I know that the boolean operations never really work that well, but please bear with me. Im trying to make this curved surface with slots going through it sideways. I made 2 spline objects and then used a boolean substraction. As you can see it worked prett well except that my nice smoothly curved surface has become somewhat faceted. Any suggestions about a better way to go about this? The shape is exactly what I wanted except for the facets. Thanks folks. Max.

You could now take this model into the Vertex Modeler and try a subdivide. It may or may not work. Also make sure those vertices along the front going verticle are smoothed and not creased. Just my two cents. -Kix

-Kix

Thanks kix, I gave that a try but it did strange(almost arcane)things to my model. I wouldnt mind the facets so much except that I need to line up some other pieces to this one and the facets are going to make it difficult. If you have any suggestions on how to make something like this without resorting to a boolean operation..feel free. :o) Cheers, Max

This works in RayDream and I assume it does in Carrara as well. Before doing a boolean on a spline object, make sure surface fidelity is set as high as possible and then either convert to a mesh form object again with maximum fidelity with the Edit in another modeler option OR export to a DXF and re-import. I've had success with each technique in increasing the resolution before the boolean execution.

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Yep. If the corners of your grooves are square, you could make that object strictly in the spline modeler. If they're rounded like I think I see here, it's a little bit more of a challenge. -Kix

-Kix

Yeah, I really want them to be rounded. It is indeed whats proving to be a challenge. I did try boosting the surface fidelity more, but alas, to no avail. When I start using words like alas and avail, maybe its time to take abreak. :o) Thanks for your help though. Max

You could create the whole thing in the Spline Modeler. Draw the various squares on the default plane and then extrude and shape the profile to the half circle. Shouldn't that work?

Here are some examples. I made three squares in the Spline Modeler and then shaped the extrusion into a half-circle. I changed the translation to PIPELINE and upped the Surface Fidelity. Here's the pic and the screen-cap from spline mod.

Worked pretty good and was quick to do. Dave

Oh I'm sorry - My monitor is dark perhaps but I just made out that your shape is entirely different than what I thought and what I made. So these posts are of no use to you - sorry about that. I guess the suggested method above, while wieldy, is the one to try. Dave

Not necessarily. I have to run right now but I'll try to do this in the spline modeler and see if I can crack it. -Kix

-Kix

How about this? -Kix

-Kix

O.K., I see how you might have done that. Start with a compound spline cross-section that's a rectangle with the slot cutouts, then convert to vertex (400%) and deform (bend 180 degrees in z-axis).

Nope, Spline Only. -Kix

-Kix

Hmmm..(scratches head) what will it take to get his secret?

This is really simple. I created one strip at a time. The entire object in my image is 10 separate spline objects. The first cross section is two boxes stacked on top of each other. I then created two more cross sections down the line. The second cross section I left alone. The third cross section I changed the shape of the boxes to get the opening. I then created two more cross sections down the line to close it back up. Then it was just a matter of positioning the points and smoothing out the transitions in the sweep envelopes. After that, I stacked a whole bunch of them together. -Kix

-Kix

I've tried this and I'm still scratching my head. How do you get the section drawing plane to be parallel to the sweep envelope plane (with the purple and two blue lines)? Ed

I guess you have to use pipeline extrusion?

Yes, This is a pipeline extrusion with the envelope set to free. I did the bending into the curve after I had done all the cross section work.

-Kix

Thanks everyone. This has really helped. I just got back to my computer after a weekend away form the keyboard. Ill hopefully have a little time to take another crack at this today. In case youre wondering, the whole image Im working on is a vintage style microphone. Thanks again for all the info. Cheers, Max

I may be a little dense here, but Im having trouble getting the end of the inner opening to curve. I placed all the cross-sections, that was easy,so at this poing Ive got the opening, but the ends are straight lines and come to a pointed end. Now how do I get that part to form a curve? Sorry if this sounds rather convaluted, I hope my explanation makes sense to someone. :o) Cheers, Max

Got it. Disregard my previous question. I figured it out. :O) Max