Extend Borders Script

[+GKABS 8,796]

This is another nice FREE script that I use and I thought it would be nice to share it with you.

This Tool is useful for extruding border edges of an editable poly. You can also add a tilting angle and choose to use corrected corners.

How to use:
For installation instructions download the .zip below and read the readme file included. In max, open the “Customize User Interface” dialog and locate the tool in the category “RacoonScripts”. After you have made a hotkey, menu item or button, simply select some edges of your editable poly object and start the tool.

Extrusion Depth = the absolute amount the new edges are extruded
Angle = The tilting angle of the extrusion
Smoothing Group, Inherit = Inherits the smoothing group ID from the adjacent faces
Respect loop ends = If you are not using straighten corners, selections that end on corners are extruded perpendicular to the bending, if this is not desired, activate this option – it will extrude the those edge perpendicular to only the selected edges.

Tips & Tricks:
Alt + Apply = negate the angle value and apply
Alt + Cancel = undo the last apply

Known problems:
* Haven’t tested it myself (still using 2014) but it I heard it might not work properly in Max 2017 (I blame Autodesk, it works in all versions prior to 2017). Also, for installing in 2017/2018/2019 installation instructions might not work anymore (again, haven’t looked into it myself). One user commented that evaluating the macroscript (RacoonScripts_Extend_Borders.mcr) once using the menu items “Scripting”->”Run Script…” did the trick for him.
* Distorted polygons (e.g. skewed and rotated) may be problematic for the straighten corners algorithm. It’s better to disable this feature in these cases.
* Since it’s a Maxscript it is not very fast in calculation speed. Higher edge counts may slow down the tool considerably.
Download