Puddle of Solder/Metal

# 1 08-07-2003 , 09:47 PM

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Can someone please tell me how to go about making a poll of molten metal...? Err and remember I am new...(But I do have a cool shader ready) user added image

[Took me 2-3 days to get glass working] so go easy....

And is there a sort of "Rule of thumb" when picking Nurbs/Subdiv's/Poly's ??? I am a bit confused... I know Nurbs are more curved and I think poly's (the less the better) are maybe more suited for games... but I am a bit lost.... user added image

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# 2 09-07-2003 , 12:44 AM

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Theres a good tutorial over at AliasWavefronts how to page which shows you how to melt a vase. You could apply the lattice to a sphere insted of the vase. Take a look at the tutorial ad you'll know what i mean.

Edit: I when and got the link user added image

https://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/Tmp...ynamics_m.html

It's titled: How to Animate a Melting Object

Yeah, but no but yeah but no....

Last edited by doodle; 09-07-2003 at 12:53 AM.

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# 3 09-07-2003 , 01:31 AM

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Re: Puddle of Solder/Metal

Originally posted by Scraggy_Dogg
And is there a sort of "Rule of thumb" when picking Nurbs/Subdiv's/Poly's ??? I am a bit confused... I know Nurbs are more curved and I think poly's (the less the better) are maybe more suited for games... but I am a bit lost....

Originally Posted by

yes there is a rule of thumb. but the rule actually depends on the person using the rule and the thumb that is used.

the main difference between poly and nurbs is this:

nurbs are defined out of a mesh of curves which in turn are defined though certain points. as it is just mathematical functions, they dont need a lot of information (points) to define a smooth surface. big disadvantage of nurbs is that they can have at most 2 holes and cannot have higher detail locally.

with polys you can add locally as much detail as you want. but for round and curvy objects they usually need more elements than nurbs do.

subd can do both - it is a combination of nurbs and poly. subd surfaces are smooth (even with low detail) and can have as much holes as you want.

and that polys are only good for games is not true. yeah of course you need polys for games and because games need be fast, you are usually limit to a certain amount. if you are not limited to a certain amount of polygons than you can do amazing stuff with polygons. especially if you work on a low polygon model, and smooth it out afterwards ...

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# 4 09-07-2003 , 01:51 AM

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And as Mike once brought up in a similar thread, nurbs are restricted to only four sides, which is why patch modeling is the way it is.With polys, you can make faces have as many sides as you want.

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# 5 09-07-2003 , 02:07 AM

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Hey, if you were to make a puddle of soder/metal.. i would suggest just squishing a sphere in polys.. then adding a lattice:

HOTBOX > Deform > Lattice

Then pulling the edges and whatnot to your desired shape and pulling the bottom of the sphere to be flat on the ground, like gravity has pulled it into that position.

For rule of thumb.. I now will start out my organic models with nurbs, then convert to polygons because they are so flexible. I have not done much work in Subd's and i dont intend to for some time. If you are doing a non-organic model (robot, building etc.) then I would suggest using all polygons. Thats just me though, the more you model the more you kinda just "Know" what you want to use. Like babyduck said.. everyone is different, to an extent.

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# 6 09-07-2003 , 06:41 AM

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Mucho's thank's

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I must admit some of it is a bit beyond my meagre understanding yet (i.e. - Nurbs - 4 sides only? - what about a cylinder?) but i'm sure like y'all said, that will come with practice.
I cannot wait to finish work and get started on that "Melting vase" hopefully that will show me how to use the "lattice" then I can create my own "puddle".

Regards Scraggy

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# 7 09-07-2003 , 05:22 PM

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Each FACE can only have 4 sides. user added image

A cylinder as you know is just made up of a whole bunch of faces, each face having no more then a 4 sides. I'm sure you knew that one, you just weren't thinking user added image

Here, have some thinking juice! user added image

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# 8 09-07-2003 , 05:30 PM

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emmmmm why not just use a blobby objects particle system? if you set the threshold high enough it'll be fine..... seems kinda odd to be discussing spheres and nurbs etc......

just my 2p's worth

Alan

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# 9 09-07-2003 , 11:04 PM

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Confused abit....

Thanks All,

Don't get me wrong I appreciate the help but.........
I did say that I was a noob, sooo

Comments like..[CENSORED]...........(I ain't gonna go there!) were not very helpful because I have no idea what you are talking about.
But some were user added image

, and thanks for the link to the "Melting Vase" I tried it just now, But unfortunately even tho I checked and re-checked the text of the 'Expression Editor' it kept faulting.... like it did not have the "Particle" part in... Hmmm I am tired.... Maybe that's the prob, hmm looks like I got a long road ahead...

Go Easy Chaps I'm a Virgin user added image

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Regards Scraggy

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# 10 10-07-2003 , 11:46 AM

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um.. one thing.. nurbs are very very flexible to.. and pokeing holes in a nurbs surface takes alot less work than doing it on a poly surface (just use trim)
i usually use polys/subD for organic stuff thats all one piece and nurbs for stuff made out of a bunch of smaller parts
the thing with nurbs is that each model ends up in a lot of small peices

also one thing with nurbs are that the UVs (the way a texture is placed on the surface) are automated..

polys/subDs are kinda like clay and nurbs are more like lego user added image

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# 11 10-07-2003 , 01:05 PM

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Originally posted by aL_3891
um.. one thing.. nurbs are very very flexible to.. and pokeing holes in a nurbs surface takes alot less work than doing it on a poly surface (just use trim) ...

Originally Posted by

you ever tried to stitch trimmed surfaces ???

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# 12 10-07-2003 , 01:45 PM

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Eureka!

Ok I finally got my vase to melt user added image

(What i had done wrong was to use 'Thickness' instead of 'thickness' in the "Attribute Name") It now melts OK.
Now to suss out how to apply this to creating my "Blob" ......
I am going to have a try at all the different methods for creating my 'Solder_Puddle' that y'all have told me... If I can figure them out without tutorials.

Thanks again Scraggy

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# 13 10-07-2003 , 03:38 PM

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congrats, did the PM i sent you help out?

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# 14 10-07-2003 , 09:33 PM

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I always stay away from NURBS. The only thing I use NURBS for is particle emiters and cloth. IE: NURBS circles and squares.

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# 15 30-07-2003 , 05:12 AM

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you could also make the object an soft body add some springs have it collide with some other object adjust the settings and you should have what looks like a pool of lava with the right shader and settings hope that helps.

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Puddle of Solder/Metal

Re: Puddle of Solder/Metal

Mucho's thank's

Confused abit....

Eureka!

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