Extrusion of Holes
 

Create polygon tool to draw a rectangle and then another smaller one inside the big one, select the two at the same time and extrude, should this not give me the hole I desire ?

well what you going for is something like a rectangle with just a hole in it? like something like a brick chimney? if so you could just create your rectangle with your polygon tool then extrude it up as high as you want then extrude again and scale in all directions till the size of the hole you want then extrude again and move it down as much as you want. is that what you mean? :confused:

Thanks for answering, well the notion of the brick chimney is 100pc correct, a sort of square tube, In Studio Viz for instance, just to explain things better, one can create in front or top view a rectangle and can continue to create further rectangles within this original rectangle just by negating 'create new shape'. so all those subsequent rectangles form part of the same one shape.ie not new shapes
When you select one rectangle all the others get selected because its the same spline.On extrusion this forms holes.

I've just read what I've written and this seems 'trés complex'
What about if I just asked how would you go about modelling the letter O without going into text.

Modelling an O? Just create a Torus and toy around with the attributes until you get the shape you desire.

The shape I desire is an elevation of a building, about four storeys high with three windows on every floor, and I didnt want to do Boeleans. Its useful to have the orginal plans in DXF/DWG as a support background and be able to click with the polygon tool on the various vertices that go to make up the elevation and extrude the entirety and finish up with a perforated surface.

You could draw some round curves then loft them all together.

Wouldnt it just be easier to cut a hole in it, then extrude edges?

Yah why bother yourself with other method, use extrude edges.

...Or you could just create 4 rectangles, combine them and add some "trianles" to the end ;)

Hey, thanks for all the replies, I've stuck this image in to show what I mean. I'm sure that if StudioViz can do it Maya wont have any problem.

with create polygon tool, you click to form the first shape, to do the second, with control held down click within the polyshape you've created and then start cutting that hole out. a couple of tries will get you going.

Phew at last thats what I was looking for, merci beaucoup TGG

not a problem :D very useful technique this.