|
|
Snailey
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Snailey // Work in Progress
Post by e-graffiti // Jun 1, 2007, 12:00pm
|
e-graffiti
Total Posts: 171
|
The model side lathe tool makes for an easy, customizable snail shell...
JPSofCA that looks really good! Can you provide more insight into how you did it with the Lathe tool. Was it a single lathe application? Or did you lathe, then select new face and apply lathe again? Share alittle.... thanks! |
Post by rrf // Jun 1, 2007, 12:25pm
|
rrf
Total Posts: 319
|
Yes....Good snail shell - I was thinking about fooling around with a squashed helix, I guess you beat me to it :)
rf |
Post by JPSofCA // Jun 1, 2007, 11:23pm
|
JPSofCA
Total Posts: 300
|
Well thank you, I'm glad you like it. :)
As for the approach I took, and fitting to his name, it is a very crude single application of a lathe to a circle drawn by center and point from the model side tools.
What I love so much about the lathe tool is the ability to apply these "live" modifications along its swept path before it gets finalized. But what I'd love to see is a more powerful version of this same tool in the workspace view. ;)
In section "1" you see (next to Crudey) a quick circle drawn by center and point with the lathe tool applied and then I right-clicked to open the editing panel to modify the values to what you see. When you bring the radius up to the edge of the circle, you cannot change the helix value, so get as close as you can without locking it, and then apply a helix value that when you look from above, your visualization of the overlapping rings are about the size you would expect a snail shell to be.
In section "2" I finally clicked the lathe button again to sweep the path. The face at the end of that sweep is already selected for the next step.
In section "3", I simply resized the end of the sweep by left + right clicking the corner of the bounding box for the face, shrinking it down to a small tip. The rest of the "floors" modify themselves accordingly. The way the small tip sticks out is the one downside to this method of making a snail shell, but as you can see it's not too bad - nothing a bit of patience and care couldn't fix right up.
In section "4" you see the same thing, but from its side profile. Crudey now has a little...well, big sibling. I think I'll call him Sluggo. ;)
So when lathe works it way over to workspace, I hope they throw in every advanced feature in the book at that tool...something where the path might be able to run alongside tangents or something...to be able to bend and twist and fine tune. But the functionality of lathe as it stands is pretty darn cool, I think! :cool: |
Post by weaveribm // Jun 2, 2007, 1:49am
|
weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
|
Really nice work JPS!
On the scripting thing of future shell-building collaboration:
There's a primary rule for growing shells from a simple formula. We don't know what it is yet but foundation-building Isaac
And then there are many many shells of different shapes and sizes. They all follow the primary rule and then they each have their own slight modification to the basic formula. Slight variations in the shell-building formula that lead to major shape variations in the final shell object. Lustre and mother of pearl. The winkle :)
I see VB scripting in there and that looks to be very interesting if that application is designed to allow object-building form the output code. Pseudocode might be-
Create a plane
Extrude it by formula for first (day, week etc) growth period
Apply the Fibonacci series(amount of 'growth materials' Properties (calcium, magnesium etc))
If salt then reboot :)
-and maybe then all shells would be covered and randomness could be worked in there, and grit for the future pearl
That beautiful diatomaceous image nearby has got a head start on this :)
Rosetta is an output consisting of the result of many inputs while the TrueSpace shell-building plugin would expand this to all the shells in this world and beyond from one simple central formula to be discovered. So there's a certain symmetry there :)
Ooh carapaces...
Peter |
Post by e-graffiti // Jun 2, 2007, 2:33am
|
e-graffiti
Total Posts: 171
|
JPSofCA this is a great technique. I like it because it is simple AND effective! Using this technique I made another buddy for Crudey, Sluggo, and of course Snailey.
6563
Really nice work JPS!
There's a primary rule for growing shells from a simple formula. We don't know what it is yet
Weaveribm, your statement is "odd" since you go on to mention the Fibanocci series which can be used to plot shell growth but it sounds like you are aware of that and well on your way. In the recent past I was looking at the work of various Adobe Flash artist and animations they did based on Phi and Fibonacci. Maybe this link will assist you:
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html#spiral
This has been a great thread for me! |
Post by JPSofCA // Jun 2, 2007, 8:02am
|
JPSofCA
Total Posts: 300
|
Cousin Harry: |
Post by kena // Jun 2, 2007, 10:22am
|
kena
Total Posts: 2321
|
I did a second lathe at the small end and angled it inside. This takes care of the hole in the middle very well.
Now, we all know how to make a snail
:jumpy: Here is stripes!! |
Post by Matski007 // Jun 3, 2007, 1:49am
|
Matski007
Total Posts: 539
|
ok here is an update, I had a go with these various methods heh, and I decided that the multiplex tool has best results because once all the spheres are unioned and you apply a smoothing layer it creates a desired outcome which is that where each sphere connects you get like a defined line (see Picture) and also its less imperfect which I found is important in organics.
I also put on some DX shaders to pretty it up a little heh
http://smos.objectpaths.net/shell.jpg
And thanks guys for your help, I hope you continue to see my updates, I think Ill redo the shell cos Im not sure it looks quite right. |
Post by weaveribm // Jun 3, 2007, 6:09am
|
weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
|
There's a primary rule for growing shells from a simple formula. We don't know what it is yet
Weaveribm, your statement is "odd" since you go on to mention the Fibanocci series
No it's not odd graf but you might have missed a bit, sorry for the dense text.
