This is why I hate modelling in Max

[duke2]

I don't know if this is even the right way to go about it, but this is what I do. I've been given the following landscaping plan. (planter boxes, ponds, etc.). What I do with it is then put it in a layer called "Drawing", freeze it, and in another layer trace over it in by element. So I trace the main slab, then the planter walls, then the pool walls, etc. If only I could just convert it to a mesh that would retain all the lines, I could just extrude things in and out, but it doesnt appear that Max can do that...

[jonahhawk]

Ah but it can! And it loves to!

There are a few ways to go about it. Extrude modifier to begin with. You can also convert a spline object to Editable Poly and extrude faces from there. but the Polyline have to be closed. Just like in AutoCAD when creating a region or extruding a solid, the plines need to be closed or Max will not create polies.

If you post the dwg, I can take a look at it and give you direct feedback and tips on how to proceed.

[duke2]

I know I can convert to poly but theres still the part where they need to be closed like you said, and as different elements, or something. I can't just do it all in one go (Lightwave has this where you just convert curves to polys and it gives you an identical result, but all the curves are filled in with faces where you'd expect them, but f**k lightwave).

The file is attached!

[jonahhawk]

This is simply bad cad work which is pretty typical I find. You have to go in and clean it up. But it shouldn't take more than half an hour or so. It seems like a lot of work when you look at all those lines but it's really not that big of a deal. It's just boring.

There are a lot of lines overlapping lines and the dwg importer will not clean this stuff up. It imports everything. We have AutoCAD 2008; a new command to me is the Overkill command which will do away with a lot of this junk. I think this was in 2006 as well. It works great.

Also, I'm not sure of the scale. Must be 1 unit = 1 mm? If you don't set the weld tolerance high enough it might miss some of the larger errors. I did convert scale/units when I imported. You will need to rescale it to suit your scale. sry.

I spent 15 minutes on it. You know more about what is going on with heights and whatnot. But I got you started. I just used Max's tools under Editable spline. I usually delete any verts in the middle of long line segments. they are not needed and they may be part of another line segment underneath. I just go through and try to close the splines by deleting, welding and using the Connect tool to put in missing segments.

[duke2]

Thanks for that. And yes bad CAD work isn't uncommon. I'm an in-house guy so i'm working with these bad CAD'ders! Maybe I will need Autocad for cleanup and so on afterall.. It's probably far better at cleanup with the overkill command you mentioned, plus trim/extend than Max is.

[jonahhawk]

A few years back I decided to take the methods that I used in other apps like AutoCAD and Sketchup and try and find the same tools in Max. It really helped my Max modeling and now I won't use anything else. I love modeling with Max. Editable Poly is your best friend.

Like anything the more you use it the better you become.

Yup. I'm an in house guy too. Sorry ass designers can't draw straight! Ha, some of them flip through this forum from time to time. They know I love them.

Be thankful you don't have to deal with Revit models! They are HUGE. A guy in our group is working on an import script just to strip out all the extra junk that comes with a typical Revit > DWG > Max workflow. FBX is hardly any better.

Good luck with the landscaping. Post images when you get that far along. It looks like an interesting space. Where in the world is it/are you?

[duke2]

I'm in Australia, it's in Tehran, its 8PM and it's due tomorrow (Saturday) lunchtime. Also that's just the roof, there are 3 towers, some fancy entrances and more landscaping elsewhere.

[duke2]

Also i've been trying out Revit. I love it - it's a piece of cake and does a great job of everything except keeping a clean model. I took a good look at the thing after i'd completed the Getting Started tutorial and vomitted a little - tops of walls in the same plane as a the floor above - floor slabs going through walls where the tops were in the same plane and you'd see obvious tearing - urghh. Hopefully i'll find new ways to do clean modelling in that program though, the whole office is moving that way at the end of the year.

[Neilg]

Modeling in revit might be all well and good, but I hate the dreaded 'we've got a revit model if that would help?' email. I dread them more than the sketchup ones, because at least those tend to be pretty light.

Yes, of course it would - kind of (I suppose), but I want you to give us a bigger budget to do it from scratch!

[duke2]

Heh, I used to say "Yes it provides good reference but we can't use it directly". Now here I am photoshopping intersection errors.

[Morne]

I don't trust ANYBODY but my partner to give me a good model or even CAD file. I trained my partner from scratch and she is almost better than me now. Architects are the worst CAD people out there. Interior Designers are a little better. And when it comes to sketchup or Revit models, as you said duke2, its an ok reference but I usually spent so much time fixing somebody else crap that it would be quicker and better to just do it from scratch. I model in AutoCAD mostly and for funny shaped objects I use max. I would use Revit, but my budget doesnt allow to purchase it at the moment.

[duke2]

Next up - the object that won't boolean. Max file attached (2009).

[rayo-v]

I did a couple of substractions with no problems and attached the results.

[beestee]

I guess I view any work provided for reference a little bit differently. I assume that the person that did the reference work did no more or no less than what their work was intended for, so it would be unreasonable for me to expect that persons work to fit perfectly into my workflow unless it was created for that sole purpose.

You would probably be surprised at how shoddy you would consider any fellow Max users work for the simple fact that each person develops their own process to make Max work for them, especially those processes which make heavy use of scripts and plugins. But does that make the person providing the information any less capable? Obviously not if they are able to maintain their career.

[AJ Jefferies]

I never, ever, ever build anything direct from CAD data - it's just inviting in too many problems. The same goes for creating anything from illustrator/vector artwork... The overlaps, double vertices & broken lines are all irrelevant when you're presenting it flat but unusable for modeling.

I usually bring in the CAD data, freeze it, turn on snapping & start re-drawing everything element by element. It doesn't take long & is much faster (IMO) that cleaning up a badly drawn dwg.

I took a good look at the thing after i'd completed the Getting Started tutorial and vomitted a little

That is excellent... I can't stop picturing this & laughing like an idiot.