3ds Max Spline Cleaner

[Riitta Palazzo]

ScriptSpotis a diverse online community of artists and developers who come together to find and share scripts that empower their creativity with 3ds Max. Our users come from all parts of the world and work in everything from visual effects to gaming, architecture, students or hobbyists.

This tool is ideal for cleaning and repairing spline curves imported into 3dsMax from vector drawing software or CAD software, such as Adobe Illustrator or AutoCAD. Either for architectural plans, animation paths, terrain contour lines, logotypes, vector text or any spline-based 3d model or project.

I don't write a lot of reviews but i think this one definitely deserves it!

I'm very happy that i found this tool and purchased it.

We are working with massive amounts of imported CAD data and always had to spent hours to get all the splines cleaned up.

With this plugin it is a breeze to do that job. Finding and welding open splines now takes just a few click.

Long story short, if you work a lot with splines and if you want to make your workflow less time consuming then i truly recommend to check this plugin.

Glad I purchased this. I've been bringing in hundreds of complex shapes as Illustrator files (originally raster, converted to vector). They were unwieldy and riddled with overlapping vertices/errors, making it hard to convert to editable poly without holes being errantly filled. I also needed to be able to quickly attach many little pieces.

This script allowed me to attach all, check errors, optimize, weld, and even make renderable in seconds. Max/other scripts can do many of the things in the Spline Cleaner UI, but having them all in one place like this is great. I haven't even tried out all the tools, yet.

This tool is ideal for cleaning and repairing spline curves imported into 3dsMax from vector drawing software or CAD software, such as Adobe Illustrator or Autodesk AutoCAD, either for architectural plans, animation paths, terrain contour lines, logotypes, vector text or any spline-based 3d model or project.

The top one has plastic the bottom roller has metal. The metal spline roller is for sun screen or pet screen the plastic is for require fiberglass bug screen. U want a concave roller for screen spline

The convex side is for pre rolling screen in the Chanel then u flip ur spline roller and use the concave side to run the spline in. The metal roler cuts bug screen by slicing the screen when your rolling the spline.

Phifer 3028594 Spline Roller, Screen Mouse (Individual) is an innovative tool for screen installation. It feeds spline through a roller for quick screen installation, cuts repair time in half, is ergonomically designed, and works with any screening...

Spline Cleaner as a product has saved me tremendous amount of time. It is a powerful tool to clean splines from AutoCAD to MAX and allows me not only to edit them as Bezier curves where they were not on initial import. Also allows to clean number of vertices and optimize based on curves/straight runs to reduce the number intelligently. My only complaint is support. I already owned software and due to machine failure, I needed to reauthorize the code. After reaching out numerous times over months and no reply, my only choice was to spend another $30. Not very professional but I had a deadline to make.

Occasionally as professional animators we may be called on to fix other animators' work. This is not uncommon during the crunch of production. It is always with some trepidation that I look under the hood of another animator's shot; it's kind of like going into someone else's bathroom. Most of the time it's okay, but once in a while you come across somebody who obviously hasn't bothered to clean up in there in a while, and now I've got to tip-toe around and try to work with this mess. There could be tangent handles shooting off in all directions, keys that were left in held or linear mode, and jagged splines that necessitated counter-animation in other areas to make the animation look smooth. I'm pretty anal-retentive when it comes to splines, so this kind of thing really makes my jaw clench. I'd like to take some time here to go over some basic concepts of spline hygiene, just in case I ever have to fix one of your shots. Practicing basic hygiene can prevent a lot of problems with timing, spacing and arcs, and can give you a head start towards your polish phase. It's also just good manners!

Smoothness - Are the tangents rotated so that the splines pass smoothly through the keys? Do the keys allow the splines to describe natural, pleasing shapes? Just like the arcs and paths of action in your scene, the splines should have a pleasing fluidity to them.

Curve containment - Do the splines pass beyond the values of neighboring keys? You should let the keys to describe your extremes, not your curves. Otherwise your extremes may change or disappear once you start offsetting keys in time. It's also easier to keep your animation organized in a dope sheet editor when you know that the extremes are represented by keys.

