how do you "loft" a 3d object repeatedly along a spline. I am working on my FIA approved curbing and want to replicate the tile along a spline from the edge of the track... Loft won't let you do anything but a 2d profile in the "shape" selection... for obvious reasons. ethone I reckon you know the answer to this one...
I am currently using a technique that uses a shape along the side of the road as the "path". I measure the length of the path with the inbuilt measure tool. I then pick the base segment of the 3d curb I did and replicate it enough times so that it would stretch along the whole length of the shape through the array tool (under tools). I then collapse all the segments into one object and use the Path Deform (WSM) modifier to make it conform to the shape. Voilà! Essentially it's the same process as described here: http://www.mbdevteam.com/download/tutorials/making_curbs.zip (video tutorial from http://www.mbdevteam.com/download/Tutorials/index.html) It's just the basic mesh that's different. If you need a more detailed walkthrough, just shout. Here's how it looks when finished:
easier way is to do as above but just make a straight 3d curb longer than you could possibly need and then just delete the left overs after deforming. But Path Deform is the way to go for objects that don't have a consistent cross section through out. (razor curbs etc)
wierd twist ethone. Followed your workflow and when i do the path deform (WSM) i get a horrible twist rather than the objects being "horizontal" any ideas why? Cheers Simon
If the deformed object end sup twisted in itself the path probably had vertices that weren't set to "corner" but either smooth or one of the Bezier types. When you do the path deform, set it to deform on the x axis.
that made no difference. Tried both smooth and linear from the "create shape from selection" step. still getting twisted stuff. and the deformed object is perfectly horizontal before the deform. (i am using 2010 max and the video looks to be 2008? - any difference in the handling between these>????)
the axis and rotation and scale values vary in the Path Deform (WSM) depending on your object and which way you want to deform it. You may need to reverse the direction of the spline being used. Also I have to use Y axis with a combination of 90 or 270 deg rotation and the inverse option. Make sure you click move to spline too.
yup had to put in a rotation of 7.5 deg!... ;-( why i don't know but it looks pretty good now. How do I reverse the order of the "direction of the spline"... i know what you mean, because it has caused me no end of hassle before. (thanks ethone) (and alex)
select object, select spline sub mode, select individual spline, press reverse on one of the roll outs.
Trying this technique out and my darn curb keeps on ending up about 100m from where it is supposed to be in the game. In max it's in the right spot. But after an export to check it in game it's off in never never land. If I remove the path deform modifier and export it it's in the right spot in game. Any ideas? EDIT: I got it, I'm not good at max and thought collapse all was better than collapse to. Sorry for the nasty bump.
Maybe try a reset xform on the spline ? And did you also click the 'move to spline' button in the path deform modifier rollout?
I use my tool to speed up things. 1- Select the object piece (3d kerb) in MMtools and press "Pick length from line" the tool calculate the number of pieces needed to create the Clone array. 2- Create the clone kerbs array ( drag the object piece using SHiFT). 3- Collapse all pieces using the Collapse tool (in Hammer tab). 4. Add RESET XForm to kerbs array and collapse stack. Very important 5. Set the pivot in the right position. 6. in MMtools press "pick line" in "Path deform" group and press "ADD PATHDEFORM". 7. Adjust the percent in PAthdeform paremeters 0% or 100% depends where you put the pivot. Optionally you can use the "Scale from line" to adjust the percent parameter to fit the line. 8. If need to rotate can use "Angle from Pts", Select two points in road edge and the script calculate the angle and apply to pathdeform.
