Fit to Surface - Curving Slabs

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Simon
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Fit to Surface - Curving Slabs

Post by Simon »

Another tip for bending Slabs. Delete the back and sides of the slab before you subdivide. Then use Mesh/Relax to spread the points evenly on the new 2D surface. Then use Mesh/Thicken to add depth to the object with a very neat and clean looking bevel on the edge.
SlabBend.jpg
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Mesh/Deform/Fit to Surface
is more powerful than "Drop to Surface" as it can wrap one object around another - wrapping to the sides and back of the object is possible. However it is a bit more complex to setup. You need to select the surface you want to fit onto before you hit "Mesh/Deform/Fit to Surface", then drag the objects you want fitted as children of the newly created Action, then press Y to update the action. Once all this is setup you should see a orange box when you select the action - make sure your wrapped object fits in this box.
Wrapped.jpg
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For example this Slab (orange) "Fit to Surface" onto a Lathe object (blue). The Slab wraps all the way around the sides and back of the target mesh.
Wrapping.jpg
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Adding more details, you can add as many child objects to the action as you like - here I've added lots of separate spikes then press Y to update the Fit.
Spikes.jpg
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And here I've changed the shape of the target Lathe, it is fully 'live' and editable. Just remember to press Y to update the Fit action if you reshape the wrapped or target objects.
Fit2.jpg
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Wrapping a 100k spiky mesh over a 20k sphere UV head
Warp.jpg
Warp.jpg (247.76 KiB) Viewed 381 times
Simon
C.E.O.
Posts: 2581
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:13 am
Location: Kingston Upon Thames, U.K.
Contact:

Re: Fit to Surface - Curving Slabs

Post by Simon »

Some more examples of Fit to Surface.

The orange box is the source area - you should put the child objects inside this box. The target object is best as a Lathe - as it will setup the UVs correctly for fitting the children into.
It is as if the orange box shows you where 0-1 UV area is fit to.
1.png
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2.png
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3.png
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4.png
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Also works on Lofts - note I had to tick Reverse Surface otherwise the objects appeared inside out on the Loft
5.png
5.png (68.4 KiB) Viewed 272 times
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