boolean vs. combine polygon
 

I am curious to know if it is better to boolean union two polygons together or if is better to use the combine polygon tool? I am new to this arena and I have a sense that the boolean union was the old way of doing things and the combine polygon tool is new. Am I wrong?

Also I notice that all your image planes are constructed using the nurbs plane primitive and then attaching the jpeg. I have Maya 7 and I think I can bypass that step by simply creating an image plane. Is it better to first construct a nurbs primitive plane or, again, is this the old way of setting up the image plane?

Curious new guy to Maya...

boolean union works fine, but it can be very messy with your geometry.

using camera-attached image planes also works just fine, but it can be more taxing on your computer and more complicated to set up then simply placing a plane in the scene with the image applied.

It's up to the artist and whatever they like to do better.

thanks Senor McKinley..
 

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

So then I will stick with the nurb's plane creation and then apply my modeling image to that plane.

As far as the boolean operation, it is up to the artist. I notice when I boolean union the two polygonal objects, the excess polygon geometry that is not needed in the boolean union is removed from the combined objects. When I compare this to the combine polygon tool, the retained faces or geometry must be removed after the union. In either case it seems to me to be a matter of selecting the right vertices, merging them, and then recreating four sided polygons to clean things up.

Much thanks. 3deeder...

If any of this isn't correct please respond, if not, I'll assume I'm on the right track and continue downloading your easy-to-understand videos.