Multi-Cut Tool Error: polyChipOff works only on polygonal faces

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

I'm getting used to Maya after having not used it for about five years, and have a mesh with several hundred thousand faces that I'm trying to slice along the horizontal plane (for starters). It took me forever just to get it into Maya from SketchUp, and now it's giving me an error that "polyChipOff works only on polygonal faces" when I try to use Multi-Cut to slice and extract faces. 

Can anyone help me fix this? It's been holding me back for weeks now, and I'm running out of time for this project. My file is too big to fit here, but I can Dropbox it/send it otherwise if anyone is willing to take a stab at it.

Thank you!

[mspeer]

Hi

Try a reset of your preferences.
Rename the folder prefs in folder 2018 to something like prefs_backup, or to reset everything, the folder 2018 to 2018_backup (or even the maya folder to maya_backup). Maya creates new folders (don't copy preferences from previous Maya versions). Detailed at:
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Reset-May...

For further help please upload a scene-file (you can delete most faces of the object as long as the problem shows up, and delete history after to shrink file size)

[Anonymous]

Hi -

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately this is a brand new download of Maya on a computer it's never been on before, so I don't think that's the issue. I managed to get the thing sliced after doing some kind of magic, but accidentally did so on the wrong model and now can't remember how I did it. Some cleanup technique, some selection method, I wish for the life of me I knew. 

Maya just hangs and stalls now if I select the whole object when slicing, to the point where I have to force quit it - over and over again.

I'm also trying to figure out a way to fill in the mesh and cut spheres into it. 

Thanks again!

[mspeer]

Hi!

Again, for further help please upload a scene-file.

[Anonymous]

I'm really trying to upload the scene file, but it's 82.2MB and nothing I do seems to shrink it. I've tried deleting faces and the whole object disappears; the scene optimization doesn't do anything, either. 

Here's a link to the file on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17_0DBmV3nHIgIwwAJsE37MWToSq0MFl5 

To reiterate, my current challenges are 1) cutting the mesh in half along the horizontal plane (through the thinnest part of the outer ring evently), and 2) filling the interior so that the walls have thickness and each of the 9 big "bulbs" are hollowed out and connected to adjacent "bulbs". 

Thanks so much!

[mspeer]

Hi!

All faces are already separated and not connected to each other (as test select one and move it).

Use Merge to merge/connect vertices based on a threshold.

1. Use Mirror to cut in half (Don't use Multi-Cut for this when editing/viewing so much Polygons at once).

2. Use Extrude for thickness

I also recommend to update your Maya to the latest version.

[Anonymous]

Hey!

I figured it out yesterday and got it cut in half, ended up using Multi-Tool and going through a painful several hour process of fixing the ruined triangular faces. Now I have this: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n0J6J98isZ5mmIg1OwW1NUDYEMowmMke

I went through the laborious effort of making and connecting each "bulb" divet by hand, and then inserting bridges at key points so the fill hole tool would work, but I'm finding now that the fill hole is making my life harder rather than easier (I have to cut this thing into thirds so it can be 3D printed). How would you have used the extrude tool to thicken the walls? I wasn't sure what to select; when I tried, everything just inverted and became a mess of spiky polygons.

Thanks for all your patience.