Trying and failing to make a dragon egg

[croberts2]

Hey all...i'v gone through swearing and threatening my computer, now about to throw thing at it (not really).

 

I'm trying to make a basic egg (shape and locking mechanism) that I can apply different "Shells" to and print.

I have the egg, and have succeeded at lofting a surface, but when i go to make the surface array shell with the dragon scales, the inside is always slightly larger than the basic egg.

The plan was to just add the solids (shell and basic egg) together for both the top and bottom of the egg - so it appears seamless, but it wont work with the air gap. Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way?

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Not quite clear on your problem.  Can you post just your dragon shell?

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

After playing with surface array a bit, I think I see your problem, which is why I asked to see a single dragon scale.  Still would like to see it.

 

This model was done without the use of Surface Array.  More complex than surface array, but better control of surface scales.

 

 

[croberts2]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Here is the dragon scale and an isometric of the egg so you can see the air gap better

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Really nice dragon egg.  Well done.  Quite complex.

 

Air gap. Sorry I don't see which is the Air Gap.  Can you post again and circle, point an arrow etc. to the offending part.

 

 

Another question.  How did you make the original egg?

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Air Gap.  I see it now.  Got it.  

 

What happens if you try to shell one side of the Air gap?

[jmcewen]

Rather than making an egg and arranging onto the surface, try making a cylinder and array onto the curved face.  Then use the deform tool to bulge the middle and taper each end to meet your proportions.  You could also twist it with the deform tool to create a spiral in your array if you don't feel like doing it with your geometry.  

 

The difference here is that the scales near the fattest part will be larger than the scales at the ends, but you may like the effect.  

 

If you record your deform values, you will not need a separate egg and scale file.

[croberts2]

4 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

Really nice dragon egg.  Well done.  Quite complex.

 

Air gap. Sorry I don't see which is the Air Gap.  Can you post again and circle, point an arrow etc. to the offending part.

 

 

Another question.  How did you make the original egg?

 

 

Thank you! Original egg is made with a half circle and half oval added together, with an offset for the wall thickness, all cut in half longways and turned into a sweep. 

**got the nurbs surface by intersecting the flat half egg with a rectangle and sweeping the resulting intersection (otherwise I got two nurbs - one for the top and one for the bottom).

[croberts2]

3 hours ago, jmcewen said:

Rather than making an egg and arranging onto the surface, try making a cylinder and array onto the curved face.  Then use the deform tool to bulge the middle and taper each end to meet your proportions.  You could also twist it with the deform tool to create a spiral in your array if you don't feel like doing it with your geometry.  

 

The difference here is that the scales near the fattest part will be larger than the scales at the ends, but you may like the effect.  

 

If you record your deform values, you will not need a separate egg and scale file.

Interesting idea - I can give it a shot 🙂 - will report back (probably monday)

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

EGG.

 

 

 

 

[E|FA]

6 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

if you try to shell one side

Make sure it's hard boiled before you try to shell an egg.

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself...

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@croberts2   I did not really understand the Air Gap, but do now.....I think.  I think the Air Gap is why I never used this tool.  Kudo's to you for getting to where you have.

 

But....on to the Air Gap.  As its name, "Create Surface Array", it looks for a surface, but not all surfaces are the same.  

 

The short video below shows two "Create Surface Arrays" with two eggs which are geometrically the same, but give different results.

 

Is the second result what you are looking for.

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@croberts2 One of the reasons I seldom have ever used Surface Array is the inconsistent scaling, so I have developed my own methods to create a constant scale throughout.

 

 Below is a short video showing this alternative method.  I did this fairly quickly this morning and is not intended as a final product, just demo.

 

 

 

 

[croberts2]

On 8/10/2025 at 5:44 AM, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

@croberts2   I did not really understand the Air Gap, but do now.....I think.  I think the Air Gap is why I never used this tool.  Kudo's to you for getting to where you have.

 

But....on to the Air Gap.  As its name, "Create Surface Array", it looks for a surface, but not all surfaces are the same.  

 

The short video below shows two "Create Surface Arrays" with two eggs which are geometrically the same, but give different results.

 

Is the second result what you are looking for.

 

 

Yes! The second result is what I'm trying to achieve!

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@croberts2  Try this egg. File enclosed

 

EGG FORUM.vwx

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@croberts2  I forgot to talk about something.  Although the two eggs shown in the video are NURBS surfaces, they clearly have different properties.

 

1 - the Normals on this egg are inverted

2 - my array object is also upside down.

 

This seems to work.  If you reverse the Normals on the egg, you will get the Air Gap, or on mine, if I don't make the dome upside down, I get the Air Gap.....go figure.

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@croberts2  I have been playing with this function (Surface Array) and have come to understand your problem better.  It was never useful to me so I left it alone all these years.  I realize that my egg may not have worked in your situation either.

 

The Air Gap (AG) seems to change with the height of the interaction being arrayed.    I developed a method that works, as you may have by now.

 

Happy to keep collaborating on this if you don't find a solution.

 

 

 

 

[croberts2]

On 8/12/2025 at 5:40 AM, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

@croberts2  I have been playing with this function (Surface Array) and have come to understand your problem better.  It was never useful to me so I left it alone all these years.  I realize that my egg may not have worked in your situation either.

 

The Air Gap (AG) seems to change with the height of the interaction being arrayed.    I developed a method that works, as you may have by now.

 

Happy to keep collaborating on this if you don't find a solution.

 

 

 

 

Just getting back to this today...silly work got in the way of my learning time...go figure. 🙂

Will check out your file and try reversing normals this weekend and report back.

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

15 hours ago, croberts2 said:

silly work got in the way of my learning time

Work....such a drag.  Twenty years now without....don't miss it.

 

You tweaked my interest in Surface Array with this problem.  Decided to play with it a bit.  

 

Although the egg is problematic.....the Dragon is coming along nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

As per our PM.  

 

Dragon egg solution.  There are probably others.