Sweeping with VIZ 2006

The new sweep modifier is a time-saving approach to many lofting procedures. With this simple interface, you can easily create crown molding, flanges, or other simple loft objects.

To demonstrate, draw a rectangle in a viewport and apply the sweep modifier to it. It automatically applies a built-in shape. From the dropdown list, you can change the shape from Angle to any one of the other shapes listed. And you can further adjust the parameters making up each part of the shape.

To access a custom shape, you can pick a shape in your scene, or apply a shape contained in a .max file of all your shapes. For example, you can have one .max file containing all your molding shapes (with each shape named appropriately) or flange shapes or any other shape you may wish to utilize.

Here’s a short, simple tutorial:

1.  Create a shape outline similar to the shape below.

(To create the shape, I created a rectangle and refined it with a combination of Bezier and Bezier corner vertices.) Rename the shape to baseboard molding and save the file to “molding_tut.max”.

2. Reset VIZ. Create a box (keep in mind the scale of your shape and it’s purpose). Apply a normal modifier to this box (to enable you to view inside the box. (You may also want to place a camera in your scene.)  Then in the top viewport, create a rectangle that is the same size as the base of your box. An easy way to create both the box and rectangle is to use the keyboard create option and put both objects on the 0,0,0 planes.  (See image at right.)

3. With your rectangle selected, apply the sweep modifier. This is what it looks like immediately after you apply the sweep modifier. It applies the first of the built-in shapes to your path. Click on “use customized shape” and select “merge from file.” A dialogue box opens and you can then browse to the file “molding.tut.max”. Select that file and select baseboard molding at the next prompt.

4.  Depending on how you created your shape, you will probably need to adjust the parameters of the shape along the path by adjusting the sweep parameters (see image below for details).  In this case, click on the option for “mirror on xz plane.” And then choose the bottom right pivot for pivot alignment.  (This is a grid that helps you align the section to the path. When none of the Pivot Alignment buttons is depressed the pivot point of the section is used as the alignment point. Further, you can use the “align pivot” button to manually adjust the alignment.) Click on the image below for a larger view of the sweep parameters mentioned above.
 

You should have something similar to this image below when you’re finished adding materials.

Here are the max files I used for this example.

molding.max (contains the shape)

room_molding_tut.max (finished scene)

If you have any questions, drop me a line!