Seams and cracks

[jerry-hnk]

Hi all,
I am a newcomer to Maya (I have used Max for 3 years). after being amazed by all the fantastic Nurbs modelling tools in maya, I have finally came up against a Wall. When I try to use the round tool or fillet tool, I get a big ugly crack on the surface. When I trim a surface and use the trimed edge to join up to another surface using a fillet blend, I get another big ugly seam. When I stitch things together, their is also a visible crack. It seems that wherever two surfaces joins up, there will be a crack. These stuff seems to be so easy in Max, is there something I am doing wrongly or is maya just a bad modeler. Any help will be appreciated.

[jtk77]

In Maya when using NURBS you'll be happier not using trims at all. If you use a trim then convert the surface to polygons. It could be that you simply are not adding enouge isoparms to give you a smooth surface when you use the round tool, that may be giving you the hard edges when you try to round it. You can build anything without trims , I would suggest you do that and not use them at all. Unlike Max, which is fully polygon based(NURBS are not really NURBS in the sense they are in Maya when using Max) , the trimed geometry is still present you are only telling the NURBS surface that area is not to be displayed . Max to Maya is a totally different methoud of modeling , a lot of my freinds who switched over complained of similar things until they got into the grove of how to model in Maya . I've been a Maya user for a little while and now I can't even use Max. I think a former Max user can help you more with what to look for.

"..you know, its hard to get people to pay you to make dancing robots.."
--Mr.K

[jerry-hnk]

Thanks, I'll try to keep that in mind: NEVER EVER USE TRIMS. What about stitchs, can I use them? I seem to get a lot of creased surface when I use the stitch edge tool(I did rebuilt the surface from 0 to # spans) , The global stitch tool also doesn't get rid of all the seams. I am I doing something wrong again? If I never use trims, how do I attach a arm to a torso ?

[actarus]

tip:
pay close attention to the teselation of your
surfaces, even if the isoparms lign up,
if the surface is tesselated into different numbers
of polys per span, ur gona get seams!

So... use explicit tesselation attributes,
instead of the regular ones.
and make sure all the surfaces have the same tesselation.
(found in the surfaces shape node)

-Tad
LHPtomi@hotmail.com
http://tadpage.homestead.comhttp://tadpage.homestead.com

[joel]

Hi there

Instead of using trims, if possible, build the surfaces so that the isoparms line up with the "trim" you wish to create. Select the right isoparm, detach surface and delete the surface where you want the hole to be.
If you get a lot of creases close to the seam, try manipulating some cvs just next to the seam (without disturbing the shape of the surface too much)

/J

[jtk77]

Check out the Advanced Modeling tape from Alias, pretty good for 50 bucks. If anything it will give you a crash course in those crazy surface things like a 0 to # of spans or 0 to 1 or what ever . Good stuff for a modeler to understand about NURBS, confusing unless someone spells it out for you.

"..you know, its hard to get people to pay you to make dancing robots.."
--Mr.K

[pbuckley]

I am from a Max background too, it's not you, the modelling transition is a bit confusing, Have a look at the book "Mastering Maya Complete 2" it describes how to do organic modeling staying clear of trims, just detatching and stitching as mentioned by the earlier responses to your question.

Good luck!!