knit the strand

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Knit Strand ProAuthor: Anto Matkovic
This plugin by Kristinka Hair author Anto Matkovic is a newer version of the 2009 release »Knit the Stand«, which generates realistic procedural fabric by interweaving ICE strands following the UV lines of a given NURBS surface. For increased realism it supports customizable weaving patterns, position noise, tip flattening etc..

The new version adds some major features: better distribution, now strand size always fits between neighboring strands, whatever deformation is used lighter in render time: strand segments are generated sparingly, also there are built-in strand resolution attributes default is spread in X-Z plane. NURBS surface is optional, strands will fit to NURBS only if NURBS is connected diagonal distribution, like common fabrics. Should be much faster than old one. Fitting on strand size rely on simple, 'parallel' computation, not on geometry query by distance.

Thumnail image above (large version) was created by Piotrek Marczak using the old version of this plugin. Follow the 5+ page thread on si-community (Note: Download of new version is on page 4 of that thread).

local backup: knit_strand_pro.rar

Discussions about SOFTIMAGEs© Interactive Creative Environment©
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druitre
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Re: knit the strand

Post by druitre » 21 Jul 2009, 15:54

owei wrote:Thanks Mathaeus..!

I´ve put it into the downloadsection:

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=84

cherers,
oliver
Great compound! Shouldn't it be in the ICE/compounds section though? I would not look for this in a models/scenes directory if I were searching, probably.

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Mathaeus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Mathaeus » 21 Jul 2009, 22:07

Well I think it would be nice if someone is willing to upload another model in "models" section, so I can't see *two* of my works at front page :) It's boring :)

Anyway, I did some real work with this compound, then I found it's more convenient to have "real" meshes in viewports, instead of rendering strands from time to time. That what you see in image, it's ICE strand extrusion mesh, created from strands, with MT_strand_nodes addon - together with additional compounds for applying vertex colors to meshes.
There are a few new compounds with different patterns too.
As soon I'll have time to make all that stuff more clear - for now it's a pretty kitchen sink, I created all of them on the fly - I'll post them.

In the meantime, if someone has a good idea what to do with strands, *and* it's easy for me to do that :), I'm listening :)

Image

Deracus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Deracus » 22 Jul 2009, 09:44

Oh my gosh...that´s nothing but awesome!!!

I had a look into that stuff some days before...but haven´t had enough time to do something more serious with it.
But as soon, as i will find some spare time from work, i´m going to start with some furniture...so this could become some stuff for you to show what else can be done :)

Anyway...thanks for everything...amazing work...and that for free!

Deracus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Deracus » 09 Oct 2009, 13:24

Hi

i´m experimenting with your compound right now and i can reproducably crash the scene by simply trying to render the upper inside of your model.
I just loaded it into xsi and zoomed a bit in...then i rotaded the cam so i can se the inside of the upper whole and dragged a region to render it --> Freeze.

Am i the only one having this problems?
I tried it with a fresh scene...same error...

you have to zoom in quite a bit...otherwise it renders without errors

edit:

Inspected the problem even more...and it seems to be more of a problem with Mental Ray and strands...
I build another Nurbs-Mesh, applied your compound and zoomed a bit in. It rendered without hassle....then i started playing with the settings of your compound to see, what drives what. So i tried to raise the "multiply" value to 7...and it froze again...

It doesn´t even start to render...the progress bar in the lower right stops at 0% and XSI.exe creates something like 50 - 60 percent CPU-Usage on both cores. Closing the region or hitting the small X right at the progress bar leads to the heading "cancled" in it, but XSI is stuck then...you can close some ppg´s and stuff like that, but you can´t open anything nor do something else....

I´m confused by now...

