Adding another dimension to a 2-d object

[Cerest]

I'm working on a floating breastplate for a monster of mine...

The problem is... while I can sculpt stuff from a rectangular prism... there are times where I need to have an image (.jpg or .bmp for example) converted to a plane and then given another dimension so I can do stuff with it.

This is the shape...

This is what I mean by adding a dimension

Normally, I start with a prism/sphere and delete/move vertices until I get the desired shape... but I dislike doing this since It is terribly time consuming... 3D studio's extrude tool confuses me a little bit... and It sort of is what I want the general function to do.

There has to be an easy way to do this... and I'm a bit dumbfounded at how I can't seem to find it @_@

Thank you for your help!

[donnato]

Hello Cerest...are you using 3ds Max?

[Cerest]

Yes, I'm using 3DS Max... though I don't mind using blender.

The first issue is importing the shape into a 2D plane....

The second would be extruding it so it is now 3d dimensional.

Thank you for the help in advance!

Edited August 8, 2011 by Cerest

[donnato]

Well I know how to bring an image into blender but I don`t know if/how to work with it since it`s just a background image and has no properties to work with. Mostly just for referance.

[Cerest]

I've read something about using the pen tool in Illustrator or Photoshop to create 2D vertices... and then importing it to 3ds. I could use a base image and try to trace it with the pen tool... if that helps anything... but I'm kind of lost @_@

I'll lurk around DeviantArt, nexus and CGsociety and post stuff here if I find anything @_@

Edited August 8, 2011 by Cerest

[_echo]

Import the image in blender as a background then trace it by extruding a vertex then fill it in. Select the shape and extrude it with E.

It would take about 2 minutes tops.

[ResolveThatChord]

What Echo said. In blender's 3d view, hit 'n' to bring up the view options panel. There should be a box to tick called "background images". Tick it. Press "Add Image", then click the little white triangle to bring up another button 'open', which will let you browse to the image you want.

Once you have it, make sure you're in orthogonal view mode, and not perspective. '5' on the numpad toggles these. you should then be able to see it.

From there, just loop cut a plane and move the vertices until it resembles the shape to your satisfaction, and extrude all faces along the normal to give it depth.

[grond]

Another way is to use Inkscape to create a vector image, then import it and create a mesh out of it. It's messy sometimes, but effective. You might also check the web for vector images - one might be close to what you need.

[Meo]

You can use splines to make the shape. In the create tab, Shape button, select Line and trace over the image. When done, select the spline, right-click and convert to polygon. Select the (only) face and extrude or bevel. Theres always vertices to replace/correct, cant escape it, its part of the game.

[donnato]

I just snapped a screen of your image above, inserted it as a background image and stretched a filled circle with 20 segments to match the outline (had to subdivide a couple places to get it reasonably smooth) and extruded...took me about 15 minutes...Yeah it`s kind of a pain and 3ds might have a better way or give a smoother finish, but it`s doable in blender.

[JDFan]

Using Max 8 this is the method I would use :

1. Save the image you want as a .jpg

2. select the front viewport and press Alt-B (this is to set the background image as your .jpg.) - click the Files button and locate your .jpg image

3. Maximize the front Viewport (Alt-W)

4. on the creation panel - click Shapes - Line

5. On the Creation Panel > Creation Method rollout set both Initial Type and Drag Type to Smooth

6. trace the outline of the shape pressing the mouse button as needed to follow the contour (each click will add a vertex and add polys to the model so be careful how many times you click !)

7. When you get around to the starting point click again at the first vertices and select yes from the close spline prompt box that appears

8. Right Click on the Spline and select Convert to Editable Mesh and select element

9. Click on the mesh and go to the Extrude panel and extrude as much as you want for the thickness (you now have your shape created !)

10. In the Modifier List - select Multi Res and reduce the resolution to cut down othe number of polys to an amount that you want it to use ( creating in this method tends to use a lot of polys so using a multi res modifier to reduce the number can reduce the poly count significantly without changing the model much (just reduce using the percentages and select a percent that keeps the model shape but cuts the number of polys.

11. UV Map and add a texture and export to Nif

Result would be something like this --

[donnato]

Woohoo...there ya go !! Thanks JD, this helps me too...(someday I hope) ...Now, how about the collision?

[JDFan]

Woohoo...there ya go !! Thanks JD, this helps me too...(someday I hope) ...Now, how about the collision?

Import the Nif back into Max and convert it to a editable mesh - from the Modifier List select BhkRigidBodyModifier and add it then go to the parameters and set them for the item ( ie. Material Metal,Glass,etc.) - check Enable Optimize - select Packed Strip Shape - ( or whichever applies for that model) - set Subshape Properties Layer (ie. Static, Clutter,Weapon) - Click on Clone Mesh and it will add the collision to the model --- Export as a Nif (be sure that export collision is checked in the export settings -- With My version of MAX that will get you a working collision shape but I then need to copy\paste that collision branch from that exported Nif into the original Nif ( Not sure if it works correctly for other versions without the need for the copy\paste but I've gotten used to doing it that way !

[donnato]

Ah ok cool JD thanks...collision is so much easier in blender but this thread is for 3ds so this is good stuff...

[JDFan]

Ah ok cool JD thanks...collision is so much easier in blender but this thread is for 3ds so this is good stuff...

Yeah the Niftools team for Blender seems to be making more progress than Max (which currently is miising a team, IIRC someone has started working on the Max tools again so perhaps we will get some updates soon but at least there are ways to get it working.

[Lady_Nerevar]

Personally, I just copy the mesh and apply a bhkRigidBody property of the appropriate type to it. The rest of the steps tend to crash max for me, for some reason :/

[Meo]

For Oblivion, when working with splines, drag-type-to-smooth technique is bad. It will produce a lot of unwanted vertices and polys. In this situation, its better to trace the image with each vertex as a corner, not bezier. Once youre done extruding/beveling, with the shape in general, apply a Meshsmooth modifier with a smoothness of zero.

I never made collision for armor but i believe its only relevant for the _gnd mesh, which means its no different than any other clutter object. The collision mesh should never be a duplicate of the model, you dont need all the details, it should be optimized, why? cause its the collision that will affect game performance the most. If you have a wall, you dont need to collision each brick and have a 500 polygons model, a one polygon plane will work just as well.