Lofting Two Elevations Into One Object

[stusic]

I feel just a hair silly: I know there's a way to take two elevations and loft them together into one object (i.e., one spline represents a side view and one spline represents a front view, <then you do something> and it makes them into one object), but for the life of me I can't remember how.

Can someone refresh me?

[dellis]

Look up deform fit...for lofting.

[stusic]

I've tried that, but I'm not getting the results I'm wanting; it creates (what appears to be) a flat object -- that, or a very strange shape. I've tried choosing the reference shapes in different orders and a few other things, but the result is the same. A lack of documentation doesn't help. Grr. :x

[stusic]

I haven't been able to do anything with this and I've been messing with it for hours now. :? I've included the scene if anyone wants to take a look. If I can't figure it out, I'll have to try something else.

Thanks!

[dellis]

Have you tried the proBooleans route?

[stusic]

No, I've just been trying to get the lofting to work. It's the correct tool for what I'm doing, so I'd like to figure out what I'm doing wrong before I improvise and move on. If I can't get it to work today, I'll give any ideas a shot (it's due tomorrow). Are you talking about just cutting it from one side, then cutting it from the other? That thought had crossed my mind, but the way the elevations go, I don't think it'll work... unless there's another method you're thinking of. It's not a complicated elevation, and I could probably (and very well may) do it by hand, but it's the principle of the matter... I actually remember doing this in school (modeling the top, front, and side of a dinosaur), and that's not helping. I'm sure it's something simple, but I've checked all the things I can think of (yes, the splines are closed polys). It's frustrating.

[loydg]

Phillip,

Sorry I didn't see this yesterday, but I think I have at least a workaround for your problem. I think I know what you're trying to tackle and what Dwayne is suggesting would work, but it's been years since I've done that particular type of modeling. The good news is that there is a way to accomplish this using lofts.

I grabbed your file and found out why you are getting weird flat shapes: it has to do the the loft shapes "Z". The shape is lofted down the path based on it's Z axis. It can be rotated through the "Shape" operand once it's done, but I always find it best to create all my shapes in a top (or plan) viewport. Also with loft shapes, the pivot point location is where the shape will locate itself on the path.

To solve your problem with getting the x-section to adjust to the profile, I would suggest cloning the shape down the path (be sure you use the "copy" method) and adjust the top vertex(s) to follow the profile. This can all be done under the loft objects "Shape" operand. Simply highlight "Shape" and click on the shape on the loft path. Once the gizmo appears you can "shift drag" clone it down the path. If you can't get the exact placement on the first shot, no worries. It can be move up and down the path.

Again, this may likely be too late for your project, but should hopefully ease your frustration over lofting. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

[stusic]

Well I've worked around the problem, but I revisited an earlier model to try what you've told me, and I'm still getting the flat objects. I rotated my profiles so they're shown in the top viewport, and assured that my gizmos were facin correctly, but no luck.


I have two profiles, one for the x-axis, one for the y-axis.
I rotated these profiles so they are flat against the working plane, at an elevation of 0 (able to be viewed in the top viewport)
I have a spline I'm using as my path. This should be the path the y-axis profile should move along. This spline is the same length as the x-axis profile.
I click the spline, and choose "Loft".
I click "Get Shape", and choose the y-axis profile.
The end result of the loft, without going any further, is a flat object.

[loydg]

Although it's been rotated to have a "World Z" coordinate, it's creation was still in X or Y. The good news is there's a fix. In the Utility panel, perform a "Reset X-form" and the collapse the object back to an editable spline. That should do the trick!