tesselation (kind of)

[oscarl48]

I'm still playing around trying to learn how to accomplish tessellation patterns for the CW. I have discovered there are several free programs that allow you to create simple and sometimes complex 2d shapes that allow for tessellation.

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/...es/Tessellate/

http://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resour...ation-Creator/

There are also others you can purchase for a modest fee.

If you can figure the math and the concepts you can do this yourself, which is my goal. The last time I used math for math sake was 30 years ago. I pretty much have to start from scratch.

Here is a simple pattern that should be able to tessellate in a very basic fashion. By adding complexity to the surface it can add interest to the final piece. I can cut basic shapes into a 3d mesh as well as simple images so the potential for fun is on the high side.

I am calling my piece, Shattered, but I'm including the basic shape so you can build your own master piece.

[Scooby]

You must like challenges. Here's a suggestion - search tessellation shaders vs. geometry shaders. Also look for tessellation or tiling openGL, there's a ton of info. Sometimes too much info. is confusing but I still read all of it, you can always learn something.

[oscarl48]

Scooby.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I'll check it out.

If I learned Blender I figure I can learn tesselation geometry. lol. I said that about wooden geared clock and so far I am not even close to learning it. I have too many brands in the fire and too little time to master any of them. Creating tessellate feasible patterns using the free software and porting to CW is a 60 sec exercise, so not a lot challenge though it is a good technique in the pattern makers tool bag.

Adding or modifying with existing shapes is also a 30 second exercise. Added a star into the shape. I can add complex geometry to the surface but that takes a few minutes more.

More fodder for my brain to chew on. Now if I can talk my wife into letting me have a forge I will be in real trouble.

- O

[oscarl48]

Sorry for bombarding everyone. I am waiting for the sun to warm up a little bit more before I try to go to do some wood working so sitting at the computer playing. Here is the same figure but with a complex geometry. Not adding the mpc since you guys probably have the hang of it now.

[Rocketman]

I've always like to play with tessellations. Too bad the Carvewright software lacks the ability to wrap one shape around another.(At least I haven't discovered it yet) You could then wrap your tessellations around chair backs and legs and pepper mills and gun grips and on top hats and and on vases and on and on! It's one of the biggest reasons I have to get things in and out of the Carvewright software, so I can do things I want to do with other software.

[oscarl48]

Its a butt load of work, but using additive merge style seems to conform a shape into another's shape geometry which could be used to "wrap" a shape. Maybe not understanding. I'll have to play with it some more. I only have one gun left with wood on it so I may play at making some custom grips for it and see how this works.

Edit: Okay that didn't take long. Brent had already shared a Ruger grips pattern. Thanks Brent. I am stoked. I actually hadn't realized how versatile that was. I may be carving some different variations. I have some purple heart somewhere and maybe some padauk. Not a lot but maybe enough for this.

[Rocketman]

Let's see if you can shrink that tesselation down to about the size of checkering and then "additive merge" it to that grip you have. If so I may have to start playing with Designer again.

[oscarl48]

It works but there are limitations with 2.5d. Not sure how much detail will survive the carving. Its looks good on the computer screen at least.

I created a tessellated field in blender fairly large to hopefully keep some of the detail when shrunk down. Ported and reduced the pattern until it barely covered all the grip and then applied the additive merge.

And you are right. No one program does it all. I have been playing with the 2d stuff the folks on here are great with and I am not. Its kind of funny that I really suck at converting 2d images but 3d patterns I've found very intuitive.

May have to try a dragon or snake scale on these next to see how it will look.

[oscarl48]

A bunch of options are opening up to me in my head. Today has been a good day. Learned a ton of new stuff with the software.

Because of the size not sure how much detail will survive but still a good exercise on what could be. Only way to find out is to try it. Going on my to do list. lol. Behind about 30 different other things.

[Rocketman]

A bunch of options are opening up to me in my head. Today has been a good day. Learned a ton of new stuff with the software.

Because of the size not sure how much detail will survive but still a good exercise on what could be. Only way to find out is to try it. Going on my to do list. lol. Behind about 30 different other things.

I too was playing with Designer, trying out the limits of the merge functions. It will work for many things but there is still no way to do a full wrap such as on a vase. Too bad the STL importer or the Pattern editor didn't have that function.

As far as the grips go, I see it functions better than expected. The wrap function I'd like to see would allow you to take a complete STL file and wrap one design around another very much like your able to do with the merge functions but textures and vines and all kinds of designs would wrap together and then you could carve with the rotary jig. Take a 3d house and wrap old grape vines on top of it. Or here in the mid-west take an old farm wind mill and wrap vines up and around it. You could carve two people out fishing in a boat and put a fish scale texture on everything for an artistic effect.

I dug out a 1911 grip I did with my last name on it. I modeled it in Sketchup and exported it as an STL. From there I brought it into the Carvewright and made a pattern out of it. I did a test carve with some scrap wood to see what it would really look like. It came out fairly well but I never tweaked it any further. Maybe someday I'll get back and finish the design and do a proper carve with some nice wood.

I'm fairly sure I ran the STL in and out of Meshmixer to iron out the bugs prior to importing into the Carvewright software.

Brad