Rob-GB Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Have somehow combined three risers with the adjoining stair string:( Have tried the Separate tool but not managed to get it to work. I am trying to render a 3D model of a stair ( my first attempt of more than one object ) and this is causing a problem with grain direction for the applied material. Any advice would be most welcome, thank you. Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyJ Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Try holding CTRL + Clicking the part of object you want to delete. That should Select the solid shape that you union to the original. Then you can just simply press delete. Hope this works for you, I tried it on two union Cubes and it worked fine not sure of the outcome on more complex shapes though. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 were the shapes originally separate solids? Are they touching? Separate wont work if the bodies create a single volume. For instance if you had to stair treads that were physically separated by space but you joined them using the UNION command, you could use Solidedit>Body>seParate Solid. If these two stair treads were physically overlapping so the union process created one volume, Separate would not work. Can you post a screen shot of what you are trying to separate. My guess is the slice command will be your best friend. If you have a lot of stairs it may be easier for you to explode the entire thing(once) which will separate it into faces. you can then extrude all of the faces at once to create your solid objects again. I dont recommend doing this but i have done it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Organic Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Explode them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 command EXPLODE or the little Dynomite icon. Its used to modify objects inside blocks but you can use it to break down solids. If you explode a solid it should leave the faces intact. If you explode it again you will be left with lines and arcs. if you are working in blocks you can also use the command XPLODE to modify parameters within the block individually or globally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 As per your AutoCAD Help file (anyone here use this feature besides me?): "You can separate (take apart) composite solids. The composite 3D solid object cannot share a common area or volume." Maybe it's AutoDesk's fault in the naming of the command. It gives the user a false impression. Perhaps the programmers can come up with a beefed up version of the command that can do what some users are actually expecting to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 As per your AutoCAD Help file (anyone here use this feature besides me?): "You can separate (take apart) composite solids. The composite 3D solid object cannot share a common area or volume." Maybe it's AutoDesk's fault in the naming of the command. It gives the user a false impression. Perhaps the programmers can come up with a beefed up version of the command that can do what some users are actually expecting to happen. Thats where my answer came from :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Oops. Mea culpa. Well at least two of us know that Help exists for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-GB Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Thanks guys. Tried everything else then ended up exploding them and remaking the components. Lessons learnt: 1) Be careful when using UNION 2) Think through to how the model will be rendered 3) Don't panic, post problem here and go out for a walk (to nearest pub) 4) Try all suggestions leaving least favourite till last ( because that will work and hard lessons are most remembered!) Just need to sort the rendering out now... Rob. P.S. Remark:- Acad help was first port of call but I found it lacking in this area. I think the writers often assume we have the same thought processes they have when writing the file. I also suspect they would have difficulty in following my written instructions on how to make this staircase for real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 It doesn't help (no pun intended) that Help was probably written by programmers. That's why one should always have a good after-market AutoCAD book on hand for such perplexing problems. I always keep an original copy of my solids off to one side (on a layer that I freeze) just in case I need to revisit my design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-GB Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 I always keep an original copy of my solids off to one side (on a layer that I freeze) just in case I need to revisit my design. Now that is a brilliant, almost Luminous, idea! Will make sure to do that in future. Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipsophrenic Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Anybody use the SLICE command? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Anybody use the SLICE command? That was my second recomendation skip:) I find HELP frustratings some times. Its tough because you have to know what you are looking for. There have been a few things that I couldnt find in help. Things i know the command for but search brings up nothing:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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