[Plugin][$] Curviloft 2.0a - 31 Mar 24 (Loft & Skinning)

[charly2008]

Hi mitcorb,

I use Kerkythea. With Kerkythea I have the most experience. I consider myself still a beginner as regards to rendering. I would recommend anyone to begin with Kerkythea and to study the program thoroughly. This is a good basis for understanding other rendering programs.

Charly

[charly2008]

I usually start trying to construct a basic form. Then you can play with the spline Methods. Then make a group and copy them and connect them several times. Make it a group again and use again rotate copy. It is very easy. The result is mostly interesting geometric objects. Useless but nice to see.

I would be very interested in what ideas others user have. Has someone already used it for architectural purposes?

Charly

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Untitled.skp

[robert111]

charly thanks for your nice tuto , but i am interresting for this objet
if you can make tuto too ,

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[charly2008]

Robert,

it is very easy. I used this basic construction shown in my post before. Connect the faces as you want and use spline method "junction by orthogonal Betier curves" as shown below.

Charly

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[robert111]

charly thanks for your tuto but i havent cuved form , i dont know why??
look this picture

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[robert111]

thanks charly , i dont have use spline in curviloft , thanks

[charly2008]

Robert, i think you used a different Spline Method. See images below. The second image shows Junction by Orthogonal Bezier curves.

Charly

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[charly2008]

Probably there are many like me. Some features I can not understand completely.

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[fredo6]

@charly2008 said:

Probably there are many like me. Some features I can not understand completely.

Charly,

There are many ways to do Loft, and this is why there are many options (and there should probably be more).

1. The Spline methods on the left side:

• one if simply to link contours by straight lines
• the second is a junction by Bezier curves with mean slope. In many cases where contours are aligned this is almost a straight line too. But in other situations, it gives a curved shape.

2. The two icons in the middle are for Cubic Bezier and Catmull Splines. In most cases they give a very similar shape, though Cubic Bezier is usually nicer in the rounding. Catmull, in contrast, is more similar to what you get in Subdivide & Smooth methods.

3. The two icons on the right side of the Spline method palette: These 2 methods only apply when you have more than 2 contours. The principle is that they link the two extreme contours by B-Spline or F-Spline, using the intermediate ones as a guide for shaping. The generated surface passes through the extreme contours but not thorugh the intermediate ones

4. The vertex matching palette is about how to match vertices from one contour to the next one. I am still experimenting and will try to improve in this area. The matching can be based on:

• match vertex to vertex when there are the same numbers (first default)
• match along the curvilinear distance (second default)
• match along Cubic or Bezier profiles. The principle is that the spacing between matching vertices is function of the curvature of the contour. I found theoritical cases where this is the correct solution, but in the real world, this may be another story.

5. The geometry palette is used for 2 purposes currently:

• generate only the junctions as lines (i.e. no surface)
• make the junction as SU curves. This allows deforming the shape in a continuous way by moving the contours.
  I plan to add the possibility to construct any part of the mesh (i.e. triangles, quads, junctions only, etc....)

The best is to play with the options on a given model and see what it gives.

I agree that this is not straightforward, but keep in mind that there is unfortunately not a single solution to all lofting situations.

Fredo

PS: by the way, extremely nice models you designed!!

[charly2008]

Hi Fredo,

thank you for your detailed explanation. I'll continue to experiment with getting to know all the options. Your explanation is certainly helpful to all.

Charly

[thomthom]

I'm getting some errors:

[fredo6]

@thomthom said:

I'm getting some errors:

[attachment=0:21a7yfyo]<!-- ia0 -->CurviError.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:21a7yfyo]

Tom,

Thanks for signaling this problem.
Would you mind to post the model.

Fredo

[thomthom]

@unknownuser said:

@thomthom said:

I'm getting some errors:

[attachment=0:1k817cpu]<!-- ia0 -->CurviError.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1k817cpu]

Tom,

Thanks for signaling this problem.
Would you mind to post the model.

Fredo

It's a wee heavy - but I can post the extracted polylines.

[thomthom]

Here it is:

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CurviError.skp

[charly2008]

Hi Thomas,

i welded each line and below the result in Sketchup 8.

Charly

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[thomthom]

?

You have to weld the curves for loft to work?

[charly2008]

Yes this is my experience, otherwise you will have multiple lines.

[thomthom]

Even more odd - that unwelded needs more distance...?

[charly2008]

I must correct myself. In your example it works without welding but only if the two lines have a little more distance. Otherwise I get the same error messages. I previously thought the lines would have to be welded. now I've found that it is not so. Sorry, I am ashamed. I was back to cheeky.

Charly

[robert111]

charly how to modeling this exemple plz can you make tuto plz, il love yours objet with this plugin

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