Hi!

In Blender, it is fairly easy to turn an existing mesh into a grid pattern, like the ones in this image:



Is there a way to make this happen using the Node Editor in Moi3d, preferably on somewhat curved shapes?
If so, is there a guide out there that could help me with this?
Or, perhaps, is there someone here that could help me?

What I'm aiming for is to take an existing shape - perhaps a sphere or just a simple plane to begin with - and turn it into some form of grid; similar (but not necessarily identical) to those of the attached image.
My main goal is to create ventilation holes like this in future projects.

I have no experience with the Node Editor (though it is installed), and would actually not even know where to start.
I am familiar with building node trees, though (from Blender, Fusion, Patternodes, et cetera), so hopefully I should be able to follow along without too much hassle.

Any help would be appreciated.

You have the Node Elephant repository here! ;)
with quasi all nodes explained!
French / English : https://moiscript.weebly.com/biblio-elephant.html

But you have the Transform / Array / Grid
just take care of the start module! :)
here 4 objects...not a big deal ...maybe 5 seconds!



And maybe also the Flow function can makes something after! ;)

Hi Insekt,

James created a couple versions of HexGridMacro.

There is TriGrid macro, and HexTesselation Macro, and HexFlatGridMacro, for nodeeditor.
Also Conformal Mapping to the Torus.
Try MoI searches "+hex +grid +node", and also "+hex+lattice" (without a space).

Also ABH Packing 160221X.zip macro for a circular packing of circles, that is not quite hexagonal.
https://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=10147.8

Often, an "old" nodeprogram will have individual nodes which are "red", i.e. obsolete, or not present in the latest nodeeditor version, which need to be replaced with a more recent version... (This can be frustrating...)
I have barely used the nodeeditor for a long time. It is helpful to save Macro's and NodePrograms in AppData nodeeditor directory, in Macro and NodeProgram folders...
All 3 of the following terms are "programs":
A node is an individual component of a nodeprogram.
A macro is a collection of nodes. A macro appears as a single component, but down one level, contains multiple nodes.
A nodeprogram is a collection of nodes and/or macros, with input and output, which builds MoI geometry...

https://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=10147.3

MoI Array commands can also be used...

So are you looking for a Lattice, or a Packing?

- Brian

Hi Pilou and bemfarmer!

Thanks for your input, it's been very helpful.

However, when I googled for different solutions, I came across a very interesting Rhino tutorial that achieves EXACTLY what I would like to do, but without using any nodes at all:



Here's an image from the tutorial:



That wiregrid to the left is what I'm trying to achieve.

So, first he extracts the wirefram from the original shape. This would be doable in Moi, using the ISO tool.
Then he rebuilds the curves. This is also doable in Moi, using the Rebuild tool.
Then he turn the curves into pipes. Also doable in Moi.
However, then he uses something called "Sub-d Multipipe" (around 5:40 in the video). This is not something I'm familiar with in Moi, and I found nothing on Google.

Is there something similar to Sub-D Multipipe in Moi?
If not, is there a workaround to achieve the same result, with or without the Node Editor?

Hi insekt,

re:
> Is there something similar to Sub-D Multipipe in Moi?

No, not currently.


> If not, is there a workaround to achieve the same result, with or without the Node Editor?

You might check out TopMod:
http://people.tamu.edu/~ergun/research/topology/download.html

If you export out from MoI into .obj format then bring that into TopMod I think it has some different kinds of framing methods for generating structures around polygon edges.

If it is able to build an all quad structure you could then export that back out to an .obj file and use the MOI sub-d converter (SubD > Create > "From file") to convert it into NURBS geometry in MoI.

- Michael

Also the Skin modifier in Blender might be able to create a structure like that also:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/skin.html

Or maybe wireframe modifier:
https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2838/create-a-rounded-wireframe
https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/wireframe.html

- Michael

Yep TopMod is a breeze! :)
Some trys ;)
https://issuu.com/frenchy_pilou/docs/topmodYep




OBJ is now a nurbs object! And here with a little Subdivision in Moi itself!

Alright!

It feels like I've had all my questions answered.

Thanks for your help, everyone!