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Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 18 Dec 2012, 15:27
by Falam
It would be nice if this tool worked on Reference objects ? I have a hierarchy of objects that can bend with the null being the parent of all the "parts" but Instance on curve cannot bend objects around a curve ?

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 12 Jan 2013, 20:59
by julca
Hello Falam, sorry for my late reply i-) .

What do you mean by reference objects ?
Currently you can add null object to the Samples group and all sub objects in your null hierarchy will be instanciate on the curve.
If you want instanciate individually all sub objects, just put them directly into your Samples group.

You can detail your question, I will answer quickly is promised !

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 13 Jan 2013, 04:14
by Falam
julca wrote:Hello Falam, sorry for my late reply i-) .

What do you mean by reference objects ?
Currently you can add null object to the Samples group and all sub objects in your null hierarchy will be instanciate on the curve.
If you want instanciate individually all sub objects, just put them directly into your Samples group.

You can detail your question, I will answer quickly is promised !
Thanks for that tip :)
What I mean is, I have a object that has a hierarchy of objects, this object has 'joints' that can bend and I have imported it into the scene as a reference object, from my point of view, instance on curve won't accept reference objects ?

Going back to the first sentence :), I would like the object to bend, to clearer understand what I'm talking about think 'chain' as in bicycle chain but not an exact 'bicycle chain' :) I would like the 'chain' in my case the parts to bend on the curve.

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 13 Jan 2013, 12:08
by julca
You can put a reference model with a hierarchy of objects on the "Sample" group and it will be instanciate with all sub objects.

Now, if you wan't bend a hierarchy of objects along the curve you can put all sub objects individually in your Samples group (see picture above).
instanceOnCurve_abcdef.jpg
Don't forget to uncheck the "Randomize Selection" parameter.

Otherwise, you can use the Derform By Curve operator.
Hope that help you !

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 14 Jan 2013, 06:05
by Falam
julca wrote:You can put a reference model with a hierarchy of objects on the "Sample" group and it will be instanciate with all sub objects.

Now, if you wan't bend a hierarchy of objects along the curve you can put all sub objects individually in your Samples group (see picture above).
instanceOnCurve_abcdef.jpg
Don't forget to uncheck the "Randomize Selection" parameter.

Otherwise, you can use the Derform By Curve operator.
Hope that help you !
My results are pretty good, although I have a suggestion. :) You mentioned if I want a hierarchy of objects along the curve to bend, I should place all object individually in the 'samples group'.

What if they are individual with a null being the parent (reference object) this is my scenario, and they are not bending ? To clarify, the null is the parent of all the individual parts, imported into the scene as a reference object, instance on curve is applied to the curve and the null with all it's individual pieces is packaged up as a 'group' and placed into the 'samples group' of the instance to curve tool, although the individual parts of the objects are not bending along the curve.

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 14 Jan 2013, 08:06
by julca
Yes, you must place all objects individually in your group (or select them with your curve before creation).
Because you may want to instanciate simples objects and model/null composed by a hierarchy of objects, together.

Also, if you want to preserve your hierarchy with the null, first generate instance with your curve and null selected and after remove manually your null from the group and put your childs objects into it.

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 15 Jan 2013, 01:29
by Falam
julca wrote:Yes, you must place all objects individually in your group (or select them with your curve before creation).
Because you may want to instanciate simples objects and model/null composed by a hierarchy of objects, together.

Also, if you want to preserve your hierarchy with the null, first generate instance with your curve and null selected and after remove manually your null from the group and put your childs objects into it.
All my objects are individual objects, the null is the parent for all those parts, below is what the result looks like. The parts are not bending along the curve, rather the object duplicates it's self (instance) along the curve.

Image

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 15 Jan 2013, 11:30
by julca
You may place your pivot at the beginning or end of your objects and then use the next influence parameter (as in the photo below) .
InstanceOnCurve_nextInfluence.jpg

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 26 Jan 2013, 07:43
by Falam
julca wrote:You may place your pivot at the beginning or end of your objects and then use the next influence parameter (as in the photo below) .
InstanceOnCurve_nextInfluence.jpg
What is missing is collision detection, or if it can work with, mesh paint, I think that was it where you can move objects around as if your painting!

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 16 Feb 2013, 22:48
by julca
Hello !

Here is an update of Instance On Curve now 1.2 with new functionalities :
- Expose "accuracy" parameter
- Adjust scale with real space in X,Y Or Z
- Delete Last Instance on open Curve
- Delete Neighbors with distance
- Random scale on X,Y,Z independently
- Offset scale on X,Y,Z independently

And new functions in the menu :
- Create from preset
- Save preset
- Randomize
- Update instances (workaround to a softimage bug : http://www.si-community.com/community/v ... =15&t=3009)


You can see an overview below
InstanceOnCurve_v1.2.rar
(107.56 KiB) Downloaded 562 times
You can also play with the "delete neighbors" compound which is part of the main compound.
delete neighbors.xsicompound
(38.18 KiB) Downloaded 409 times

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 17 Feb 2013, 04:25
by Maximus
Wow..this is brilliant and fast!
Thanks a lot for sharing this tool :)

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 17 Feb 2013, 06:59
by Falam
julca wrote:Hello !

Here is an update of Instance On Curve now 1.2 with new functionalities :
- Expose "accuracy" parameter
- Adjust scale with real space in X,Y Or Z
- Delete Last Instance on open Curve
- Delete Neighbors with distance
- Random scale on X,Y,Z independently
- Offset scale on X,Y,Z independently

And new functions in the menu :
- Create from preset
- Save preset
- Randomize
- Update instances (workaround to a softimage bug : http://www.si-community.com/community/v ... =15&t=3009)


You can see an overview below
InstanceOnCurve_v1.2.rar
You can also play with the "delete neighbors" compound which is part of the main compound.
delete neighbors.xsicompound
Thanks, for the update. I like the preset option. Although I don't quite understand how the delete neighbors helps :) ?

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 17 Feb 2013, 09:06
by julca
Hello Falam,

The "delete neighbors" is already inside the Instance on curve compound :
neighbor.jpg
neighbor.jpg (33.03 KiB) Viewed 6853 times
I have also provided it separately for another use than "Instance on Curve" plugin.

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 04 Apr 2013, 21:33
by Zafar Iqbal
Dayum - I stumbled upon the video on Vimeo. This is such nice work.

A colleague at a clients place made a Unity script to do similar stuff a while back, and it made me wish I could have something similar in XSI. I've previously done a number of racetracks (in v7 days) and back then it was all manual work. Was OK but not as quick or elegant as this solution allows.

:ymapplause:

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 05 Apr 2013, 03:24
by julca
Thank you :) .

It is always good to know that the time spent creating a tool is useful to someone.

Re: Instance On Curve

Posted: 05 Apr 2013, 09:50
by Rork
Woot!

Nice new features on this one!
Big thanks for sharing this again with the community, much appreciated! :-bd

rob