Hi Burr, I should probably have said "Mathematically impossible" instead... ;)

- Michael

@Danperk
I have made a little video of your concept about the tore ;)
Because some people don't very well undestand this fabulous function Flow!

Sorry it's in French, but as it's visual, you recognize easily your method I believe :)
http://moiscript.weebly.com/enrobage-dun-tore-v3.html
Thx for the exploration!

Superb Tutorial.
I learned a lot.

@bem Your ToroïdalKnots script rocks! Bravo !
Added ;)
http://moiscript.weebly.com/toroiumldal-knots.html

Looks good Pilou!

I'm Canadian, so I understand French, well some French. ;)

I'll try to do a video example of how to use the Curvelength script when I get some time.
It helps to get the correct size for the plane you map pattern to..

About FLOW:

Is the function FLOW can to deform one round extruded logo (by exemple) on a half-sphere?

I have tried to make this, but I never succeed to get a good result.

Somebody has a solution?

It seems that "flow" runs well with a numbers of patterns to a surface or line, but to deform one group as we would, is not easy.

How work "flow"? What are its limits, & the errors to don't do?

Thanks

Make your half sphere from an Arc + Function Rail Revolve
that must be more easy ! ;)

Before the Michael answer :)
For speedy result without headache don't hésitate to rotate anything from a previous result done
Surface, Letters, Sphere , make some flips ...
Only compt the result ;)
Here I have inversed the letters ;)

Hi Bard,

> Is the function FLOW can to deform one round extruded
> logo (by exemple) on a half-sphere?
>
> I have tried to make this, but I never succeed to get a good result.

If you've used a boolean operation to cut the sphere, it will be a trimmed surface with the full original sphere surface as the underlying surface beneath the trim curves.

Currently Flow uses the full underlying surface so that is probably what was messing you up.

If you construct a half sphere using some other method than trimming (like by doing a revolve of a 90 degree arc like Pilou mentions), then you should see the result that you were probably expecting. You can also use the ShrinkTrimmedSrf command on the booleaned sphere to shrink the underlying surfaces down to the trimming boundaries.

See this previous post for some additional explanation:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4442.6


In the next v3 beta Flow will automatically use only the visible area of the surface instead of the full underlying surface.


> It seems that "flow" runs well with a numbers of patterns to a
> surface or line, but to deform one group as we would, is not easy.

Sorry, I'm not understanding this part - what is it about a group that is not working for you? You can do flow with a group of objects, just select all the objects that you want to deform before running the command.

- Michael

Hello Michael,

Ah yes, sorry "objet" to define a "group", was not the right word.
Here that I call a "group" is something that doesn't exist in MoI (Lol).

We wait this function that consists to merge or link together several not contiguous (adjacent or adjoining) objets, in only one element, entity, component, unit, by boolean union or one group of objets, by association (the function "combine, unite"). By example the point on the "i" should to be one thing & not 2 things.

We should to take a "group" and align it with one another objet. This thing is impossible to do in MoI, isn't it?

So, a group (several interdependent objets joined in one = Union, or Unit), like a logo = 1 thing, one element composed or combined with several objets (not a pattern, a motif = repetition of the same group of objets), is very hard to deform on a half-sphere (or other form). It's that I would to say.

How can we control, where this "group" goes to the surface of destination? I ask this question because, of course, I don't understand well how runs the new "FLOW" function.

To call of "group" it's a deformation by the work on Illustrator & many others softwares.

I took the example of a logo, but with a simple only one TORUS on a sphere, half-sphere or portion of sphere it's the same thing. How can we get a perfect circle well bended? That is the question.

If we put a square base surface under this TORUS, it arrives very strange things (bug). If we put a circle under this TORUS that runs, but to get a good bending out of shape, it's problematic. What solution? How to control well, the position of destination? ...

Thanks you, I go to read all about "FLOW".

For make more easy answers post some images of the different problems or not expected results!
Even files 3DM in case of complex problem!
That help a lot Michael ;)

To illustrate my problem, the mapping of the TORUS never arrives to the full height of the sphere or half-sphere or I don't arrive to have a circular deformation of the Torus on the sphere.

