ajroane Posted May 15, 2013 Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 I have been trying to replicate the geometric pattern of a flower seed-head, and it would be awesome if there were a parametric solution in GroxFX for creating such a system. I think it could be useful in many other circumstances as well. Please see this link to get a better idea of what I am trying to achieve. Here's another link showing some schematics of different spiral variations. Thanks, I really enjoy using this plug-in. Can't wait to see the node-based version. PS - The plug-in crashes a lot when I try to rename and/or move paths in my path list box. These crashes make it very hard to organize my paths efficiently. Has anyone else had this problem? I am using Max 2010 and GrowFX 1.9. Regards, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduard Posted May 15, 2013 Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 Hi Andrew, You can do this now. Just create an additional path... See my example: Does it make sense to develop this distributor? Regarding the crashes, strange but it works fine for us. You're using version 1.9.0 or 1.9.2 Beta? PS: The node-based version you can download from MyGrowFX service Thanks! SpiralSurfaceDistributorExample.max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptrain03 Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hi Eduard I downloaded 1.92 but it appears to be the standard interface and I didn't see any option for a node based editor. Am I missing something ? I couldn't find any release notes on 1.92. The new "copy direction" look very useful ! thanks for all your hard work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Eduard, Thanks for the example, it helped me a lot. Your example gave me an idea to use a single path and then deform it a lot with the radial modifier to make a spiral. I think the result looks pretty good. The max file is attached if anyone else is interested in creating something similar. Thanks again, I'm going to check out the node-based version tomorrow. - Andrew Flower_Center_Test.max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduard Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hi Eduard I downloaded 1.92 but it appears to be the standard interface and I didn't see any option for a node based editor. Am I missing something ? I couldn't find any release notes on 1.92. Hi Paul, Oh, you mean the node-based Editor, and I thought you're looking for render-node version, sorry Node-based editor will be in version 2.0, it's now still in development. Just version 1.9.2 is not yet officially released, so you can't find any release notes... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptrain03 Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 thanks Eduard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted May 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Regarding the crashes, strange but it works fine for us. You're using version 1.9.0 or 1.9.2 Beta? The crashes occur while using 1.9.0 on a computer running Win XP 32-bit, and 3dsMax 2010. I did some tests, and the crashing does not occur with my Win 7 64-bit computer at work, using Max 2012. But, in both cases the behavior of dragging paths up and down in the path list is very erratic. It is difficult to explain, as an example, if I have 10 paths numbered sequentially in the list, and I want to drag path 07 above path 06, dragging path 07 up will automatically snap to the top of the list, then dragging back down will snap to the bottom of the list. Stopping anywhere in between is almost impossible. Hopefully this helps explain the problem. I still need to install 1.9.2, I'll let you know if the problem persists. Thanks, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduard Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Hi Andrew, The crashes occur while using 1.9.0 on a computer running Win XP 32-bit, and 3dsMax 2010. I did some tests, and the crashing does not occur with my Win 7 64-bit computer at work, using Max 2012. But, in both cases the behavior of dragging paths up and down in the path list is very erratic. It is difficult to explain, as an example, if I have 10 paths numbered sequentially in the list, and I want to drag path 07 above path 06, dragging path 07 up will automatically snap to the top of the list, then dragging back down will snap to the bottom of the list. Stopping anywhere in between is almost impossible. Hopefully this helps explain the problem. I still need to install 1.9.2, I'll let you know if the problem persists. It's very strange! Just wondering what behavior in other lists when dragging items (distributors, modifiers, mesh builders)? Someone else is facing such problems when dragging paths in the list? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 I have had the same problem with the path list dragging and crashing. I was using 3ds Max 2012 on Win 7 64bit, Growfx Version 1.9.0. After troubleshooting it for a good while, I couldn't find any pattern in the crashing. Sometimes it crashes, most of the time it does not. I've tried changing display types from lines to meshes, applying modifiers, changing what path distributes on other paths... No pattern. Just occasionally it crashes. However in my casual experience with the problem, it did occur primarily when putting the path in the middle of the stack, rather than the top or bottom, as Ajroane explained. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaQ Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hi Paul, Oh, you mean the node-based Editor, and I thought you're looking for render-node version, sorry Node-based editor will be in version 2.0, it's now still in development. Just version 1.9.2 is not yet officially released, so you can't find any release notes... Cheers Ho, can't wait this node based system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mithcd Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Same here. I think it would take some work though but it will be worth the wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted September 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2013 Regarding the crashes, strange but it works fine for us. You're using version 1.9.0 or 1.9.2 Beta? This is an update about the crash problem I was having, related to menu re-ordering. I noticed that if the menu is fully expanded, I can re-order the list without any problems. The problematic behavior only occurs when I have scroll bars to the side of my list window. Now I make sure to fully expand my lists, and I haven't had any problems. Regards, Andrew PS - As an example, the list on the left causes re-ordering difficulties, and moving the modifiers up/down can cause Max to freeze. The list on the right works perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduard Posted September 21, 2013 Report Share Posted September 21, 2013 Hi Andrew, Try the new version 1.9.3 Beta, there we've fixed these bugs related with lists... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 So I did a quick test with my Fibonacci Spiral, and it failed. The spiral count in one direction is 8, which is good, because that is a Fibonacci number. But, in the other direction the count is 29, which is not a correct number...I'll keep testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduard Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Hi Andrew, Yes, it's great idea! But I wonder why you set the angle of Turn axis 223.6? I think it should be 222.49 or 137.51. It was shown in the 2nd part of the video. Or you can find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_spiral Here's my fixed example: Fibonacci_Spiral_Test_03.max I fully changed the growth animation and some parameters for the 'Fibonacci_Flat' model, I think that animating length better than the density... Also I delete ObjectSlice modifier and aligned the 'Ends' by affecting on the length of the Vertical Nodes path. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajroane Posted December 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 That looks great, thanks for the updated version! I should have been more careful in my math, I derived my angle as 360/1.61=223.60. I needed to use a more accurate number for phi. Thanks again, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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