How to make a complex multi element model lose all the polygons "inside" (as if boolean-union would do, but a quicker way for lots of elements)

[stan]

I imagine it as a virtual 3d scan -  it would leave just the visible details on the surface, merging all the chaos inside.

I'm an experienced 3dsmax user, but can't seem to find a way to do this. Thanks in advance!

[MartinBeh]

That is a great question - that many people would like an answer to, especially those having to deal with CAD data (with all the interior detail).

I have seen people use particle systems or render-to-texture to do such kind of "visibility tests for interior removal" but none of that is really bullet-proof for complex geometry or transparent surfaces.

There are commercial 3rd party products for this, such as InstaLOD, Meshmatic - maybe Unreal's DataSmith can do this, too?

[dmitriy.shpilevoy]

Dynamesh might do the trick.

If you need max only solution, I would try to voxel it, retopo, then do few iterations of subdivide+conform.

[stan]

Thanks!

I found this 3dsmax plugin that does the trick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx9LO-qtgAA

[miauuuu]

If this is a single object, select all elements(faces) of interest and hide them(you can do this for Editable Poly objects for example). Then delete all elements visible in the viewport, they are all "inside". Unhide all hidden faces(elements).

If you are working with multiple objects, you can check what this script can do - miauu's Select by visibility.