Project Sauron

[MortimerV]

I'm having a really hard time here. LAM (Lord And Master) doesn't know how to take "No" for an answer. Trust me.

One word: Larry. Long story. www.twitter.com/projectsauron

Here's the problem. I can't make Roof by Face for this Mass. But walls work just fine. But I need to use a Roof so I can attach walls to the top and bottom. Anyway - I'll use walls in the meantime. But manual profile editing for each wall will not go over well.

The other minions are getting restless and I was the one that insisted we use Revit on this project. Bottom Line: We must be done 6 months (well before the next UN Summit), cause it'll take at least that long for the particle separators to get delivered from eBay and assembled and tested - probably on a few Somalia pirate ships (or a Poseidon class sub if it happens to get too close).

Suggestions welcome.

Thanks -

Mort

[MortimerV]

Here's the overall Mass. Pretty complex. The inner core is hollow and full of evil goodness.

Roofs can associate to *some* of the faces on the top of the mass - but not the underside or structural legs. On the other hand, walls attach by face really well - but don't allow other walls to attach top/bottom.

What would be really helpful? Being able to select a host (wall, roof, floor, etc.) and change the category. Sometimes what we think is a wall is really a roof, or what starts as a floor should really be a ceiling.

Overall the project is going really well. We tried out a few "signature" designers but they were really high maintenance and just kept scribbling on paper and then insisted the minions would somehow interpret the scrawl of lines into a cool design. And they demanding suitcases of money.

So LAM (Lord and Master) proceeded to design it himself. He's a nice guy when he's not firing signature architects...out of cannons.

[rosskirby]

Is the composition of the "roof" you're trying to make the same as the composition of the "wall" that you were able to make?

[MortimerV]

Yes. Same composition. But you notice with Masses that walls are able to adhere to any face that is not completely horizontal. Try to apply a roof to the underside of a mass.

Roof by Face would not work with the underside of the mass - or any part of the structural arms. But there were some situations where the roof did not work even on the upper sections of the mass.

So rather use wall by face for some situations and roofs for others I just used walls for the entire skin.

Anyway - need to go. We're practicing for the 11th Annual Minion Musical. LAM does not tolerate tardiness.

Mort

[MortimerV]

One other thing. We can't decide if the balusters should have the pointy bits facing up or down. LAM likes them facing down because "they look like some kinda claw". But we minions think they should point up: lots of opportunities to impale any unwanted intruders found snooping around.

And there's nothing that motivates a room full of newbie minions more than finding one of their own impaled in the employee break room. Suffice to say the rest of the the new recruits don't have to be asked to stop checking their Facebook pages while on the clock.

-Mort

[MortimerV]

Some of the core and atrium space is working out to the satisfaction of all the henchman. Lord and Master really likes the overall form because in his words, "No distracting meetings and arguments about corner offices...because there aren't any! Muuuuaaahhahahahahha!"

He's got a point. Long meetings suck the life out of you faster than decompressed airlock. Never stand next to the airlock door. Just sayin.

-Mort

[cdatechguy]

If you have a mass for the roof...and you can create a grid on the mass....then you can use adaptive components to create your roof....

Take a look at this class from AU last year... Think this is what your wanting to do...
http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=class&session_id=6877

[MortimerV]

Yeah - tried that. All the faceting made made the evil lair resemble a deformed golf ball. Guess how much a golf ball is scary? None. They look playful and roll around in your hand and you hit them with stick and they get lost.

The only time a golf ball is scary is when one happens to shoot out from the angry end of a lawnmower.

A nice smooth cannon ball (on the other hand) is solid gold business. Of course we prefer uranium tipped, magnetically fired missiles. But a building shaped like one of those creates significant circulation issues.

-Mort

[MortimerV]

Final results of lighting studies. Kinda marine like. Kinda armor like. Kinda fang like. Kinda eye like. Anyway, LAM likes it.
The other thing is that it's face-based, so it's not limited to walls, floors, etc.
I'll do a rendering study and post the results in a bit.
-Mort

[MortimerV]

One hour later.

Time for a beer and beach volleyball. Minions vs. Henchmen.

-Mort