Spilling - Polyloop

shaunmckinnon · 20th February 2007, 02:29

How should i approach creating a spill. I've created some ice cubes, and want some melted water under them. What's the best approach? modelling? i've tried to do that in hex and i can't get it to look right. i've tried the metaball modeller in carrara (useless thing). and i've tried to create a terrain and use an alpha map to make a puddle, and it didn't work either very well.

Any suggestions would be great.

bwtr · 20th February 2007, 03:50

Can't you just make a cylinder of the right shape and height to fit inside the glass (In Carrara) and, maybe give it a slightly different quality to the texture you have on the cubes?

shaunmckinnon · 20th February 2007, 04:15

Uhhh...no. not quite what i'm looking for. no glass. just cubes on a surface. i want the cubes to be melting a bit, so i want to make it look like there's melted water on the surface.

bwtr · 20th February 2007, 05:42

Heres what I did on the first interpretation. Now I need to have another try.. I think I have an idea. Hope I can get back to you today.

rickei · 20th February 2007, 06:46

I think Shaun means something like the picture.

I would think that hex would work fine. Bezier shapes with thickness and lot's of smoothing... and a suitable shader should do the trick.

bwtr · 20th February 2007, 06:51

I did this all in Carrara. The water is a cylinder with a single depth poly which was made and distorted to shape in the Vertex Room. Similarly with the cube for which softened edges still not right. hope is of some help also.

Brian

bwtr · 20th February 2007, 07:16

Playing around with the Ice Block a bit more in the Vertex Room.

Grendel · 20th February 2007, 08:18

An easy way to do a puddle in Carrara is like this

Insert a vertex object then go to the VM

Go to a top view and use the polyline tool to draw the shape you want your puddle to be.

Then go to model/fill polygon

Then create/organic

Now you should have a terrain like thing.

just scale it down on the z-axis, smooth it(level 2-3) and you will have a puddle with a meniscus.

Just position it on the floor under the ice cubes and away you go

bwtr · 20th February 2007, 10:25

Grendel that "organic" is another of Carraras great things I had never tried before. Love it--BUT--any comment on the funny artifacts please.

shaunmckinnon · 20th February 2007, 17:59

awesome. thank you for your response and help. i'll try all methods and see what i come up with. i already have great models of ice cubes, so i reallly wanted a realistic puddle with them. thanks again. i'll post the finished product later today i hope.

shaunmckinnon · 20th February 2007, 23:51

oh crap...how would i add wholes into the puddle to make it look more realistic?

bwtr · 21st February 2007, 00:26

http://www.kawachi.zaq.ne.jp/kurozuka/akurodigital/

Have a look at the Potentialiser App here

markbremmer · 21st February 2007, 02:14

I always use the spline modeler for puddles like this. I'll create a path with the freehand drawing tool in Adobe Illustrator, smooth it, and then import it as a cross section. Then the next step is to pick the rounded bevel and your done!

Mark

sailor-ed · 21st February 2007, 05:05

Great job, Mark! You always have just the right solution!

shaunmckinnon · 22nd February 2007, 03:16

thank you. i tried that. i created the cross section in coreldraw, exported it as an ai file then imported it into the spline modeller. when i went to add the bevels, it just went nuts. i'll try it again though. maybe i'm making the object to complicated.

Couerl · 22nd February 2007, 03:30

Hmm, try skinning the spline point to point and setting the surface fidelity up over 200% and see if that helps. Also don't do the bevel too much, just a little like Marks there and it should work great. If you have too many points the poor little spline modeler will get mad at you, true.

shaunmckinnon · 22nd February 2007, 04:17

now water isn't flat though. when you look at a puddle, its more rounded on the top, not flat. Marks is realistic, but the dollar sign looks too flat (no offense, i love the image though). i think i'm spending too much time on this. i do have to say one thing: Carrara has one hell of an ice shader. does it ever look real.

Couerl · 22nd February 2007, 04:23

You can always covert it to a vertex model and use soft selection to lift the center up a little bit or deform it. Marks looks good to me and he could make it better I bet, but it may just be a quick show and tell and not so much contest ready. ;)

I do that a lot too. You can just make little blobs in hex and squish em with the UM and smooth and use soft select to move them around this way and that. Put a plane in the center to see how they'll look on the "ground" and you're good to go. Lots of ways to skin this cat I think.

rickei · 22nd February 2007, 04:24

you can convert your spline object to vertex, then soft select in the center and pull it up(and down) a bit to add variation.

