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Array along an ellipse

9 REPLIES 9
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Message 1 of 10
s3101959
2049 Views, 9 Replies

Array along an ellipse

Hi There,

 

I just wonder if anyone knows how can i array the pink extrudes along the path ellipseevenly . I tired the snapshot and animation combination and also the align> spaceing tool command but the outcomes are not as I expected. Is there anyone knows the solution for this.

 

Cheers

array.jpg

9 REPLIES 9
Message 2 of 10
s3101959
in reply to: s3101959

The outcome from using spacing tool will not be ab le to align all the extrudes towards a center (please see the picture as below). Cheers

 

array2.jpg

Message 3 of 10
Daf
Advisor
in reply to: s3101959

Are you trying to create a cage like effect? Did you try the Array tool? It should work - set the pivot point of pink objects to the center of the cirles and set how many you want.

3DS Max 2020.3
i7-4790 @4GHz • 32GB • GTX 1080/8GB • Windows 7 Pro
Message 4 of 10
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Daf

That's the problem - they're ellipses, not circles - and the Array tool creates circular arrays. Adding an Edit Poly to the Ellipse allows it to be used as the Distribution Object of a Scatter compound object, but it creates too many objects and they're not aligned correctly.
Maybe there's something over at scriptspot.com which would help?

Max 2016 (SP1/EXT1)
Win7Pro x64 (SP1). i5-3570K @ 4.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX11.
nVidia GTX760 (2GB) (Driver 430.86).

Message 5 of 10
PROH
in reply to: s3101959

Hi. You need to set the spacing tool to "Follow". Uses this technic often, and it works well. However in your case with tree ellipses, it will only works if the smal ellipses are "offset" with an equally distance - not percentage. If they are scaled you need to be creative. Here's an idea that might work in such case (haven't tried it yet):

1) Create 3 ellipses that are exactly alike and place them as in your picture.
2) In top view create a line object that snaps to all 3 top vertices (one on each ellipse)
3) Use the spacing tool to make clones around the ellipses - remember "follow"
4) Select the end vertices and end ellipses and scale them to the right size. Select one end at a time and scale at sub-object level.
5) Give all you lines thickness or use the Sweep modifier to do so

Hope it helps
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
3dsMax 4.2 to 2018
AutoCAD 2000 to 2018
Infrastructure Design Suite Premium 2012 to 2018

Message 6 of 10
s3101959
in reply to: PROH

Using circular array only work for perfect circles. I tried spacing tool as you can see the image below. Would that be the reason of some settings such as the pivot location? 

 

The second question is what is the best way to self learn 3d Max? I can see there are many courses and videos out there but I would like to find out the most effieient one. Frustration is skill my motivation sometimes that leadts to irrationality lol.

 

Millions of thanks

 

Ivan

 

array3.jpg

Message 7 of 10
PROH
in reply to: s3101959

Hi. Yes objects are placed and angled according to the pivot point. Reg. the best way to learn Max, I personally find the Max help files very good. Especially as a starting point.

Hope it helps
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
3dsMax 4.2 to 2018
AutoCAD 2000 to 2018
Infrastructure Design Suite Premium 2012 to 2018

Message 8 of 10
s3101959
in reply to: PROH

It really helps. I am really interested to know how the placement of objects in positions and angles affect the array outcomes. I also experimented the follow selection does not do what i expected but i not sure how to explain it. Please see attach images. 

 

comparision.jpg

Message 9 of 10
s3101959
in reply to: PROH

It really helps. I am really interested to know how the placement of objects in positions and angles affect the array outcomes. I also experimented the follow selection does not do what i expected but i not sure how to explain it. Please see attach images. 

 

comparision.jpg

Message 10 of 10
PROH
in reply to: s3101959

Hi. Looks like your "box" is placed 90 degree wrong. This can be fixed in 1 of 2 ways:

1) Simply rotate them. Select all boxes - set "Coordinate Center" to "Use Pivot" and set "Reference Coordinate System" to "Gimbal" - rotate the appropriate axis until it fits (do it by numbers)

2) Second method is to adjust the original object before cloning. Instead of rotating the pivot (which doesn't always work as expected), you should rotate the element on sub-object level.

Hope it helps
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
3dsMax 4.2 to 2018
AutoCAD 2000 to 2018
Infrastructure Design Suite Premium 2012 to 2018

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