Ahhhh, text along path... Does it work with a 3d curve???

Hi Burr,

> Does it work with a 3d curve???

It does - it's basically the same as doing a sweep with Twist:freeform along the curve.

- Michael

But with groups of object too???

Hi Burr, yup you can do multiple objects spaced along the base curve. Every object will get morphed into the equivalent area along the target curve. This usually involves some deformation of the object as well, like areas towards the inside of a bend will compress together and areas to the outside will kind of spread apart. I guess I'll probably put in an option like Rhino for just moving the object into that spot without the morphing too, although the non morphing version kind of seems like it should be some kind of "arrange" type function instead of being in a deformation function like this... not quite fully sure about that part yet.

- Michael

Yeah... More like an array option......

Hi Burr, here's an example with multiple curve objects (created from Text in this case):



Basically imagine that every point on each object is dropped down to the base curve (the horizontal line here) to see how far along that curve it is located at and what distance it is away from it. Then the it goes to the target curve and places that point at the equivalent location along the target curve.

The thing that's helpful about this is that some kinds of things are easier to draw with all straight and grid-aligned pieces initially and then morphed into their final shape rather than trying to draw them directly in their squished location from the start.

- Michael

Hi Burr yeah a non-morphing version would be kind of more like an array mechanism. Or maybe it's better described as an "arrange" or "distribute" type function since it is repositioning existing objects instead of repeatedly copying objects like array normally does.

The example I just posted above is a morphing one, note how the w in "with" kind of flexes outwards and the "cu" in "curves" kind of compress inwards.

But also note that in a case like this without any morphing the various things are likely going to collide into one another and overlap each other.

- Michael

I like the look of the example you just posted....

Maybe if there becomes arrange/distribute then arraygem goes with that....

Hi Burr, but array gem does actually make a bunch of repeated duplicates of an object - that kind of repeated copying of an object is kind of what I'd put under "array" type functionality. But it's kind of all related stuff though too.

- Michael

Hello,

Would there be a parameter to determine how much stretching / distortion would occur to the original curve or object, maybe a min/max amount?

Hi OSTexo, it's pretty difficult to assign a value to the distortion in a case like this - like I'm not sure how the distortion would be measured and quantified in such a way that you could assign some kind of particular numeric limit to it. So no I don't think that it would work to set a min/max amount because min/max implies some form of quantification.

But there will be an option for whether you want objects to stretch or not - when stretched the objects will stretch from the base curve length to fill the entire full target curve length like this:




When not stretching it will travel along the target curve by the same distance that was traveled along the base one, like this:




- Michael

Hi OSTexo - the other way you basically manage distortion is by not having too tight of a bend that you force things around. There is more distortion in areas where you have a larger object going around a tighter bend.

- Michael

Also if you make a copy so the original is still in the model then you can turn on history updates on the morphed result and then it will update when you edit the curve, which is kind of funky:



- Michael

lol... Instant "Ren" teeth!

that is amazing stuff.

To do that with solid or any curves will really save time.

WOW it is good

Hi Michael can you make it to on curve and flat to surface (curve on surface)
and can you make a helix to flow the curve like that

v3 wish :sweeping profile and rotating at same time on a curve

Hi Michael,

>I may need to do an overhaul of the surface rebuilding part to get the solid morphing piece to be more reliable.
Can you give us an example of warping a solid to 3D surface ?

Thank you

Hi Michael
Besides WOW, I have just one comment... ;)

E.T.A.4.B.???

Cheers,

. d .

Poor Michael.

It must be like looking out from inside a store front and seeing all these eager faces pressed up against the window, all wondering when you'll be done and open the door! ;)

Maybe we should all stop pestering the man so he can finish up! (Yeah, I'm impatient to see this bright shiny new version too...)

Hi lyes,

> Hi Michael can you make it to on curve and flat to surface (curve on surface)

You mean keeping it aligned with the surface normal? It doesn't do that currently but I'll give that a try and see if I can make an option for that.


> and can you make a helix to flow the curve like that

Yup, helix works the same as any other curve:



- Michael