BTW the rounded part of the water is callled a meniscus... man I love that word!

rickei · 22nd February 2007, 04:24

Steve you beat me to it

20th February 2007, 02:29	#1 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	Spilling How should i approach creating a spill. I've created some ice cubes, and want some melted water under them. What's the best approach? modelling? i've tried to do that in hex and i can't get it to look right. i've tried the metaball modeller in carrara (useless thing). and i've tried to create a terrain and use an alpha map to make a puddle, and it didn't work either very well. Any suggestions would be great. __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

20th February 2007, 04:15	#3 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	Uhhh...no. not quite what i'm looking for. no glass. just cubes on a surface. i want the cubes to be melting a bit, so i want to make it look like there's melted water on the surface. __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

20th February 2007, 05:42	#4 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	Heres what I did on the first interpretation. Now I need to have another try.. I think I have an idea. Hope I can get back to you today. Attached Thumbnails

20th February 2007, 06:46	#5 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 791	I think Shaun means something like the picture. I would think that hex would work fine. Bezier shapes with thickness and lot's of smoothing... and a suitable shader should do the trick. Attached Thumbnails

20th February 2007, 06:51	#6 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	I did this all in Carrara. The water is a cylinder with a single depth poly which was made and distorted to shape in the Vertex Room. Similarly with the cube for which softened edges still not right. hope is of some help also. Brian Attached Thumbnails

20th February 2007, 03:50	#2 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	Can't you just make a cylinder of the right shape and height to fit inside the glass (In Carrara) and, maybe give it a slightly different quality to the texture you have on the cubes?

20th February 2007, 07:16	#7 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	Playing around with the Ice Block a bit more in the Vertex Room. Attached Thumbnails

20th February 2007, 08:18	#8 (permalink)
Grendel Moderator Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 1,262	An easy way to do a puddle in Carrara is like this Insert a vertex object then go to the VM Go to a top view and use the polyline tool to draw the shape you want your puddle to be. Then go to model/fill polygon Then create/organic Now you should have a terrain like thing. just scale it down on the z-axis, smooth it(level 2-3) and you will have a puddle with a meniscus. Just position it on the floor under the ice cubes and away you go

20th February 2007, 10:25	#9 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	Grendel that "organic" is another of Carraras great things I had never tried before. Love it--BUT--any comment on the funny artifacts please. Attached Thumbnails

20th February 2007, 17:59	#10 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	awesome. thank you for your response and help. i'll try all methods and see what i come up with. i already have great models of ice cubes, so i reallly wanted a realistic puddle with them. thanks again. i'll post the finished product later today i hope. __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

20th February 2007, 23:51	#11 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	oh crap...how would i add wholes into the puddle to make it look more realistic? __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

21st February 2007, 00:26	#12 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,094	http://www.kawachi.zaq.ne.jp/kurozuka/akurodigital/ Have a look at the Potentialiser App here

21st February 2007, 02:14	#13 (permalink)
markbremmer Escaping to 3D worlds... Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 176	I always use the spline modeler for puddles like this. I'll create a path with the freehand drawing tool in Adobe Illustrator, smooth it, and then import it as a cross section. Then the next step is to pick the rounded bevel and your done! Mark Attached Thumbnails __________________ Mark Bremmer Beginner, intermediate and advanced Carrara tutorials are here.

21st February 2007, 05:05	#14 (permalink)
sailor-ed NURBS Booleans are your friend Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 141	Great job, Mark! You always have just the right solution!

22nd February 2007, 03:16	#15 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	thank you. i tried that. i created the cross section in coreldraw, exported it as an ai file then imported it into the spline modeller. when i went to add the bevels, it just went nuts. i'll try it again though. maybe i'm making the object to complicated. __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

22nd February 2007, 03:30	#16 (permalink)
Couerl Polygurbs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denver Posts: 1,301	Hmm, try skinning the spline point to point and setting the surface fidelity up over 200% and see if that helps. Also don't do the bevel too much, just a little like Marks there and it should work great. If you have too many points the poor little spline modeler will get mad at you, true.

22nd February 2007, 04:17	#17 (permalink)
shaunmckinnon Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 187	now water isn't flat though. when you look at a puddle, its more rounded on the top, not flat. Marks is realistic, but the dollar sign looks too flat (no offense, i love the image though). i think i'm spending too much time on this. i do have to say one thing: Carrara has one hell of an ice shader. does it ever look real. __________________ "I put a hexagon on you, cause you're mine. And I love the things that you do.." DELL DIMENSION 5150, P4 3.2GHZ HT, 3GB RAM, 256 ATI X600 (128 SHARED), DUAL 250GB SATA, XP PRO CARRARA 5 STANDARD, HEXAGON 2, DREAMWEAVER 2004MX,COREL SUITE 12, BRYCE 5.5, POSER 5

22nd February 2007, 04:23	#18 (permalink)
Couerl Polygurbs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denver Posts: 1,301	You can always covert it to a vertex model and use soft selection to lift the center up a little bit or deform it. Marks looks good to me and he could make it better I bet, but it may just be a quick show and tell and not so much contest ready. ;) I do that a lot too. You can just make little blobs in hex and squish em with the UM and smooth and use soft select to move them around this way and that. Put a plane in the center to see how they'll look on the "ground" and you're good to go. Lots of ways to skin this cat I think.

22nd February 2007, 04:24	#19 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 791	you can convert your spline object to vertex, then soft select in the center and pull it up(and down) a bit to add variation. BTW the rounded part of the water is callled a meniscus... man I love that word!

22nd February 2007, 04:24	#20 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 791	Steve you beat me to it

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