Howdy Folks,

Has anyone gotten a chance to extensively evaluate the Boolean operations in CS3? Most of us who tried using them in CS2 found problems with remaining artifacts and had to abondon their use for other operations or work-arounds. One recent post indicated some minor improvement, but the report seemed to be based upon a cursory trial.

I would appreciate it if someone could provide a more detailed report on Boolean operations in CS3 as some of my work would benefit from their proper function.

Thanks!

Hello Lugus, Ah, booleans. The evil stepchild of proper modeling! Everything works much better now including a really annoying thing called cracking that always caused me to avoid booleans. Cracking is where, despite there being a polygon in place, you could see into the object just like the polygon was missing. The new and improved vertex modeling tools makes the creation of shapes much easier now so things that would have required boolean operations previously can now be modeled instead. I've tried low polygon count booleans and high polygon counts and had very good results with both. Most 3D packages suggest that boolean functions be used as a second choice to actually modeling the shape which is probably still a good rule to live by though. Mark

Howdy Mark,

Wow! Those objects are exactly what I'm interested in doing. With CS2 I would end up with several remaining artifacts that when rendered would make the model useless; and the objects you have here are exactly the kinds of things that would end up looking poor when I would try to create them with Boolean operations. So to be clear, those objects weren't created with Booleans but with CS3's better set of vertex tools, correct?

What has changed with the vertex modeling tools that allows for this kind of creation? Also, is there the ability for precision size and alignment?

If Booleans work better, why wouldn't you use them instead? You used the phrase "proper modeling". Are you suggesting that it's better form to do everything you possibly can inside the modeling room with its tools, instead of resorting to operations outside of the modeling room?

Thanks for posting those objects. Its really stirring up my imagination!

Regards,

Lugus

Lugus, These are boolean objects. So...go wild. The new tools in the vertex modeling room allow for easy extrusion of poly, vertexes and lines which means you can create fairly complex shapes quickly and easily. Additionally, you can now 'paste' different drawing or photo profiles on each of the modeling walls in the vertex room making it an outstanding modeler. Now, for the shapes you see in the above post: the best way to create shapes like that are with booleans. It is a viable option now. The reason I haven't used them historically is because my Carrara 2 work flow usually went like this: "O.K. I've got 60 minutes to my deadline and I need to make shape 'X'. Hey a boolean would be an easy way to do this. Ahhhhhhhhhh, that shape is almost right but a vertex flew so far into left field that I can't find it. O.K. I found it and put it back into place. Let's try a test render. Ahhhhhhhhh, I can see throught the object even though it's supposed to be solid.Let's try importing an Amapi boolean instead. O.K. it imported all right but it looks lumpy. Let's crease some edges. Looks right. Let's test render. Arrrrrrrrrg, it still looks wacky and I've only got 15 minutes left. The only way I'm going to get this done is doing a really complex spline model. There, finished. Oh no! My deadline was 30 minutes ago! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh." I use the term 'proper modeling' only because by actually creating the shape, I could guarantee what it would look like. But it usually took some time and effort. It was just too aggravating to know what the shape should look like if the boolean worked correctly the first time which wasn't always the case. However, now it looks like I may be giving booleans a second look when creating models. Mark

Howdy Mark,

Thank you for a most informative explanation! I'm really looking forward to digging into CS3 when it hits the streets.

Thanks again,

Lugus

Very much agree with Mark. I don't really know what Eovia has done to the Boolean engine but it's significantly improved over the last version. -Kix

Kix, thanks for the reply. Based upon these positive comments that Mark and you have provided, I can say that I'm really looking forward to CS3.

Regards,

Lugus

Hi all! The booleans look great and I can't wait for C3 either. Unfortunately I'll have to get home from this desert before I can play with it. However, one question for Mark: How did you get that brushed metal look on the sphere in the image above. I have noticed a lot of nice metallic textures with somewhat anisotropic speculars on new C3 images and wondered if it was C3, the new plugins or both. Thanks.

Hi DP123, That particular texture is from litst's Real World Metals pack available here at the Renderosity store. There is no new anisotropic features in C3. However, the new HDRI renderer, depending on what texture is loaded, can make it look that way. There are many tricks to fake that anistropic look though and a new shader operator, "Overlay", makes it easier to fake. In the image above, Overlay was used to blend a color texture map and texture map with lines in it to create irregularities. I can post the shader tree if that helps. Mark

Thanks Mark! Just what I was looking for. Looking forward to C3!