Awesome Boolean Modeling

[Hyperventilation]

Greetings. 

I found MeshFusion plugin for Modo not long ago. http://vimeo.com/85143354 .   For me it was a revolution in modeling process. You can use standart boolean operations in polygonal modeling to get an object with awesome geometry and nice topology. This is a decision of many problems in my work, such as creation of complex surfaces with prominent text or ornament on it, without using any spline modeling or messing around with polygons. My question is: is there any plugin like this in Autodesk software? Maybe in Fusion 360? Thanks.

[innovatenate · Accepted solution]

It seems you would be able to take advantage of the timeline/parametric modeling capabilities native in Fusion 360 to accomplish a similar workflow. I've made a quick screencast to demonstrate what I mean.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Hyperventilation]

Thanks a lot man! Very helpfull video. Sorry that didn't answer, just saw your reply. I've downloaded Fusion 360 - awesome stuff. But I have one more question. I make bottle models, and I often need to create complex surfaces with  prominent text or ornament on it. Something like  this . I saw a nice video tutorial for Inventor. Is it possible to do such things in Fusion 360? And another question is: how can export such models to 3d max? Thank you.

[innovatenate]

Sorry for the delay in response, I just noticed the additional questions. I'm glad that you are liking Fusion 360.

There is not an emboss text tool like Inventor; however, there are tools that will allow you to emboss text like project to surface. There's a Tip Tuesday video here that shows one way to emboss text in Fusion 360 in the below link using the Extrude "To" Extents option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYpDpDGdX5g

As for reading in 3D Max, we can export STL, SAT, and Inventor File formats from Fusion 360 which I believe are supported by 3DS Max (if my memory serves me correctly). You can find more tips about data exchange in Fusion 360 in the below tip. There may be some formats I'm overlooking. 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/post-your-tips-and-tutorials/data-exchange-in-fusion-360-build-2-0-129...

Let me know if this answers your quesitons or if you have any further questions..

Thanks,

[Hyperventilation]

Wow, nice links! Thank you very much. I think it's pretty clear for me now. I'll write here if I have any questions. Nice support, thanks again.

[cekuhnen]

Mh I am not so happy with the mesh fusion. the mesh data in Modo is terribly complex. In Blender I do the normal boolean without edge rounding, and then in Fusion as Nathan shows do the job the right way, with doing the trimming and edge roundings with NURBS tools and in addition also have more control.

the only thing that really impresses me with mesh fusion is the calculation speed - that is fantastic!

[Hyperventilation]

I agree that mesh data in Modo is very complex. But I find it very helpful for my tasks - creating boolean objects for static renders. Never worked in Blender. I think I'll try the way you suggest. Thank you.

[cekuhnen]

The time line in fusion is fantastic. I love that feature. And thankfully it covers obj or ts models into nurbs on the fly

[cekuhnen]

For quick concepts the Modo Fusion tool is great, I just found for the price Modo offers pretty weak modeling tools. I use Blender a lot not because it is free but because it offers a similar modeling workflow with features like Fusion. So you can build boolean solids, trim volumes, etc. and later bring the OBJ quad mesh data into Fusion, covert all into BREP via TSpline and then use the fantastic timeline and Fusions NURBS tools to finish the design including much much better fillets etc.

One of the major flows of Modo's Fusion is also you have not much control over the shape of a fillet, and in case you want to custom create blend surfaces the software cannot to is at all. So you shell out a lot of money for a somewhat limited tool.


For me that is the beauty of Fusion as it allows you to work with polygon data, convert it on the fly into BREP (flat mesh to BREP - or organic quad mesh to TS to BREP) and via the timeline you can work on the NURBS but switch into the TS mode and adjust your poly data, exit sculpt, and Fusion will update the TS to BREP and the following surface/solid commands.

Kinda a dream!

[Hyperventilation]

I think you are right. My friend told me almost the same thing about problems with fillets in Mesh Fusion. It'd be nice if Blender could help me with booleans. I really don't like booleans in 3d max.

Honestly, I spent a lot of time thinking about What software is better for my tasks. Using 3d Max for modeling bottles with complex shapes is a nightmare. That's what i did all this time. I think your method is a nice decision. I'll try it. Thanks a lot for detailed explanation.

P.S. Sorry for my English.

[cekuhnen]

Well if the modeling tools in fusion with tsplines ate what you need them you might not need a different poly modeler. I simply use blender because our had so many modeling tools which ts does not and cannot have. But in blender I strictly model how I would in fusion so after I transer the mesh data all will work.

I think those two are terrific apps to work together.


Do you have some screenshots of the bottles you did?

[Hyperventilation]

Here are some examples of my work. I used 3D Max (and Inventor for black bottle). And here are some glass bottles I made in 3D Max too www.keendesign.ru (but these shapes are not complex). Inventor is pretty nice for these tasks but it's really hard for me to work with parametric modeling, especially switching between 3D Max and Inventor. It's not so easy for my brain)) And what do you think about Rhino?

[cekuhnen]

I love and hate Rhino. It is easy, cheap, but has many flaws. The surface quality is a problem sometimes.

An alternative might be MOI which is 1/4 of the price and focuses only on surfaceing tools.

The sculpting tools are much better than what Inventor/Fusion offers. You have better 3D sketching

and cage editing options. But it is not parametric at all.

SolidThinking or Alias are much better alternatives. ST I would prefer over Alias.

Those bottles are pretty nice. With Fusion they would not be a problem but I think such shapes

are in general labor intensive with such tools compared to sub-d.

They nice part about Fusion is that it offers TS which allows you to turn mesh data into Breps.

So if modeling the body in Fusion is to hard use Modo 3Dmax or Blender and finish the design

in Fusion with TS and needed nurbs tools.

[Hyperventilation]

I think I'll try your advice about combination of Blender and Fusion. Thanks again for informative replies. They were very helpful.

[cekuhnen · Accepted solution]

ja give it a try, sculpting with sub-d and then adding features such as threadings etc would be nice with Fusion.