Set Number Of Points In Facetted Lines?

[Jim_G]

Hello -

Is there ANY possible way to set the number of points in a drawn arc or line? The closest I can find is an option for either "facetted" or "smooth"...but I don't see any way to actually set or  edit the number of points, other than using "Delete Geometry" to select and delete them (an undesirable approach for several reasons.)
 

Alawrence raised this issue a few days ago in another thread, but I don't see that it ever got resolved...please advise.

[Justin Montoya]

I think most of us are only using Smooth these days as it is a superior Model Type for many reasons.

However, if you find you really must use Facetted, and want to adjust the options you will find them under File>Project Settings>Faceting Schemes

 

[Jim_G]

20 minutes ago, Justin Montoya said:

I think most of us are only using Smooth these days as it is a superior Model Type for many reasons.

Thanks.  I don't want to make any enemies here, but...saying Smooth modeling is a "superior Model Type" comes across as *incredibly* condescending, not to mention wrong.  I doubt I'm the only one here who exports models from FZ to be used in other apps, and being able to maintain an all-quad mesh (or at least as near as possible) is often *absolutely* crucial in those situations, for a number of reasons. Building parametric surfaces and hoping they'll export correctly generally results in a topological mess.

Also, you didn't answer my question, which was "how can I set the number of points in a drawn arc or polyline?" As far as I can see, the Faceting Schemes options ONLY cover polygons, which--unless I am missing something--doesn't seem relevant to the present case.

Edited June 5 by Jim_G

[Justin Montoya]

Hello, I was just trying to help by offering alternative suggestions from a hard working, formZ Designer persepective.  Please don't be upset or think that anyone was trying to offend you.  We're all here for the same reason,  formZ.

To be clear, your question did not include anything in it about Exporting, and I was referring to working entirely in formZ as Smooth being a superior model type for generating geometry for working in formZ, and I stand by that statement.  I'm sure there are other use cases where you'd appreciate tris, quads, or whatever messy mesh for exporting but thankfully with formZ, using those programs is largely unnecessary these days.  Smooth is much simpler to use as a Designer and just gets creative work done efficently without having to overthink things.  I'll leave that up to the engineers.  

It sounds like your formZ use case is different than my Designer perspective and I'm always eager to learn more, so I spent some time reading to further educate myself on your request, I found this older post that may help you. 

Hope this helps!

 

[Bo Atkinson]

Justin, I'm with your search for more kinds of curve types for a wide variety of objectives, (and not just one kind of objective).   I vaguely remember a "convert to arcs" option somewhere besides the arc tools used continuously which are clumsy for easy controls. I was glad to find this post just now for a quick look.

But was there a specific limitation with the NURBS Edit Tool, to add or subtract control points? (I can't open Z right now).

Edited June 6 by Bo Atkinson

[Justin Montoya]

Hi Bo,

You are remembering correctly.  There is a 'Curve To Arcs' tool under the Modify Nurbs Curves tools with an option for Max Deviation:

However, I'm not sure that is really helping the OP's question with setting a number of points in a facetted line?

All of these NURBS Curves tools are really working from B-Slpine representations, which is not what the OP was after.

 

[snow]

On 6/5/2024 at 1:26 PM, Justin Montoya said:

It sounds like your formZ use case is different than my Designer perspective and I'm always eager to learn more, so I spent some time reading to further educate myself on your request, I found this older post that may help you. 

I don't want to speak on behalf of the OP, but game design is one notable industry that heavily relies on polygonal-only modeling.  Yes, you can create something smooth and convert to faceted later, but game designers will want full control of the number of facets in their objects from the very beginning because some objects require much more complex geometries than others, and they often know which objects are which at the start of the modeling process.   This is why some of the powerhouse game design software like C4D or 3DS Max still don't have mathematically smooth objects implemented into their systems.  Maybe there are other industries like this, I'm not sure.  But I  hope this is a little insightful for you.

[Justin Montoya]

Yes, I'm aware that the game industry is heavily based on polygons using Smoothing techniques for rendering.  I believe this is because rendering polygons for a game engine is faster and more reliable than using smooth curves on the available hardware since it's inception.  Looking back at the hardware and rendering available, this makes perfect sense.  However as new engines, real time rendering, and the hardware get faster and faster, there may be a shift to use more modern geometry like smooth.  It could save time for the artist by not having to worry about how to optimize the geometry.  

I see your point though, if formZ can offer the flexibility to model with optimal geometry for use elsewhere like in a game design platform, then why not include it?  formZ is nothing if not flexible, and having additional industries using it would be great. 

 

[R2D2]

Jim have you tried the Polygonize tool : ?

(Hello -Is there ANY possible way to set the number of points in a drawn arc or line? )

[snow]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:46 PM, Justin Montoya said:

However as new engines, real time rendering, and the hardware get faster and faster, there may be a shift to use more modern geometry like smooth

this is a good point, and I think in the future we will see this shift, especially seeing as games are slowing becoming more and more realistic.  But it's still in the future.  Game engines will have to compute mathematical models faster than it can read X polygons (times however many in a scene), which I think is still ways away.  I think we are still a few PlayStation numbers away before this becomes a reality.

[Justin Montoya]

This is true.  So, how long before PlayStation is just a streaming web service and all the computation is being done on the PlayStation quantum super computer servers?

[leclaire]

Jim,

R2D2's response is right on! That's the way to take any arc and divide it up into as many segments as you like. Quite handy and an answer to your question. As a user of FormZ for over two decades and an architect, I have to tell you that smooth geometry has been a game changer for me. But it your work requires polygonal geometry FormZ can do as well. In addition to the polygonize tool for 2D arcs, just about any smooth 3D object you create can be converted to polygonal with the "convert" tool that's above the trash can (hover the transform icon) tool at the bottom of the palette.

Having said that, I have to admit, if your work really demands everything to be facetted, and editing of facetted geometry, I think you should be working in Maya. Someone in our old office was an expert on that program and he modeled things that would drive me insane trying to replicate in FormZ.

Edited June 10 by leclaire

[Jim_G]

13 hours ago, leclaire said:

....if your work really demands everything to be facetted, and editing of facetted geometry, I think you should be working in Maya...

FYI: A Maya license is US$1875 PER YEAR, and I simply can't justify (or afford, really) that kind of expense. Fortunately it seems that most of the polygonal functionality in Form Z is still there...it's just a bit harder to get to.