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Some Vertex Modeller Extruding Questions

eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
edited June 2014 in Carrara Discussion

I'm doing an extrusion in vertex modeller.

I've only been able to eyeball it at the moment. Is there a way to enter accurate measurements?

There is an "OFFSET" field but I've not been able to make it extrude on any axis other than Z with this.
Is there a way to use other axes?

I've figured out you can constrain it to X axis with SHIFT key and the Z axis with CTRL key, but not been able to constrain to Y axis.
Is there a key for that?

Post edited by eyesee on

Comments

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited December 1969

    Newbie? … It is a question of expert here !

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited June 2014

    Sorry, Newbie as in new to Carrara :-)

    EDIT: I've taken the "NEWBIE" out of the title of thread.

    Post edited by eyesee on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125
    edited December 1969

    Here is a Carrara Cafe link to the shortcuts that I know of, with instructions on how to customize them.

    http://carraracafe.com/wp-content/wps-content/forum/625/1_carrara_8_shortcuts___1.2.pdf

    Didn't see one for what you want, but I only skimmed it.

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited June 2014

    Thanks for the link, but it doesn't even document the SHIFT & CTRL constraining keys. Had to figure them out myself.
    Neither does it document ALT+right mouse & ALT+left mouse for Dolly and Pan in any window not just editor. :-/

    EDIT:

    Probably because you can't customise them. But I've not been able to find these documented elsewhere.

    Post edited by eyesee on
  • evilnoodleevilnoodle Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    That alt+left/right click thing == awesome!

    Thanks for sharing! that is going to make life just that little bit easier!

    EvilNoodle

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,326
    edited December 1969

    You can set the grid size and then go to View > Snap to Grid
    So just make sure that you begin with the correct measurement and extrusion will only occur when you've made it at least one snap in size, but you may go to more than one snap. So if you set the grid size to 1 inch, you can extrude out three inch extrusions if you like, but not .5 inch and so on.

    That's the quickest way that I know of. So if you need to make several extrusions at different sizes, set the grid to a common measurement. So if your extrusions are all a full inch, foot, mm, etc., just set the grid to a full size. But if you need quarters and halves, set it to a quarter, and just drag to two snaps to get the half, etc.,

    Does that help at all?

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Thanks Dartenbeck,

    Didn't think to use snap to grid. I'll experiment with it, see if I can get the hang of it. :)

  • McGuiverMcGuiver Posts: 219
    edited June 2014

    Have you played with dynamic extrusion?
    You can enter a value in the manual offset box......
    negative values extrude the selection outward, positive values extrude the selection inward.

    I use dynamic extrusion all the time....one of the handiest tools in the vertex modeler.

    Post edited by McGuiver on
  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited December 1969

    HI Eyesee :)

    As you model,. you can extrude the shape you want, then select any edge loop and use the Numerical inputs on the right hand panel to position that edge where you want it to be.

    that also applies to meshes, polygons and vertices,. they can all be positioned accurately after you've made them

    As Dartanbeck points out,. the Grid settings and "snap to" will allow you to extrude in Fixed measurements, but even without using Snap to grid, you can extrude once, then set the position using the numerical inputs.

    one drawback with the snap to grid option is that,.. If your edge is currently located at 1.2, rather than 1.00, when you enable snap to grid, the next extrusion will be set to 2.2, instead of snapping to the grid displayed lines, it snaps the extrusion to the set measurement.

    The "Offset" is an offset of the original shape (outline),. not a fixed step value for each extrusion, It either expands of contracts the original shape.

    As you mention, Shift and Ctrl will lock the extrusion to horizontal and vertical.(from the direction of the face or edge being extruded)

    In the Right hand extrusion panel, you should see a set of icons for the different types of standard extrusion envelope
    the different extrusion types will allow you to extrude in different ways,..for example creating bending extrusions like Air vent ducting or pipework,.
    experiment with the different extrusion types to see how each one can be used.

    Hope it helps :)

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    3DAGE:

    That's just what I was looking for 3DAGE. Think I've got it now. :coolsmile:

    You have to come out of extrusion and select Translate, Scale or Rotate and enter the values there. Is that what you meant ?


    McGuiver:

    It was the Dynamic Extrusion I was trying to understand. I tried the Offset value but it only used the Z axis. I was trying to scale on X & Y axes.

  • Design AcrobatDesign Acrobat Posts: 459
    edited December 1969

    Don't forget about PATH SWEEP. This is a tool next to the dynamic extrusion tool that requires a path and a cross section.

    Not only can one get very precise with measurement using the grid, the angles are only limited by the cross sections diameters. Plus the cross section can be ANY SHAPE. Very handy for making custom paths, such as that is in jewelry or aircraft parts or many other things.

    The options in the side panel are quite similar to dynamic extrusion. If you need precision, path sweep may be the tool to use.


