Interference objects - maybe even in another reailClone setup

[Lars Egerrup / LKE Design]

Hi there,

Another idea, ....

I think it would be useful with objects that could be marked as interfering objects. Think for example of a ceiling setup  - one RC setup was handling the distribution of the ceiling, another the distribution of downlights - Having a cylinder defined as an interference object, and which only mission was,  to cut the hole in the ceiling plate, - and maybe even a third rc setup handling ventilation outtakes - again with simple meshes defining the void.  A little like interfering Forrest Objects in Forrest Pro. I think this could be useful in many setups.
If it was possible that the inference object could even cut holes in normal non RC meshes, then it would be even cooler.

[Michal Karmazín]

Hi Lars,

Thanks a lot for your suggestion, any feedback is very important to us. Though we don't have plans to add such feature, we'll evaluate its implementation for future releases.

Currently, the Clipping Area node, which can be wired to multiple Generators is designed for these purposes. As mentioned in our on-line reference guide: "It uses a closed spline as a boundary region, using it to clip the geometry of the object. RailClone clipping is much more efficient than a 3ds Max boolean operation, and optimizes the instanced geometry when using the VRay/Mental Ray geometric shader."

Best regards,

[Michal Karmazín]

Hi Lars,

Let me add, that you might find the Section object's Create Shape handy for "extracting the spline".

Best regards,

[Lars Egerrup / LKE Design]

Hi there,

- and thanks for the nice replies.

I use both techniques - in lack of better options. However it opens up for faults, and much more work, as the two - the RC setup and the Clipping Area are two independent things.  - so, -  taking a ceiling with a downlight and ventilation setup as an example - changing  the setup of the downlights will not affect the holes cut by the clipping area, - as there are no connection - and the clipping path needs to be redone.

The section tool will in many cases not work good, as you will (again taking the downlights in ceiling as an example) cut through the section of the downlight- that will often mean the thickness of the reflector - but not leaving the hole for the fixture as you need (without a lot of work)  - I am of course aware that you could have a sister array in that rc setup, that could hold the geometry for generating the correct section - and which could be switched on and off.  BUT still a whole more cumbersome than if you could define (tag) some geometry as being a void as part of the setup.