[How to] drape a group over terrain?

utiler

I've got a mental block.

I have to create a layer of ballast [rock] as a conveyor base over a large terrain. I guess the shape can be a simple shape as indicated below draped along a predetermined path. I initally thought about shape bender although I don't think so. Then I thought smart drop but its just not the one I'm thinking of.

any suggestions?

jeff hammond

try this by Krill:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=24676

utiler

Thanks Jeff, its a shame he took the youTue vids down....

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

utiler

Couldn't get that to work, Jeff. Not sure why... does it require multiple groups or just one? kept hanging....

Then I thought maybe try this:

create a vertical section through the site
create group from section
explode the profile, 'recurve' it
make profile of the ballast pile; move onto new path profile.
Curviloft from path....

WA-LA!!!

I'm getting too old.

Cheers Jeff!

jeff hammond

hmm.. yeah. i just tried krill's plugin and couldn't get it to work either
sorry about that.. maybe it's outdated (su8)?

out of curiosity, i tried something simiar in rhino and it was pretty easy over there
maybe a little overkill for your situation.. i like what you came up with.. good idea.

click pic -> bigger

[edit] lol
just checked.. only 9 billion cubic feet of dirt being laid down in my drawing
roughly 1.5 miles long x 470 feet tall and 1/2 mile wide..
i wonder how long it would take to build that?

utiler

Hey, I like what rhino can do with draping..... Wonder if it could be done it SU?

Yeah that's a whole lot of dirt!! My job is about 11 miles long of rough terrain in northern Australia. The intent is to extract iron ore and transport it overland to the coastline to a shipping port... So there's quite a bit of srock being moved around literally!!!

gulcanocali

Hi utiler,

You can take a look at the latest release of Tgi3D SU Amorph with the new "terrain tools" utility (in this thread), it would be a perfect fit for your problem, I think. Try it with the 30-Day trial version of Tgi3D SU Amorph for full functionality.

[flash=800,620:2ffhf149]http://www.youtube.com/v/UviJRlu_00w?fs=1&hl=en_US[/flash:2ffhf149]

utiler

Thank you Gulcan, that looks very neat!!! Kind of smart drop on steroids!!