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Creating a Rope?


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Extruding a circle alongh a NURBS path will give you the basic form.

If you want to actually model the "lumpy" character of the rope, that's a different matter and will make a very heavy file I think.

You might do better to apply a texture to "fake" the ropey appearance (if you have RW)

Do you want it actually modeled in 3D?

N.

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If you want the full 3D, start by making a path. Use that path to create a helix spiral. Duplicate that spiral twice and offset the start angles of the duplicates by 120? and 240?. Extrude a circle along the helix spirals, and wait... this is fairly heavy stuff. The wireframe will look wierd, but the render will look nice. Once all the details are right, you may want to transform the shapes into generic solids and symbols to improve redraw times.

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Or just create a single NURB tetrahedra-fractal symbol with the outer surface & inner solid texture mapped . Then duplicate and rotate and stack to your hearts content. It's the most efficient way to create geodesics. Also you can create a logarithmic sphiral using this simple process.

eja

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I had a go with the helix method last night.

It did make a very pretty rope -especialy when rendered with carpet texture :-D but the 3m rope alone weighed 3/4Mb {:-(

quote:

Originally posted by islandmon:

Or just create a single NURB tetrahedra-fractal symbol with the outer surface & inner solid texture mapped . Then duplicate and rotate and stack to your hearts content. It's the most efficient way to create geodesics. Also you can create a logarithmic sphiral using this simple process.

eja

ej;

I couldn't find the "Tetrahedral fractal" tool ;-)

Is there a way to make the Fractal you describe that doesn't involve scripting?

Also, how would you string them along a curved path?

cheers,

N.

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All geodesic trajectories are composed of tetra-fractals. For example the most efficient way to create a spheric is with with 60+ & 60- tetra-fractals. A single fractal can 'contain' all the characteristics and also be scalable. A rope can be decomposed into an combination of 1+ & 1- fractals . A single strand is a series of self-similar fractals. NURBS is ideal for working with symbolic fractal structures. Allowing for both surface and solid forms.

The benefit of this approach is that it doesn't require complex scripting... just a command of the available VW 3d toolkit.

Here's a stereo 'cross-eye' example of a simple geodesic, view by creating a 3rd middle image:

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Stereo view of LCD Fractal geodesic

I'll post a spheric tutorial later ( a possibly do a fractal rope example ).

eja

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I don't mind putting my hand up for being dumb.

Mr nelson has made some interesting things, with many structural applications it would appear, but I can't see how they would make producing a "rope" easier, or simpler than, say the method Kaare suggested.

In fact I'm struggling to think of a simple way to make one of those "Tetrahedral Fractals", let alone string them together on a curved path and skin them to make a rope.

Now the most advanced maths I did was double differentiation of Quadratic equations. That was more than 20 years ago and I cheerfully forgot not long after. ..-something to do with calculating stresses on twisting members I think.... ? ;-) ...so perhaps I'm missing something here.

I'm definitely looking forward those tutorials.!

cheers,

N.

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Thanks Islandmon. I am afraid that this may be too complex for my brain to pick up.

It seems to me, though, that the pages, you linked to describes braided or wowen structures. Most rope is made by the far simpler process of twisting 3 or more strands, so they 'curl' together. ( I dont know the proper english terms for this process)

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Here are a couple very basic low overhead pieces of Rope.

Based on a single 15deg NURB fractal textured with Berber Carpet & rotated 15deg & stacked to form a piece of rope.

Any multiple of 90deg is allowed, ie. a 10deg.

______

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The basic Fractal>

http://www.fractalnet.org/ART/FRT_Rope/FRT_ROPE-15-1.jpg

Woven Fractals>

http://www.fractalnet.org/ART/FRT_Rope/FRT_ROPE-2WAY.jpg

http://www.fractalnet.org/ART/FRT_Rope/FRT_ROPE-3WAY.jpg

This simple Fractal approach is ideal for Geodesic & Tensegrity structures.

eja

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  • 15 years later...

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