Blablabla...

You can try the "rigid" check mark.

Hi Bard,
Also, orient your objects so they are "flat" in the top view, instead of flat in the front view (vertical)

then try it without the rigid check mark.

Hi Bard,

> We should to take a "group" and align it with one another
> objet. This thing is impossible to do in MoI, isn't it?

It's possible in MoI right now - you just select all the objects that you wish to transform and the transformation command will work on them like a group.

For example if you have an assembly of 5 objects and you want them to stay together in the same relation, just select all 5 of them and then rotate them and they will all rotate as if they were a group.

But the main purpose of the Flow command is to deform objects to conform to the target object - if you want the objects to stay undeformed there is a "rigid" option to Flow which you can enable to do that, or possibly you may want to use the Transform > Orient command to reposition the group rather than using Flow:

See here for some details on using the Orient command:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3424.13
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3424.14
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4228.9
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3660.5
http://moi3d.com/2.0/docs/moi_command_reference8.htm#orient


I do plan on adding in a Group function to MoI, but it will pretty much be a convenience thing to make it a bit easier to select multiple objects by clicking on just one of them. You can already treat objects like groups in the current version of MoI just by selecting them all before you do the transformation.

- Michael

Hi Bard,

> To illustrate my problem, the mapping of the TORUS never
> arrives to the full height of the sphere or half-sphere or I
> don't arrive to have a circular deformation of the Torus on
> the sphere.

The problem you're running into there is that Flow uses the full "underlying surface" which may be somewhat more extended than what you see in its shaded result if you have done some operation that produces trimmed surfaces.

Please see this previous post for an explanation:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4442.6

Is it possible for you to post your 3DM file in addition to the screenshot? It helps to have a 3DM file so I can examine your actual model geometry.

But it looks like you're trying to use a trimmed surface as the base plane for the Flow - Flow works off of the full underlying rectangular surface and doesn't pay any attention to trims. Most of the time you will want to draw a plane for the base surface using one of the commands from Draw solid > Plane - those make simple untrimmed surfaces and for those planes Flow will be using the same thing that you see on the screen.

If you select your disc plane surface and turn on surface control points using Edit > show pts, you should be able to see what the full underlying surface looks like which is the one actually used by Flow. It's probably a bit larger than the surface so you may need to zoom out a ways to see its points.

- Michael

»It probably isn't that simple, I'm just approaching this like applying objects like a texture. ;)«

Well from my graphic design background I know: "No matter what you do – as long as it looks good" :D

So, when 2:1 is working for the looks, thats alright – It hasn't to be 100% correct – for me at least.

Yes, I have selected the option "rigid" to see, but that do the same torus with no deformation.

I see the easiness with "Flow" to do very incredible & complicated forms, and I trip over a simple Torus that doesn't want to bow like I want. That let me speechless.

If somebody arrives to bend well round, one torus on a half-sphere, I want to know the how of this miracle (lol).

Hello Michael,

Ok, it must not to use a trimmed surface, the solid/plane it's better. So, my base surface is a line circle fills by building function "Plane". I thought that was not a trimmed surface (a surface cutted, hewed).

If I draw a Solid/Cylinder & that I keep its base; this will be a solid circle or a trimmed surface?
If I see the points it's a solid surface, is that? If not, it's a trimmed surface.

Thank you, I go to test all that & read a lot of things about MoI.

So I have understood the "points" of one solid surface, and the area drawn by these points.

After others tests I understand, that "Flow" consider as "Base", any circular form, like a square (or rectangle).
So it's why, it must to take a solid/Plane for Base of the objets to deform; & not to want absolutely to use a circle; because a solid/square gives the same result.

So, to deform a single torus on a sphere or on any part of one sphere, that give results; but not the one that we would.

We cannot to curve or to round off, a simple torus, like a piece of a round shield bulging (domed, rounded).

If someboby arrives to do that with "Flow", that means that I have understood nothing.

I would like to be wrong! Because I round often objets on a spheric piece.