*A:M User* Roger Posted January 20, 2012 *A:M User* Posted January 20, 2012 I'm trying to extrude along a path but not getting anywhere. I created my path in the shape of an arc (working on a handle for my chest) and I created the cross section ( an ellipse). When I choose Plugins > Wizards > Extruder then choose the arc as the path and the ellipse as the cross section to extrude along, I am not getting the results I would expect. I get something that sort of looks like I wanted, but not quite. One end is pinched, and I was expecting the cross section to stay more or less vertical in the middle and then curve off in the opposite direction on each side, like an arch. Here are two screenshots: Quote
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 20, 2012 Author *A:M User* Posted January 20, 2012 If I change the orientation of the cross section to vertical I get something a little more like what I was expecting, but one of the ends is still hosed: Quote
NancyGormezano Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 I find I have better luck with sweeper plugin select your path, rt click/plugins/sweeper - select the cross section and voila! Note that in this example the cross section is modeled at 0,0,0 facing front. You will get different results depending on where, how you model the cross section which is to be swept. I also find I have better luck if I do the sweep in a different temporary model, and then copy the result (sweptobject) to the model I want to use it in, as sometimes sweeper make A:M go boom. Quote
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 20, 2012 Author *A:M User* Posted January 20, 2012 If I go to plugins > wizards, though, I don't see Sweeper listed (which is strange because I could have sworn I saw it there before). Is there some way I could have hidden it, or maybe it is not visible in the view I'm in? Quote
NancyGormezano Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 If I go to plugins > wizards, though, I don't see Sweeper listed (which is strange because I could have sworn I saw it there before). Is there some way I could have hidden it, or maybe it is not visible in the view I'm in? Look at my screen grab above - you have to first select the path (either in the pws or in the modeling window) then right click , plugins/wizards sweeper. It looks to me that you did not select the path first and only rt clicked in the modeling window Quote
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 20, 2012 Author *A:M User* Posted January 20, 2012 DOh. You're right - you even said to select the path. Guess I'll try this again... Quote
Gerry Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 This is a big help nancy. Sweeper is one of those things I keep meaning to learn and after reading this thread I spent the last 45 minutes or so playing around with it. Thanks for the pointers. Quote
HomeSlice Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 Here are Emelio Le Roux's original Flash based tutorials on Sweeper. They are very good. (Emelio created the plugin). http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=41179 For those who like to go at a slower pace. Here is a pdf tutorial I made. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30336 Quote
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 20, 2012 Author *A:M User* Posted January 20, 2012 I think I more or less figured out the basics - thank you Nancy. I'll have to check out the tutorials Homeslice posted. Anyway, here is my basic swept shape: I built in some bevels and I'm going to use this as the building block for my handle. I'm going to bend it as needed, hopefully that will work. Quote
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 21, 2012 Author *A:M User* Posted January 21, 2012 Ok, so I've read Homeslice's tutorial (really good btw) and have been doing some more futzing around with Sweeper - is there any way to have the Y axis parallel *except* for the end segments? Basically, I would like the endmost segments to be parallel to the X axis. Also, If I uncheck keep Y axis parallel, I get rotations of the cross sections (without specifying it) but if it is checked I don't get the rotations. That is not making a whole lot of sense to me. Quote
HomeSlice Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 is there any way to have the Y axis parallel *except* for the end segments? Not that I am aware of, but it is pretty easy to manually rotate those two sections how you want them. Also, If I uncheck keep Y axis parallel, I get rotations of the cross sections (without specifying it) but if it is checked I don't get the rotations. That is not making a whole lot of sense to me. About half way through Emelio's fourth tutorial, "Modeling a Suspended Highway", he covers the "Keep Y Axis Parallel" option. Maybe that will help. Quote
mouseman Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I put the tutorial links on a new Sweeper Wiki page. Quote
Vertexspline Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 Hey...great tips and helpful things in this thread on sweeper . Thanks to all you guys and gals. Quote
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