Mis-mesh

[Anonymous]

I constructed an organic form(a solid balcony) that clings to an acute angle corner of a two-story wall by drawing the profiles of the form every three inches using the mesh tool. Each 'slice' was drawn as a separate mesh. How can these be combined into a single mesh so it will render as a solid in the 3D window?

[Anonymous]

P.D.: After I got to thinking it through, I understood what you meant by 'de-elevate' and de-elevated by a uniform 10". But thank you for the clarification.
I still do not understand why the new bottomside of the mesh needs to be hidden. Right now, the two meshes form the desired thickness of the proposed roof.
ab: My next step indeed. I'm hoping for my jaw to drop! Cheers.

[Anonymous]

garytom,

You wrote:
"I still do not understand why the new bottomside of the mesh needs to be hidden."

It is not the bottomside of the de-elevated mesh that needs to be hidden
but, after the SEO between the two meshes is performed,
the de-elevated mesh needs to be put on a hidden layer.
Peter Devlin

[__archiben]

garytom wrote:
Right now, the two meshes form the desired thickness of the proposed roof.
ab: My next step indeed. I'm hoping for my jaw to drop!

ah! i see what you've done . . . you have two surface only meshes floating 10" apart don't you?

what you need to do is make them both solid meshes - then you can perform the SEO on them. as james pointed out, SEO's only work with solid meshes. and a solid mesh isn't defined by its thickness, but by a single reference level below the entire thing. what you are trying to achieve is a mesh with a uniform thickness throughout in order that you can use it to represent your roof and be able to perform more SEO's on the walls.

so the bottom mesh is just an intermediate step: it's sole purpose is to use as a operator on the original mesh. by using it to subtract from the original mesh with downward extrusion, you leave the original mesh solid and with a uniform thickness - perfect for the next step of trimming the walls!

and because the second mesh is no longer required visually in the documentation or 3D model, you place it on a hidden layer. the boolean subtraction relationship (SEO) is maintained regardless of whether or not it's visible . . . just don't ever delete it!

i'm at a net cafe again today so don't have my laptop - otherwise i'd do some step-by-step screenshots. if this doesn't make sense just shout out and i'll see what i can come up with monday . . .

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

garytom,
I have done somthing like what Ben said he would do if he was at his
own computer. see attached
I hope this makes things clearer.
Please note that there are three types of meshes,
surface mesh no skirt, surface mesh with skirt, and solid mesh.
Solid mesh is the only mesh that can participate in a SEO.
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

This is what I have come up with so far. Using the original mesh(two meshes actually, one for each major roof plane, I tried one mesh and added nodes for the endpoints of the ridge, it didn't work), I copied, pasted, and de-elevated by 10", selected the copy as an operator; original mesh as a target; chose subtraction with downwards extrusion and voila.

P.D.: It would seem that the desired solid mesh is just two solid meshes differing by a thickness with the operator being hidden after being SEO'd. Is this true?

a.b.: Yesiree, what you wrote is exactly what I appear to have. But I did follow Peter's instructions(a few posts back) and this is what I got. I have tried to hide the operator through 'layer settings' but it ends up hiding both target and operator. Help!

[__archiben]

garytom wrote:
a.b.: Yesiree, what you wrote is exactly what I appear to have.

you don't! i can see from your screenshot that you are using surface only meshes! go back and look at peter's screenshot again: the top row. you need your meshes to be similar to the one in the top right hand corner. then start the SEO's . . .

nearly there . . . . .

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

garytom,
You wrote:
"I have tried to hide the operator through 'layer settings' but it ends up hiding both target and operator"

You have both meshes on the same layer.
They have to be on different layers
so that you can hide one and keep the other visible.

Create a layer called "Hidden Operators" and make it hidden by default.
After you have done the SEO, select the operator mesh and
change it's layer assignment to "Hidden Operators" layer.
If that layer is hidden then the operator mesh will disappear
leaving the target mesh which is on a visible layer.
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

Okay. This is where I am now. All this time I was working with a surface mesh as archiben has mentioned several times now. I have since redesignated this mesh as a solid mesh under the solid mesh option in the mesh parameters. For some reason, there is a default thickness of 3' that if I change, reverts the mesh back to a surface mesh.
I have placed the operator on a hidden layer named 'hidden operator', but when hidden, it seems to have no effect. When it is the only layer shown, there is nothing in floor plan nor 3D view.
All of the wall and opening attributes(except for a single stubborn interior wall)seem to have disappeared, but this could be due to not being able to hide the operator correctly.

[Anonymous]

garytom,
What thickness do you change the "default thickness of 3' " to ?
If you hide all layers except "Hidden Operators" what do you see ?
When you say: "but when hidden, it seems to have no effect",
what do you mean ? What effect do you expect/want ?

If you hide all layers except the "Hidden Operators" layer and you don't
see any thing in plan or 3D then you don't have the operator mesh
on the "Hidden Operators" layer but some other layer.
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

Peter,
What follows are answers to your questions:
a) I chose an arbitrary value of 1"
b) Nothing
c) I expected to be able to see the walls, doors, and windows since the 'hidden operator' layer was hidden(although its extrusion effect is still, well, in effect).
I'll start from the beginning again and see where I end up. This could now be a layer management issue that's mucking things up. Thanks and I'll keep you posted!