All, So, I've had this 'Spiral Generator' concept stewing in the back of my head for quite a while now. I was never really happy with my previous attempt to create the shape I was looking for; I wanted something that was more closely aligned to the Fibonacci patterns seen in nature. I watched this video on Khan Academy yesterday, http://www.khanacademy.org/video/doodling-in-math--spirals--fibonacci--and-being-a-plant--1-of-3, and an idea came to me about how to create the spiral in growFX. (I'd recommend watching all three videos, they are really interesting.)
The link below is a Max2010 file I created tonight, which shows my new Fibonacci Spiral setup. I thought it was fun, and I hope someone else may find a good use for it.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/56333797/Fibonacci_Spiral_Test_02.max
A few notes:
1) The 'Flat Spiral' has an animated Density Parameter on the 'Radial Node' path. Move the time slider between 0 and 100 frames to see the result.
2) The main parameters which affect the spirals are: Radial Node>Path Position Affects, Radial Node>Turn Axis, and Radial Node>Density.
3) The flat spiral uses hidden geometry to control the Vertical Node height. It can be turned on in the Max Layer Manager.
4) Most of you know this...but, I'd recommend turning off the meshes for the Radial and Vertical Nodes. I left them on for clarity.
Let me know what you think. Is there a better way to make these same kinds of patterns?
Best,
Andrew