Need help on building in a bio Dome

Posts

• [Deleted User]2 Posts: 3Member

  October 2009 #2

  Those URls don't work. I think the paths have been truncated.
• Knowles2171 Posts: 0Member

  October 2009 #3

  

  fixed
• [Deleted User]2 Posts: 3Member

  October 2009 #4

  not sure with maya but id use 2 domes, reduce the number of faces to get flat faces rather then a round dome, first dome keep as is second in max you can turn on wire frame under textures but use this making the wire a grey colour while the dome semi transparent like this this is done very quickly but is that what your after?
  
  fyi i know i done it in max but its just basic shapes nothing too technical so it should be easy to do in maya
• D.M.J.0 Posts: 0Member

  October 2009 #5

  I'd use a platonic solid primitive (Create > Polygon Primitives > Platonic Solid) with a side count to suit your taste, then Edit Mesh > Poke Face all the faces, then Edit Mesh > Bevel the newly created vertices. Adjust the bevel amount to vary the thickness of the frames. You can then either delete the inset faces or Edit Mesh > Extrude these faces inwards a little bit if you're viewing the outside of the dome or extrude them outwards a little bit if you're viewing the inside of the dome. Apply glass material to the inset faces, metal material to the frames.
• Knowles2171 Posts: 0Member

  October 2009 #6

  

  D.M.J.
  
  your way seem to produce the results I want. However is there a way to increase the number of face the Platonic Solid, the soccer ball does provide more face to work with by you get a mix of hexagons and pentagons. which I am not clean on. With just using platonic shaps in seems you quite limited to the the size of dome you could create, I do not see how I could build one for a city.
  This way will probably be use to create my observation lounge for the Antarus model I am going to start working on eventually as it produce exactly what needed.
  
  Master wong seem to work better, but I need to play around with the settings. May be switch to UV mapping the dome to allow some bump mapping to the wirefame.
  
  I need some food first, may be after lunch I sit down an take a other crack at it.
• spudmonkey0 Posts: 0Member

  October 2009 #7

  Does Maya have a geosphere primitive? If so, that should work pretty well. If not, there's probably a script out there that will make one for you
• D.M.J.0 Posts: 0Member

  October 2009 #8

  Try Create > Polygon Primitives > Platonic Solid [] (the options box), and tweak the construction parameters. I can't say I've used platonic solids for a while but I expect that there's an option to increase the face count. You can still tweak construction parameters in history in the Channels editor if you haven't done anything too drastic since creation. Editing construction history on a heavily modified object can give weird and usually wrong (but sometimes perfect) results.
  
  And while I'm thinking of it, it's probably a lot easier to apply an Edit Mesh > Bevel modifier to the Solid's edges rather than poking faces and bevelling vertices... *sigh* sometimes I forget about the easy way.
  
  When you create the primitive, make sure to generate UVs (which should be the default, unless you've changed it) which should make mapping it a little easier. However, I don't know how they're laid out by default for this primitive and I don't know how much of that will be preserved after modification.