network help

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 From:  shokan
4384.1 
http://screencast.com/t/r5kOlIiHfH

After selecting Network, and selecting all the curves one by one, I don't get a shell on these curves. What I am I doing wrong? If it has any bearing, to construct this, I used Mirror on the various curves to get the symmetry and then Join.

Thanks.

edit: I tried adding more curves, and after some calculation time, I get a mess with twisted surfaces flying out.

edit: on close inspection, I see I have un-joined lines.

http://screencast.com/t/LGt5ac1f

http://screencast.com/t/S9jC5ueq

I'll try this again, but are there any tips about starting a line with its end point along another line? Or, in general, how to always get a good connection for any lines ?

EDITED: 14 Jul 2011 by SHOKAN

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 From:  Michael T. (MICTU_UTCIM)
4384.2 In reply to 4384.1 
Hi Shokan,

Can you supply a 3DM file?

Michael T.
Michael Tuttle a.k.a. mictu http://www.coroflot.com/DesignsByTuttle
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 From:  Michael Gibson
4384.3 In reply to 4384.1 
Hi shokan - yes please post a 3DM file with your curves in it - that helps a lot because it can be hard to know what is going on with your curves just by looking at a screenshot - I need to do things like examine which pieces are joined together and stuff like that.

But my best guess from just looking at your screenshot is that you probably have a problem in the configuration of your curves in this area here:




In order for network to work properly, the entire network needs to be able to be unwrapped to a 2D grid pattern, basically the same as how a globe of the earth gets unwrapped to a flat map - think of your curves as lines of longitude and latitude similar to that.

So that means that the long curves that you have along the sides would need to be configured like this with them all coming to a single point at the bottom:




What you've probably got instead is those long curves stopping at the base instead:




If you've got them configured like that, it means you've got some extra small curves for that base plate area, and having those little curves are not compatible with making a 2D unwrapped flattened map of your curves.

Probably your best bet would be to actually leave out the curves for that flat base plate area entirely and do that separately, after doing the Network for the other part.


> I'll try this again, but are there any tips about starting a line with
> its end point along another line?

Make sure object snap is enabled in the bottom toolbar - when it is enabled it will be highlighted in orange like this:



You should generally have that on when drawing things - when it is on then you'll get various snaps that will lock points on to other existing shapes, and that's how you make sure things are exactly touching when you draw them.

- Michael

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 From:  Michael Gibson
4384.4 In reply to 4384.1 
Hi shokan, also see here for some previous discussions on how the curves need to be arranged for Network to be able to use them, some of these have some illustrations that can help to explain it:

http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4352.1
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1905.1
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1778.6
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1484.1
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=2315.6

Sometimes it's just a matter of breaking up your existing curves and then joining them together in an arrangement that will suit what network needs.

But if you have something like a sharp feature like it looks like you have for the bottom flat face, that's probably better to just completely leave out and build as a separate step (probably use Construct > Planar if it is supposed to be a totally flat face) rather than trying to include that directly into one network.

- Michael
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