gus_webb

Well, not really. But that's sort of what I'm trying to figure out how to model. I don't normally have to do too much in the way of biomorphic or organic forms, but a recent project with a very close deadline is forcing my hand. And after doing some searching on both the forums here and the broader interwebs, I'm at a bit of a loss.
Well, more than a bit.

I have attached an image that seems to do roughly what I'm trying to do... that is, have a netting or webbing follow an organic form. (The image is from a collection of work by an artist/designer named Neri Oxman, from her website materialecology.com. Some very nice stuff, in my opinion. Anyway.)
Ideally there would be a good way to do this using a jpeg as mapping somehow. I've tried using a jpeg as an opacity map, which is ok, but I really need it to be dimensional.
I don't know if any of this makes any sense, but if it does, any direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, everybody!

(Oh, and I'm using VIZ 4. Yep, it's a dinosaur. Nope, I have no control over software acquisitions.)

Attached Images

materialecology_1.jpg (141.6 KB, 81 views)

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"If there's anything more important than my ego, I want it found and shot immediately." -Zaphod Beeblebrox, Hitchhiker's Guide

WAcky

Heya!

Interesting project! Take a look at these videos and see if either of these methods help you or are even available in Viz. Otherwise i suggest maybe having a poke around CGTalk. You're much more likely to get the right information or stumble across someone else with the same issue over there.

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James Burrell
Pixel Constructions

portisgreg

Claudio Branch

You are probably not going to be satisfied with the results of trying to texture map something like this.

Do you have a sketch of the actual form you are trying to model?

Claudio Branch

After looking at Neri Oxman's site (which is excellent!) and thinking about the problem further, I came up with a pretty good workflow.

Getting the vertical edges of the form to follow opposing helical paths is the crux of the problem. The problem gets much more difficult if the form in not symmetrically oriented about a single axis.

I used a teapot lid and added a Twist modifer. I collapsed it down to an Editable Poly, selected all of the vertical edges, and used Create Shape From Selection. This shape was mirrored on top of itself and then both shapes were unified into one with Renderable Spline turned on.

Here is a shot of the results...

Attached Images

Fish-Net.jpeg (165.5 KB, 34 views)

gus_webb

Wow! Thanks, everyone. The suggestions and directions seem to indicate that what I need to do is not only possible, but within the realm of my ability! I haven't had a chance to translate it into my project yet, but am extremely hopeful... which is a huge relief. Curvilinear forms, here I come! Watch out, Greg Lynn!

May not get to it during the 'normal' workday (stupid meetings getting in the way of playing with fun new 3d stuff!), but I'll play with it tonight, and post the results. That is, if I can make it work the way it looks like it should.
Can't thank you folks enough.

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"If there's anything more important than my ego, I want it found and shot immediately." -Zaphod Beeblebrox, Hitchhiker's Guide

louis.cho

some times ago I had to model the Bertoia Diamond Chair. I finaly made a simple plane with a sufficient amount of tesselation, select edges in one direction, add sweep modifier then the other direction and move on Z axis to made some junction of the mesh.

work pretty well<

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Louis Choiniere
www.espaceparallele.com

Claudio Branch

Interesting solution...do you have an image of this by chance?

louis.cho

there is some pictures.

unfortunatly, my processor is down for the moment, I can't make new renders, theses are quites olds.

hope this help

Attached Images

	bertoia.jpg (209.0 KB, 15 views)
	mesh.jpg (217.6 KB, 14 views)

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Louis Choiniere
www.espaceparallele.com