Suggestions on technique on problem

[GatorNic]

Don't know what program you are using, but you could using something like the Bend Deformer in Maya. Ofcourse you have to orient the deform to your terrain. Most other 3D packages have the same thing maybe just named a little different.

There shouldn't be too much distortion because I am guessing your ring there is gigantic in comparison to anything you would put in on the surface of the terrain. Only if you had something tall in comparison to the ring would you start to see the tops of objects getting squeezed.

[SoylentGreenAU]

Sorry I should point out that I am using 3dsmax. Thanks for the suggestion.

The radius of the torus will be 1500km. I will try a deform on a long flat box or copy of the inner surface. I was hoping to do a circle and then assign it as a deform path, but couldn't seem to get it working. For long shots the terrain doesn't need to be detailed.

Or maybe easier to shell the 'floor' and do some procedural modifiers on one side to get terrain.
Or would an image map be a better idea and do a displacement? I will try all of these methods I guess.

Here is an image of the effect I am looking for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internal_view_of_the_Stanford_torus.jpg
or
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Stanford_torus_under_construction.jpg/220px-Stanford_torus_under_construction.jpg

[sundialsvc4]

Although I am not myself up-to-speed on 3DS-Max, I do know how you'd do such a thing in Blender and I daresay the two are very much the same. The secret is called UV mapping.

Basically, what you're going to be doing is selecting the faces that comprise the inside of the torus, and assigning "UV coordinates" to them. (I am just trying to point you in a general direction, concerning the idea, so bear with me. Since you're "relatively new" ... and since, relative to most of the cats who hang around here, "so am I," I hope that this description will indeed be helpful to you.)

Every 3D face, with its (X,Y,Z) coordinates, also has a two-dimensional pair of coordinates (U,V). These "extra" coordinates can refer to a position on a plane, which will be used to provide whatever you want to appear on the inside of your torus.

These coordinates could, of course, be used to refer to an existing image bitmap ... as is very commonly done with games.

But you see, it doesn't have to be an image. These coordinates can also feed any other kind of texture. All textures, after all, are mathematical functions that accept a UV-coordinate as input and produce a per-pixel output. So, if you've got a procedural texture built that can produce a nice mountain on any flat plane, you can now use the magic of UV-mapping to apply that texture to your torus.

While rendering, your 3D software will determine the UV-coordinates corresponding to each visible point on the plane. It will then consult the texture to obtain the correct visual appearance to be used for that point.

[Piflik]

Model your terrain as a flat strip and then use Bend or Path Deform to form the circle...If you want to have buildings and other structures, use Scatter or PFlow to distribute them on the finished circle to prevent them from being distorted by the Bend/Path Deform. As long as you leave your Stack intact, you can be as procedural as you want...use as many detail Modifiers as you want an Bend on top...when you turn on 'Show End-Result' you will even see the finished circle when working in lower Modifiers.

[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.