Terri Brown Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi everyone, So after more than 10 years on Max I get stuck with something that seems so basic I have a spline that I want to array slats of wood along, starting with wide gaps, getting denser and then opening up again. Arraying along the spline is no problem (using the Spacing Tool); it's the gradation in distance that is stumping me. See the spline(red) and slat (blue) attached, along with as close a reference as I can find of graded distancing (Tijabaou Cultural Centre), and the concept sketch of what I'm trying to do in more detail. Please help...deadline calling! Thanks, Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismael Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) Maybe this http://www.mcgreed.dk/misc.asp Also perhaps the Parametric array here http://www.torabiarchitect.com/blog/?p=35 The free version only lays 64 items but maybe add a few arrays? Edited January 28, 2014 by Ismael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Brown Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 Thank you Ismael, I have tried both (am getting some bugs with the first script). Does it matter which viewport you create the spline in?? The second script seems really complicated. Do you know anything for scripting/techie dummies? I'll be honest, I'm struggling. I still don't see an option to progressively increase/decrease the spacing inbtwn instances, and also it's tough to be able to follow the curvature of the spline as the attached section demonstrates: I may very well not be understanding the scripts correctly - am I missing something?? Unless if someone knows if there's a way to draw it in ACAD and I extrude that in Max? Please help! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolai Bongard Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Sounds like a job for railclone. But if it is not within your budget, and if it is not really important that the placement is 100% accurate, you could create an image with the spacing you want as stripes, then extrude your shape/spline a bit to get geometry, unwrap it, apply the texture, cut lines, select the lines and create shape from selection or whatever it is called and use those for sweeping. You could also check out the free plugins on the Itoo website, Glue and Clone, perhaps they can be of use to you, allthough i have not tried them myself. The glue plugin looks promising, as you could once again extrude your shape to create geometry, then in theory create a spline with segments/verteces at the desired intervals/increments (based on a regular array with proper increments) and then conform/glue it to your geometry, then extrude it to get a shape with edges at the apropriate places, detach them and use them for sweeping. Not sure if it is going to work, as i have not tried the free plugins myself. Might be worth a shot. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismael Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Sorry Terri, I never used them either but I just tried them and could not get them to work in Max 2010. Her is another promising option, the Snapshot Tool. It is used for animation and it has a "Track View" which you could use to fine tune placement http://docs.autodesk.com/MAXDES/13/ENU/Autodesk%203ds%20Max%20Design%202011%20Help/index.html?url=./files/WSf742dab041063133-696430f0112a1ce75ed-7ff3.htm,topicNumber=d0e50788 I am going to try this last option to see if I could help otherwise I hope otherwise that some of our experts here chime in. Best Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismael Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 With animation and snapshot I don't know how to grade the spacing. I found this nifty Maxscript which places an object on each vertex of a spline. This could be used to grade on the straight parts of the geometry. The name is objectplacer_v10.zip blakestone which I found here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-Max-3ds-Max-Design-General/Scattering-Objects-along-a-Spline/td-p/4266343 If someone could add an align to normal of spline WE should be golden! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsp_418 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 (edited) Wished Max had a Mograph tool, so many times I needed something similar... Anyway, the closest thing I can get is a Pflow and a map to position the slats. Not perfect yet, I might messing up with the settings. I think I've got it working once, meaning even space at the base and a better gradually spacing as it grows. Edited January 29, 2014 by dsp_418 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Just do one section, array it and remove by hand if you must, then instance that around. Don't try to build the whole thing at once. Or place them all vertically, remove what you need, then use path deform to put those slats on your spline. But again, just do one section. Once you get your master section done, then create the rest of the structure. But yeah, RailClone is going to save you some time here. An easy way to do this with the free version is to divide your spline into a few mat ID segments. Then create the various rail clone arrays (you can probably do it all within on rail clone system), and each mat ID on the spline is the segments where the boards get farther apart. In the array, set it's limit to the mat ID and you should get a close result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Quick and fast Rail Clone setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Brown Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Wow guys, thanks for all the tips. I haven't used PFlow for donkey's years, but I have been wanting to learn Rail Clone for a while now (as I am an avid Forest Pro fan)...I just never had the time nor a project that called for it. Now may be the time! Will let you know if I have success...and will hopefully post some renders soon enough. Thanks again for all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dialog Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Quick and fast Rail Clone setup. [ATTACH=CONFIG]50716[/ATTACH] How user friendly is rail clone? Is the investment worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 You can download the Free version and check it out. You are limited to the number of segments and you can't do 2 direction arrays, but for the most part the free version gives you a really good idea of what it is about. The tutorials on the iToo website are pretty thorough, and all in all, it's pretty easy to understand rail clone. Personally I'd say between Rail Clone and Forest Pro, they have paid for themselves multiple times over in the increases in my workflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 MultiScatter would be a good option too. You can array via a gradient ramp which is nice. You can then tweak the ramp and watch your boxes move in realtime. I havent used Forest Pro but I have a feeling they do the same thing. I'd be lost without multiscatter nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Brown Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 Does anyone using Forest Pro know if what Tom suggests in Multiscatter is possible in Forest Pro too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolai Bongard Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 You can distribute items according to a distribution map, and that can be a gradient mapped to your object. You can set it to apply to both density and scale of the distributed objects. But wether or not it will be accurate and provide the desired level of control is another story. Worth a shot i guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaschristensen Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I think the Animators Toolkit can do this too, http://animatorstoolkit.com/ Worth every $25 if you do anything motion graphics or even close to in 3ds max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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