Soft blending between boolean meshes like Modo Meshfusion

[OccultMonk]

Modo Meshfusion can create topology based chamfers between boolean polygonal meshes. The current boolean implementations in 3ds Max are only useful as either a starting point for modeling in combination with Quadify or Quad Chamfer To simulate rounding. However these last options only work on quite simple and mostly flat meshes.

The main code of an Autodesk alternative to Modo's MeshFusion could also re-used in for example Maya. This is the main advantage of Modo over 3dsmax and Maya at the moment (for me).

[Kranos_Orphydian]

so what is solid ? this means the models cannot be empty inside ?

[michael_spaw]

See if this helps with the concept. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_modeling in short solid model representations are very different than polygonal models composed of discrete faces, and  vertices

[metalman123456123]

@michael_spaw No kidding.  I have been using this software for over 13 years.  I have been doing CGI for over 14 years.  This can be done in a standard poly modeler.  Modo, Blender, Hell even Maya has tools written for this and smooth Booleans was tool being written for Max.  Every year you guys put features that no one is asking for.  There are hundreds of thread posts asking for this.  The price of the software went up again to a 190 dollar a month.  Its unacceptable.  Put this feature into the program.  I know for a fact you guys where working  on this I was on the beta team when it was suppose to be out in 2017.  We are begging you.  Max users have to jump through at least 2 other programs that modo users are able to do in one.  Max and Autodesk are not listening to their users.  Nearly every single person at a Tripple A studio who uses max is looking for this.  The snide comment about it not being a solid modeler is frankly rude.  Don't tell me this cant be done.  Im so close to droping max all together.  I know plenty of long time max users that are in the exact same boat.  The booleans with splines was something no one was asking for.  Put resources where your customers need them.  Don't dismiss your users.  Over the last 13 years I've spent alot of money on autodesk products and frankly I'm an inch away from dropping your software all together.  Fix your product and fix your customer service.  

[metalman123456123]

Also fusion converts the objects to an STL or obj file you could do this with an exteral C++ prorgram.  Of if you want to make it even easier just do send to fusion and then send to max. 

[metalman123456123]

Or you guys can just do a strip over the intersection.  

[michael_spaw]

No worries i was interested in what the author was looking for if it is indeed to have a mesh fusion like feature there is already an idea for this that has been set to be a future consideration. https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-ideas/soft-blending-between-boolean-meshes-like-modo-meshfusi...

new votes and comments should be added to that idea vs setting up a new one.

Thanks

[metalman123456123]

What is the number that you guys need?  I know for a fact that this has been asked about since modo released this.  You guys max users have been put on the back burner for years.  And we are one of Autodesks highest grossing product.  Are you guys going to put this into max.  If not let us know so we can move onto modo and stop spending money on software package that doesn't have the features we need.

[mad.kaveh]

default boolean operation inside max really annoying please see this little application how much is powerful and nic please improv that 3d max has this ability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5r3xc_Go3o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5r3xc_Go3o

https://youtu.be/X5r3xc_Go3o

[mad.kaveh]

[Anonymous]

Sorry for almost 10 years I had advertised (in the beta crew)...

I talked about it as soon as Mesh Fusion came out ...
And also the philisophy of Houdini ...

Promises, and still promises, your pace is TOO slow ...

How many customers have you lost?
How much stock on the stock market?
How many schools have stopped using 3ds MAX seriously ?

You lost the match !
The door is open  !

[electrotoast_old]

@metalman123456123 since we haven't come out and archived this already means we are considering it. The higher the number the better. We do pick some Ideas that are low numbered that fit into work we are already doing. On the other side, we're doing what we can to tackle the highest rated Ideas as they come. Many of those are bigger initiatives that do take time, but we are committed to tackling them.

@Anonymous This past year is the first time ever we've put out 4 Updates that included both features and fixes. We introduced Fluids into Update 3 when people thought we couldn't. We are moving faster.

With regards to your questions, I will answer them, but I would ask that we don't keep going back and forth as the point of the post is to talk about the feature request overall. If you feel the need, you are welcome to PM me.

How many customers have you lost? While people do leave, there are those that come back, and we continue to get new users despite what some people might perceive. Our numbers are a net increase year over year.

