#Meta -Snapshot subtree!?
15 messages in this thread
Hi.
this is strange. no . . weird, but cool. I came across a new (to the best of
my knowledge) way of using snapshot to create cool forms for use with
metaballs.
little did I know, but you can create snapshots for an entire subtree of
objects. here's what I did – I created one reference sphere and made a radial
array of 8 copies. then I created a cube, and stuck in the center of my ring
of reference spheres and linked the 8 spheres to the cube. then I moved the
cube aroung my scene, rotating it and scaling it over 30 frames. then I hit
snapshot and clicked on my cube. well, to my surprise, a new button appeared
that says "snapshot subtree" – "cool!" I said and hilited it and created 60
copies of each object. I got a really neat procession of objects and once I
generated the meta-mesh had an object that I CERTAINLY could not have created
any other way. So what does this mean??? I have no idea, because I haven't
found a practical use for it yet. <g> so, anyway there's one more tool for all
you meta-maniacs to stick in your toolboxes. 🙂
the one thing you've got to remember when doing this is that you're creating
the number_of_objects_in_your_subtree multiplied by
the number_of_snapshot_copies you have.
Cheers
-Kyle
Hi Kyle,
<< I have no idea, because I haven't found a practical use for it yet… >>
This is great! It been a while since I heard of a new buried feature. 😉
it's kind of funny, I never remembered seeing any mention of it in the docs –
maybe that's a reference manual wish!
-Kyle
>>I never remember seeing any mention of it in the docs – "
Page 8-64, step 4 and page 8-65, top of the page. Note that "Subtree" is bolded
and appears six times over the two facing pages. I tried to get them to display
it with an animated marquee, but we couldn't work out the technical problems of
animating hardcopy. <g>
– Jack
ahh, and I thought I knew everything about the snapshot command 🙂
I remember asking Dan to put that subtree snapshot command in there, but this
is the first time I've heard it mentioned. I'll bet that you could produce
some pretty complex metaball models this way!
– G
<< I'll bet that you could produce some pretty complex metaball models this
way!>>
yeah, I've been playing with it for a while now and have some strange looking
shapes. I've got some tower type objects that look kind of like wet-drip sand
castles, really eerie. I'll try to construct some sort of scene and put some
samples up.
-Kyle
Dripping sand castles, eh? This I've got to see…
– G
well, kind of – but it's got a bunch of empty spaces in it, I'll put some stuff
up tonite – that'll be easier <g>
-Kyle
Thanks for the great tip, Kyle!
I'm gonna file this one for future use…
-Alan
<< I'm gonna file this one for future use…>>
if and when you do find a use for it, could you pass it on? 🙂
-Kyle
Thanx for the info Kyle. I wish I knew that before Monday, I would have
used it in my demo of metaballs at the Symposium in NY.
Have you hooked up with Alex yet?
Lee
Lee, the effect is very interesting – I uploaded an mage to the IPAS
lib. but it hasn't appeared yet.
<< Have you hooked up with Alex yet?>>
yes, but I haven't been able to do much, as I am swamped with work for the
next week or so.
-Kyle
Hi Kyle ,
I just saw the image and it makes me thing in Giger style of organic
creations. Do you like Giger works ?
– Javi
I LOVE Giger's work. Especially the Alien (and face hugger <g>) I've
got several of his books. I really want to do more things with this
Meta-Snapshot stuff, but it's hard because of the sheer abount of
objects that you end up creating, along with the 64K Poly limit. I
think it's better left on the shelf until R5.