As I have now found out I LOVE technical things, any excuse to connect noodles to squares or code in something and I’m there.
I’ve been looking at trying to optimize my workflow for Blackfoot, while also being able to help others and become more flexible in the industry, this also appeals to my desired role as a tech artist, anticipating artist’s needs and optimizing the workflow, I’ve noticed that there are some gaps that can be filled with a script within max.
One of these things is a Picatinny Rail. These are rails that have very exacting dimensions, and John has already commented that a lot of the models currently in game don’t have these dimensions set consistently, making the lead programmer’s job more difficult when it comes to the attachment system, again, with this script, i am doing the tech artist’s job of bridging the gap between artists and programmers, John can make consistent rail models in little time, Kris (the lead programmer) will no longer need to factor inconsistent rail sizes.
This could also be a great benefit to those in the industry and other areas alike too, so looking at making this has become more enticing.
The rail script needs to be:
– Consistent to MIL STD M1913 dimensions.
– Compatible with Turbosmooth
– Easy to use
-Topologically correct.
One idea I’ve come up with is to model the dimensionally correct M1913 rail parts; start, middle and end.
The spline length is then “got” and if it is not equal to a picatinny compatible length, it is rounded up to a picatinny compatible length.
The script also needs to make any Bezier points Linear
The script then needs to calculate the number of rail ‘rungs’ that can fit along the spline and create this many duplicates.
The script then needs to add a pathdeform modifier to these rungs, and place them along the spline before converting to an editable poly and welding the points.
Optionally there needs to be a ‘crease’ option as well, which will convert the picatinny rails to turbosmoothable versions.
Simple in words, possibly not in practice, it’s possible to do though, as all of these things are available in 3dsmax as default already, it’s just a case of automating the process.
Zee's Cave 