Laying Cable

[Zmurowski]

Freeze - right click on the object in OM and current state to object.
Alernatively instead of using spline dynamics you could use the project command from the spline menu - what it does is it projects the splien onto a surface. Make sure you give the spline enough subdivs if you terrain is rough and then project it from the top view - it'll settle nicely on it without the hassle of splien dynamics.

[RickardAx]

Hi
Or you could use the plug paint on surface.
cheers

[LemonNado]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdfSnyu-BKE&feature=related

Remo's uniflex tools..... unbeatable for laying cables and such...

Cheers
Lemo

[Sneaker]

should work with "set initial" from the tag's "tag" tab.

If you want the spline alone delete all the hair tags, maybe copy it before.


-Michael

[Shademaster]

Check out base80's excellent spline dynamics tutorial!

http://www.base80.com/tips/hair/wire/mousecable.gif
http://www.base80.com/index.php/2006/02/15/connecting_cables_2_hair_tut

[helluvapixel]

@Zmurowski : CSTO, duh of course I forgot that!! Regarding Project, that's something to consider, just have to remember to give it a "Y" value.

@RickardAx: not sure if I understand how Paint on Surface will work, I didn't realize it worked with splines. Perhaps you could clarify?

@LemonNado: going to check that out! Thanks.

@Sneaker: Yes good idea! But, the problem I'm seeing is it will still keep evaluating so I end up seeing small jitters in the cable.

@Shademaster: I did review that but I didn't see anything to relate to setting an initial state or moving over a terrain. I am not sure how he got around the jitter (i.e. continuous evalution), perhaps I missed something in his post.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Whatever I find that works out I will post back.

[bellaLugosi]

Hi,


@RickardAx: not sure if I understand how Paint on Surface will work, I didn't realize it worked with splines. Perhaps you could clarify?


yes it works with splines, see this vid please:
http://www.dns-plugins.de/video/pos_7_splines.mov

if you use the hieararchy in a clever way, you can actually realtime paint lofted splines ob surfaces. Spline is also automatically subdivided more in more dense mesh areas.

no dynamics though if you need that.

greetings,
Daniel

[helluvapixel]

Daniel,

Your plugin is a must buy! Very well set out. Fortunately I don't need dynamics yet, but I will soon as I would like to show the cables being wound, or dragged as they get plugged into different equipment.

Thanks!

[bellaLugosi]

cool, glad you like it ;-)
just one thing, you canot offset the spline points in normal direction from the surface atm, as you can do when painting objects.

I will probably change that though in a later update.


cheers,
Daniel

[helluvapixel]

cool, glad you like it ;-)
just one thing, you canot offset the spline points in normal direction from the surface atm, as you can do when painting objects.

I will probably change that though in a later update.

cheers,
Daniel

That would be useful though! However, I can make the excuse the cable is semi-buried ;)

[helluvapixel]

Progress on 'static cables':
Experiment one:
Using 3D snap on splines to geometry was very painful and cumbersome. Scratch it.

Experiment two:
Project spline to terrain. This worked, only somewhat. For some reason I could get view projection to work, but axis project gave really oddball results. In the end, it worked to project, then use 3D snapping to spline.

Still this is cumbersome, so I do want to find a nice way to use dynamics to solve the cable laying. My only issue thus far is how to 'turn off' the dynamics part once a solution is found. Even when using 'set initial' you can see that C4D is still solving as the cable will jitter slightly.

[JoelOtron]

I would try this with the morph deformer in mocca.

Create your spline --draw it from the top view.
MAke sure its subdivided enough as it will be projected onto the surface,

Put a morph tag on it

Now project it down onto the landscape from the same top view and save that as the morph state in your morph tag.


Use the morph deformer set to linear falloff, and keyframe its position moving across the length of your spline. This should create a gradual "laying" of the spline from its initial position--the falloff creates a transistion between the initial state and the pprojected state. Use that spline as either your sweep path or your spline deform path for your pipe object.

hth

[helluvapixel]

That's interesting!

Perhaps I can do a few screen grabs and show what I'm trying to do, I think I've explained it poorly.

[JoelOtron]

I think the morph tag and deformer setup wasnt actually meant for splines--as there were a lot of buggy results before getting it right. The morph deformer was only affecting half of the spline for some reason--then suddenly it started working correctly (after changing both the base and the morph version of the spline to linear/none interpolation--and toggling some things on and off).

Anyway--Heres a test I 've done.

MOVIE (http://betatronstudios.com/momo/cableh.mov)

and the file. (10.5)

[heathivan]

Anyway--Heres a test I 've done. . .

Hey, that was neat-o. Thanks for sharing:)

---h

[tonare]

yes it works with splines, see this vid please:
http://www.dns-plugins.de/video/pos_7_splines.mov l


My favorite feature with pos. :D

[Lex1968]

I've used a straight spline and animated a Bend Deformer. It helped that this was a flat seabed...

Lex

Cable-laying-movie (http://idisk.mac.com/deprieelle-Public/CGsociety/08-Solent-Jet.mp4)

[rickmorgan]

JoelD - that's awesome! Thanks! I'll need this technique latter down the line.

[JoelOtron]

JoelD - that's awesome! Thanks! I'll need this technique latter down the line.


Hope it helps

The morph deformer is quite a powerful little tool. I use it quite a bit for things like this. Like many of the Mocca tools, its not limited to character work at all. Just dont be surprised if things sometimes work inconsistantly with it---it might be a little more fine tuned with R11.

[JoelOtron]

I've used a straight spline and animated a Bend Deformer. It helped that this was a flat seabed...

Lex

Cable-laying-movie (http://idisk.mac.com/deprieelle-Public/CGsociety/08-Solent-Jet.mp4)

Nice clip there Lex

[Lex1968]

Thanks JoelD,

your setup is pretty cool and useful too!

Lex

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.