Ideas on how to recreate this molecule?

#1

I actually made one of these molecules years ago but it was a huge pain and I wouldn’t call it a streamlined process. Anyone have an idea on how to use some of the newer tools to recreate something like this blob?

49%20PM

#2

I’m not into medical/chemical visualization, not even an artist myself (and I’d never pretend to be anything remotely similar), so please ignore this, if I’m on the wrong track. But did you see this tutorial on medical visualization by Eric Small at Siggraph 2019?

Cheers

#3

Gotta be some sort of Metaball or – better still – Volume modelling solution there. If you can find a molecule model made from spheres, just drop it into the Volume Builder. Job done.

#4

I’d guess, the point is not so much the metaballs, but their positions and angles within each other. That’s why I posted above video, which demonstrates a neat workflow beginning with the download of exact molecule data…

#5

Hi,

You don’t model these kind of molecule structures in an ordinary 3D app. You import the molecule data (e.g. pdb data) into a specialized molecule visualization program and remesh these data there into the desired form.

There was once a plugin for c4d:

I tested it 10 years ago and it may fit your needs. I stuck with the professional software for this purpose. And I think it is no longer supported on never versions of c4d.
In Blender you can directly import pdb data and remesh there.

cheers

celke

#6

ePMV is molecular modeling Nirvana in combination with the PDB

#7

Blender is starting to look really interesting to me and that is great that you can directly import .pdb files.
I already use Cycles almost totally for rendering.
Thanks for the tip!

#8

This is exactly what I was looking for - thank you so much!

#9

Yes, I also use Eevee and Cycles for all my renderings by now. I love Eevee! It fits very well my visualization needs and it is blazingly fast. For the money, Maxon kindly freed by cancelling my MSA, I bought 2 additional Nvidia RTX 2070s super. Even on older hardware they render like a champ.
I couldn’t be happier at the moment.
And the best of it: I run all my Blender render machines on Linux. What an improvement compared with Windows.

cheers

celke

#10

What Linux distro celke?

#11

As a Mac user I went with elementary OS, which is based on Ubuntu. But, Blender is better supported on direct Ubuntu distros. So, I’m thinking about switching to Ubuntu Budgie or Ubuntu Cinnamon. Not that there are serious problems with elementary os, but in the app store you still get Blender 2.79. So, you have to install the most recent version via browser or terminal. In Ubuntu you get 2.82 in the app store.
Ubuntu Cinnamon looks beautiful and you can set a Cupertino UI which is somewhat similar to Mac OS. But, Ubuntu Cinnamon is not yet an official distro.

cheers
celke

#12

Thanks i am only familiar with Mint.

#13

Donovan Keith posted a PDB method on his blog called “How to Convert any Molecule to PDB Format to use with ePMV in Cinema 4D”: http://www.donovankeith.com/2018/02/how-to-convert-any-molecule-to-pdb-format-to-use-with-epmv-in-cinema-4d/

Wroks with R12 through to R21. Make sure you follow the specific instructions on installation of ePMV for it to work properly.

Not a simple plugin, but this method gets the job done.

#14

Yes, Mint is a great distro. The Cinnamon desktop is also available on Mint, and it is also based on Ubuntu. At the time I switched to linux, elementary OS Hera was just released and got very good reviews. But, since I want to keep the maintenance efforts for my linux clients the lowest possible, maybe the switch to a Ubuntu distro is of advantage.

cheers

celke

#15

You guys talked me into it. Today I download Blender and the adventure begins! I have a relative in California who teaches it and that may prove useful.

#16

you won’t regret it. And, coming back to the original topic, here are the blender docs for pdb import:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/fr/dev/addons/import_export/mesh_atomic.html

cheers

celke

#17

Thank you! You have been really helpful.

I will use that as my first Blender project now that I have it.

Im excited to learn this stuff. I hope there is MoGraph like functionality and I hope I can use my X Particles in it.

#18

There is always the notion that C4D users who use Blender 2.8x more often now, must hate C4D or Maxon. That is not at all the case.
As long as we have a free market every 3D software can compete on this market. With the release of 2.8 Blender became competitive in certain areas.
For MoGraph like functionality “animation nodes”, " sverchok" and “SORCAR” are the keywords. This is what you can achieve at the moment with Blender MoGraph
( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdhm6jcHjHRbW34qO1tiGZw ):

You won’t be able to use X-Particles directly in Blender. But the Alembic importer/exporter gets better fast and has a high priority in Blender development. The “Everythinng Nodes” project ( https://developer.blender.org/T67088 ) is on its way and the new particle system will be released this year ( https://www.blendernation.com/2019/04/23/node-based-particles-beta-for-animation-nodes-an-with-particle-output-node-for-blender-2-8/ )

I take the best of both apps and I am quiet happy.

cheers

celke

#19

So exciting!! I had no idea it was that advanced. That looked like an Insydium reel!
I also will use both but I’m sticking at R19. I have been with Maxon since R6. They are pricing themselves out of the money except for big houses and I’m a widdle guy.
This will be very fun to get obsessed over.
I had heard the particle system was already powerful and your news sounds like there are many good things to come.
Thanks SO much for the news and links.

I am noticing more and more favorable posts regarding Blender and their website has had 9 million hits.

#20

You won’t regret getting started with Blender, now is a really great time as there are some massive projects coming this year. The new nodal particle system should bear fruit 2.84 maybe even 2.83. The performance is already many times that of XParticles.

The Animation 2020 project will deliver next-gen caching and animation playback with a goal to playback the project at the project fps.

The Everything Nodes project will glue everything together and bring native procedural animation and modelling over the next couple of years. A lot of the foundations are already there as they’ve been needed for the new bParticle system so things are coming thick and fast. It’s a full time job trying to keep up.

Once you go Eevee you never go back… I hope you enjoy the Blender journey as much as I have so far.