I see you got my email thx again
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Henry, I did. Sorry I didn't reply back right away. Too many projects too little time.
I hear ya not enough time in a day
Henry, those came out really cool. Awesome job adding names to the hearts. I would never have thought of that. Perfect gifts. Nicely done.
I was a little worried on the strength of the fork teeth but they look like they are beefy enough.
- O
My sister visited from Houston and fell in love with the wall clock I had built so she went home with it. My mom saw it and also fell in love with it. So I now have to build another clock. Though the wall clock was simple to build it had a lot of design flaws. I could go back and refine the design and fix them but one thing in building in solid hardwood is that it is heavy. So for my mom I am going to build a simple mantel clock. Another feature in blender is you can design in a 3d environment and see how the proportions look. This is what I have so far but I am pleased with the visual proportions of the design (I added materials to the model to see how it would look using black walnut lumber).
I still have to figure out the carvings I want on it. It will be one of a kind and I will be using patterns from my personal library. Not sure yet if I want to do super fancy or clean lines with a few elegant carvings.
Suggestions?
Here is the first pattern. These will be on either side of the clock enclosure on the back.
The main elements (rose, leaf, butterfly) I had previously built so it was just putting them together.
I've shared the leaf and butterfly on the forum and there are better roses that have also been shared plus the vines and ribbons are easy to build in designer.
P.S. Thought I'd share the model rendered image.
Just tried cucumber flavored vodka. Don't know if I like it or not. Have to try another sample to get a better idea. ;)
The pattern is of the bottle pouring into shot glass only. The rest was because I could. Vodka is good but not entirely sure about cucumber flavored vodka. Off to sample some more.
A relatively new feature in blender is software generated trees. Use the following Add>curve>sapling tree gen. You will then get several pages of variable values you can change to tweak the tree. It is a bit challenging since there are a lot of variables on multiple pages. There are some good tutorials on how to use the feature on youtube.
I've been out of cheap lumber for a few weeks but I finally have my truck back from the shop. I will try to get to home depot this weekend and pick up some poplar to do some of my test carves.
Finally have an idea for my mom's mantel clock. I have this angel pattern I will be using for the top. Sharon, I don't think she would appreciate my skull and chaos symbol that I used for mine. ;)
I did screw up the front hand but I am going to wait and see how bad it looks before tweaking the pattern. Overall pretty happy with it.
Model sculpted in blender. I wish I was better at it but small incremental improvements.
Now you are talking my language, Oscar. That is a great pattern. I think it will be a fitting pattern for your mom's clock.
looks to be another great pattern from you!
Sharon, Norm, thanks. Hopefully it carves well. Have the clock design down so hopefully I can post finished pictures this weekend. Should be a one day build.
a speed modeling exercise. Model took about 3 minutes to model.
Heart was a box with three loop cuts and then subdivision surface applied. Single top wing wing modeled using a single box and four loop cuts and then subdivision surface applied. Duplicated and moved down, rotated and shrunk x3. Set origin to center of grid and then applied mirror modifier for opposite side. Inserted circle, extruded vertices twice inward and then merged at center. Selected outer circle loop and extruded out and down (for circle bevel). Selected on band on the circle, used deselect checkered command and then extruded face down. Complete.
I never did find my microphone from when I moved but have since purchased a new one. Is there any basic model or technique you want me to make a short video on?
Are there any blender users left?
- O
I've shared this technique before but super easy and fast. This was a stucci texture. Its a 30 sec piece of art.
Add a plane
Go to edit mode: Subdivide 9 times
Go to object mode
Add texture (Stucci in this case)
Apply displace modifier
set strength of modifier (usually around .05 to .3)
done
Does this look like old broken plaster? Trying a new procedural setup and I am torn whether this looks right. Probably under 30 seconds to create the texture.
noise texture > math node minimum > math node multiply > material output displacement
Quick Tip: Use mesh deform modifier in blender to get similar results as designer edit envelope.
Except it will be in 3d and depending on how much detail you assign your deform object you will have a lot more control over the deform.
place an object (cube,sphere,... etc.) that encloses your the 3d object you want deformed. Select the object you are deforming and use the mesh deform modifier. select the object you will use to deform the 3d model. Hit bind and you are ready to start deforming your 3d object.
lol. Thanks. Every time I play with the software I learn something new. Hopefully these little tips spark a little interest in picking up the software.
It is a beast and it has been getting even more complicated as they've added new capabilities to the program. In the next major release there is an interesting development. They are rebuilding the UI in different versions depending on what the artist is using Blender for. For basic modeling, what you need for pattern building, it will be a streamlined interface without all the doodads for everything else. Not sure when it will be released but it may be a little bit though. We are at 2.78 and the next major release is 2.8. So we still have 2.79 to go through.
If you have been playing with blender you know the files can get fairly large quick. For example, the model I used to create the following pattern had over 2 million verts and over the 100 meg limit to import the stl into designer.
A way to work around the limit is to create the model as different parts. This model was split into 4 different objects. The 2 wings, body, and tail. They can be imported separately by using export STL and use selection only button and selecting each piece individually. They can then be merged in designer.
This model was created using only 4 different feathers that I copied, rotated, and resized to get the varying plumage but because the feathers were fairly detailed the file size got large quick. In the end I created several hundred feathers to create this model.
