[Bf-committers] GSoC 2011 Proposal: Retopology Tools

[Alice Li]

Thanks Tom. I'm reworking my proposal.



On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 1:56 AM, Tom M <letterrip at gmail.com> wrote:

> For the 'slice and connect' tool,
>
> 1) user generate pen strokes
> 2) user generate a stroke that is tangent to the original strokes
> 3) at each intersection cast a ray perpendicular to the intersection
> that penetrates to the opposite side of the volume (martins 'etch a
> ton' continuous embedding code can do this
> http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Theeth/etch-a-ton - see the
> octopus demo - http://vimeo.com/2032424 )
> 4) from this ray and the original stroke you can construct a plane
> then you can raycast from the center of the volume in each direction
> to find where to place the points of your circle (probably can reuse
> some shrinkwrap modifier code for this part)
> 5) repeat that for each slice
> 6) then connect the slices with a loft (see the loop tools code for
> lofting algorithm)
>
> other folks can probably help you a bit more with the algorithm but
> etch-a-ton; shrinkwrap; and looptools are where i'd look for
> inspiration.
>
> Regarding the 'paint stroke tool' - Alice and Johnathon - I'd
> completely forgotten that cambo had written his retopo tool for durian
> (he removed it since the durian team wasn't using it and he didn't
> have time then to maintain it) that does i think exactly what this is
> intended to do, and he plans to add it to add ons.  So if that is the
> case, it might be a good idea to choose another retopology tool to
> implement for your proposal.
>
> LetterRip
>
> On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 8:52 PM, Alice Li <li.alicem at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks Jonathan, I probably should have ran the slice tool by you as
> well.
> >
> > For the slice tool/guide strokes tool, I can see that it's a variation of
> > the paint strokes tool but I'm not sure I completely understand the
> > functionality. So the mesh that's created is generated around all the
> model
> > as in 360 degrees?
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 12:27 AM, Jonathan Williamson <
> > jonathan at montagestudio.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Hey Alice,
> >>
> >> I actually have a couple more suggestions for you in regards to the tool
> >> functionality.
> >>
> >>
> >> Pen Tool
> >> I feel it should not be restricted to only creating quads. Even as the
> >> topology snob that I am, occasionally it is necessary to use triangles.
> This
> >> is particularly true in lowpoly meshes where deformation is not a
> problem.
> >> When creating very lowpoly meshes it's almost essential to use
> triangles.
> >>
> >> Slice Tool
> >> The slice tool you have proposed is almost identical to the old knife
> tool,
> >> which while important, I don't feel makes sense to be part of this
> project.
> >> This is mostly because Joe Edgar as already implemented the beginnings
> of a
> >> very good knife tool alongside BMesh. It's my feeling that any retopo
> tools
> >> you develop should be designed to work with the future BMesh. Since Joe
> has
> >> already developed this I feel it would be overkill for this project.
> >>
> >> The Slice tool that I was actually referring to in my original
> suggestion
> >> was this one: http://3d-coat.com/uploads/pics/rtp_slices.gif
> >>
> >> What it does is allows you to quickly draw several guides across a
> tubular
> >> section of your mesh and automatically generate a encapsulating mesh
> that
> >> snaps to the surface.
> >>
> >> This method is very quick and powerful for retopo'ing anything from
> arms,
> >> legs, treebanchs and other tubular forms. Perhaps the tool should be
> renamed
> >> to Guide Strokes.
> >>
> >> Other than those couple things everything looks great for the
> >> functionality!
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jonathan Williamson
> >>
> >> Instructor - http://www.blendercookie.com
> >> Personal Trainer - http://www.mavenseed.com
> >> Portfolio - http://www.jw3d.com
> >>
> >> On Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Alice Li wrote:
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > I've been working on my GSoC 2011 proposal for the last few days for
> >> adding
> >> > new retopology tools. If anyone could give me any kind of feed back
> >> before I
> >> > submit it I would really appreciate it, is it detailed enough?
> >> Feasibility?
> >> > Too long? Too short?? etc. A really big thanks to Jonathan Williamson,
> >> > Nicholas Bishop and LetterRip for their help these past couple of
> days.
> >> >
> >> > Link: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Lynseed
> >> >
> >> > Thanks in advance,
> >> > Alice
> >> > _______________________________________________
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> >> >
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