Inflate Repeating Image Problem

[omac12]

Hi, I'm having a problem with inflate. I know it's something simple ... but. I have an image I've tried several different sizes including the 512 X 512 I read that Simon used, but everytime I inflate the image is repeated about 3 times right next to each other on each face. It's like it's tiling. How can I stop that?

Thank you for assistance,
Al

[Simon]

Hi omac, there are a few different ways to save BMP/JPG files. It is possible you are using 32bit, or greyscale, or non-interleaved. I don't know which software you are using to save, but the safest format is 24bit colour BMP, or colour JPG.

If you can't find a solution, please email me the problem image (support at curvy 3 d dot com) and let me know which program you saved it from, then I will investigate.

Thanks for reporting it

[omac12]

Well, I'm fixed. The only thing that I could see that was different was that I was using grayscale. I made a new image anyway, so it may also have had something to do with the old image. At any rate, it's working. I wound up with a lot of jaggies that I will have to work on. I guess I'll turn the resolution way up. It's a mechanical part. But yay, it's working.

Thanks again, Simon

For future reference the program that I was having problems with was CorelDraw X5.

P.S. Feature Request - either a basic vector import or an autotrace function, or even a simple trace function that would replace the image with the traced one would really help prevent jaggies. Maybe a simple pixel editor if you are doing something internally like setting up a 3 dimensional array with X and Y elements set according to the number of pixels in the image and the Z depth set according to the grayscale value from black to white. I'm not sure how it's actually inflating I'm just throwing out a guess. At any rate, a user-definable resolution pixel editor that allowed you to set the color (colour) value from black to white would allow you to smooth out or even sort of voxel sculpt. Curvy is already most of the way there.

Please don't take these as criticisms.

Thanks again,

Al

[omac12]

Late note: I've just checked google and found that my guess is apparently the way that it is commonly done. So yes, a pixel editor stage right before the image is converted would be awesome.

I'll probably invent the wheel tomorrow.

Al

[Simon]

The best technique I have found for inflating more mechanical shapes is to use a high resolution image, but a lower resolution mesh.

eg: set QUAD SIZE to 8, and use twice as large an image. Every 8th pixel will get a vertex in the final model.

In practice this gives the model "sub-pixel" precision.

Of course if you want to import squares, gears, circles etc then a vector style import would be useful, and more economical on the number of faces in the final model. I wonder if there are free apps that do this already - then you could import the pieces into Curvy.