Booleans are a method of combining two objects. You can subtract, add, union or intersect two (or more) objects to create a new shape. To get started, open the modeler and create two objects.

In layer one, create a sphere with the dementions of x=1m, y=1m, z=1m. Leave this object centered at zero for the x,y,z axis.

Switch to layer two and create a box with the dementions of x=500mm, y=500mm, z=3m. Leave this object centered at zero for the x,y,z axis.

For this demo we will use layer one as the object effected by the boolean operation. To do this select layer one as the foreground object and layer two as the background object.

To start the boolean operation press the short cut key B (shift+b) and a dialog box will come up. From this dialog select the operation you wish to perform on the objects. We will go through all four operations in this demo in sequence starting with Union.

Union will take the two shapes and combine them into a single object. Any surfaces that are common to both objects are removed and only the outer surfaces are kept.

Now lets undo that union by pressing CTRL+Z (or just z in versions before Ligthwave 8). Then again press the B hot key to bring up the Boolean dialog. Select Intersect this time.

Intersect is the referse of the Union operation. Only the parts that are common to both objects are kept and the remaining parts are removed.

Now lets undo that union by pressing CTRL+Z (or just z in versions before Ligthwave 8). Then again press the B hot key to bring up the Boolean dialog. Select Subtract this time.

Subtract takes the background object away from the foreground object where the two intersect. Much like a cookie cutter. If you wanted to keep the part that is removed, you would need to make a copy of the foreground object to another layer before you boolean it. You could then use Subtract on one layer and Intersect on the other layer to get the two parts.

Now lets undo that union by pressing CTRL+Z (or just z in versions before Ligthwave 8). Then again press the B hot key to bring up the Boolean dialog. Select Add this time.

Add may look a lot like Union. The difference is that nothing is removed from either object during the operation. Add is just about the same as copying from one layer and pasting into another.

One important thing to note, after each boolean operation the points that are common to both the foreground and background objects are now duplicated on the foreground layer. To reduce the number of points and to get a fully unified object, use the point merge function (press m). Let the system perform the merge automatically. You will get a report showing how many points were merged.

Another thing to note is that the background layer is uneffected by these operations. Only the foreground layer is modified.

That ends this demonstration. Play with boolean operations and have fun!