Lofts, sculpties and meshes

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McBryde
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Lofts, sculpties and meshes

Post by McBryde »

I'm new to creation a 3D image with a computer. I really like this Curvy prog and am trying to get it to work for me.

One thing I think everyone knows except me is: what's the difference between lofts, sculpties and meshes??
I think a loft is like a paper model; a sculpty is a solid form created from laths; and mesh - well, I've learnt about that in Maya..

What I don't know [also?] is, under which conditions does one choose one of these formats over the others? And are they easily converted from one to another in Curvy [eg can I export into Maya a sculture created in Curvy]?

I appreciate your help. Thank you.
John
Simon
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Post by Simon »

Hi John, Curvy uses these terms slightly differently to normal 3D usage so I tend to prefix them like "Curvy Loft" and "Curvy Lathe" to distinguish them.

"Curvy Loft" - Like a bent sheet of paper defined by curved lines at either end and along the sheet. Useful for making flags, cloaks, hair.

"Curvy Lathe" - A rounded form defined by curves along its silhouette.

"Sculptie" - An Export format from Curvy that is specifically designed for use in the 3D world of Second Life. Specifically defines a sculpture in terms of position information within a texture map - effectively it unwraps a 3D model into a 2D image that can be reconstructed in 3D in Second Life.

"Mesh" - While the above forms are resolution independent (you can choose how many triangles are used to represent the models leaving the defining curves/image alone) a Mesh has a fixed number of triangles/quads that represent the shape.
The downside is you lose the simple editable curves to control the shape, but on the plus side you can use the full range of sculpting/deforming tools to pull and push and tweak the mesh to change the shape and add detail.

Typically I work mainly with Curvy Lathes to start with, and convert to Mesh later when I am adding details like muscles.

Loft, Lathe, and Mesh can all be exported in OBJ format for use in Maya. And you can also import from Maya using OBJ to get new Meshes into Curvy.

Sculpties are only of interest if you wish to use models in Second Life or similar worlds, and are best exported straight from Lathe/Loft as the conversion to Mesh can lose information required to create a good Sculptie (well spaced UV coords).
McBryde
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Thanks

Post by McBryde »

I appreciate your thorough response.
I had found some of the answers which I had overlooked in the manual. But thanks for all the extra detail...

I shall no doubt have more questions later.... :)
Simon
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Post by Simon »

No problem :) I am aware some of the names in Curvy are a bit unusual, I look forward to other questions!
McBryde
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Joints

Post by McBryde »

OK - here's a random one:

• When I join a jacket sleeve to a jacket I don't seem to be able to avoid a slight indentation. If I try to build or putt it out it gets emphasised.
Have you found that?

• I want to use a 3D prog to make small characters in clothing, to be printed out. I see that Curvy does well with physical form, but what about ties, collars, lapels, etc I wonder??

Thanks Simon
Simon
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Post by Simon »

When joining objects it is best to overlap the shapes as much as possible. So for instance continue the sleeve into the chest some distance before rounding it off, and continue the jacket shoulder into the sleeve. It should look smooth before doing any merging of the objects.

For a tie I would make a lathe object, then turn it into a mesh and flatten it by holding down, say, 'Z' while using the scale tool (X & Y work too). Then use the widget move tool to give it a bit of a bend again.

For lapels you can use a copy of the jacket or torso, then use a curvy map with a dark colour to shrink the object down... then painting white on the curvy map pushes parts of the copy back out above the original mesh, making it look like a separate piece of cloth.

Collar is trickier - you could use booleans on cylinder shaped lathes, or use Image Inflate on a 'C' shaped bitmap.

The more geometric the models get - the more helpful it is to mix Curvy models with more traditional 3D programs like Blender. You can use OBJ to move Curvy models into other programs or import parts into Curvy.
McBryde
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Location: Skelemersdale, Lancs, UK

Post by McBryde »

Thanks again, Simon .. those responses are very useful.
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