Project 2  Generate Skin for Surface

Objective:

Use different method to generate skin, including paneling tools and script. I will compare the two methods for future study.

Background:

In project 1 I made a surface of a building with very fluent curves. Different skin will be an very attractive option for project2.

Paneling Tool Method:

Method1

1.      Use the surface created from Project1, which was generated from “Loft”. Even if the surface had some trimmed area, the new skin will ignore this “hole”. So I just use the untrimmed surface.

2.      Create several curves to prepare for future module.

3.      Divide the surface into grids and make coordinates.

4.      Change the grid a little bit and use Morph3D to morph curves onto the grid points.

5.      Loft the curves and create the pattern.

Some Tips:

1.      Use cull pattern to change the grid pattern

2.      Use Attractor to change the point location and the pattern.

Method2

1.      Same as method1.

2.      Create several curves and loft them.

3.      Same as method 1.

4.      Use Morph3D to morph the loft surface onto the grid points.

Comparison between method 1 and method 2:

Method 2 is relatively easier.

Script Method:

1.      Get the source (from Chengde Wu)

2.      Adjust the volume of surface in case the computation take too much time

3.      Adjust the data

Comparison:

Random pattern:

The script developed by Chengde Wu has the choice of random size and random location, so the pattern can be changed easily. The paneling tools are confined by the grid pattern that randomness of location and size might not be achieved. But some other functions like GridAttractors can change the pattern on some particular way.

Pattern Shape:

The script developed by Chengde Wu has some limits on the pattern module shape, since it only had 4 choices. For paneling tool, the forms of module is various. Basically as long as there is a grid pattern, you can attach any shape onto it.

The script pattern is more like engraving patterns onto a material, while the paneling tool is more like using small units and assemble them to a big system.

Stableness and Time:

The script method takes some time for computation, and it is easy to get stuck. The paneling tool can be more smoothly during the process.

Video