[article] Basic Clipping

This is a discussion topic for the article "Basic Clipping" by Livett which can be found here

Article description:

Using the 'Clipping' tool to cut holes

I dont think this tutorial is as clear as it should be, you need to explane where that "line" came from. noobies wont know what the clip tool is. point it out on the menu. Also explane why the carve tool is pure evil.

I may upload a carve vs. clip tutorial that goes a bit more in depth, I think the best example is when you carve a circle.

In my opinion carve > clip

No sorry your opinion is wrong.

Sorry CBK, but DrGlass is right on this. In such a simple situation as this, there is little to pick and choose between carving and clipping, but if you look at more complex scenarios then clipping is almost always the way to go. Carving often gives results that are far from optimal, with excess brushes being created and vertex layouts being confusing. Getting used to clipping, and familiarising yourself with vertex manipulation, is a necessity in HL/Source level editing.

It would still be better and easier to manipulate if it had two long boxes like the top and two smaller "sides" like the brush on the middle left.

This tutorial doesn't do a lot to explain why the carve tool may or may not be useful...
Also, it's too difficult for newbies (most don't know what the carve tool is).

The worst part is that this would be one of the few possible exceptions for the "ONO CARVE IS TEH EVIL" rule of HL mapping.

Edit the post, include what that crazy clip tool actually is, what it does, what happens if you hit "enter" when half of it is red, and show how to make a cool shape with the clip tool.

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You didn't cut it very nicely, should of had the 2 horizontal planes equal and the 2 vertical equal, instead you have them over extending...

Um.....couldn't you just right click on the block in the center of the second pic and, on the menu that pops up, click Carve?

I hardly ever use the clip tool, i only use it when i need to cut the corner off or cut things out of brushes that cannot be done with the carve tool.

Look... this was a tutorial on using the clipping tool. It wasn't a tutorial about why not to use carve. Carve can be a good tool if you know how to use it. Also, I don't care that my carvings are uneven... I got the hole didn't I? I'll stick an arrow pointing to where the clip tool is

I think your tutorial was fine. At least you spent some time out of your day to help others.

Not the best method if you want textures to align correctly.

May I just say... that if you are unable to make textures allign then you need to read a few more tutorials. I could have hundreds of unusual shapes forming a wall and I would be able to allign a texture to it and you would not notice a thing, in probly about 2 minutes. I am sure that most other mappers could do the same.

Not great, not terrible. I'd say you chose a bad way to clip that block. There are a number of cosiderations that go into just where you decide to clip an object to create a basic square hole. For instance, you allways want to make two parallell cuts that are orthogonal to the long axis of the brush you are working on. This minimizes the creation of brushes with wierd aspect ratios and can help lower you poly counts.

I thought it was a good, basic tutorial. Understandably, the block may have been better cut another way, but seeing as this is aimed at newbies to the clip tool, I don't think confusing them with poly counts or trouble with texturing down the road should be the emphasis of the tutorial. (besides the best way to learn is from your mistakes) Personally I would like to see a more advanced tutorial that hits on better ways to minimize poly counts and if possible using the clipping tool to say, take a corner and round it out evenly in all 3 dimensions for a nice smooth look.

Mmm I tried cutting an arch through a wall - total disaster - did it the hard way. so need more practice.
Also I'd go with the above comment. Spent hours trying to make a 90 deg pipe bend eventually gave up and just had the pies run into a hollow box to go round the corner.

A reasonable way to make an arched hole in a wall would be to make two vertical clips that segment off the section you want your arch in, and then clip that section into various smaller vertical strips and either vertex manipulate them or clip them one at a time to make an arch shape. You may want to use a cylinder for reference to get a nice shape.

A rectangle, with a cylinder on top, and then a triangle on top of that creates a dust like archway. Looks good

You could have elaborated more on just about every step of this tutorial. I know what to cut, not how. The images are good, but you could have added a LOT more to the text, including a lot of specifics which newbies absolutely need to understand.