Boolean Union Problem

[Yeoman742]

I've got two polygons that I'm trying to Unionize, although every time I do it the objects disappear, all of the verticies of the of the blue object (on the left) are within the structure of the red object (on the right) that I am trying to unionize..

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/Yeoman742/vertex.jpg

I know that there is problably more information that you need for an good answer is, so please ask away and I'll get back with you..

[pao008]

Did you delete the history of the 2 objects?maybe that will do the trick :)

[laxman]

The boolean tool in maya isn't very good. It tends to not work if the objects are complicated. There are a few thing you can try:

Delete history on the entire scene

Make sure you only boolean with two object at a time (you could use the combine tool to combine multiple object together.

Try duplicating the object, then delete all the faces excpet for the parts involved in the boolean, then if the boolean works, reattach everything.

Copy and paste the object into a brand new file.


If these don't work, then you are going to have to do what you wanted manually.

[Yeoman742]

I usually delete the history before I do anything along with freezing the transformation so that almost everything is zero'ed out. I've also tried reversing the normals on one of the objects, Its been my experience that it sometimes works. I've also duplicated the object and copied it from a previous object that I had already Unionize for a different part of the project. I also was only doing two objects at a time since it gives an error when trying more. Using the combine method would attach the frist object to the second but it would not give that nice attachment that boolean does.. The last option I think I might have to do unless someone comes up with a better solution is to recreate the right object. That would ensure that there wasn't a problem with the second object or some setting that might have been changed that I didn't know about.

[laxman]

Theres one more thing you could try. Do the boolean, then when the object disapear, go to the outliner and select one of the original pieces. Using the channel box, try moving it around slightly, in all three axes. Do this for both pieces. Its a long shot but it could work.

[Yeoman742]

I still don't know why it didn't work, but I did manage to make a copy of an object that is amost identical but had to make minor adjustments to make it fit.. I tested the object on a low_poly object to make sure that it merged before attempting on the higher_poly object. But it got it work.. Thanks for all your help, preciate the DVD's you guys make. Do you make one on lighting and scene setups?? I think your production dvd's briefly touch on these but I don't have them yet.