Hello MoI friends,

I figured that I would create a new thread, as my question doesn’t necessarily relate to my previous post.

Relating to the Node Editor, I was wondering if there is a node combination that would allow me to orient a selected solid to the orientation of a surface, preferably orienting to the surfaces normals? I have tried a few node combinations and have got close enough to have the solid match the target surfaces position (I think I used an orient node), but it didn’t seem to match the surfaces normal?

In theory, it shouldn’t be a very complex task, I have looked through the previous node editor posts to find something similar, but haven’t really found anything?

Thank you for kindly taking the time to read and I hope you’re all finding your creativity during this isolating time.

Tim

Hi Tim,
As shown in the V4Beta-Wiki, October, there are two new scripting methods,
faceDroppoint(pt),
faceEvaluateNormal(uv)
which could be used to get the normal at point on or near a face,
I think.
-Brian

Hi Brian,

Thank you for your kind response, I appreciate it. I'm guessing that you might be Teschmacher in the Discord? ;) I was looking more for a solution within the Node Editor environment, but perhaps the two methods that you mentioned have nodes or similar? I'll take a look.

Thanks again,

Tim

Tim,

It is a bit of a long-winded solution, but geometry can be oriented to a point if it contains rotational information. As Brian has stated, this will be easier once surface normal information can be accessed by NE.

Is this what you're after?


Have a great weekend
James
https://www.instagram.com/nodeology/

Brian,

Would it be possible (an relatively straightforward to implement) to include rotational information in the point output of your useful "Centroid" node?

It would greatly reduce the complexity of node circuits like the one above.

Have a great weekend
James
https://www.instagram.com/nodeology/

Hi Tim,
I'm not familiar with "discord." A game?
-Brian

Hi James,

So, for a rough outline of an algorithm,
1. Get desired face.
2. Pick desired point on or near the face.
3. Use face drop method to get uv of nearest face point.
(This point may be different, so how to get actual point2 ?)
4. Use face normal method on uv to get normal vector.
(Invert normal option?)
5. How is normal vector and point 2 associated with frame/ rotation info?

For the planar face, the Centroid node provides the point (=point 2).

- Brian

A modification of Centroid node would take a very few lines of code(?)
(darn spell checker keeps changing my typing :-))

Hi James,

Please excuse my delayed response, I have only recently had a decent opportunity to take a look at your .nod file. Wow, thank you very much! Your understanding of the Node Editor and node circuits is always as impressive and inspiring, as it is head-scratchingly mystifying! :D I do like to try as hard as I can to find a solution, before I ask the community and whilst I found a similar solution using Flow, it was nowhere near as impressive as what you have shared here. Great fun learning each of the nodes though! As a matter of interest, is there a resource where I could learn the basics of node circuits? I'm guessing that it's a somewhat universal principle how each of the individual nodes perform and how they work in certain groups? I find it very rewarding when successfully experimenting with different node scenarios.

Thank you so much for your expertise and kind dedication in helping others, it really is very much appreciated.

Have a great day!

Kind regards,

Tim

You can read the gorgeous GrassHopper documentation https://www.grasshopper3d.com

but I am affraid that you must make some Training Tests / Errors with Elephant existing nodes!
and use the actual Elephant repository :) French / English
https://moiscript.weebly.com/biblio-elephant.html

Good Luck!

For inspiration https://www.grasshopper3d.com/page/tutorials-1

Some free books that you can freely download!
http://morphogenesism.com

Zubin Khabazi, a graduate from EmTech, Architectural Association (AA), London, has published an on-line book of his design experiments in architecture and related fields in geometry. This is a new edition updated August 15th, 2012. You can download the book here:
Generative Algorithms with Grasshopper version 2.0
http://files.na.mcneel.com/misc/Generative%20Algorithms%20v2.zip

Hi Pilou,

Thank you very much for your kind response and for taking the time to offer so many great ways to learn node editing. I really appreciate your suggestions and am familiar with Grasshopper, although I have never used it. It's crazy to think that I started with a demo of Rhino that came with a magazine some twenty years ago! I wish had stayed with Rhino instead of pursuing 3DS Max, but that's another story for another time. ;)

Wow, some of those Architectural algorithms are incredible! Very inspiring!

Thank you for sharing your resources, I look forward to sharing some of the new things that I have learnt here.

Bon nuit!

Kind regards,

Tim

I remember time of Free Rhino but no time to use it (I was with the ZBrush beginnings more appetizing than "industrial" drawings! :)
More times later i crossed Moment of Inspiration beginnings by hasard in the regretted Push Pull Bar (a too much SketchUp Forum )
et voilà! :)

ZBrush is became unavoidable in many organic domains and Moi the more pleasant program of modeling to use!

Of course Rhino is became a monster in Nurbs world! :)

My French ZBrush mirror site! ;) https://zibifr.weebly.com

Yes! The free Rhino magazine coverdisc was a huge inspiration to me and I loved learning the software. I'm really showing my age when I admit that I first got started in 3D from a free 3.5" coverdisk (floppy!) for "Imagine 3D" on the Amiga! :D I think around 1994!

ZBrush is great once you get past the unusual workflows and slightly unintuitive UI. I love ZBrush though, I really don't think there is a better organic modelling software in my humble opinion. Creating beautiful, free-flowing organic forms and then converting them for import into MoI as Breps is such a pleasure. I completely understand why you would've preferred to explore the organic modelling of ZBrush than the "industrial" style of other softwares. My tastes are probably somewhere between the two. That's why I love James's node editor work (@nodeology) so much, it's that inspirational mix of organic with industrial elements that we see in modern design, especially automotive. I remember the first time that I discovered MoI, it was a revolution for me in terms of technical creativity, the fact that I could model without even having to think about topology, edge loops, quads, all that time-consuming nonsense. I completely agree with you Pilou, that MoI is by far the most relaxing and has the best user experience of any software I have used, I love its simplicity. Exactly the opposite of ZBrush! :D

Rhino has been around for such a long time as a dedicated NURBS modeller, I really wish I had stayed with it longer, it would've complimented my MoI workflow so much.

Thank you for suggesting your ZBrush site. I've had a good look around and enjoyed your content! :)

Remember when i made my avatar twenty year ago for a ZBrush challenge in less of one minute! :)
(with the famous texture 47 i believe)
Here original *4 size by the incredible IA of the Free Deep Image! https://deep-image.ai