New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

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Johnnycrash
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New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by Johnnycrash »

Hey all,

Long time TrueSpace user. Well, TS4.0. :D The XP machine that ran it, I think, has given up it's final electrons to the Great Spark in the sky. Oh well.

So, I loaded up 7.61 on my W7 system, running in 6.6, as it's the most familiar looking interface. I can find most things, sort of, after looking for awhile. Almost.

Help 1) I cannot, for the life of me, find the tool to mirror an object. So, where is it??
Help 2) Where is the button to weld/delete vertices/edge??
Help 3) Anyone know why, when I try and save a set of objects as .STL, during the "unioning" phase of the save, it crashes?? Every time?? If it's a single object, or one that has already been booleaned together, it saves just fine.

Thanks in advance.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by bitkar »

hi... i will try to steer you very simply, hope it helps:

1) in tS6.6 there is a thing called Mirror modeller. Its a tool set (just few more buttons after you click one - cool thing)
2) that weld button should be at the same place. After you right click an object and you get the polygon tools, its there.
3) STL - its better to union everything by yourself. I think there is a tsx for exporting STL, that works a bit better. Booleans never work 100%. Sometimes you have to move an object a little or subdivide it or tweek the boolean settings. Usually it works well in 6.6/7.61. Or you may have some flaw in geometry, that can cause tS or the plugin not to union the object properly.

PS: to find a button you can try the Icon helper. I think that existed in tS4.3 aswell.... point your cursor on some button and press ctrl+F1... you can then use the search button find a button and use the other button for show where it is.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by trueBlue »

Johnnycrash wrote: 16 Mar 2022, 21:11
Help 1) I cannot, for the life of me, find the tool to mirror an object. So, where is it??

Help 2) Where is the button to weld/delete vertices/edge??

Help 3) Anyone know why, when I try and save a set of objects as .STL, during the "unioning" phase of the save, it crashes?? Every time?? If it's a single object, or one that has already been booleaned together, it saves just fine.

Thanks in advance.
Do you have the trueSpace6.6 Help file?
Model - File/Help menu
Model Point Editing.png
Mirror Modeler
The Mirror Modeler tool is also found in the Division Tools group, but it is a much more interactive, and very powerful, modeling tool. It allows you to concentrate on only one half of a symmetrical model by duplicating any changes you make to the mirrored half. This is especially useful for complex organic models, like character models, freeing you to work on the model as a whole without worrying about building both sides identically.

To start the process, select either a polyhedron, or a face on a polyhedron, and activate the tool. By selecting a face before activating the tool, you are identifying the face you wish to use as the mir­roring plane, and a duplicate and mirrored copy will appear on the other side of this plane. If you do not choose a face first, the tool pick a face to use, but at any time you can change the mirror plane with the Use selected face as mirror plane tool on the Mirror Modeler toolbar.

Note that the mirrored mesh cannot be selected or edited directly, but it will always reflect the changes made to the original mesh. You must weld the two together (using Create Welded Object) to complete the operation and then be able to edit the mirrored side.

Click the tool again to turn off mirror modeling.

Upon activating the Mirror Modeler tool, its toolbar will appear.

Create Welded Object

Creates a single object from the mirrored geometry and exits the tool.

Create/Update Welded Temporary Test Object

The Temporary Weld Object function will create a temporary object to preview the result you will get upon welding. This object can be used as an actual object and moved around. It will remember its location relative to the source object if you delete it and then re-create it. If you make changes to the main object and click this button again while the temporary object is displayed, it will be updated.

Erase Mirror Plane Polygons

This function will remove the faces on the mirroring plane and provide a single object mesh to work with. If the object is a Subdivision Surface mesh, removing the mirror plane polygons will allow the subdivided object to join smoothly with its mirrored half.

Use Selected Face as Mirroring Plane

To change the mirroring plane, select the face you want and click on this button. The object will be mirrored from that face. You can change the mirror plane at any time. If geometry crosses the selected face, the mirror plane will be parallel at the point where it first touches the object. Multiple face selections will be ignored if you attempt to assign them as the mirroring plane.

Refresh Mirror Object

As you change the degree of division or sharpness of selections on the model side while in Subdivision Surface mode, you can click on the Refresh Mirrored Object feature to update the reflection.

Toggle Mirrored SDS Display

If you create a Subdivision Surface from the object while mirror modeling, you will get two separate objects, and the Toggle Mirrored SDS Display on the MM toolbar will be highlighted. Toggling SDS on the main toolbar affects the model side, and toggling Mirrored SDS Display will affect the mirrored side, making it possible to show the control mesh on one side, and the resulting Subdivision Surface mesh on the other.

