Substance Painter
In this start to finish texturing project within Substance Painter we cover all the techniques you need to texture the robot character.
# 1 15-08-2003 , 08:05 PM
Scraggy_Dogg's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Manchester U.K.
Posts: 252

Boolean>Difference - Problem

Hi,
I am trying to cut doors and windows into a Poly shape made by extruding faces, the wierd thing is that when I go to Polygons>Boolean>Difference it deletes the while lot. (Not just the hole I have my Cube around) - The whole thing dissapears, cube and all !
Any ideas?
[It seemed to work OK on 1 'wall' it just happened when they were all connected]????
Just noticed it says:- "Problems resolveNonSolidShell" in the output window...

Regards

Scraggy

# 2 15-08-2003 , 08:10 PM
Darkware's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 1,172
Booleans can be very tricky sometimes. You may experience problems when your geometry is too complex, when you have too many objects intersecting in a small place, or when the history on your objects is lengthy.

First, try choosing Edit>Delete by Type>History and try again. If you still have no luck, post an image so we can see exactly what the setup is. If we can't figure it out then, you may end up having to attach the actual scene file so we can look at it first-hand.

# 3 15-08-2003 , 10:52 PM
Scraggy_Dogg's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Manchester U.K.
Posts: 252

Booleans problemo and or not nand nor

Hi,
Cheers it's only a simple setup because its totally new to me (so lookout for something totally dumb!) .... Here's the Scene, Oh yeah - I tried the EDIT>DELETE>HISTORY thingy and it no work.
Scraggy......I included it cos its so small....hope it's OK

Attached Files
File Type: mb scraggyprob.mb (48.8 KB, 641 views)
# 4 15-08-2003 , 11:57 PM
NitroLiq's Avatar
Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: New York
Posts: 2,133
The problem is that the walls of your piece are all one object. If you separate the wall you're trying to apply the boolean to, then use your cubic shape to boolean it, it'll work fine. Otherwise, you'll have to look into other poly editing tools to create the holes you want.


"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."
# 5 16-08-2003 , 11:22 PM
Scraggy_Dogg's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Manchester U.K.
Posts: 252
I tried EDIT POLYGONS>SEPARATE but it's still same? or did u mean pull it apart? - Sorry I'm such a noob....

Am I doing something wrong? or did u not try it on my Scene?
because I couldn't get it to work?


Thanks Scraggy


Last edited by Scraggy_Dogg; 16-08-2003 at 11:27 PM.
# 6 17-08-2003 , 04:45 PM
Darkware's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 1,172
Looked at your file.....

Image 1) in this image, we can see extra edge. Just as a rule of thumb, you probably don't need these and if you can get rid of them you should. I saw several places in your stcuture where these appeared. They mess with the normals sometimes, make file sizes larger than what they should be if you have enough of them, and can cause a number of small problems in the future if you decide to tweak your model somehow.

Image 2 and 3) After selecting and deleting the edge, there are leftover vertices where the top and bottom of the edge existed. You can view them by displaying them. (right-click and hold over your model and select vertices) You should select these and delete them after you delete edges to ensure future problems will not pop up.

Image 4) As you can see, there are three little square-like dots. Since you're new at Maya, I don't know if you realize this or not, but these are faces. (right-click, select faces from menu) There should only be one of these present. You probably accidentaly made two more when you extruded of something, but didn't pull the face out when you did. Not sure really.

Overall, you should always try to keep your models clean by deleting these extra things.

Now to solve the boolean problem.....

The easiest way for me to do this was to delete some faces from your Main Structure. I deleted all the faces where the wall was. This created two holes in your model that needed to be filled. You can automatically fill these holes on this particular model press choosing EditPolygons>Fill Hole under the Modeling Menu.

Now we basically have an open end of your house. To fill this in, we create another cube, scale it so it looks like your wall, then position it in it's proper place. We can now boolean properly and your window will be created.

