Cutting shape out of guitar
 

Hello, I'm very new to maya and i've got a question. I'm moddeling my guitar, and I would like to know how to cut out the musicnote type shapes you see below. Of course they only need to be cut out of the front of the guitar, not the back. I tried outlining the shape with split polygon tool and moving vertices, but that got very messy. Any help would be great!

http://web.mac.com/ijkebotman/iWeb/S...elding%201.png

By the way, the body of the guitar is just a polygon cube with vertices moved to fit the general shape of the guitar.

Sounds like you need to see the Making 3D Maya logo. Just do what they describe, but with your music note. Then just do a PolyGons->Booleans->Difference to cut the shape out, and finally remove the face at the bottom of the cut-out, and voila! You've got the cut out, and an edge to provide thickness to the front panel.

Can't remember where I got it from and it's a pdf, so I'll just post it.

S

Thanks for your reply, I did everything in the tutorial. It worked once, I then undid it because I deleted the curve (so I could rotate it and do the same for the other note). Made another bevel, did it again and it didn't work anymore. The body of the guitar now disappears when I Booleans -> Difference, for both notes.

Before:
http://web.mac.com/ijkebotman/iWeb/S...elding%202.png

After:
http://web.mac.com/ijkebotman/iWeb/S...elding%203.png

If I select the note first, then the body and do booleans, the body disappears, if I select body first and then the note, the note disappears.

EDIT: Hmmm, I tried again and somehow it worked, anyone know why?

did you try doing them separetly like, click on guitar then "one" of them music notes and then Polygons -> Booleans -> Difference. you cannot really do two notes at once i think. if it still does the same thing, try just click on your guitar then "music note" do not select because you may have accidently copied one of them objects under another which you cannot see and also makes it disappears.

goodluck, marlon

Booleans are a bit of a funny beast.
I find they're best used on quite simple geometry that you can't really be bothered doing manually. Whenever you've got geometry that's going to take the longest, and that you REALLY can't be bothered with is the time they're usually least suitable. Mmm I know, just when you need em, you can't have em. When you can have em, you don't really need em often...

On a side note, with the guitar, if you keep using booleans, you may be better off just modelling half of it and then mirroring that to get the other half. This will especially help when it comes time to boolean the second part of any pair, since this is much more likely to fail than the first - perfect example was the cut-outs in the body.

With experiance, you get to know how much detail is needed when putting something together and how much can be added in after the fact. I say this because the notes look reasonably 'heavy' in geometry as compared to the rest of it.
But no matter, looking forward to seeing more of this 'tar.

Doing a search for booleans around the forum will give you a bit of an idea about the amount of pain they cause, and some of their weaknesses. Once apon a time I though you could build anything with 'em :snicker:....
Hope it helps,

Simon.

"Mmm I know, just when you need em, you can't have em. When you can have em, you don't really need em often..."

haha that always happens to me, soo true...

"On a side note, with the guitar, if you keep using booleans, you may be better off just modelling half of it and then mirroring that to get the other half"

i dont really think you should do it with this guitar because its not really identical on both sides from the image im looking at... there are small objects like the sound tweakers and also the sound viabrator thingo under the strings is not straight really, unless you rotate it after mirroring :p great thought though ;)

also i just remembered DJbLAZER had a 3d modeled guitar, go check it out if you want... never know it might help you out ;)

http://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...ghlight=guitar

marlon

Oh yeah, I realise there are only tone controls on one side, and that the _single pickup_(vibrator thingo :p) is on an angle, but they're just decoration, parts that are on the guitar. All made from different materials to the body itself.

Unless one was to use a texture map for the whole thing, it's easiest just to leave them as seperate, interpenetrating objects, which you then group or parent later. Guess you could even combine them if you preffered.

Btw, the pickup's angled to get the sweetest sound and not just cos it looks cool, as my guitar teacher explained to me many years ago, and as my physics teacher covered many years later - after I'd given guitar up.

marlon & enhz, thanks for your help! I had searched the forums and found out that the order in which you select the objects is very important when doing booleans. Still, they're strange.

One more question, I think. I've made the body of the guitar out of a polygon cube, but I'm having a hard time getting the shape correct, I keep using cut faces tool to get more vertices to play with. Should I start over and make it out nurbs, so I can easily add isoparms? Or should I use CV curve tool, outline the shape and bevel plus?

Also, is stretching a cilinder the best way to make strings?

Oh and enhz, you shouldn't have given up guitar!

Pleasure Ilke.

Doesn't really matter what you use to make it, just go with what you're most comfortable with.

I myself, would be inclined to use either the cv or ep curve tool and bevel plus. I forget which is which - I'd use the one that uses the verts as influences, not as points throught which the line must pass. I'd make the output nurbs, adjust to my satisfaction then convert to polys.

As for the strings, I'd go with nurbs cylinders myself. Fairly low in control data needed to represent them yet still nice and round. Although, if you extruded a circle along an ep or cv curve, it'd make coiling them up around the things you tighten them with a lot easier. (man, it's been longer than I thought)

Yeah, I know! I was just such a lazy little shit when I was 14. Everything else I could do, I did without effort. It's a shame really, but never mind I'll do beter out of computers anyway..

S.

no problemo :) if you have any other problems or doubts just come and post here and hopefully youll get a quick response but someone :)

"Also, is stretching a cilinder the best way to make strings?"

try useing NURBS, thats really the best way from which i have seen people use. it is much flexible and strechable ;)

"Btw, the pickup's angled to get the sweetest sound and not just cos it looks cool, as my guitar teacher explained to me many years ago, and as my physics teacher covered many years later - after I'd given guitar up."

haha interesting... that gives me an idea. whenever my cusins be's a tightass to me ill just try make the pickup straight so he gets some wierd sound instead of proper :p

Cheers

Marlon