reshape tool

[jmcewen]

When using the reshape tool on a NURBS curve is it possible to add a vertex and slide it along the existing curve  to a point near where you want it to end up rather than moving it through 3 dimensions from a vertex that might not be very close at all?  

[Benson Shaw]

I don’t think vwx NURBS can be modified that way. An alternative is to place a bunch of 3d loci on the existing curve and generate a new NURBS curve (interpolated points mode) by snapping sequentially to the loci. Initial loci placement can be individuals, ornvia DAP , plus any special locations desired. Admittedly, this new curve will deviate from the original, probably not by much. 
 

Sometimes, increasing Degree in the OIP, or the Rebuild NURBS in the 3d power pack can be helpful.

 

-B

Edited August 4, 2023 by Benson Shaw
Running dark

[jmcewen]

4 hours ago, Benson Shaw said:

I don’t think vwx NURBS can be modified that way. An alternative is to place a bunch of 3d loci on the existing curve and generate a new NURBS curve (interpolated points mode) by snapping sequentially to the loci. Initial loci placement can be individuals, ornvia DAP , plus any special locations desired. Admittedly, this new curve will deviate from the original, probably not by much. 
 

Sometimes, increasing Degree in the OIP, or the Rebuild NURBS in the 3d power pack can be helpful.

 

-B

Thank you. I haven't explored nurbs much before but i am seeing all the processes i was missing before.  i like the idea of plotting a new curve on top of the almost-right curve with vertices near where i want to edit.  I am pretty sure the deviation will be closer than what I have been get by flinging vertices all over the place currently.  Once i develop a little more finesse i will try skipping this new step.

[Benson Shaw]

@jmcewen hope it’s working for you now. Guide objects can also help. 3d loci, corner of extrude, even xy plane objects, etc are very helpful plotting xyz curve vertices.  Post a screenshot or, better a file to show your context. Specific advice will ensue. 
 

-B

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

22 hours ago, jmcewen said:

When using the reshape tool on a NURBS curve is it possible to add a vertex and slide it along the existing curve

I am not sure this is what you are asking.  I forgot about this when I first read your post as I stumbled on it a few years ago.  I went through it this morning again and verified.  

Having said that, I often work the way(s) Benson posted regardless of this method.  More accurate.

 

 

[jmcewen]

54 minutes ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

I am not sure this is what you are asking.  I forgot about this when I first read your post as I stumbled on it a few years ago.  I went through it this morning again and verified.  

Having said that, I often work the way(s) Benson posted regardless of this method.  More accurate.

 

Great.  this is just what i needed!  Both you and @Benson Shaw gave me simple straightforward answers that I should have seen earlier if I wasn't frustrated with the process I had built for myself.  That is not at all how i imagined the add vertex on working plane would function.

 

This works a little better in the environment I am struggling in than plotting a new curve with extra vertices to replace the existing curve.  I am editing a lot of tapered Extrude Along Path objects, so it helps to not need to completely redraw the object.  They are a bunch of tentacles tangled  around each other and other things, but I am fighting to keep them from colliding with one another and with  objects they are wrapped around but maintaining smooth sinuous lines at the same time.  I am under an NDA so I cannot show the whole image, but I got permission to show a detail pic that is small enough that you won't know what it is for.  I am an associate designer, and the yellow lines are notes from my boss.  You will also see a collision with the tentacle on top of the porthole, and I need to make that tentacle rest on top of the porthole as well.

 

After years of mostly doing breakdown/shop drawings of frames at work it is exciting to be branching into some more satisfying work and getting  paid for it!  I am happy to have this forum as a resource.  

 

 

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Thank you for the kind comments.  Look at this video below.  It was modelled in Vectorworks, rendered/animated in C4D. Is this similar to what you are trying to accomplish.  If so I will help, but the tutorial would be in depth.  

Are you fairly comfortable with 3D tools.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by VIRTUALENVIRONS

[jmcewen]

2 minutes ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

Thank you for the kind comments.  Look at this video below.  It was modelled in Vectorworks, rendered/animated in C4D. Is this similar to what you are trying to accomplish.  If so I will help, but the tutorial would be in depth.  

Are you fairly comfortable with 3D tools.

 

Ha! It depends on which 3d tools you mean, and what you mean by comfortable.  I have always just picked up what i needed as i needed it.  Compared to what i am seeing from you I am not.  Mostly I can make things that I think look cool. If I am in charge, I am happy with it because I can choose to work around my limitations to get a project done or I can  decide to lean into my limitations to learn more.  My problems arise when someone else needs something right now that I can't quite make work.

 

I am almost out of the woods now thanks to the suggestions I have been offered here.  Mostly my list is down to personal ego tweaks on the rendering. Thank you for the offer, though, and I might need to take you up on it in the future.  Is the twisted ring operation performed mostly with the deform tool?  If I were to guess, you twisted 3 cylindrical extrudes, then bent them.  I started out with the deform tool on the tentacles. but it failed repeatedly and in unexpected ways.  I was not getting any results on the simples deformations, so I abandoned it and decided to try a new path with the extrude along path, and that led to this post.

 

I still need to gain more instinct for how extrude along path moves the profile object around the path object for the future.  in some places if i moved a vertex just 1/4", it would induce almost 180 degree rotation about the axis of the  tentacle by the time it reached the tip.I also initially had Sucker son the tentacles that i was hoping ot be able to distribute conveniently by duplicating them along the same path object, but they changed orientation in ways that did not match the twists of the extrude along path, even though the settings on the two tools seemed to match as closely as they could.  But that is water under the bridge now....

 

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

6 minutes ago, jmcewen said:

If I were to guess

Good to know you are on your way.  I never use the deform tools, I hardly know how they work to be honest.

 

The method used to make this is completely different and very far away from your suggested method, although that was an excellent observation.  I think most uses r would have assumed the same.

 

The twist was made with loft surfaces.  By using and placing a series of circles, you can edit or create any path.  

 

Anyway, nice chatting and good luck on the project.

 

regards....Paul

[jmcewen]

1 minute ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

Good to know you are on your way.  I never use the deform tools, I hardly know how they work to be honest.

 

The method used to make this is completely different and very far away from your suggested method, although that was an excellent observation.  I think most uses r would have assumed the same.

 

The twist was made with loft surfaces.  By using and placing a series of circles, you can edit or create any path.  

 

Anyway, nice chatting and good luck on the project.

 

regards....Paul

Sweet!  I get where you are going. You are making a lot of bits of disparate learning finally connect in my brain. That would have given me greater control over the twisting tentacle as well rather than being at the whim of some algorithm I don't fully understand.

 

Publishing Finals (hopefully) now!