Gmax 1.2 help

beavi501

New member
Hi there i am new to gmax and i need some help. i have mastered the basics but having dificulty with some shapes. Can someone help me create a dome similar to that on top of the telephonebox shown below.

pb1.jpg
 
You could try making a plane, the length and width of your phone box. Set it so it is divided by 4 each way (32 polys) - or to whatever you want. Select each of the four corner vertexs, and have a fiddle with the 'soft selection' rollout. The colours indicate how much the adjacent vertex's will be effected. Take the 'falloff' right down to about 0.4m. Then just move the 4 corners down the Z-axis a wee bit to create the dome effect. Obviously you might need to have a play around to get it perfect, but thats one way - there's likely to me many others too.

gmaxdomeaz7.jpg


Good Luck.
Jonny.
 
Thanks

Thank you johnny. i tried it and it seems work well. like i said i am new to gmax so at the moment its all about learning. These forums really are a great help

Richard
 
G'day beavi501,

Without realising it, I had posted the following response to the identical post you had placed in the "Content Creators" sub-forum (which is where this thread really belongs) and which of itself, is NOT a good idea, simply because it is impossible to keep track of more than one post on any given subject, especially when they're in two separate locations. As a consequence, this response, which would have been first, might have been the answer you wanted...


...When confronted with such a problem, I always return to 'the basics'. Firstly, think about the 'object' you're creating. EXACTLY what is it? In this specific case, we are creating an object that appears to be the outside portion of a slice of a sphere that has the 'round' edges sliced off to make it square. So, let' start with a sphere...

...make it larger in diameter than the 'box' and align it so that it's center is the same as the center X and Y coordinates of the 'box'. Adjust the Z co-ordinate so that only a portion of it appears above the top of the 'box' and so that the outside edge of the sphere just touches each of the four corners of the 'box'. You may find it easier to to this by making the object "see through"...

...now, if we look carefully at the original 'telephone box' we notice that the roof is not perfectly 'round', it is, in fact, ellipsoid. So, we need to 'squash' or 'stretch' the sphere (in the Z direction) a certain amount to make it look right (I would suggest a 'stretch' of about 150%). Having done this, further adjustments are required to return it to the correct position...

...now we only need a portion of the sphere, so add a "SLICE" modifier to the stack and adjust the location of the 'slice plane' vertically so that it is aligned with the top of the 'box' and, using the 'Remove Top' or 'Remove Bottom' option (whichever is appropriate), eliminate the part of the sphere that is not needed...

...readjust the 'center pivot' of the sphere so that it coincides with the new shape of the sphere (just for convenience)...

...add another "SLICE" modifier to the stack. Rotate the 'Slice Plane' of this modifier only, so that it is vertical and adjust it so that it lines up horizontally with one or other of the edges of the 'box' and vertically so that it slices through the sphere. Using the 'Remove Top' or 'Remove Bottom' option (again, whichever proves to be appropriate), remove the portion of the sphere that is not needed...

...repeat the above step for each of the other 'edges' of the 'box', rotating each 'Slice Plane' appropriately. You will need to alternate between the two options ('Remove Top' and 'Remove Bottom') to obtain the desired effect from one side of the 'box' to the other. Ultimately, you will have five instances of the 'SLICE Modifier' in the stack. Now, you can collapse the stack...

...there are now two options to take, either you can 'shape' the top edges of the 'box' to match the edges of the sphere (using several instances of the 'chamfer' tool) or you can extrude the edges of the sphere to make them match the top of the 'box' (which I think is the better of the two)...

...when you're done, I would "attach" the two objects and weld any relevant vertices...


...In future, try not to place more than one 'copy' of a thread...

Jerker {:)}
 
Although Jerker is correct about double posting, I'm glad you did put it here as I just learned what soft selection can be used for. Thanks Johnny, this opens up new possibilities.
Norm
 
Can someone help me create a dome similar to that on top of the telephonebox shown below.

Did you take that photo of the telephone box? If so, you should take more photos "straight on", so you can use them to texture the model without perspective distortion.
BTW you should definitely try jerker's method for the roof, even if it takes a long time. The results will be better, and you will greatly increase your gmax skills in the process. johhny's method is a good quick solution.
Mick Berg.
 
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