Max 3 Boolean problems

Not posted here in a long while.

OK, doing a ST ship for the ASDB [which I started many many months ago ]

Im having problems with the secondary hull. It is a half sphere slightly deformed.

There are no holes in it.

Now when I make a spline to cut out the aft section, extrude it, cap any holes then boolean it from the hull section Im getting loads of open edges, capping holes makes it worse, I even spent time welding vertices and still open edges.

Many people seem to get away with booleaning so where am I going wrong.

Id be greatful for any help - Truespace never had this problem

[SeanP]

If you would like you can e-mail the file to me and I can see if I can find anything.

[Zoxesyr]

I have had the same problem with multiple booleans on a single object.

I would love to hear the solution.

[SeanP]

Originally posted by Zoxesyr
I have had the same problem with multiple booleans on a single object.

I would love to hear the solution.

Are you remembering to collapse the object after each boolean operation?

[Zoxesyr]

Originally posted by SeanP
Are you remembering to collapse the object after each boolean operation?

Yes I do the collapse after each boolean, yet I still have problems by the 3rd or 4th operation. The result does one of two things:

1 - the new object disappears entirely. This only happens after I collapse it to a mesh.

2 - the new object is missing faces. I checked to see if the normals were out of whack, and it isn't that.

The only thing I can think is that my boolean objects don't line up in exactly the right way. Is there a rule for the subobjects concerning vertices, edges and faces?

SeanP: Are you saying that I should collapse the mesh after the boolean op and that would close the holes?

If I cant get it to work Ill mail you about sending the file.

I dont generally collapse meshes until the last minute because I can change my mind so often - which is why it has taken me over 12 months to redo a truespace model into max, that and the fact that Im addicted to the Rogue Spear games

Thanks

[SeanP]

Originally posted by Zoxesyr


Yes I do the collapse after each boolean, yet I still have problems by the 3rd or 4th operation. The result does one of two things:

1 - the new object disappears entirely. This only happens after I collapse it to a mesh.

2 - the new object is missing faces. I checked to see if the normals were out of whack, and it isn't that.

The only thing I can think is that my boolean objects don't line up in exactly the right way. Is there a rule for the subobjects concerning vertices, edges and faces?

That is weird!
There is no rule I've seen or heard of.
What version of MAX are you using?
Like I said if you would like to send me the file I can take a look and see if I can find the problem.
Sometimes the problem is in the install of MAX itself.
An operation that totally screws up on one machine works fine on another.

[SeanP]

Originally posted by dave-s
SeanP: Are you saying that I should collapse the mesh after the boolean op and that would close the holes?

If I cant get it to work Ill mail you about sending the file.

I dont generally collapse meshes until the last minute because I can change my mind so often - which is why it has taken me over 12 months to redo a truespace model into max, that and the fact that Im addicted to the Rogue Spear games

Thanks

Not quite Dave.
It won't fix the holes, but it will help you avoid them.
You said that after 3 or 4 boolean operations holes and errors start showing up.
You are supposed to collapse the stack of both operands before and after each boolean operation.
You always want to subtract an editable mesh from an editable mesh.
Basically that wipes out the stored info from the last boolean.
Until you collapse the object you can still access and change the parameters of the last boolean.
MAX screws up when you boolean a boolean that has been booleaned because the calculations get too complex and the software pukes.
You will get the results you want 95% of the time if you are always using editable meshes (collapsed objects) as the boolean operands.
Make sense?

[Zoxesyr]

Originally posted by SeanP
That is weird!
There is no rule I've seen or heard of.
What version of MAX are you using?
Like I said if you would like to send me the file I can take a look and see if I can find the problem.
Sometimes the problem is in the install of MAX itself.
An operation that totally screws up on one machine works fine on another.

I am using MAX 2.5 - and I recall that there were some installation problems with it at first. Maybe that is the problem....

I'll see if I can zip and send the file. I went another route that didn't use booleans, so I didn't think about it until Dave posted his question.

dave-s, if your worried about wanting to change an object latter, you could copy it before collapsing, then go back to the saved copy if there turns out to be a problem.

Dew_Back: Ahh, but you are counting on the fact that I back up all the time, you are horribly mistaken, for I am one of those who tell others to back up and never do it myself


SeanP: Is it OK to send you the file? Its only around 200K

[SeanP]

Sure Dave go ahead.
I will look at it over the weekend.
Just so you don't have to go and look my address is sposey@telusplanet.net.