Hi Barry,

Without having your nod file, I can't be sure what is going on.

However I think the issue is, that the points that generated the curve
are not oriented to the curve.

It is necessary to rebuild point array with mPathArray along curve.
See attached

Hope this helps
James

Hi James,
thanks I will give it a try.
Cheers
Barry

Hi Barry,

I have been experimenting with line attractors manipulating tiles in 3d space
as opposed to on 2d grid prior to flow.

Also rather than standard quad tiling, I have used triangular facets
which have the advantage of always being planar.

As a test I have been working with your "Network CurvesReworked.3dm"
Tile affect is relative to distance to closest point on green line (shown)
See result attached.

James

Hi James,
thanks for posting I'd forgotten about that but it as given me an idea for aligning the frames on the globoid helix.
Is it possible to have a circle as the attractor around the waist of the globoid helix and for the frames to align to nearest point on the circle.
Your mpatharray aligns them along the helix solving one problem for me but the frames then have to be aligned to the wheel centre which could be represented by the circle.
Cheers
Barry

Hello Barry,

I'm not sure about your Problem and I don't know your Problem in Detail. But maybe it is possible to draw lines to the Center of your gear and get the startframes of the lines?

Have a nice day
Karsten

Hi Barry,

This is not what you were asking for, but if you want frames to align with curve tangent, but for other axes to be vertical & horizontal then the attached may help

James

Hi James/Karsten.
perhaps the photo's will explain what I am trying to achieve.
The nod file I posted previously does not allow for the contact angle the roller makes with the cam.
Due to the fact the helix is a globoid shape the contact angle (slope) is not constant.
My original profiles where constant and perpendicular.
By placing them using mpatharray node the contact angle is correct and the profiles remain constant
but they need to be aligned to the wheel centre and the fact that their spacings are equi distances
along the helix curve (I would need to be able to extract the X Y Z of these points to calculate the alignment )
where as I had generated the helix points by numbers per revolution thus the alignment to the wheel centre was not the issue.
I started to work on calculating the contact angles and then adjusting my profiles to allow for it but think there may be a better way.
Any ideas.
Barry

NEW NODE: Flip

Hi All,

I have found when flowing multiple patterns to polylofted surfaces,
that at times the different tile elements can have opposing surface normals.
Although this often can be reworked to avoid this problem, I have nevertheless
created a new, very simple, node that calls 'flip' factory.

To demonstrate its use, see also attached flip.nod and image:

A planar surface is copied & Moved, then Flipped.
The 2 resulting planes are offset by same distance
however in opposing directions due to reversed normals.


Also when applied to a curve it changes its direction
(i.e. flipping start pt and end point)

To use this node, replace construct2.js in extensions folder

James

P.S. Ideally, I would like to see this functionality incorporated into a tripartite node
that also replaced Marco's "ArrayFlipper"(flipping a point array) as well as
a Numbers option for flipping a numArray (reversing list order).

I lack the programming skill to do this, but if anyone is interested, it would be
a worthwhile exercise IMHO.


UPDATED:
Added dovetail.nod to demonstrate flipping curve

Hi All,

Here's a simple example of the use of "flip" node.

By flipping alternate facets surface normals, flowed geometry will flip according.

NB: construct2.js needs to be replaced at
C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Moi\nodeeditor\nodes\extensions\construct2.js

& interface.js at
C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Moi\nodeeditor\nodes\interface.js

James

Hi All,

Here's something I'm working on at the moment.
It is like a fisheye lens filter for spheroidal distorting of geometry.

Have a great weekend
James




UPDATED:
Also emulating Pinch filter for geometry.


UPDATED: FishEye.nod file attached.
Nodes in green can be adjusted, but be warned that highest magnification may cause long periods of lockup (spinning wheel) with focal point at the edges; best to stay towards the middle. With mid range magnification, there are no such issues. LENS TYPE switches from FishEye to pinch modes.

UPDATED: Also added switch for 2D or 3D bulging.

Or useful for car's tires design! ;)

Very cool
Can you post the nod file....?
Have a nice day,James...
al

Wonderful!!

Thanks Pilou, Al & Marco,

I have now posted FishEye.nod to my previous post:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=7777.1206

UPDATED:with 2D/3D switch

Have a great weekend
James

James you're becoming a "true master" of this kind of "mathematical art"!

Congrats!

In this period of my life honestly this is not a CG topic that's so much interesting to me, but I want to tell you that your contribution to this particular area of Moi, the NodeEditor, is really amazing!
I think it's (almost) on the same level of what Max did with all his amazing scripts.

Thanks for your passion!

I can sign Marco's words!

Respect!

Mik

Hi Marco,

I have been buoyed by your kind words, although I don't
believe I am deserving of comparison with Max on any level.
Nevertheless, I'm greatly appreciative of your encouragement.

Thank you (& Mik)
James

You're welcome James! I think that you deserve due recognition :)

Ciao!