[lionheart]

Evidently I did.

I attached a MeshSmooth and it really freaked out.

Havent seen this happen before. I wish I had known what I did before I put all that work into it.

Starting over.


Bill

 

[Vitus]

Hi Bill,

I don't really a proper solution for that problem. Re-meshing can sometimes be tricky...

However I would recommend you a different approach for building a radial engine:
start with a cleverly sized cylinder in the middle. By that I mean setting the number of sides to the number of cylinders (if I am not mistaken: 7) times x (depends on your level of detail) - in your case 35 or 42 sides should be ok. Use this cylinder to model the crankcase.

Model ONE engine-cylinder and match the bottom part to the crankcase. A good method might be to start building from somewhere in the middle of the cylinder and extrude downwards a couple of times and rotate the most bottom- vertices so that the round cylinder gets squared. Here is what I did for the Bleriot XI using the same technique:

Now the most important thing:
finish the modelling of cylinder before you even think about arraying it! The same applies for mapping - build the whole thing! As I said to Chris (you don't pay attention! ) you will safe yourself a loooooot of time, because you just have to do this mapping stuff once!

If you model really carefully and symmetric (at least at the parts where cylinder and crankcase meet), the last steps are a piece of cake. Delete the covered polygones out of the crankcase, move the pivot of the engine-cylinder to the rotation center, and rotate-array the thing seven times. If the first one matches and your pivot is ok, the other cylinders should fit as well. Attach the cylinders to the crankcase, weld the vertices and you are done. No need to rebuild parts of the mesh!

Cheers,
Vitus

 

[FelixFFDS]

but in Poly mode, I cannot 'Create' Polygons.

Bill

If you're in Poly Mode, and using Max, can't you add an "edit mesh" modifier, go to poly sub object and create the polygons needed?

 

[lionheart]

Many thanks Vitus for the input and info on making radials. Much appreciated.

On this version of engine, the crank molds into the base of the cylinders, a very sophisticated shape. I could easily enough 'simplify' it but I am intriqued to see if I can create such a shape. It has sort of dimple indentions between each cylinder, and all flows forward into the perfect half sphere shape.

The Cylinder assemblies will be exactly as you said, created/mapped/textured first, then Arrayed.


Thanks Felix, and yes, I can. I actually converted it into a Mesh instead as the Vertices werent welding, which is a common problem with Poly objects.

Odd that in Ed Mesh, I can create polygons that bridge from cylinders to face and rear panels, yet when I add the Mesh Smooth/1 Iteration, it seperates.... The Vertices and Polygons are all 'one' piece.... Whats up with that? Have I, the one that dark clouds chase after, found a bug already in Max? lol....

Not complaining, a much... Its a great 3D program. I love how I can move Vertices in 2D directions. That is brilliant..

Bill

 

[lionheart]

Ok... I have redone the model a few times now, (5?) and this morning, I was inspired with an idea and redid it in record time and now have exactly what I want. Thought I would show you.

This was done by creating a sphere, then 7 cylinders with Array tool. But, I realised the Array was making 'Instances'. That may be where I went wrong with the others. So, this time, I copied in Array, then used Boolean to cut into the Sphere (only way I could make it work), then deleted the innerts of the insides of cylinders in the Sphere, then Removed excess Vertices (Man I LOVEEEEEE that), and then Capped the holes, then Extruded, Chamferred, Cut all but one pie section, adjusted it, smoothed it, adjusted some more, then Array'd the casing slice and welded the entire assembly. Lastly, I made some little niches in between the Cylider front join coves and fitted the Casing join Bolts in there.

You have to love Max! It does indeed have some new, powerful tools in it. Much faster then Gmax, which I never dreamt was possible......

This time I didnt go for the modern Ultra Simple model that then is given Mesh Smooth technique. It would be nice to use this plane in FS2004.


Bill