Fabric Canopy/Awning - how to model?

[voltron7]

I've got to recreate a real awning set, and I am wondering if anyone has good ideas for making them in max.
Prefer to use out of the box max stuff, if possible...

Thanks for any advice here!

[joconnell]

Do some splines for the front and back edge of the surface, then use the connect and surface modifiers to get a nice lofted surface would be my first thought.

[rivoli]

I'd probably polymodel them, it would be the quickest method for me.

[flino2004]

I don't model stuff in max but in Rhino those models could be done in very few minutes.... 3Dpolylines for the borders and patch.

[squintnic]

poly model?

[voltron7]

Thanks for all the ideas
In this case, I will use Railclone.

[Vizioen]

Care to elaborate how railclone could be of use here? I would've done it with a spline loft or polymodelling.

[Neilg]

Yeah i dont think railclone would be good for this. I cant see how you'd use it in a reasonable time.

Shift drag edges with meshsmooth on. Make the front shape, make the back shape, bridge them together. it's like 15 minutes work and the base under the meshsmooth could be less than 20 polys so it's super easy to adjust.

[voltron7]

Thanks Neilg! So, the Railclone thing is definitely possible, although not really any faster. It is better in the sense that there is a degree of parametric ability, but still must do the initial model/spline work.
I'm going to try a couple approaches, in addition to Railclone.
Here is a screen of a sample from itoo's incredible support...


Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions

[Donald2B]

I typically use Neilg's approach for these. I have also used the spline modeling technique too.

I'm really interested in seeing how you put together that railclone setup! Looks very interesting!

[voltron7]

Donald2B, I still have to make a low surface and then a spline from that surface's border.
Than in Railclone there are two operators. One for the fabric and ribs, another for the edges.
The Railclone gets assigned to the surface, and the spline from the border, is used as a clipping plane.
It's still going to take as long to create, but will have a bit more freedom if it needs changes.
Mostly, I asked to see if was even possible, but it's not really a time-saver.

[Donald2B]

Yea, I was thinking more along the lines of once you have something like this setup, you could easily make variations of it, or apply it to other situations.