CompuServe Thread

#morphing – vertice count

7 messages in this thread
#192783From: GARRY HARGREAVESSep 27, 1995 5:52 AM
Hi Guys, I am morphing some text into another piece of text (dissimilar shapes) so the vertices count should be the same. Whilst the first vertex is easy to choose, how are the other vertices numbered? (ie: If there is say 15 vertice in a 2D shape (letter A) and you "refine" a segment between vertex 1 and 2 is the new inserted vertex number 16?) Is there any way to find out the numbering sequence of the vertice in a 2D shape? If say vertex 2, of the first shape, morphs to vertex 16 of the second shape – there will be gliches in the resultant geometry…plus it will look pretty poor (technical term) <g> ThanX GH
#193767From: Kyle J. McKisicOct 3, 1995 12:34 PM
In the Shaper, in Display/First, there are some controls that let you show or hide the first vertex of each shape, as well as specify which vertex you want to become the 'first vertex'. when you show the first verticies, they show up as black ticks in your shape. you can get some more detailed info on pages 5-63 to 5-65 in your 3DS reference manual. -Kyle
#194275From: GARRY HARGREAVESOct 6, 1995 5:37 AM
Hi Kyle, ThanX for the response…however I may not of explained myself enough? Try this..we want to morph from say a letter "A" to a letter "B". I, in the 2D shaper, we use NEWBLD.FNT we will get: an 11 vertex "A" and a 15 vertex "B". Now we know first vertices should be in line, however we also know that the two shapes should start out with the same vertice count (this will help the resultant lofted mesh morph better – keeping the path a constent). So we need to add 4 vertices into the letter "A". Move the letter "A" over on top of letter "B" – lineup and choose first vertices – but vertice number 2 of the "A" will want morph to vertice 2 of the letter "B". All I'm saying is how do you know the numbering system of the vertices? What clock-wise 1 to 11? AND IF YOU REFINE letter "A" (to have 15 vertices – add 4 more) do these new vertices become vertices 12, 13, 14 and 15 ? or because you refined (inserted) new vertices inbetween vertices 1 & 2 does the vertices count reset ? (ie: 1 becomes 1, 2 becomes 3 and the added vertice (refined) becomes 2 ……?????????? Long winded I know??? PS: I like the metaball stuff you did in PS CU GH become
#194318From: Kyle J. McKisicOct 6, 1995 1:28 PM
Garry, Well, first off, changing a shape with one hole into a shape with two holes is going to be tricky anyway – What you'd probably want to do is create a letter A, then add some (not necessarily 4) verticies to it via Modify/Segment/refine – then make a copy of your letter A and create a letter B – freeze the letter B and move the letter A over the B – then manually (ugh!) move the vreticies to match up with the letter B – You'll have to take the two bottom peices of the A and wrap them underneath to 'fake' a new hole in the geometry – it's a workaround anyway you look at it – The main problem is not numbers of verts, but creating spaces in the geometry from nothing (or the illusion of nothing) Note also that morphing is simply a rearrangement of the verticies in an object – each polygon is still defined by the same three verticies. I've got a few other ideas . . .let me take a bit and play around with it – I'll get back to you. -Kyle. BTW, glad you liked the metaballs stuff . .
#194418From: GARRY HARGREAVESOct 7, 1995 8:20 PM
Hi Kyle, The line up and freeze method is what I've been trying…if I refine what number in the vert' count is that…BTW it doesnt have to be a A -> B I'm just trying stuff out 🙂 thanX for the input CU GH in OZ
#194456From: Murat BezelOct 8, 1995 12:15 PM
Hi Garry, >>If there is say 15 vertice in a 2D shape (letter A) and you "refine" a segment between vertex 1 and 2 is the new inserted vertex number 16?<< I had a lot of experience in morphing on extruded text in another with different font. It is quite simple: Vertices are numbered sequentally beginning from the first defined one. Then it goes CW or CCW, I don't know exactly which one, but it's always the same for any shape, say mirroring in 2D Shaper doesn't change direction as it does in 3D Editor. So when you insert a vertex between 1 and 2 the new one becomes 2, the former 2 becomes 3, 3 becomes 4 and so on. The only thing that can go wrong is with shapes that form a hole in the object. Then the order of creation is important. So when you create an "O" outer shape first and then the inner shape and want to morph that in another "O" created vice versa your morph will be inside out. I had that problem importing my text as AI files, where the order is given in a quite chaotic way. Solution was to clone each shape in corrosponding orders and delete the originals. Mostly the only way, 'cause you can't tell in which order the shapes are in the font files. Another way is to control that in a 2D Graphics software as CorelDRAW or FreeHand, where you can put shapes up and down. Hope that helped, Murat
#194466From: GARRY HARGREAVESOct 8, 1995 3:22 PM
ThanX Murat, That's just what I was looking for… GH