Community
3ds Max Modeling
Welcome to Autodesk’s 3ds Max Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular 3ds Max modeling topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Vertex welding

14 REPLIES 14
Reply
Message 1 of 15
Anonymous
489 Views, 14 Replies

Vertex welding

Hi,

I seem to have the worst luck with welding shapes together - in that even if I have 2 vertices irght
on top of each other they won't weld. I have set the threshold to a country mile and it still won't co-operate.

Basically what I'm doing is creating a shape (circle) then creating a rectangle, with start
new shape "off", then trying to join the 2 into one shape by welding them together - ala
selecting the 2 vertices and clicking the "Weld" button. But, like I said above - 9 times
out of 10 it just won't weld for me.

What am I doing wrong? 🙂

Thanks
Daf
14 REPLIES 14
Message 2 of 15
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

You really, really need to do the tutorials which ship with Max. This is basic spline
manipulation - if you don't learn and understand the basics then you'll come unstuck at every turn.

The simple answer to your question is - you can't. A spline is simply a number of vertices
connected by segments, either open (as in a single line) or closed (as in a circle). Any
given vertex can have at most 2 segments connected to it. They cannot "branch" as
in in a letter "Y".

An Editable Spline object may contain many Splines - open and/or closed - but they
remain individual splines similar to (but not the same as) Elements in an Editable Poly.
You can boolean shapes (splines) together, but the result is still going to be an individual
spline. What you can do is to remove unwanted segments (so you have 2 open
splines) then weld the end vertices together - because they only have one segment
attached to them (prior to the weld). See the images below.


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

Message 3 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Why is the text running outside ot the entry boxes in this thread and correct in all the other threads?

Mark
Message 4 of 15
Tim_Wilbers
in reply to: Anonymous

Why is the text running outside ot the entry
boxes in this thread and correct in all the other threads?

Mark


Known issue and has been reported.
Its due to the horizontal pixel size of the attached image.

I edited the posts in this thread be inserting an <Enter> to create line-breaks.
Message 5 of 15
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

Oops - sorry about that.

I'll redo that image vertically.

Fixed 🙂

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

Message 6 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

"What you can do is to remove unwanted segments (so you have 2 open splines) then weld the end vertices together - because they only have one segment attached to them (prior to the weld)."

I'm sorry I wasn't clear - that is exactly what I'm trying to do. I have removed segments from the 2 shapes and am trying to now weld the 2 "partial" shapes together in what will be one spline.

I'll post a screenshot when I get back to that machine to show what I mean. 🙂

Daf
Message 7 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Wow, Tim, you're right on top of it! Thanks for the quick fix.

Mark
Message 8 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Steve,

Having revisited both the Max issue and your explanation I see where I was going wrong. I think I have a better handle on it now - thanks so much!

Daf
Message 9 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

I've been studying max for a year now and realized it was time to go back to the basics when finding myself stuck at times and in going through them I became stuck trying to weld vertices. I get that you can't weld them unless they are at the end but if you're using refine/connect to add segments, how do join those extra vertices.....or you just don't.?????? What's the correct way to add segments to an editable spline? What do you do when they are not at the end?
Message 10 of 15
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

It rather depends on exactly what you're trying to do. To simply "split" an existing segment into two, then Refine (without Connect) is the easiest way. Likewise, the easiest way to create a new spline is to use Create Line. The Connect option works rather differently depending on how you answer the pop-up question (Refine or Connect Only). It basically does the same as Create Line, gives you better control over the Vertex Type but doesn't show the completed line until you right-click to cancel further creation. How you answer the pop-up determines whether the new vertex belongs only to the new spline or whether it refines the existing vertex as well. I think the normal response would be Connect Only, but I rarely use that feature, preferring the Create Line instead. It really does depend on the exact circumstances which you use.

Perhaps a couple of screenshots showing where you are getting stuck would help?

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

Message 11 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

I'm doing the knight chess piece tutorial that comes with max. I know this is really simple but like I said I had to get back to the basics here....in adding lines they tell you to use the refine/connect. I've clicked on connect only when that window would pop up but there's still 2 vertices. In create a line it's a seperate line from the spline. Is that ok? Am I missing something? Does everything not have to connect?
Message 12 of 15
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

This is correct. Where 2 splines cross you need a vertex in both. Because you created the vertices in the (vertical) lines when you created them, you only need the vertex in the new spline - hence the Connect Only would be correct. Clicking Refine (in the popup) would give you an extra vertex on the original spline which you don't want.

Basically, wherever 2 splines cross you need 2 vertices - one on each spline. they need to be coincident (have the same coordinates) because if they become separated the Surface Modifier won't work properly. If that happens, select both and click Fuse - that works almost identically to Weld, but doesn't actually weld them, just moves them to the same place.

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

Message 13 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

So if I'm getting this correctly, two vertices on top of each other are ok? There's no need to join them into one?
Message 14 of 15
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

Where two splines cross - yes it's fine, because there's actually no way to weld them, only to Fuse them so they occupy the same place. What you don't want though are two coincident vertices on the same spline - the Surface probably wouldn't like that at all.

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

Message 15 of 15
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Thank-you! Your quick response and advice is VERY appreciated!

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report