CompuServe Thread

flowers

5 messages in this thread
#22283From: SyndesisSep 15, 1989 1:23 PM
Are these petals shaped like a lily? I remember you said it was four-petaled. If I were to build it, I would use Sculpt, simply because I'm familiar with its tools. I'd build the flat outline of the petal using the edge building tool, making short segments around the sides. Then I'd make a single edge down the middle of the petal, and subdivide it so it had several vertices along it. Then I'd connect these middle line vertices to the vertices at the edges along the outside, as if these edges were like veins in the petal, like the veins in a leaf. (After all, that's what a petal is – a leaf.) Be sure to use the fill tool or the triangle tool to fill in each segment, so the area between the veins are really triangles. Now you've got a flat petal. I'd use the magnet tool and the use of selected/deselected points, and the move tool, to make the petal into an arc shape. This might take a while, but do it right… By subdividing the petal's segments, you can make some bends be more accurate or lifelike. When one petal is ready, duplicate it to make the others. If you want to be tricky, you could save some simpler, less complex versions of the petal along the way, as you create them, and use these for other flowers. For example, you could make roses from lots of simple petals, by re-sizing them with the expand tool. How's this?
#22407From: Shalom KelmanSep 18, 1989 10:24 AM
Thanks for the effort you put into thinking of ways to make a petal. I've been giving this topic alot of thought over the last few days and did alot of digging. The folks at Sculpt and AmigaWorld were terrific in helping me track down the artist who rendered a beautiful rose that is displayed in AmigaWorld as an object included in their Workbench Disk. The artist is Richard Thompson and he deserves credit for using the extrude tool to its greatest advantage. I've followed his advice and have attained my goal. He begins with a spline of the central vein of the petal and does multiple extrudes and rotates to create the molded surface. What remains in the end is to reshape the edges (margins) of the petal. For example, to reshape the upper part to have a pointed contour, select the upper half and hide the remaing vertices. Now make the remaing edges into a spline and set the middle vertex to a cusp with the inner and outer tangents chosen to give a pointed appearence. One can also subdivide the spline further to give even finer contours. Once the margin or edge is shaped to your satisfaction , reveal the hidden vertices and the work is complete. Conceptually, the difference between your approach of starting with the outline of the object and molding the surface versus starting with a molded sufrace with multiple extrudes and then molding the outline of the object is signifigant. I guess it depends on the final goal. The only tool available to mold surfaces once they have been set is the magnet tool. Unfortunatley in my hands the magnet does not allow for too much control (though I understand that some artists rely on it heavily). I have really enjoyd solving this problem with the help of the Amiga community. It is truly reassuring to know that users have such a network of support to turn to. Again, thanks for your time and response.
#22427From: SyndesisSep 18, 1989 11:00 PM
I guess it depends on the flower… Petals vary widely, and you'd certainly make a different type of object depending on how close your camera gets to the object. Not all of us have unlimited memory and time for rendering. 🙂 Have you considered searching among other ophthalmologists for a computer representation of an eye socket? Then you could beg us at Syndesis to convert it for you to an Amiga format. 🙂 Seriously, someone in a university might have a computer model of the eye, and the data could be imported, by hook or by crook.
#22441From: Shalom KelmanSep 19, 1989 12:00 AM
I have tried to find some eye models but they are hard to come by. Ohio State apparently has some good ones but they are reluctant to let them go.
#22326From: Peter GreciOct 4, 1992 1:56 AM
Yea copying to a Sysquest like the 88 megger I've got would DEfinitely improve the Access time over the Photo Cd….Use the Photo CD as an Archive copy…. MIDGARD GRAPHICS