1701-D/01 Calypso

[chrono]

Originally Posted by traq

chrono: quad/triangulation did create a lot of sharp, narrow faces. I'll have to do it manually to avoid this...?

Sadly I can only tell you to adjust your mesh so that the edges are perpendicular to it's adjoining edge, model in the quads only method, attempt to keep your quads as square as possible, and change your edges so they flow better. Your wireframe in post #133 shows a good bit of 'bad' model flow with plenty of over lapping polygons, sharp possible triangulation on 5 vertex faces, and 5 vertex issues and seems.

But since I've never modeled in the method your using I can't help you much beyond suggesting "Basic Modeling 101" stuff.

[Ozylot]

Hey traq, just wrote this up this morning, perhaps it will explain what I meant better.

edge tutorial

[traq]

IRML- There are several places where the vertexes are close because of how I re-cut the panels, windows, etc., in an attempt to make their edges straight. In some previous renders you can see that some panel edges follow odd paths because I used existing vertexes instead of cutting new ones, so I went back and "fixed" it. I'm working now on re-drawing those polys using the new (cut) vertexes and removing the originals which are too close or sharp. it's gonna be a pain.

chrono: 101 is what I need. this project is turning into a great "basics" tutorial, I really appreciate the learning experience. So, if I follow your suggestions, it would be best to let the shape of the underlying mesh dictate panel/window shapes as much as possible, thus avoiding odd "overlaps" and small, sharp polys?

ozy: thanks again for another tutorial. that's pretty much what I thought you meant; problem is, I don't have a cleanly quadrangulated model to begin with, so even though it "works" correctly, the result is pretty messy.

I think I'm going to have to try starting over and recutting everything with slightly modified lines to get a better flow.

[chrono]

Not quite. You still have to dictate to the mesh what shapes you want, but you need to work with the polygon flow and not against it. We've talked about "Modeling 101" in the Question & Answer section of the forums, don't know if it's still there or not, but it's worth the look. Add edges where you need to and just try to keep the faces square and things should get better.

But this is why some methods are easier than others. NURBS would make this job easy. As would smoothing and extracting the mesh before cutting the windows and panel lines in.

I've uploaded some old project wires so you can see what I mean. Not the prettiest things but functional and without many errors. I should note that this is all post smooth geometry work. It should still apply though.

Those links:
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/3...modelling.html
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/3...rners-etc.html

[traq]

I actually did smooth and extract everything beforehand; the smoothing I'm attempting now is solely an attempt to get rid of those errors that I can't seem to fix by hand.

I'll be looking for that "101" thread.

Also, not sure if it's obvious from all my pics, but they're not just panel "lines" - each panel is actually separate. Wanted it this way to do cutaway pics with the interior.

[Aresius]

Looks very good, I'd say.

[traq]

I think I've found a solution- it involves another rebuild of the paneling, but it's promising enough. This render is from the same geometry, with no "cleaning up" done to the surrounding polygons. I did the beveling in a different way, however, instead of actually beveling.

once I formed the general shape of the panel and cut the lines of the window, I intruded the back and window faces, and made the panel thicker than I wanted it. next, I selected the window's inside edges and connected them. then, I selected ALL of the out-facing lines and moved them in normally.

This created a "bevel" around the window edges without messing up any of the surrounding geometry (especially along the newly created faces) and, as you can see, resulted in a very clean render. (the two pinched areas on the outer corners are just because I wasn't paying attention to the outside edges; my experiment was focused solely on the window.)

pretty cool, I think.

[Ozylot]

Promising indeed... does it smooth ok?

[traq]

since I'm starting over anyway, it doesn't matter if it smooths well afterwards - I'll just smooth everything beforehand. already started. (I was really only trying to smooth because I was trying to turn all the faces into planar quads.) each window will now have 32 edges (instead of 16) and other panels will be cut with similar "resolution." This will allow for better-looking closeups with the interiors as well.

[chrono]

Originally Posted by traq

once I formed the general shape of the panel and cut the lines of the window, I intruded the back and window faces, and made the panel thicker than I wanted it. next, I selected the window's inside edges and connected them. then, I selected ALL of the out-facing lines and moved them in normally.

Ok for the life of me this makes little sense. I can follow it up until the last sentence....

Also wireframe please!