Flatten the Curve (straighten a sweep tail)

Shift Studio

Shift Studio

0
Hi All.
I suspect there is no simple (or even only semi-tedious) way to do this, but I would like to straighten out this tail mesh and have it aligned along the Z axis.
Its not critical as I could approximate in a number of ways. But if it could be done I would. Any ideas? See image.
Straighten-Sweep.jpg


Thanks in advance!
00shift Studio
 
That´s easy to rebuilt via Sweep-creator with n-Edge+linear spline.
If it has to be of the exact same length we have a thread about how to do that - you know? ;)
reconstruct.jpg

Cheers
Frank
 
frank beckmann said:
That´s easy to rebuilt via Sweep-creator with n-Edge+linear spline.
If it has to be of the exact same length we have a thread about how to do that - you know? ;)
View attachment 35987
Cheers
Frank
Click to expand...

Yes I've been using that technique for this project.
The reason I've asked here is the taper from tip to tail isn't necessarily linear - these worms were tapered and bulged by hand using soft selection on points because the tapering started way back, and because it had to be changed on-the-fly after meshes were made editable.
Now I'm remaking them posed straight for a motion graphics artist.
To get the non-linear variation of diameter there are a few ways - one of which is to use a lathe creator.
Anyway, I'm going to approximate as it doesn't need to be exactly the same - just close.
Thanks!
--shift studio.
 
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:unsure: For non-linear scaling of sweeps there is a Java script (I am reasonably sure, courtesy Master Hiroto).
* Basicaly, this is a sweep with a third node added which defines the variations of the profile along the axis. Presumably some slightly sinoidal curve to express the bulges / pinches of the worms.
* This may be more easily to fine-tune than a stack of ø profiles in a loft or a straight lathe.
* OOps, Frank just beat me to that :sick:
 
Great thanks you guys!
I'm unsure if I've ever seen the Taper Sweep script - I'll check it out.
I considered the loft creator as well, but one thing is the distribution of rings isn't even (i.e. each ring has different height) - thats the same with the lathe creator method I think. Thats not a deal-breaker - just a consideration.
What I was doing instead was a cylinder with lots of height divisions and then bulge and taper modifiers - works pretty good.

If you ever think of away to straighten and existing curved and non-linear cylindrical shape - I'd be curious to see ;)
Thanks again!
--shift studio
 
@frank beckmann This would allow me to keep same UVs and texture maps too.:)

I still have one more to do - Are there any soft body parameters that you set that I would need to set?
Thanks, Shift studio.
 
Shift Studio said:
Are there any soft body parameters that you set that I would need to set?
Click to expand...
Not really. It´s almost straight out of the box:
1. Set anchor points at the rim.
2. Rotate 90°
3. Set the take length to 60sec
4. Let Cheetah3d do its thing. hit spacebar
5. When it´s almost vertical I hit spacebar to stop and hit spacebar a second time which seems to relax the mesh (maybe increase "Damping" before proceeding) - then wait for the moment to stop finally.
6. Rotate back and delete/disable tags.

Cheers
Frank
 
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@frank beckmann Thanks - you are a good man!
.... wait ... I know what's going to be a problem The actual full worm meshes are too heavy for the 10k soft body limit - I could just do on the tail though - or, I'll see what I have for un-subdivided meshes.

@Martin - if you read this ... maybe that 10k vertices limit in soft body sims can be upped now that its 2020 :)

--shift studio.
 
The tail alone is more than 10k of weight? Holy Sh... - What kind of dragon is this?
Cut off the tail then for the soft body part then and solder it together later.

Cheers
Frank
 
frank beckmann said:
The tail alone is more than 10k of weight? Holy Sh... - What kind of dragon is this?
Cut off the tail then for the soft body part then and solder it together later.

Cheers
Frank
Click to expand...
no the full models are around 60 or 70 k (need non-faceted silhouette at high-res)
I was thinking I could use the method to straighten out the full 'parasitic worms'.

Here are some downsized images to see what I'm talking about (the idea is they look kinda-sorta look similar to images from a scanning electron microscope)
1Small.jpg1Head.jpg2Small.jpg2Head.jpg3Small.jpg3Head.jpg

I know you'll tell me that I could have done it with less ;) polys, but thats not how I roll haha!

--shift studio.
 
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As usual, I can't get soft body tag to do what I think it should. Its close, but not like Frank's...
I'm attaching the file if anyone wants to look.
I have to move on after an hour down the soft body rabbit hole.

--shift studio.
 

Attachments

  • wormtail.jas.zip
    32.4 KB · Views: 236
I did remove some geometry before it worked, and it stretches out a bit.
 

Attachments

  • wormtailZHD.jas.zip
    28.7 KB · Views: 240
I´d say: go for more Clusters, many more Clusters - reduce Mass: - increase Take length to 60.
Hit spacebar and when the tail´s end is all way down stop it and hit play again and again and again for a few seconds - maybe increase Damping a bit - but stop&go will help to relax the mesh earlier:
TailDown.jpg


Cheers
Frank
 

Attachments

  • wormtail4U.jas.zip
    39.8 KB · Views: 220
thanks @ZooHead and @frank beckmann both are better results than mine. You see I don't really know what I'm doing in the SB tag - I generally just fumble around - have some crashes and finish frustrated. You should have seen when I was trying to get a nicely tied knot in a big hose! Futile.
So Zoo, how come remove geometry? And Frank how did you know it needed more clusters? I believe I get what clusters may be, but not really how they impact here.
Please don't spend more time on this though. I've moved on to more traditional methods discussed above.
--shift studio.
 
:unsure: On second thoughts: There is a creator script (once more, I guess, by Hiroto) to float a mesh onto a spline. Normally, you can use it to float a simplish mesh, eg a cylinder, onto a complex spline, eg a helix. It may be possible to utilise that for reverse trickery, ie floating a curvilinear tubular mesh (your helminths) onto a straight axis.
* Some quick experiments did not get me anywhere but it would need a few hours of twiddling parameters (or an analysis of the script) to verify / falsify this as an optional solution.
:rolleyes: Thanks for improving my vocabulary. Helminthology sounds like my kind of science.
 
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