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Hirazi Blue
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Hirazi Blue » 09 Oct 2009, 16:27

Which version of (X)SI are you using?
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

Deracus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Deracus » 09 Oct 2009, 18:20

XSI 7.01

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Mathaeus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Mathaeus » 09 Oct 2009, 21:16

Well I didn't tried to render from inside the model... Actually there is an 'error' on my side, in strand creation, first strand segment can be at zero length, something that Mental Ray really doesn't like sometimes - and exactly the same problem can arise when rendering the all samples from MT_strands_tutorial project.

Anyway, what happens to you, it's looking more like problem with adaptive tessellation that XSI (not MR) is doing with strands - something that I can't avoid... but, if you're with 7.01, all these strands can be converted to meshes, before rendering, with MT_strands_addon That's the way I using all the time for this stuff. It's a bit extra work, but it's interactive, MR have to render only meshes. On my 32-bit machine, maximum that I've been tried is about 1 million triangles per point cloud (meshes in image a few posts above).

Because I already have the all compounds, I hope I'll post that improved/fixed stuff this weekend (let's say Sunday morning). That is a few more 'knit' compounds with different patterns, compound that automatically doing everything for MT_extrusions, compounds for transfering strand's color to vertex colors on extruded meshes. The last ones needs a specific order for applying, anyway I'll post this one too, with basic explanation.

From my experience, rendering the strands in XSI can be problematic sometimes, but it's possible to take 'avoiding skills' :) - I think it worth to try.

Cheers

Deracus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Deracus » 10 Oct 2009, 17:53

Thanks for your reply. I also think, that it is more of an adaptive sampling problem. I´ll try the solution with the mt_strand-Addon, that you have suggested. Let´s see, if can get everything to work as i want it to....i´m rather new to all this ICE-Stuff.
I´m really looking forward to all the extra stuff you mentioned. I would love to incorporate your compound for some of my work, as i need to create some wicker furniture in the future.

edit:

Ok...i have installed the StrandNodes addon now...but i am completely unable to use it, as i don´t even have a clue on how to apply it. I tried to select the Pointcloud from your Strand-Model and then applied Create --> Primitive --> "Create ICE Strand Extrusion" but it tells me, that the StrandRotation-Attribute hasn´t been applied....i don´t know what it really wants from me and there is also no kind of documentation.

Too bad...there are quite some nodes, that Helge offered with this ICE_Tutorial-Package, but not a single piece of explaination...

Maybe you can help me to make things a bit more clear...

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Mathaeus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Mathaeus » 10 Oct 2009, 22:39

Hi guys,

so that is I have for now :

Image

Link to Softimage model: http://www.matkovic.com/anto/knit-the-s ... 0oct09.rar

Compounds for creating point clouds are working in the same way, you need just the one NURBS surface and point cloud.

For creating MT_strand_ extrusions, that's the procedure:

- Addons from mt_ice tutorials should be installed, both of them.
- Compound called "Knit Strand Prepare MT_Extrusion" need to go after main compound in ICE tree. It's adjusted version of original "Prepare Strands For Extrusion", that pass all attributes from point cloud automatically. It's able to work only with "Knit the Strand" compounds, from this download. If you need it to work with the old compound, let me know.
- Select Point Cloud, go to Model> Primitive> Create ICE Strand Extrusion. Extruded meshes should appear. In PPG of mt_ice_StrandExtrude Operator on extruded mesh, adjust subdivision.

At this point, you can do with point cloud whatever you want, all changes will be automatically applied to extruded mesh.

Now, transfering Point Cloud's colors to extruded mesh:

- Apply Vertex Color Property to extruded mesh
- Create unsimulated ICE tree on extruded mesh, connect "Knit Strand Take Color From PointCloud" compound to main ICE tree. Connect Point Cloud and Vertex Color property. You can drag and drop them from Explorer. For Vertex colors, it's a black-white gradient icon to drag and drop.

