9

ProBoolean Compound Object 379
Supported B ool ean Oper ations
ProBoolean supports Union, Intersection,
Subtraction, and Merge. The first three operations
work similarly to their counterpar ts in the
standard B oolean compound object. The Merge
operation intersects and combines two meshes
without removing any of the original polygons.
This can be usef ul for cases in which you need to
selectively remove parts of the mesh.
Also supported are two variants of the Boolean
operations: Cookie Cutter and Imprint. Cookie
Cutter performs the specified B oolean operation
butdoesnotaddthefacesfromtheoperandsinto
the original mesh. It can be used to cut a hole
in a mesh or to get the portion of a mesh inside
of another object. The Imprint option inserts
(imprints) the intersection edges between the
operands and the original mesh without removing
or adding faces. Imprint only splits faces and adds
new edges to the mesh of the base object (original
selected object).
Edit ing t he B oolea n Obj ect
When you access a ProBoolean or ProCutter object
from the Modify panel, you can add operands
totheexistingset. Youcanalsoremoveand
transform (move, rotate, etc.) operands.
Poly gon R educti on
ProBoolean and ProCutter have a built-in
decimation function. Typically, decimation is of
better quality if it is integrated with the Bo olean
operations.ThereasonforthisisthattheBoolean
object contains meta-information about which
edges are intersection edges. The decimation
function takes this information into account and
uses it to properly maintain intersection edges.
Text, Lofts and NURBS
When perfor ming Boolean operations w ith text
objects (page 1–278),makesurecharactersdon’t
intersect each other and that each letter is closed.
Also, it’s easy to inadvertently create loft objects
(page 1–352) and NURBS objects (page 1–1078) in
such a way as to have self-intersections. With loft
objects, check the ends and points where the loft
curve bends.
See also
ProCutter Compound O b ject (page 1–388)
Procedures
To creat e a P roBoolea n compound obj ect:
1.
Set up objects for the B o olean operation. For
example, to subtract spherical shapes from a
box, create the box and spheres and arrange the
spheres so t hat their volumes intersect the box
where the subtractions should take place.
2. Select the base object. In the example in step 1,
you would select the box.
3. On the Create panel > Geometry section,
choose Compound Objects from the
drop -down list, and then click ProBoolean.
4. On the Parameters rollout, choose the type of
Boolean operation you wan t to use: Union,
Intersection, Subtrac tion, etc. Also choose
how the software will transfer the next operand
you pick into the Boolean object: Reference,
Copy, Mo ve, or Instance. You can also choose
to retain the original material, or keep the
default Apply Material choice: Apply Operand
Material.
5. Click the Start Picking button.
6. Pickoneormoreobjectstoparticipateinthe
Boolean operation.
7. As you pick objects, you can also change,
for each newly picked object, the Boolean
operation (Merge, etc.) and options (Cookie
or Imprint), as well as how the next operand is
transferred to the Boolean (Reference, Copy,
etc.) and the Apply Material choice. You