Hi

I was trying out a screwdriver tutorial in Maya 2011 but when I get to the part where it asks to perform boolean difference to subtract part of the model it works first time but both parts vanish when trying to subtract a second part. Im doing the tutorial to learn ways of doing precisely this function where I can cut and alter models but no matter what i try it does not work. The tutorial link is below, I have a handle with one part subtracted and the screwdriver blade subtracted on one side only. 

http://www.creativecrash.com/tut...-it-with-mental-ray/page3

I have tried deleting histories and increasing scales but to no avail, its all very frustrating.

cheers

ID-Dis

I also tried average normals as I read this online as a solution somewhere (not sure what this does though)

Try moving one of the objects very slightly before performing your boolean.
Your probably better off manually modeling the object your trying to make though.

Booleans are a finicky beast…

n8skow [FA]

I find that booleans in Maya grow more unreliable as your model gets more complex; as your list of operations on any given surface grows, even if you delete your construction history and model very carefully, what you describe happens more and more frequently.

That said, I don’t like the way that screwdriver is modeled.  I think it is better to model one section of the piece, create a simple boolean using quadrangular geometry, insert edge loops where necessary to “protect” your edges, then duplicate that piece radially. 

I’m attaching a simple tutorial on the process for you - this tutorial is for modeling a fluted column, but the shapes can easily be adapted to make the screwdriver in the tutorial you are following.

	Attachment
creating_a_fluted_column_in_maya_1.pdf

Very simple boolean operations cause problems in Maya. Sometimes the model disappears and an error is listed in script editor window

// Error: Cannot perform boolean operation //

sometimes Maya crashes to the desktop.

The lighting stops being smooth shaded and is faceted after the boolean union operation too.

there was a very similar tutorial for modeling a collumn in last months 3D World mag.  Maybe that can help.

Hi,

I am doing some hard modelling. Here is what I found, after many crashes and restarts:

1 - Delete all vertices that are not connected(switch to vertices, select all, hit delete);
2 - Check for holes in your poly model and close them;
3 - Check for normals: all should be outward, on both objects;
4 - Freeze transforms on both objects
5 - Delete history on both objects
6 - After each and every boolean operation go to step 1;

Not all steps are always necessary, but you should try them one by one.

Thats, this thread has really helped me out. I’ve been having so much trouble with this it is so frustrating. But this has really aided my progress.

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”
Dr. Seuss

I just tried booleans in Blender 2.5 . Amazingly, it does much better, no crashes and objects do not vanish into thin air.