How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

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Draise
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How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

Unfortunately the modelside of truespace 7.6 does not have a bend, taper nor twist feature.

I did find an alternative slightly more organic and handy tool that does the trick.

First you need the Soft Selection tool.

Then you need to amp up the radius to about 200.000 (full size, by right click + drag left or right) and the magnatide to about 0.500 (change, by right click + drag up or down)

then zoom out and click once (with Font Face turned off in Mesh Editor Settings) at one end of the object.

Then rotate in an angle and move the selection to organically bend your object. If you only move it, you taper it, if you rotate then move, you bend it. If you rotate in a "z" axis, you twist the selection.

If you select the rotation effector in center, with the selection radius encovering the object, you can do cleaner tapers and different twists, and bevel/taper like bends.

If you select both ends by encompasing only half the object (do so by zoom in or out or changing the selection radius, then select two point by holding down CTRL) it will give a different type of curve, twist or taper.

I recommened a very low magnitutde and super high softness (magnitude 0.400-0.600; softness : 1.000 ) in your deformation radius selections


With some clever magnatude settings and smoothness/sharpness, you can create quick, fast and organic deformations.

A little practice is needed to get the right rotation and movement with the right order for whatever effect you want. And the the downside is that it is not very exact, unless used with grid snap on, but it sure is very organic alternative. This a deformation workaround. I sometimes prefer it over conventional tools, as you can mix bend, twist and taper all in one movement.

I recommend this type of organic modelling in other software also, if it includes soft selection verticie type mesh editing. Just make sure you select the back faces, if not you only deform one side of the object!!!!

bend and move2.PNG
bend.PNG
Steps for a bend:
1. Select the area you want to bend with a semi low magnatide, high smoothness and the size you need-encompasing the bend area.
2. Rotate on the angle you want (it will first look like a question mark)
3. Move diaganally in the angle you want to straighten the curve. (if you want a perfect right angle arc, then move it up and right. If you want an oval arc, move more right than up)

Take into account that the bending also stretches the selection volume by like 50%-100%. If you thought the bending arc was too large, undo then try half the selection size then bend it.

If you want to preserve the the bending effector shape/tip, make sure it is the center of your selection, or increase the sharpness or magnitude.
Attachments
bend then twist.PNG
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

Example of how to select a bend shape area.

On bend the whole object from the base as the bend effector.

Another bend the object from the center, causing a good taper or twist.

Another selects only the top half the object for a large arc over half the object.
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step3.PNG
step4.PNG
step5.PNG
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

And some examples of a twist, bend with a twist, and a taper.
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twist.PNG
taper2.PNG
bend then twist.PNG
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Peter »

Thanks for this!
I was trying to figure out if it was possible to do bending on a mesh a few days ago. This is the answer.
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

Oh good, glad it came in handy!
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by ranger0101 »

Draise

You meant to say.. The WorkSpace Side has no Bend Twist Taper..

BTW.. GO you!! You are tearen up the forums.. It appears you have breathed
a little vitality into this place...
I haven't been using the workspace side myself but I continue to read your posts..
I think maybe I will dig into the Workspace side a bit more..



Cheers

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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

WHOOpS! yeah.. ehh.. the workspace side!

lol, thanks. I saw another GPU render engine go under, and i knew another pioneering one still somehow lived over the past two years, i see much potential in GPU renderers. It's the future. I'm sick and tired render wrangling renderfarms and that time it takes to get only a few frames in an hour... =) Hope to kick the 3D revolution a little =) I'll keep stuff coming!!!
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by BNG »

Between both the workspace and modelside pretty much anything is possible. I recently met one BZII model maker that is actually using the 7.61 beta 8 workspace side to create his models and we're actually teaching one another some tips on switching between the two modelers to do certain tasks. Apparently, the workspace side is more useful then I originally thought. I really need to explore the workspace far much more then I presently do. Thanks for posting the how to Draise. My attempts with bend and taper have had some mixed results. It seems that positioning the widget correctly is critical in how things bend and taper in the right direction.
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by Draise »

BNG wrote:Between both the workspace and modelside pretty much anything is possible. I recently met one BZII model maker that is actually using the 7.61 beta 8 workspace side to create his models and we're actually teaching one another some tips on switching between the two modelers to do certain tasks. Apparently, the workspace side is more useful then I originally thought. I really need to explore the workspace far much more then I presently do. Thanks for posting the how to Draise. My attempts with bend and taper have had some mixed results. It seems that positioning the widget correctly is critical in how things bend and taper in the right direction.
lol! Yes, I had quite a few mixed results at first too!! But after some experimentation with the widget axis's or on restricted rotation axis's, i managed to get some good controlled bends and tapers. i'm sure you figured that out. And also yes, it is cretical to where the widget is, and where the selection center is. It is good to rotate on only one axis first (the first rotate makes it look veeerrrry strange, almost like a hook bend), then move in a diaganol direction (to then correct it to a L shaped bend). If it helps, try put on the grid lock.

oh...!! how do you reposition the widget? Does it change the rotation axis? I didn't know you could do that! Please share!


I learnt 3D as a younglin on the modelside of TS (6.6). But after using the 7.6 and trying to cross to n from both sides, I had quite a few unstable and unprecedented results! Like DX shaders been eaten alive whenever I switched over!!! Or even missing geometry.. You get those?
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Re: How to Bend, taper, twist in the Modelside

Post by v3rd3 »

Yup.... switching from one side to the other is difficult to master.

I find that you really need to finish the mesh creation in a project before you decide which side you will use to texture and render the final piece.

DX9 stuff dies on the modelside and Lightworks shaders can produce "interesting" but unexpected results at render time.

Bones are quite different between the 2 sides and cannot be switched back and forth.

To be honest I am working on learning new tools/workflow as I have been looking at projects that need fur and the key features of 3dcoat (sculpting, retopology and painting).

I still go to TS quite often to get things started cuz I am just so familiar with it.
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