topic Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean? in 3ds Max Modeling Forum

Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

guido77 — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 01:26:39 GMT

Hi there,

I need to cut the blue mesh below at the intersection with that other volume.

I can use the cut tool but there has to be an automatic way of doing it without having to use boolean. No?

I'd want to have just cuts at the intersection with the solid you see on the picture.

Why not boolean? because it's not doing it right. Also it's very unstable.

The mesh I want to cut is not a solid.

I rather not use quickslice because it cuts through polygons I don't need cuts on.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

bob.bernstein — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 19:03:03 GMT

I'm not a big fan of boolean, but not for reasons like "its not doing it right". I will use boolean if its the quickest path. You could use 2.5 snaps and the cut tool, but you'll go nuts due to the number of verts in your blue object. You could use shape merge after makeing a shape of the cut tool, but it also puts a bunch of garbage into your mesh. Are you going to use a smoothing modifier on your blue mesh eventually?

My sense is that boolean is as good as any method for this one.

Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

guido77 — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 19:29:13 GMT

Thanks for replying.

Boolean is just doing a mess. It's basically removing entire polygons, who knows why.

I tried adding a shell modifier to the flat mesh so both objects are solids. Nothing....

Something similar is happening with ShapeMerge. It traces the line only on some polygons. But not all of them. So it's pretty much useless.

I'm not applying a turbosmooth or anything else that changes the geometry. No.

It's crazy that something that seems so simple it's so hard to do...or so labor intensive considering that I need to do it by hand in the end.

Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

bob.bernstein — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:39:53 GMT

Understood, I have had similar problems in which boolean just won't work. The key here is that your blue object is incredibly complex. How did you generate that complex topology on the blue part?

I'm wondering out loud here, but what if you created the ultimate shape of the blue part BEFORE you create that topology. Now the boolean will probably work and maybe the parts of the topology that fit outside the cut will just be ignored?

It looks a bit like an import object, so this may not work....but the problem is a tough one.

Many folks here more experienced than I...perhaps an easy answer exists, but I may need to learn it alongside you.

Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 03:26:02 GMT

try proboolean !!!

goodluck !!! 🙂

try this, it use proboolean

Edited by
Discussion_Admin

Re: Is there a way to cut a mesh with an object without using Boolean?

guido77 — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 15:46:45 GMT

I finally found the best way to do it: Pro Cutter.

Procedure:

Before you start, make sure that the volume you want to use as the cutter object is not a volume. So just leave the plane that intersects the object to cut.

Select the cutting object, and then go to Geometry/Compound Objects/ProCutter

In Modify, under Cutting Parameters, choose both Stock Outside Cutter and Stock inside Cutter if what you want is to simply subdivide the mesh.

Click on Pick stock objects, and select the mesh to cut.

Done.

I recommend converting the mesh to editable mesh or poly afterwords.