Is there such a thing as "Shrinkwrap"

[audre]

Hello,

First, sorry if this has been answered already. I did a search and didn't find anything using the words I could think of to describe what I'm trying to do.

Second, I am very new to modeling, so apologies up front for sounding clueless

I am trying to find an application which will allow me to easily simplify a very complex object (.obj). I tried 'decimate' in Hex and it's a start, but what I keep hoping is to find something that will let me 'shrink wrap' my big globby object and keep just the 'skin', i don't really care about any internal, hidden structures.

A bit of background is that the obj was generated mathematically so sometimes there is unnecessary complexity in the model and way too many surfaces. What I'm after is the shell of the object. I want a smoother shell that doesn't go into all the *incorrect* surface detail that is a byproduct of the algorithm used to generate the structure. The ridges in the surface are due to the 'chunk' size that was used to calculate the object's bounds. (sorry if that's confusing... basically there are ridges like steps used to create ramping or sloped surfaces because the surface is calculated in chunks, not with bezier vectors. I want to make those ridged surfaces smooth again, as they really should be.)

Any idea most welcome and appreciated.

thanks and happy holidays to all

audre

[rickei]

The only thing i know to do is either, use that object as reference, and model over it in Hex. Or use Zbrush3 with the re-topo tool, though i'm not really familiar with that tool, so i assume it works with imported obj's

So how was the .obj created? what software?

[audre]

Hello Rickei,

thanks for responding *and happy holidays, too!*

here's an example of one in it's raw state (link)

http://www.weird-art.com/temp/fracta...g%20lights.jpg




and here it is in use:




and here's another one in use:



it would be really nice to be able to clean the shapes up and reduce all the stuff that i really don't need.

audre

[LoneGunman]

Did you try MESHLAB . Quite interesting app made specifically to handle large amounts of polygons (3D scans). I use it often

[audre]

Thank you LoneGunman!

Looks like a marvelous app. Am downloading it now!

audre

[RedSquare]

My word, they are very interesting shapes, landscapes. Very SF.

[rickei]

wow LoneGunman, not sure how i missed that one... and Open Source too.

[jbshorty]

excellent. I am planning to buy a 3D scanner. This program will come in handy...

shorty

[audre]

Originally Posted by RedSquare

My word, they are very interesting shapes, landscapes. Very SF.

i agree RedSquare! the shapes are very interesting!

being a bona fide fractal addict, the ability to create these in 3d has been such a cool experience.

i am just so frustrated at the steep curve i've got to climb to be able to really make use them.

i mean, i hardly even know the right terms to ask the right questions LOL.