How much stock on the stock market? If you look at the publicly available historical data over 5 years, we have had steady growth with a decent climb starting a couple years ago. In fact, we're currently priced 3.5x higher than we were in 2016. That's not too bad.

How many schools have stopped using 3ds MAX seriously? Just like commercial customers come and go so do schools. We have numbers ourselves and they are high both in raw edu footprint and also site labs of 3ds Max being used. We have talked with companies that have had trouble finding 3ds Max based talent and worked together to change their strategies about where they're looking. The students are out there.

On personal note, I myself learned on Maya first. That didn't keep me from applying to companies that were 3ds Max based. Either companies aren't willing to train up incoming students because of the time/money paradox, they're looking in the wrong places, or students aren't willing to add to their toolset.

[Anonymous]

I would like to see a completely new boolean workflow/toolkit that would be a hybrid of Proboolean/New Max booleans.

Having a reworked legacy toolset AND an ancient but still very powerful Proboolean toolset is somewhat redundant. Looking at something like MOP Booleans plugin for Modo I can only wish that this approach could be implemented in Max.

Even though Proboolean was YEARS ahead of its time it is now very much aged and uncared for. An example of just dumping a plugin into Max and forgetting about it.

The attempt to modernise the legacy booleans was admirable, but it is clunky and takes a bad approach. When developing tools like this artists need to be involved heavily. It is the only way to ensure that the tools work fast and effciently, and with as little messing about with dialogue boxes and scrolling through panels. Hotkeys/pie menus are the only way a tool like a boolean kit should behave.

Although Proboolean is great, it's missing a few key features that would really set it off: ghosted operands, ability to edit the base object at vert/edge/face level whilst operands are live, a pie menu that can be customised.(digging around in the command panel is just a waste of valuable time), and perhaps an auto-vert cleaner.

Moving away from the clunky and dated workflow - of fiddling around in the operand stack in the command panel and having to endlessly move up and down the editable poly stack is just tiresome and not efficient. The hotkey/pie menu workflow would modernise the whole experience no end.

Also, the fact that the new booleans in Max create an invisible spline at intersections can only lead me to believe that implementing some sort of dynamic chamfering based on intersections(a-la Modo Meshfusion) would be more than possible.

[Anonymous]

This is possible with workarounds: "ghosted operands, ability to edit the base object at vert/edge/face level whilst operands are live"

• Any operand extracted or created as instance can be used in ghost mode and edited at same time modifies the boolean.
• If you create an instance of the base object before to do the boolean you can edit it live.

[Anonymous]

Those are only workarounds, would be nice to be integrated.

Something I find very confusing is that the new booleans are called booleans and the older more outdated ones pro booleans.

[Anonymous]

I think those two features are already in the 2017 boolean compound (more advanced than pro boolean), ghosting and being able to edit the base.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know about all of those 'workarounds', but that's just my point. I don't want to always have to find workarounds for things that are only 'half feautures', abandoned plugins, and tools that never get taken any further than there initial implementation in Max. Small simple things that can really change a workflow. As I said above, the new booleans are a decent start, but are still only a half feature. Never taken any further. There is so much potential there for a fully functional and modern boolean toolkit, to compete with the fantastic 3rd-party tools that the other big DCC have, but yet again, Max gets another piece of abandonware.

[Anonymous]

Seems similar to:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-ideas/hard-mesh-for-3ds-max-real-time-boolean-operations-with...

[Anonymous]

The best solution is to ditch Max completely and pick up Modo or Maya. The max team is working on features that no one really wants. I switched to Modo and I'm going to try and convince my boss to make this a company wide change until one day Max catches up. You can use the weird boolean spline update in Max 2019 but you're better off moving on. It just seems like Max is second priority to Maya development. 

People have been waiting years for this kind of update, and instead they've been working on bifrost for max. Seriously?! Move on, ditch Max.

[Anonymous]

After looking at the 2019 Max update I'm convinced that Max is going to be nothing more than a fancier version of sketch up. Pick up modo, ditch max.

You ask for Mesh Fusion and off autodesk gives you bifrost or spline boolean instead. Don't waste anymore time with Max.

[Anonymous]

@AnonymousNo.