Economy of keys - Do you have a lot of extraneous keys? Sometimes it's better to delete some of the extra keys on a curve to let the computer smooth it, and therefore give you smoother motion. Once your blocking is approved, it's also a good idea to clean out all the redundant keys (those that have flat tangents and are the same value). This will keep your splines looking cleaner and easier to edit.

Variation - Are there repetitive curves in your splines? If something looks repetitive in your splines, there's a good chance it looks repetitive in your animation as well. Try to add variation to the value, tangents and timing of your splines to break up the animation subtly.

There is definitely an art to splining - knowing whether you need to pull a tangent handle or add another key, knowing which splines need the most careful smoothing, and knowing how not to over-smooth a spline. This knowledge comes with practice and experience.

Harris Model E-9 pocket-sized two-piece and divergent bore tip-cleaner is constructed of metal with a silver metallic/blue finish. It features multiple sized scientifically-designed steel reamers housed in a case with quick-flip access. It is used to clean cutting, welding, brazing and wire-feed welder tips. Careful cleaning of welding tips assures the best welding flame and long tip life. Always use the proper type and size tip cleaner. Using the right tip cleaner does the job more efficiently, maintaining the proper gas stream, and lessening the chance of permanent damage to more expensive torches and tips.

I took the rear wheel of for a tire change, and decided to do the Cush maintenance while at it. I took it all apart (those f$%#@% button heads) and I was just wondering what to use to clean the rust off the spline on the wheel and on the transmission before greasing it all? There is also some rust on the inside of the cush-drive plate and the outside bearing that it sits on. Any suggestions? Also, should the ring that sits between the flange and the cush-drive plate be dry, or greased? It is now wet from WD40. Thanks. Arek

Give everything a good clean and then add a liberal dose of grease to the cush drive, If you do a search on "cush drive" you should find a thread started by Greg field, he threw half the rubbers away ( so did i ) it makes some difference.

Arek, I found that my old standby NAVAL JELLY (a Loctite DURO product based on phosphoric acid) works perfectly for chemically cleaning out all the rust in the forged steel cush drive housing. A couple of applications will have things looking bright again. If you first get all the grease off the drive splines with solvent (acetone or lacquer thinner works very well) before applying it to wheel hub splines and female splines in the "socket" with a plumber's flux brush, this will ensure the rust is 100% chemically neutralized before application of new grease (go light with the grease here). You will find that the "gasket" ring will fling grease off onto the wheel. Again, a VERY LIGHT application is more than enough. I've installed mine dry the last few times.

WARNING: Despite the great profusion of nonsensical posts in that thread (for some 19 pages!) of wildly spectacular excursions into raw speculation to the contrary, for smoother drive train action than the relatively stiff OE setup, there is no better alternative than drilling the rubber blocks and/or removing half, exactly as Greg has illustrated so well, and as practiced and well-proven for half a century by perhaps thousands of Guzzisti (myself included), -- and as recommended by all the old Pro's I know of. Also, please don't be misled and/or confused in that thread by the no less astounding menagerie of posts speculating on the function of the ring "gasket" that you mentioned -- it quite obviously IS NOT intended as a primitive friction-damping device for the operation of the cush drive or rear suspension, and was never conceived or intended as such. It functions simply to keep the worst road grunge out of the cush drive.

WARNING: Despite the great profusion of nonsensical posts in that thread (for some 19 pages!) of wildly spectacular excursions into raw speculation to the contrary, for smoother drive train action than the relatively stiff OE setup, there is no better alternative than drilling the rubber blocks and/or removing half, exactly as Greg has illustrated so well, and as practiced and well-proven for half a century by perhaps thousands of Guzzisti (myself included), -- and as recommended by all the old Pro's I know of. Also, please don't be misled and/or confused in that thread by the no less astounding menagerie of posts speculating on the function of the ring "gasket" that you mentioned -- it quite obviously IS NOT intended as a primitive friction-damping device for the rear suspension, and was never conceived or intended as such. It functions simply to keep the worst road grunge out of the cush drive.

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