Note: The toolbar is not a fully functional trueSpace toolbar, so tools cannot be dragged from or added to it.

Right clicking the Mirror Modeler tool will bring up its properties panel.

Remove Interior Faces: When enabled, interior faces are always removed when welding (if they have not already been removed by the Erase Mirror-plane polygons tool). Nor­mally, this option should remain enabled unless you have a specific reason for keeping the interior faces.
Reverse Mirror: Flips the mirror to the other side of the object. When this option is enabled, the mirror will occur on the opposite side of the object from the selected face. This allows you to mirror on a hole.
Keep Source Copy: When enabled, the final weld is created from a copy of the original object.
Quick Weld: When enabled, mirroring and welding will occur when the tool is activated. The toolbar will not appear.
Epsilon: Sets the maximum distance that a vertex can be moved to attach to the ideal weld plane. This can be used to compensate for a mirror source whose edge is not true. Increase it for a cracked seam, and decrease it for a pinched seam.
Tip: Try to avoid sweeping or moving geometry across the mirror plane. While it may sometimes work, when welded the operation results in an undefined mirror operation and can cause problems.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by borgcone »

I feel like someone called me.

There are two mirror tools, "Mirror Modeler" and "Mirror".
Full list of toolbar icons of tS7 Model side?
This may help you. It is an icon map for tS6.6 side.

(Edited to correct: "Mirror Tool"->"Mirror Modeler")
Last edited by borgcone on 17 Mar 2022, 01:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by Johnnycrash »

Thank you!!

1) Found it!! But, the delete vertices doesn't work like is did in 4.0 - Instead of redrawing the object, connecting closest vertices to each other to maintain a solid object, it's just gone, and now you have an open object. Or, am I doing something wrong?? (probably) Thank you. I'm that much closer.

2) Found it! Right, there are TWO "Mirror" functions. Now I have it switched to the "mirror object", instead of "mirror modeler". Thank you.

3) OK, that's a bummer. As not always do the objects boolean. I have that right now. I am sure if I play with it for a couple of hours, I'll find the right "move object" amount to get them to join. One thing with 4.0, was it could save an object, or selection of objects as a .DXF. I then ran that .DXF through a program called STL_Util.exe. That would then turn it into an .STL. But, a few crashes of the HD, and I no longer have that program. No backup, don't know why, everything else I have multiples of. Ugh!! Anyone got STL_Util.exe?? :oops:

That quick guide looks useful. Thank you.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by Johnnycrash »

Oh yeah, as well...


4) Loft?? There was a TSx for 4.0 that would allow you to load a series of bulkheads (single plane objects), and it would "skin" over them, conforming the shape from one to the next. You end up with a solid, editable object to play with. Like taking the cross sections of an airplane, and being able to make the fuselage. Can TS6.6 do this, or is there a TSx to do it?? Thanks again.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by bitkar »

1) there is delete vertex and there is weld vertices. If you select two vertices, you can weld them together making one.

3) (oh, i was wrong, there is tsx for exporting OBJ, not STL)... you can use OBJ export and then try https://www.meshlab.net/ to edit it and save as STL (i recall it should be supported, not sure). That is propably way more modern.

4) there is a loft function, but its for NURBS object, you can then covert it to a mesh/polygon object.

PS: i think there in 6.6/7.6 is every feature from 4.3. Features were only added, none was removed.
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by Johnnycrash »

3) Yes, .OBJ would be great as well. The slicer programs work with them well. Just would like to export/save as an object/selection to .STL or .OBJ. Can TS6.6 import .OBJ files?? I use MeshMixer to manipulate files, but I don't know it very well at all. I can use TS more effectively.

4) Only with NURBS eh?? Well, that sucks. :(
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by Johnnycrash »

bitkar wrote: 16 Mar 2022, 23:26PS: i think there in 6.6/7.6 is every feature from 4.3. Features were only added, none was removed.
Never got to 4.3, only 4.0. and my muscle memory of 25yrs of using 4.0 can't find stuff in 6.6/7.6. ;)
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Re: New to TS7.61 (6.6) - Need some hints/help

Post by borgcone »

To reduce crashes, I usually (1) right-click one of boolean operation icons (Union, Intersection, Subtraction), (2) adjust options of boolean operations and/or relative position of objects (3) do an operation (4) save as an object (STL in this case).

I repeat try-and-error of this "(2)" patiently, but it's not avoided in case of objects with too many vertices. It seems to that too close vertices are easy to cause crash.
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