I have 12 of these in my scene...imported from Inventor years ago. They are just over 2000 polys each. I wanted to model them from scratch to optimize the file and further my modeling “skills”.

I have tried using the topology tool under freeform graphite modeling. But after an hour of pushing verts around, I hate the result. I tried creating an outline with a spline, add an editable poly on top, and start connecting edges and moving things around.

No matter what I do, it just is not working.

What is an efficient way to model this dumb thing?

On the attached image is a side profile of how it is formed.

Thanks for looking,

Dean

Max Design 2012 SP2 / Win 7 Pro
NVidia Quadro FX 4800 x 2 (non sli)
HP Z800 - 2 Xeon X5680 @ 3.33 GHz; 36 GB ram

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You could poly model this starting with a plane, modeling it flat 2D to start with, making sure you have edge loops at the bends in the profile. Stick to quads and rough it out low-poly.
If you have trouble creating quad topology on the fly, sometimes it helps to sketch (or print) the object onto paper and plan the mesh in pencil.
Once you have tha basic flat shapes, select and move the appropriate verts up to get the profile.
You can then mesh/turbo smooth it to refine further, and add Shell to get some thickness.
The subdivision and shell could go either way in the stack according to which works best.

I am trying to replicate this shape and finding it difficult to understand the inner-edges if they are raised etc. Could you please provide a screenshot of another angle so I may understand the shape better?

website: http://www.all3dmax.com

Something like this.
Not attaching a scene, you must do it yourself :)

and further my modeling “skills”.

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well i will not let my work go to waste either… here is my version :P

[blue] low-poly | [red] with turbosmooth modifier

i have attached the obj file for you to play with.

website: http://www.all3dmax.com

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fanblade.zip

I would say Blakestone’s Blue one is the most poly-efficient vesion.
I seem to have ignored the bit about not needing the holes.

Samab, I have successfully been able to reproduce what you have done. Thank you very much! I think it will take a few more models to be able to visualize the most efficient way to model in this manner.

Blakestone, Thank you as well for taking a shot The obj file looks great, however your lack of any direction as to how you got to that point makes it difficult for me to try to replicate it on my own. Would you mind taking the time and giving me a short list of how you did that?

Thanks,

Dean

Max Design 2012 SP2 / Win 7 Pro
NVidia Quadro FX 4800 x 2 (non sli)
HP Z800 - 2 Xeon X5680 @ 3.33 GHz; 36 GB ram

See video to see how I modelled both Low-Poly and High-Poly version.

website: http://www.all3dmax.com

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was this video helpful?

website: http://www.all3dmax.com

Sorry I have not replied yet. Yes! The video was extremely helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to make it and help me learn what I consider to be basic skill that I don’t have.  :P

It’s people like you and Samab that make me so impressed with this forum!

Dean

Max Design 2012 SP2 / Win 7 Pro
NVidia Quadro FX 4800 x 2 (non sli)
HP Z800 - 2 Xeon X5680 @ 3.33 GHz; 36 GB ram

Blakestone,
I enoyed watching your modeling technique in your tutorial video. Thanks for posting that!

David Arbogast
Interior Design and Architectural Visualization

3DS Max 2011-64 | Windows 7-64 | Vray 2.0
I7-975 3.33 gHz Processor | 12 gb Memory