From now, it's good idea to don't tweak parameters that can change vertex count of extruded mesh. On point cloud, these are parameters on top of PPG, such as strand count, segments multiplier, duplicating strands. In mt_ice_StrandExtrude operator PPG, that's a subdivision. Even everything looks OK in wievport, it's possible that you'll see black areas when rendering, if vertex count is bigger than the one at moment of applying ICE tree. So, if
you need to change something after (which affect topology of mesh), remove vertex color property, also whole ICE tree from extruded mesh, then apply them again.

Parameters such as colors, thickness, profiles, these you can change all the time.
Also, there is a great free plugin by Andrea Padovan, at: http://www.borderliner.it/ for all you need with Vertex Colors in XSI. It works nicely with 7.01.

For rendering with final gathering, I've noticed better perfomance with these high density meshes, by using default BSP2 acceleration. Of course, you need to hide point clouds for rendering :)

Good Luck!

Deracus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Deracus » 11 Oct 2009, 00:12

THANK YOU SO MUCH :)

The strand-wizard strikes back ;)

I´ll load and try everything tomorrow...especially the Mesh-Stuff now, that i understand how it should be used :)
If everything works out, as i expect it to do, then i can hopefully present some furniture creations by the end of this month...
I will definitely have an indepth look into everything. Thanks for all your work again...especially because you offer all of it for free :)

The only thing, that is somewhat annoying is the quality of the NURBS-Tools of XSI...they are everything but comfortable. But they should be good enough for all i need, as most of the furniture-parts that require your compound-tools are rather simple.

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X-said
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Re: knit the strand

Post by X-said » 12 Oct 2009, 20:38

Thanks Mathaeus..!

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Mathaeus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Mathaeus » 07 Apr 2012, 23:56

Hi,

Image

Here is latest version of Knit Strand compounds, I called this one "Knit Strand Pro" :).
What's new:
1: better distribution, now strand size always fits between neighboring strands, whatever deformation is used.
2: lighter in render time: strand segments are generated sparingly, also there are built-in strand resolution attributes.
3: default is spread in X-Z plane. NURBS surface is optional, strands will fit to NURBS only if NURBS is connected.
4: diagonal distribution, like common fabrics

Should be much faster than old one. Fitting od strand size rely on simple, 'parallel' computation, not on geometry query by distance.

For later use, export the "Knit Strand pro" compound, using "embed internal compounds" option (if you don't already have Kristinka Hair 3).
Compound should reside under Particles/Strands.
In almost three years, I've found these nodes doing the best by converting the strands to mesh, or even better as texture generators.
If you try to render from camera, included in setup, you'll see something like this - displacement/bump of some kind of denim.

Image

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ActionArt
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Re: knit the strand

Post by ActionArt » 10 Apr 2012, 17:43

I'm surprised nobody commented on this yet. Looks pretty interesting. Will have to give it a try.

Thanks Mathaeus!

bradworst
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Re: knit the strand

Post by bradworst » 10 Apr 2012, 19:59

Of course i am interested!!!

awesome!!

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nbreslow
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Re: knit the strand

Post by nbreslow » 10 Apr 2012, 23:29

Hi,

First - amazing stuff, love the concept and execution. I have the Pro compound setup and tested and it works great. I was hoping you might have an updated workflow for converting the strands to a mesh?

I have gone over the older posts but have not been able to reproduce the steps, mainly because I can't seem to find the mt_ice_StrandExtrude compound anywhere (despite having Kristinka 3, the old HM Strand Nodes from the ice tutorial, searching everywhere). I also have extracted "Knit Strand Prepare MT_Extrusion" but that doesn't seem to work either. Any guidance would be deeply appreciated and thanks again!

-Nick B.

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Mathaeus
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Re: knit the strand

Post by Mathaeus » 11 Apr 2012, 22:48

Thank you guys,

there is an update on same link, new one has built-in attributes for MT/Melena strand extrusion. Of course you'll need appropriate version of Melena installed.
If so, procedure should be: select point cloud, run "create ICE strand extrusion" or like.
Theoretically, out of the box strand extrusion from v 2012 and more, should work too. Didn't tried this, anyway.

cheers

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