Following on from the Circular Helix Array, and the Sine Wave, I experimented with the idea of making a plaited rope.
I hope the screen shot explain clearly.
HUGE learning experience for me anyway!
Have fun
Brian

I was hoping someone would come up with an easier way to make this rope?

And, especially, with a smaller file size!

Any ideas very welcome.

Brian

Hi Brian, if you're doing a rendering of the rope you might try using one single tube that then has texture maps (and possibly bump / displacement maps) added to it to give it a braided appearance.

Detailed modeling of each little bump in the braid will produce a high file size - highly detailed model construction just naturally generates large file size to go along with the high details.

- Michael

Thanks Michael.
But the problem is of the very big file size, in any format, before getting anywhere close to a rendering situation.

In a real 3D situation the rope would have to be made longer, bent, twirled etc, etc, and, ---then---rendered!

It may be one of those too hard things. I have not actually seen a plaited rope anywhere before.

The sheets on a boat that are attached to all the sails----just think of the miles! of cordage!

Brian

Hi Brian,

you wrote:
> But the problem is of the very big file size, in any format, before
> getting anywhere close to a rendering situation.

What if you use a more simple non-twisted tube for each of these ropes?

I mean something that looks just like a smooth pipe or cylinder with no twisting or braiding in it at all.

Does that create a smaller file size?

If so, then that is one way to reduce file size - use a more simple object structure for your rope, and then give it the illusion of more detail by applying texture maps, bump maps, or displacement map type materials inside the rendering program rather than explicit modeling of all those details.

- Michael

Thanks. To get the "real" effect you really need displacment mapping (for closeups) and for that which also adds to file size.
Anyway, will investigate the bump/image approach some more. I have lots (umpteen!) of shader room weave type plugins but none suitable for this particular plaited need.

Hi Brian,

> To get the "real" effect you really need displacment mapping
> (for closeups) and for that which also adds to file size.

For most renderers, a displacement map is only applied during render time to create more detailed objects just in memory. It should not normally increase the size of the file on just on disk (but I suppose this is possible if your software happens to work that way...)

But anyway, I'd think that it would be a pretty unusual shot to be really close up to a rope... If you really did want to do a closeup on one rope, then it would probably work ok to do a detailed model of just that piece and then do texture mapping for all the other ones.

- Michael

As a once Pro photographer, AND a keelboat owning sailor--and my favourite 14mm lens on the camera, coiled rope right in the very foreground of the shot was --should I say ,"essential"? (And now I struggle and puff to get to answer the front door!---)

I have a plugin shader question, asked of the weave shader maker, on the go.

As Michael said, something like this can (and should) be done as a single tubular surface with displacement/normal mapping. The results are 100% believable and much more easy to deal with for your system. Only a madman would attempt to use thousands of feet of modeled rope in an animation. That being said, carry on with your modeling! :)

jonah

EDIT - Here is a starting point for you to make modeled rope. Select the two clover profiles, then sweep them along the two helices...