i somewhat learned modeling in 3ds Max over the last few months but the insanity of managing all the intricate polygon meshes drove me to look for an alternate solution for hard surface modeling... and that's how i found out about Moi very recently.

so i'm trying it out to see if it really is a better option for me. months ago i spent a few weeks trying to learn Rhino but it was way too complicated for me. great program though, so no offence to the developer who also developed Moi! it was just too hard to grasp for me as an artist, not an engineer.

but i hear Moi is user friendly. so i went through those 3 starter tutorials (kings crown, pod, etc) and a couple more i found on construction lines, the interface, and the lamp one.

all well and good but when i attempt to model what caused me to run from 3ds Max in the first place... the Ironman helmet... i can't get anything usable.

i'd love to show you what i've attempted so far but i kept deleting everything as it was just a jumbled mess. like a car door after being t-boned by a semi-truck.

anyway, i'm wondering how to approach this thing.

i've attached a file that has the blueprints all set up (and if that doesn't work, i've attached the blueprints).

Hi lonewolfx, from what you describe MoI should be a good fit for you, but it will probably take some time to get used to the different workflow from poly modeling that you will need to use.

One of the biggest differences is that with NURBS modeling boolean operations are a primary way to do things and not something to avoid as is often the case with poly modeling.

Part of that boolean-oriented workflow means that you will often want to be creating a shape that is initially a larger sort of extended base "stock material" for the piece and then carve away some portions of it with booleans. Often times people coming from a poly modeling background try to draw in every single edge of the final model and then try to build surfaces between those. That can work for some specialized situations but in general you want to have some of the edges of your final model come from booleans and cutting operations and not all drawn in directly yourself.

Check out here for some links to previous discussions with some various tips for people coming from a poly modeling background:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4865.2

So re: ironman helmet that will be made up of several different pieces, and you will probably want to create each piece by that general process I described above of trying to build one broad base shape for it to build the main body of the shape and then carve off some pieces with booleans. Can you possibly narrow your question down to just one specific part of the helmet that you want tips to work on rather than asking about the entire helmet which is a pretty big project to try to boil down to an actual answer?

Also Nicolas Verdon has actually done an ironman helmet in MoI before you can see a screenshot of it here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4737.12

and his web site is here if you want to try to contact him to ask for tips about it:
http://www.nicolasverdon.fr/

But if you want to focus more on one specific piece of the helmet, that might make it possible for me to give you a bit more guidance on a strategy for that particular part. That technique of breaking things down into separate parts and then focusing on each different part as a separate problem can also tend to be a good way to tackle a project too. It kind of sounds like you may be trying to do a bit too much all at once and that may be part of the problem with your current approach.

- Michael

hi lonewolfx

you might check out these links:

http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4613.1
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4772.1

.. just have a look at all those profile curves( 2nd link) he is using. maybe surlybird could do a short tutorial after all..*hint hint*

lyess has a rather helpful video tutorial on his vimeo channel:

https://vimeo.com/17694097

..good insight on how to generate construction curves from blueprints and how to use them properly.


~ marco

wow thanks for the help Michael! it's not every day you have the developer of the software you're using be the first to come to your aid! you're awesome.

thanks for the links, i'm slowing wrapping my mind around the difference in approach.

for now i've been struggling with just the lower half of the face plate (the part from the bottom half of the eye down to the mouth opening). i tried to do a network surface with no luck. and i don't see how i can take a bigger shape and remove bits with booleans to get all those different curves... but that's probably because i'm brand new to nurbs.

it is however encouraging that someone on here actually made an ironman suit with Moi!

thanks for the links Marco!

and yes, surlybird needs to do a tutorial on how he made Ironman... and he needs to do it soon before i lose my mind! (and preferably in video... doing everything slowly... and talking us through every click of the mouse). oh well, a guy can dream.

Hi lonewolfx,

> for now i've been struggling with just the lower half of the face plate
> (the part from the bottom half of the eye down to the mouth opening).
> <....>

Could you please post the 3DM model file with the curves for your current attempt at it? Even if it is incomplete or not a good approach it helps a lot to see actual geometry that you are using, if nothing more than to just really clarify which piece you are referring to - written descriptions are just generally harder to follow than seeing actual geometry.

So if you could please post your current curves that will very often help a lot to clarify your question and just make it more concrete.

- Michael