The series reduces to just a number. That doesn't help much :)
What I meant was that the implementation of a natural shell-building formula (we know 1.618 is involved) would take this 'expression of growth' number and via a script ask TrueSpace to build the shells from first principles. That means more than just knowing about the Fibonacci ratio... everyone studying Leonardo knows about the Golden Ratio
What I was suggesting with that pseudocode was that perhaps VB could do something in (presumably) compiled Basic with it - perhaps the output of the script would be to create the annual/week's/month's growth that a well-nourished snail or sea creature would enjoy: then keep adding sections to watch the final shell be generated from the script. If TS scripting can do that
250000 and more species of mollusc
The simple formula I was thinking about would have input 1.618 as a scalar (no dimensions) but then also the X,Y,Z size (scale) of each (the next) segment and the angle through which the shell segments develop, slide over each other sideways: oyster shells being only a small angle and snails having a larger angle. And a 'dumpiness' number and other properties. Looks complicated but all the ideas for this shell-building function have already been introduced by contributors to the thread - in order to build the shells we see in this thread in the various very nice images
Up to my neck in muck and getting avi's to run as back-projections here but that's another dollar for another day :)
Peter |
Post by e-graffiti // Jun 3, 2007, 7:53am
|
e-graffiti
Total Posts: 171
|
Matski007:
Glad to see your final results as this thread has been quite a journey for me, I locked myself in front of my PC a few times playing with many of the techniques discussed here, and I am sure for you also. Great looking snail!
Weaveribm:
A better choice of word should have been "surprised" and not odd as you seem to be quite knowledgeable in the subject. I was thinking perhaps you meant implementation was the issue which I can understand. Another visual approach I had to this snail spiral was to use the golden rectangle with spiral curve and place a Fibonacci (Fib for short) size circle spline at each segment of the rectangle, for example a circle of size 13 at the appropriate spot on the rectangle then one of size 8 at the appropriate spot and so on... then skin them together and then manually add inside circle patches to smooth the transitions as we know that each segment must "transition" from Fib number to number. I have not programmed much at all in tS but I have much experience programming in Flash Actionscript(AS). I did consider a way to "fake" a golden spiral in 2d via knowing the Fib series/golden rectangle AND knowing that each Fib square contains a quarter turn of a circle. So in AS I concieved of moving the draw point to the center of each square, draw the quarter circle, then move to the next Fib series square and draw the next quarter turn, continuing this process until I have a spiral, this is actually quite easy to do in AS( I will save this for another time when I can lock myself into my room ). Best wishes for your shell making plugin let us know when to look for it. |
Post by W!ZARD // Jun 3, 2007, 7:49pm
|
W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
|
Wow, who'd've thought snails would be so popular? :-)
http://www.caligari.com/gallery/imagesgallery/2004/Aug/image.asp?Cate=GImages&img=778&email=kate.rhodes@btinternet.com&name=Katherine%20Rhodes
LOL - cool pic Kate.
I think snails are just inherently interesting creatures. There is a whole body of biological research just on the subject of which way a snail shell coils - to the right (dextral) or - very rarely, to the left (sinistral). The direction is genetically determined and the rarer left turning snails are often called King Snails. Now how interesting is that?! (Ohmygawd I've GOT to get myself a life!! :D ) |
Post by Matski007 // Jun 4, 2007, 1:44am
|
Matski007
Total Posts: 539
|
e-graffiti
Glad to see your final results as this thread has been quite a journey for me, I locked myself in front of my PC a few times playing with many of the techniques discussed here, and I am sure for you also. Great looking snail!
Oh I havent finished yet! heh, going to remake the coil I think, and then the task of texturing, which is my next predicament, I better start getting lots of snail pictures. Im also thinking of learning ZBrush 3 and maybe applying it to this, but not sure yet |
Post by weaveribm // Jun 4, 2007, 11:37pm
|
weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
|
lol Wizard come on man it's a snail thread it must be safe. Ooh is there a snailcam :)
But interestingly :) at the weekend my lady love pointed me to a group of hexagonal insect's eggs laid under a tiny olive tree's leaf on the kitchen windowsill. Looks all very alien, if they're still there next weekend and haven't hatched I'll get a shot for modellers. Bill Oddie eat your heart out lol
your shell making plugin
Your plugin you mean graf, I exist only in the world of ideas right now starting out but you have the tools to make the Prince of Snails. We'll make a fortune in France labelling edible snail cans. Fast Food. No that doesn't sound right :)
Peter |
Post by Matski007 // Jun 9, 2007, 1:30pm
|
Matski007
Total Posts: 539
|
here is an update, its looks pretty awful, I still have a hell of a lot of messing to do, this is my first use of the hair tools in TS7.5 which ive used blatently against its original design and used it for grass, the texturing is all over the place but its hard to see if it will work right without having to render it, which takes ages.
let me know what u think
http://smos.objectpaths.net/snail2.jpg |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Jun 9, 2007, 2:39pm
|
3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
|
Hi Matski007, lookin' good!
Actually if you go to the Library Browser and drop down to "Plants" and double-click it it will load a library into your stack on the right which includes a "Simple Grass" item that is a "haircut" you can drag onto an object, so using hair for grass isn't all that "blatently against its original design" at all!
Looks great. Might wanna give it a tad more slimy gloss, but I know not all snails are that slimy so maybe not. I like the multiplex shell you chose. If you increase the number at the very top of the multiplex dialog (to a number higher than the 20 which I used) it may even close the shell with tiny sphere instances, but I don't know if that's what you'd like to do. Looks good now!;)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by W!ZARD // Jun 10, 2007, 3:24am
|
W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
|
I love the colours and textures in this - good work Matt. |
|
