Trying to add thickness to my object Maya

Discussion in 'Design and Modeling' started by 340041_deleted, Apr 7, 2013.

  1. Hi

    So I'm at my wits end about how to go about this. My file was created originally in maya and was made up of 5 parts that I managed to strong arm boolean into merging...now the problem is I cant hollow it out :(

    My method for hollowing in maya was to duplicate my mesh (tone down the tris since the inside doesn't have to be pretty) and then do a boolean difference but that seems to just crash my maya with some "failed to save in ...." error or just makes the mesh disappear, as boolean usually does. However I don't know if maybe the duplicate is just too complicated to boolean because I tried merging a cube to it and the boolean works fine. I also don't know if difference and union act differently in that sense.

    Then I searched around in the forums, tried blender which I finally got the thickness however when trying to add exist holes that just exploded. I also tried thickening it in blender then reexporting it back to maya....and it just disappears. If i click on it in the outliner it shows up like in the image, BUT does not register as a mesh when I try booleans.
    BTW I've never used blender before so maybe I'm doing it wrong?

    Is there any alternative to this process that doesn't require booleans or exploding meshes? :/ Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've been spending several weekends trying to figure this out. I'm about to try Rhino3D as another attempt but I'm not expecting any miracles...

    The image shows what it should look like, what happens in blender when I use a cylinder to cut a hole, and how it looks like in maya when i import the blender file using obj.

    If anything, can someone please tell me whats wrong with my file to be causing all these problems? please please please please :(
     

    Attached Files:

  2. AmLachDesigns
    AmLachDesigns Well-Known Member
    Hi,

    I imported your model to Blender, deleted the cube and also deleted the 2 vertices in the middle of the feet. This gives you just a hollow shell. However I also noticed that your model has large polygons - you are getting the smooth effect by visual smoothing that will not translate to Shapeways.

    What you can do now is:
    1. Use the Subdivision Surface Modifier to get the level of smoothing you want. In Object mode apply this modifier and then adjust the View option. Depending on what size you want to print your model this is more or less important (go too detailed and the model will exceed SW's 1000000 polygon limit);
    2. Scale the model to the desired size;
    3. Apply the Scale to the model - in Object Mode, go to the Object menu, Apply, Scale;
    4. Use the Solidify Modifier to set the thickness. This must be done after steps 2 and 3 to get the correct final wall thickness.

    Good luck!
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Thank you!! Your instructions are great!
    I feel so dumb after realizing how easy it is now, time to start learning blender. :D
     
  4. AmLachDesigns
    AmLachDesigns Well-Known Member
    Happy to help - let us know how it all works out...