Image 5 shows that there are three objects - your main structure, the single wall (the cube we created and scaled to look like your wall), and the Window Boolean which is the object you will use to boolean the window out.

Attached Thumbnails
# 7 17-08-2003 , 04:49 PM
Darkware's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 1,172
and here's the scene file all ready for you to boolean. Remember to select the SingleWall first, then the WindowBoolean second to use Boolean>Difference and get the effect you desire.

Attached Files
File Type: mb problemfix.mb (53.6 KB, 483 views)
# 8 17-08-2003 , 05:06 PM
Scraggy_Dogg's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Manchester U.K.
Posts: 252
Thanks a lot, that's really great user added image I am at work at the moment but as soon as I get home I will be following your advice....
Basically I need to 'clean up' the faces/edges/vertices that I'm not using before I go onto the next part right?

One thing that may? have caused the problems... I'm not sure if I am doing it correctly? Probably easiest to explain how I made the walls and you tell me if it's wrong...

1./ OK I Selected a poly cube and scaled up and out.
2./ Selected a side face and extruded out just a bit (so the extrude will be tall and thin viewed from side - but square when viewed at top
3./ Selected another face of the (just extruded) shape - and extruded that into another wall
4./ and just carried on like that...

Another thing I have been doing but am unsure if it is correct is to ...

1./ Select a poly cube and scale.
2./ Select face
3./ Select extrude
4./ Scale the shaded area, to required size
5./ Extrude it out to wherever....



Regards and many thanks Scraggy

# 9 17-08-2003 , 05:24 PM
Darkware's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 1,172

Originally posted by Scraggy_Dogg
4./ Scale the shaded area, to required size
5./ Extrude it out to wherever....

Ah-HA! There's your problem as far as the extra vertices, faces, and edges come from. Yes, you realize that you need a face to extrude from in order to create another wall section, so you extrudeto make the additional face.

The problem with doing that is that you're creating more than just a single face. You are creating four additional faces, but are only using one. (to extrude)

Here's the best way to do it:

1) Create your Cube and scale it.
2) Choose Edit Polygons>SplitPolyTool
3) Click on and edge and drag the little dot that appears to the middle of the edge. It should snap to the middle.
4) Click on another edge and place the little dot near the middle of this edge. It should also snap.

This will create an additional edge for us to work with. Snaping to the middle of the edges when you are creating the extra edge is important because it will ensure that your new edge it exactly straight.

5) Right-click, display Edges, select move tool, select edge, then move the edge to the left or right as shown in the 3rd image down below.
6) Right-click, display faces, select face, then choose EditPolygons>Extrude Face.
7) you can now extrude your face to your liking.

This gives us a clean model.

Attached Images
# 10 17-08-2003 , 08:02 PM
Scraggy_Dogg's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Manchester U.K.
Posts: 252
Whooooaaaa! thanks man! I realized I was doing something wrong, and had extra vertx/edges/faces and all this time I have been trying to merge em to get rid of the li'l boogers!!!
(With mixed results as you can imagine) lol
I see excactly what you mean now, and it will clear up other problems I don't wonder, like the "Problems" post in same forum - [my dumb ass pencil] Probably same fault...?

Thanks loads
(I still have an ear to ear cheesy grin!)


Scraggy


Last edited by Scraggy_Dogg; 17-08-2003 at 08:06 PM.
# 11 07-01-2021 , 01:57 PM
Subscriber
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1

Booleans Difference

I'm having similar problems with Booleans Difference.
When I try to cut a cross out of a flat plane it does one of the two things highlighted in the attached screen-grabs.
I need to accurately cut a series of crosses into this shape so that becomes akin to a perforated mesh.
The additional problem is that when I hit smooth (key 3) the shape distorts as does the accurate holes I'm trying to cut.
Can you help,
John

Posting Rules Forum Rules
You may not post new threads | You may not post replies | You may not post attachments | You may not edit your posts | BB code is On | Smilies are On | [IMG] code is On | HTML code is Off

Similar Threads