Hi Oscar,
Don't forget you can use MeshLab to reduce file size without visual quality loss (I posted all the details and how-to steps awhile back). That way, you can model freely and without concern for file size. MeshLab to the rescue.
Michael, thanks. This is for the blender beginners.
Blender has the same function now. Its the decimate modifier. It allows to reduce vertices by removing subdivision surface modifiers or simplify geometry by removing vertices.
The problem is you do lose detail. Sometimes its very little and it doesn't matter but sometimes it can visibly modify the model depending on the complexity of the geometry. Both ways are tools in the tools chest. Sometimes one method works and sometimes a different method is needed.
Since I attempt to model in quads I get tris and n-gons when I decimate the model which 90% of the time is still good enough for patterns but every once in a while I need a different technique.
When you have a chance, perform a comparison between Blender and MeshLab (be sure to use the settings I outlined for MeshLab). I'll bet you won't see any loss or modification at all using MeshLab when you reduce the mesh/file size.
MT, any chance you can repeat or point to our instructions. I read them I think when you posted them, but forgot them when I went to use MeshLab. I will copy and save them this time.
Oscar, I would like to be a Blender user. Have started many times but always get busy and forget everything by the time I get back to it. I have a For Dummise book on it but it is years old. Amy lasting help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Clint
Michael, too be honest I haven't played with meshlab in a few years. I downloaded the newest version and it looks impressive. Ran a quick decimation on a model and again very impressed. I am going to have to create a model that will push both software but were I can see any changes with reduction in geometry. I'll follow up when I complete the test.
Clint, blender.org just announced with the next major release (2.9) they will be releasing pared down versions of blender for niche processes/operations. So the modeling version will only have the tools needed for modeling so a lot of the additional functionality, while still there, will be hidden. This will really simplify learning and using the software. Unfortunately, it will a few more months or longer for 2.9 to come out. The next release is 2.89 which will have some good updates but will still have all the bells and whistles that can be really confusing. It is a monster to learn but once you get past that first cliff the next major learning points aren't quite so bad. I say that but I am having a heck of time trying to learn materials and application of said materials. A 3d object can have up to 5 material layers applied to it to provide realism when rendered. In pattern development I don't use materials at all.
Hi Clint,
Here is the link for you:
https://forum.carvewright.com/showth...172#post261172
Michael, I am super impressed by the new meshlab. I think it will be a part of my modeling pipeline. Its decimation feature is more optimized than blenders.
There are changes to the geometry when any decimation is applied. I did a crazy test. Created a tessellation model with 24M vertices. I then decimated it to 3.9M vertices using meshlab's quadratic edge collapse.
You can see the pronounced changes in the geometry and fine detail features you lose during decimation (simplification).
For pattern builders using blender these changes using decimation are mostly subtle with a dense mesh model but they are very pronounced in a less dense mesh. You need to balance the geometry with the outcome you need for the pattern.
Yeah. That test is a bit crazy alright!
Try doing something more normal. Like a scroll, family crest, dog, horse, or anything but that. :D
lol. You are right. As long as you have a medium density on the model geometry you will never see the difference carving with a 1/16 in bit.
I've been running some more experiments with meshlab decimation filters. They are impressive but going back to the discussion. It is a balancing act on keeping the right amount of geometry for the results you are needing.
Here is an example. Instead of using a ridiculously large object I used a simple model I just built and applied the decimation filter. You can really see the difference in the two models. The bottom model is the original and the top model has had the meshlab decimation filter applied. First the quads were converted to tris which can give weird geometry when exported as STL and some detail was lost. The threads and bottom handle are now a little funky because of the tris.
This was just an example. I would never actually use decimation on this model since it was fairly small to begin with but just to illustrate what you are doing to a model when you reduce geometry with these functions.
Blender does exactly the same thing to a model as part of its decimate modifier. Just have to keep an eye on artifacts that may appear after the filter/modifier. I believe meshlabs does do a better job at this though.
The simplified model would still make an okay pattern even with reduction in geometry though different from the original.
Oscar, do I need to learn Greek to do this stuff?
MT, thanks - I copied it to Word, saved it and printed it (now in a plastic sleeve).
Clnt
Clint, sorry I somehow missed the question. I follow two folks on YouTube who have pretty good basic user tutorials. Blenderguru and tutor4u. If you look at their introductory tutorials they will walk you through the basics. Their later tutorials will take you all the way to intermediate use. Focus on the modeling tutorials. The materials and animation tutorials are awesome but complete useless for making patterns.
- O
Oscar - I just had an idea. How about "Time Waits for No Man" with an hour glass? That could turn out to be a cool project.
Mike - that could be a project of the month.
Scooby, I get weird pictures in my head when I try to figure out imagery for this. Are you talking a real hour glass design?
Exactly. How about "A watched pot never boils"
A little too weird. Mike is more along my thinking.
lol. Good. Michael I am glad you got it. I am still a little lost. ;)
For a project like this i think a lathe is probably better suited for a traditional hourglass.
- O
I would like to see the kitchen timer hour glass as a POM. Michael get busy!!! I am sure your wife would agree! Looking for it before the next conference.