MultiAnimatedSlice

The Effects->MultiAnimatedSlice effect in the Motion module is an animated variation of the Effect->Slice effect that lets you slice a hierarchy by multiple slicing planes at once. It lets you animate the hierarchy or the slicing planes; the resulting sliced model reflects that animation.

Notes

The MultiAnimatedSlice effect does not work on patch or NURBS objects. Non-polygon mesh objects are replaced by null objects in the resulting hierarchy. To slice through non-polygon mesh objects such as patches or NURBS surfaces, they must first be converted to polygon meshes (choose Effect->Convert).

MultiAnimatedSlice does not work properly with complex polygons, such as polygons with holes in them. In this case, simply convert the model to have triangulated polygons before slicing (choose Effect->Convert). This situation often arises when extruding complex shapes to make models.

If the model is animated, such as along a path, then the geometry of the resulting object will be correct, but it does not inherit the path animation. If this is desired, simply copy the animation from the model to the result using the usual SOFTIMAGE 3D tools or the Duplicate->AnimateTransform (Motion Module) effect.

The cross-sectional pieces created in the slicing operation are not further sliced by other polygons in the slicing hierarchy: MultiAnimatedSlice work best when making almost parallel cuts into objects.

Procedure

1. Create an animated hierarchy and a hierarchy of slicing polygon meshes.
   
   Construct the slicing hierarchy as follows: each polygon mesh in the hierarchy should be composed of one or more polygons, each of which acts as a slicing plane on the model being sliced.
   
   Each polygon cuts out the portion of the object on the side opposite the direction of the polygon's normal. To create a new object that is a mid-section cut of another object, merge together two 1 x 1 grids that are offset from each other and have normals pointing toward each other. Then position this in the middle of the object and apply MultiAnimatedSlice.
   
   The results of slicing the hierarchy in this way, by each model of the slicing hierarchy, are then brought together in one final result.
   
   
2. Choose the Effects->MultiAnimatedSlice command in the Motion module. The MultiSlice dialogue box is displayed.
3. Set the parameters as desired.

Parameters

The parameters are the same as in the Effect->Slice dialogue box. For a description of the parameters.

Next, Previous, Delete, Key, and Frame

Next advances to the next keyframe, Previous goes back to the previous keyframe, Delete removes a keyframe, and Key sets a keyframe at the frame you specify in the Frame text box. These controls are available only after you have set the initial parameters in the dialogue box and clicked Ok. To return to the dialogue box and edit keyframes for the effect, select the effect icon and choose the Effects->Edit Parameters command in the Motion module.

Last updated 02-apr-1998