Alignment questions

[Mr_Ekshin]

I have questions about how to do some things properly. Instead of making a bunch of posts, I'll group them together here.

I've looked up as many solutions as I can, and have solved many problems. Surprisingly, I've learned how to do complex things that I don't need, but not simple ones that I do. These are the ones that I can't find the solution to in a search.

"Answer me, these questions 6, for I have spaceship models to fix."

1. GROUPED PART ALIGNMENT:

This all began with a new part being created (PART 1). I then created a group for the shared faces, "Put On" the part to the face on my main object, created extra vertexes, then "Bridged" them together.

PART 1 is a turret. It is a standardized shared part among models. It's always the same size. This seemed the right way to insure uniformity in parts. I don't know where I want it applied until I eye-ball the model a bit. On THIS model, I can conserve vertexes in a location that also looks right.
...and I still need to know how to solve this kind of alignment problem anyway.

WHAT I NEED TO DO:

1. Move the "PART 1" turret (pyramid) to the left until Vertexes 3 and 4 fall exactly along the line 1a/b and 2a/b.
2. Remove Vertexes 1 and 2.

I've created a virtual mirror, so the other side will be no problem if I can just align this side correctly.

Conditions:
1. Lines 1a/b and 2a/b should not deform.
2. PART 1 (pyramid) should not deform.
3. PART 1 (pyramid) remains on Plane 1a/b.

* Question #1: How do I align this part?

I've tried grouping PART 1, but it doesn't lock it from deforming, it just seems to group selections. I don't know how to snap a single vertex and have the rest of the group automagically move along with it. Does this software do that? I want to lock a group of vertexes/edges, and then move the entire group by selecting a single vertex/edge from that group and snapping it to another specified vertex/edge.

Or any other method that gets the same results. This problem is wearing away my ability to be picky.

MY CURRENT WORK-AROUND:
1. "Move" the part, constrained to plane 1a. Eye-ball it to be close.
2. "Weld" Vertexes 1 & 2 along their respective lines to Vertexes 3 & 4 (this deforms line 1a/b slightly).

But I want something more accurate that won't deform my lines and/or part.


2. FLATTENING THE END OF A CYLINDER.

"Flatten" the vertexes on the end of cylinder to a knife edge. I need to know the proper way to do this so I don't have a silly amount of cleanup or prep.

Here's what I've tried.

1. "Flatten" along an axis first, then cleanup. Body "cleanup" and body "weld" are like the Goggles; they do nothing. I end up having to pull vertexes out, then dissolve/collapse/weld/whatever until it's the shape I want. This is the easiest to start, but the cleanup is a pain.


2. Bisect cylinder end, then "dissolve" the extra vertexes (dissolve and collapse yield the same results). This is a pain to setup, yet still requires cleanup.


Both methods I've tried yield results that require cleanup and make me think I'm simply doing something wrong.

* Question #2: What is the proper way to do this?


3. CONVEX VS CONCAVE TESSELLATION RESULTS.

I've selected all faces and performed "Tessellation". In the image, the selected group on the left have been automatically bisected to be CONVEX. The selected group on the right were automatically bisected to be CONCAVE.

* Question #3: Is there a way to force tessellation to produce bisections that are always CONVEX or CONCAVE in relation to the center X/Y/Z point? or in relations to surrounding faces?

As it is, I always have to go back and manually re-bisect faces to make them convex for my model. "Auto-smooth" does not solve this problem. For low-poly models, proper bisection is important so that there are no unsightly valleys.


4. STRAIGHTENING A LINE.

Pick two vertexes as endpoints and cause all vertexes along line segments of the shortest path between them to fall into a straight line. The inner vertexes may have 1 standard plane of constraint.

Right now I'll just settle for straightening a line. Here is an example:

So far, I can "flatten" a group of vertexes along X, Y, and Z axis. I can't figure out how to "flatten" along an axis defined by two end vertexes. This would also be helpful to constrain subsequent inner vertexes to a standard plane.

I could remove inner vertexes and then rebuild, but that would destroy important vertexes aligned along my Z axis. That would be a simple solution that would lead to another more complex problem. or cause me to have to bust out notepad again. I hate having to use notepad when there has to be a correct way to do this. (or see Question #6)


5. FLATTENING FACES/VERTEXES YET NOT DEFORMING OUTER EDGES/VERTEXES.

Pick two faces that share a common edge. At minimum, there will be 4 vertexes. When I "Flatten | Normal", some vertexes move one way, outer vertexes move the opposite way. It seems that the operation is averaging along edge midpoints - like a see-saw. I want to have only 1 out of 4 vertexes allowed to move, and keep the others locked.


In my example, I'd like to flatten planes A & B while only allowing vertex 1 to move; constrained along the X axis. So I want vertex 1 to move outward to flatten the planes while vertexes 2, 3, & 4 don't try to move inward.

* Question #5: How do I do this?


6. SAVE XYZ, THEN USE X, Y, OR Z.

Is there a way to select a vertex and save its XYZ position values, then choose another vertex and recall/use one or two of those values for an absolute move? For now I have to use notepad and save a bunch of values. I'm pretty sure I'm doing things the most difficult way possible.

*Question #6: How do I use absolute values for a vertex move while keeping notepad out of the process.

In the last 2 days, I've been stuck and have spent more time writing my questions than modeling. Along the way, I HAVE solved two of my problems to cut my questions down from 7 to 5, then back up to 6 as one solution just caused another question. I've tried to make my questions as clear as possible so that they are not confusing.

Or if answers to these questions exist elsewhere in the forums, please point me to them.

Peas.

Ek.