topic Re: Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object in 3ds Max Modeling Forum

Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object

remodeler8 — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 21:26:47 GMT

Hello,

I need help in figuring out how to model an object (a piece of metal) to fit the irregular surface of another solid object. I do not want to have the two objects connected but have the second object have a positive shape of a negative shape on the surface of the first object. I want the second object to be moveable away from the first and accurately fit to first object when they come into contact with each other. I hope this is not totally confusing. I have looked for help, but I don't really know what to call it as I "Google" or look in 3ds Max help, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

Re: Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object

CAMedeck — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:31:52 GMT

Some images may help us understand exactly what you're trying to do. But based on your description, look into the Conform compound object. It will take one surface and conform it to another. But it may not be the best option, depending on what kind of object you're trying to fit and what your irregular surface is like.

Re: Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object

remodeler8 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 21:07:22 GMT

Hi camedeck,

In response to your response, I am enclosing three photos that I hope will explain what I am trying to do. The model has several teeth missing which will be replaced using a removable partial denture. In the photo with the partial dentures seated on the teeth, you can see several areas of metal that fit against the surfaces of the teeth. With the partial denture removed from the teeth, on close examination, you can see areas of the teeth that have been reshaped where the metal is in contact with the teeth. The metal has to fit these reshaped areas very accurately for the partial denture to work properly. These are the areas of most concern to me in doing my modeling for this project. I will first have to model all of the teeth and then do the "reshaping" in preparation for modeling the metal framework. So what I would like to be able to do is model the metal framework against the "reshaped" areas so the fit will be very accurate. Some of the other areas are less critical than the metal resting on the teeth, so I think I will not have any real issues doing them. Do you think that I could use the Boolean approach or is there a better way to achieve my goals? I would be really appreciative of any additional help that you might have. By the way, I tried one thing that you mentioned, but it did not do what I was after, so I am still looking for a good method to do my modeling.

Thanks for your help,

Tom

Re: Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object

Stefan_L — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 09:08:23 GMT

Why don't you simply detach-as-clone the teeth's contact area, flip the normals and model the metal from there?

Re: Creating an object to fit the irregular surface of another object

remodeler8 — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 16:16:23 GMT

Stefan,

Thanks for your reply and suggestion. I have tried your suggested approach and I am having some degree of success with it. Since it is something that I have not done before, I am doing a lot of trial and error things, but I think that eventually I can make it work. Since I don't have a definite time deadline, I can take as much time as necessary to learn along the way and hopefully, I will get some useable results eventually.

Again, thanks

Tom