    The images show path sweep and the way of the path can also be smoothed in the render process so it can take the form of a smooth surface even though the path is stepped.

    pathsweep_pipe.jpg
    478 x 352 - 11K
    path_sweep_start.jpg
    628 x 499 - 35K
  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Don't want to jump too far ahead Design Acrobat, as there's an awful lot to get the hang of.
    I'm getting to grips with controlling extrusion but when I get on to Path Sweep I know whom to call on.

    Thanks V Much. ;-)

  • Design AcrobatDesign Acrobat Posts: 459
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    Don't want to jump too far ahead Design Acrobat, as there's an awful lot to get the hang of.
    I'm getting to grips with controlling extrusion but when I get on to Path Sweep I know whom to call on.

    Thanks V Much. ;-)

    You're welcome.

    BTW, there are even more tools to do extrusions, and profiles with cross sections. Some of those are used in modeling aircraft, cars and other things. :)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,326
    edited December 1969

    Just in case you haven't discovered it yet, holding the Ctrl key while dynamic extruding will keep the edge loop the same size as you extrude evenly in the same direction (but perpendicular) as the selected edge or polygons. Inversely, holding the shift key while extruding holds the position of the new extrusion to the selection, but creates either a larger or smaller loop, depending upon direction.

    Easier to see and understand than it is to explain. Just know that if you want to use the Shift Key while extruding, having 'snap to grid' turned on might make it seem that nothing will work. If I start to experience "Nothing happening" while I try to extrude, I always check View menu to see if 'Snap to Grid' is turned on.

    Sometimes I'll be making a base mesh with which I intend to make several extrusions from later, so I need all of the newly created polygons (from extrusion) to be uniform. So rather than messing around with adding edge loops later, I just use Snap to Grid, and extrude out the number of uniform polygons that I need. Often times the next process, where I unlink polygons and make several selection to extrude from that, I'll also want several uniform edges along their way as well, so I leave Snap-to on, extrude and release at each interval for a nice uniform spacing for each column, or whatever I'm extruding, holding down the Ctrl key as I go for nice parallel extrusions.

    So then, for my normal dynamic extrusion process, I need to remember to turn off Snap to Grid. If I don't, I'll immediately notice that it's still on, because slight extrusions won't work.

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Thanks

    I'll try and remember the Snap To Grid advice. I can see I'll be coming across that later on.


    Seen any good Movies lately Dartenbeck. :cheese:

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited June 2014

    McGuiver,

    I can see now how offset will be useful. I was having trouble with it because if you have a loop of faces selected & Link Polygons selected (Pic 1) you get odd result (Pic 2). - Trust me to pick the one thing that gives odd results.

    What I was trying to do was Pic 3 but by entering the values rather than manually. The only way I've found to do this, as 3DAGE suggested, is to do a rough manual extrude, then Scale and enter the exact values.

    Pic_3.PNG
    1918 x 845 - 349K
    Pic_2.PNG
    1921 x 846 - 314K
    Pic_1.PNG
    1919 x 843 - 285K
    Post edited by eyesee on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,326
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    Thanks

    I'll try and remember the Snap To Grid advice. I can see I'll be coming across that later on.


    Seen any good Movies lately Dartanbeck. :cheese:

    Asa matter of fact, I just re-watched all four Pirates of the Caribbean, as one of my new co-workers calls me Jack Sparrow (I always correct her with: "That's Captain Jack Sparrow), and it's been too long.
    Afterwards I watched the Disc 2 documentary from the first movie: Curse of the black Pearl. Cool stuff ;)
  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Haven't seen the fourth one, is it a good un, I enjoyed the first three.

  • rock livretterock livrette Posts: 53
    edited December 1969

    looking at picture three: if it is that, what you are aiming for...did you ever try the "add thickness" command?

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited June 2014

    Thanks for that idea Rock Livrette,

    Didn't even know that command existed, never mind what it did !

    I think that the extrusion I've picked to do is giving Carrara trouble, as that command works fine until you use it on a loop of faces around the outside of the cube. Then it bends the geometry at the edges and you don't have straight lines anymore ???

    If it wasn't for that it would be exactly what I was trying to do.

    EDIT:

    But the main thing I was trying to learn was how to do extrusions with precision.

    Post edited by eyesee on
  • rock livretterock livrette Posts: 53
    edited December 1969

    maybe I found a way around it..........

    second_try.jpg
    1065 x 1980 - 178K
  • rock livretterock livrette Posts: 53
    edited December 1969

    ..and while I was on it I discoverd that extrusion by numbers (at least in one direction at a time) is possible......didn't know it before

    extrude_by_numbers.jpg
    1920 x 1200 - 204K
  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Your first example I'd found after 3DAGE put me on the right lines by saying to do the modelling in rough first and THEN use precision to place it.

    Your second example I hadn't discovered. Definitely having a look at that !


    Thanks :-) Keep reporting any other discoveries

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    Found this video by Mike Moir in the café, which is exactly what I was trying to do.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRixqd4ONug&feature=player_embedded

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