Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Karagandy University of the name of academician E. A. Buketov

Computer modeling

TOPIC 2
BOOLEAN OPERATIONS

Author: Senior lecturer of the Department of Applied

Mathematics and computer science
Kamenova S.K.
Type of lesson: Lecture

Karaganda 2024
 Plan
1. Advanced boolean operations in 3ds Max
2. ProBoolean command
3. ProCutter command
4. ProCutter Parameters
 Literature
1. Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Help. http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2012help /index.html.
2. Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Tutorials. [Электронный ресурс]. — Autodesk, Inc., 2008.
3. Didik Wijaya. Kung Fu Panda Texturing. http://www.tutorialshine.com/ 3ds-max-tutorials/texturing/71-kung-fu-
panda-texturing.
4. Didik Wijaya. Texturing a Dolphin. http://www.tutorialshine.com/ 3ds-max-tutorials/texturing/39-texturing-a-
dolphin.
5. Горелик А. Г. Самоучитель 3ds Max 2012. — СПб.: БХВ-Петербург, 2012.— 544 с.
 Advanced boolean operations in 3ds Max

Until a certain time, the 3ds Max program had only one command for performing Boolean
operations — the Boolean command. It has been preserved in it even now. However, in the latest
versions of the program, two more advanced commands have appeared: ProBoolean and
ProCutter. The first of them completely overrides the capabilities of the Boolean command
and adds much more functionality to it, so we will not dwell on the Boolean command.
 ProBoolean command

First, let's clarify the essence of the ProBoolean command (Boolean operation). Open the \Scenes\Duck.max file from
the folder of this exercise and build a Box001 parallelepiped next to it. Assign a different color to each object in the
Material editor. Slide the Duck object halfway into the parallelepiped. Select the Box001 object, go to the Create tab
and select Compound Objects from the list of object types. Activate the ProBoolean command.
In the Pick Boolean scroll (Specify the operand), check the Move option, and then after performing the Boolean
operation, the auxiliary parallelepiped will disappear from the screen (in all other cases, it will still remain on the
screen). Next, in the Parameters scroll, set the Boolean operation to be performed (select the Subtraction option), in the
Apply Material area, select the Apply Operand Material option, click the Start Picking button and point to the Duck
object. The result of performing the Boolean Subtraction operation is shown in Figure 1.

Please note that in this case, the

extruded part of the surface has
acquired the color of the Duck
operand. If the Retain Original
Material option is selected in the
Apply Material area, the Boolean
object will acquire the color of
the first operand.
The ProBoolean command supports the following Boolean operations: Union, Intersection, Subtraction, Merge,
Attach, Insert, Imprint and Cookie. At the same time, different Boolean operations can be performed in the same
ProBoolean command. In addition, the ProBoolean can split the result of the operation into quadrangular faces,
which are well smoothed by using the Meshsmooth and Turbosmooth operations.
The Union operation (Figure 2.66, a) combines both models into a single model, and the Intersection operation
(Figure 2.66, b) stores only the common part of the operands in the new model.
The Merge command combines the meshes of the two models without deleting the original polygons, creating new
edges where the objects intersect (Figure 2.67).
The Attach operation combines two or more objects into one object without changing their topology.
The Insert operation first subtracts the border of the first operand from the second, and then replaces the cut part
with the first operand.
The Imprint and Cookie operations are variants of performing some previous operations:
• Imprint inserts edges that occur when operands intersect between the operand and the source grid without
removing or adding new faces, creating an operand imprint on the source grid (Figure 2.68, a).
• Cookie performs a specific Boolean operation and does not add faces from operands to the original grid.
But this operation can be useful to cut a hole in the grid or get a part of the grid inside another object (Fig.
2.68, b).
 ProCutter command

Boolean operation ProCutter

The ProCutter operation allows you to dissect one or more objects by other objects into several parts. It
is convenient in cases when an object explodes or is scattered under the influence of some force or
another object.
Open the \Scenes\ProBoolean5.max file from the folder of this exercise. Create two planes and two
spheres — they will be used to split the circle into parts. Arrange them so that when splitting the circle,
separate parts are obtained (Fig. 2.87).
 ProCutter Parameters

Select one of the secant objects and in the command panel on the Create tab, select objects of the
Compound Objects type from the list. Activate the ProCutter command - the scrolls Cutter Picking
Parameters (Parameters for specifying the pruner) (Fig. 2.88, a) and Cutter Parameters (Parameters of
the pruner) (Fig. 2.88, b) will open. In the first of them, click the Pick Cutter Objects button (Specify
secant objects) and point to the other secant objects (Fig. 2.89).
In the Cutter Tool Mode area, select the check boxes for the Auto Extract Mesh(Automatically extract
the mesh) and Explode By Elements (Divide by elements) options. The first of them automatically
extracts the result of splitting after pointing to the object being split. Thanks to this, you can move the
secant object again and continue splitting what has already turned out. The second option automatically
separates each element into a separate object and is active only when the first option is enabled.
In the Cutter Parameters scroll, check the boxes for the Stock Outside Cutter (Outside of secant
objects), Stock Inside Cutter (Inside of secant objects) and Cutter Outside Stock (Outside of split
objects) parameters:
when the Stock Outside Cutter option is enabled, the result will contain parts of the split objects that
are outside of all secant objects. However, if there are open surfaces among them, for example, planes,
then their orientationit will determine those parts of the split objects that are inside or outside the secant
object;
when the StockInside Cutter option is enabled, the result will contain those parts of the split objects
that are located inside all the secant objects;
The Cutter Outside Stock option allows you to get parts of secant objects that are outside the objects
being split.
Click the Pick Stock Objects button and point to the circle — all secant objects will remain selected (Fig. 2.90), delete
them. The circle will be divided into a number of parts, each of which will be highlighted in its own color (Fig. 2.91).
This state corresponds to the file \Scenes\Pro Cutter 1. max from the same folder.
The other functions of the ProCutter command are similar to the same functions of the ProBoolean command.
 QUESTIONS
1. What are Boolean operations used for?
2. What opportunities do Proboolean and ProCutter offer?
3. What functions do the Imprint and Cookie operations perform?
4. What commands does Proboolean contain?
5. What functions do Union and Subtraction perform?