modeling issue

[EricCamper]

ok... I have a complex, but I am sure SIMPLE, modeling issue.

Imagine I have two shapes, a circle and some sort of rectangle with a couple of arcs... see in in pic.

The circle is roughly 36mm above the other shape and the centroids are the same. I need these two shapes to merge into each other. I would RULESURF these shapes in CAD back in the day... LOL How can I do this?

The circle is basically the END of a handle and the other shape is part of the base of my product.

If ya need more info let me know... The funny thing is that you may not EVEN SEE this part in the model, but I wanna know how to do it...

Thanx

[percydaman]

well theres multiple ways of doing this. Using loft would be one. it supports multiple shapes along a path.

[Donald2B]

Another way is to use the cross section modifier along with the surface modifier.

And yet another way would be to poly model it.

You could also use something like nPower Nurbs/Solids, they are great for stuff like this...obviously they are not free.

As always, Percy has already mentioned the easiest method.

[EricCamper]

Yeah, but unfortunatly those are things I have never learned how to do, since I am bascially a self taught Architectural modeler. LOL... Gonna have to do some research...

Like on the loft. it seems to only do two things, neither of which are what I want.lol

[beestee]

I find the loft compound object to be a very picky tool, yet the difficulty of using it is rooted mostly in it's versatility. Be assured that you will not be wasting your time to learn how it works.

The cross section and surface method is probably the easiest to pick up and learn, and is probably better suited to creating this particular object.

[EricCamper]

picked up a good youtube video on cross section and I think I have it... gonna try it out tomorrow

[Donald2B]

Another thing to remember, especially when dealing with multiple shapes within a single loft, is the each shape has the same number of verticies. Also make sure that the starting vertex in each spline are in the same general side of the shape so that you minimize the amount of twisting you may get with different shapes.

After spending some quality time with nPower Nurbs, it is really hard to go back to some of these tools. It is just nice to have a good set of Nurbs tools at my fingertips!

[Neilg]

This is a bit of a mes because I whipped it up in 2 mins, but i'd do it something like this:



About 6 months ago I decided to try and learn poly modeling, and while I dont know much (i've never tried a car or person) it has come in incredibly helpful so far.