Vray In Class…

Just an example of the rendering of Vray. Brick map, custom sky, infinite plane, and some glossy goodness.

In Class: Texture Mapping

Just in class trying out the mapping control from Rhino. Applying maps can be difficult, but once you know how, material mapping can make renderings look extremely realistic.

Final Design?

This is what our design should look like. If all goes well, we’ll be able to build this and play I Ran, by Flock of Seagulls inside it.

Macro Videos

In my previous post i shows you the macro command i was using to make the process of extruding a curve quicker. An while there are a million ways to do what i did, i chose to do it that way because that is a command i know well. Luckily i was able to get a video capture of the two processes. One with macros, and one without them. this allowed me to make the process less overbearing on me. One thing you don't see well in the video, is my ability to keep y hand off the keyboard. By using the macro, and hitting enter with right click, i am able to make the process way faster...

see for yourself.

This is without the macro...

...and finally, using scripting commands.

I realize my limited ability in this field, but this simple command helped so much.

Using Macros….

Wow. Its obvious that with the advent of such a complex model, and the fact that we are repeating commands over and over- scripting would come in play to alleviate some of the tediousness over creating these wedge pieces. Here is a crude, yet useful, example of one of the macros i am using…

! Extractisocurve _Pause _Pause _Enter _Extrudecrv _Direction _Direction _Pause _Enter _SelNone _Trim _Pause

Basically, I am just trying to stop typing Extractisocrv and extrudecrv millions of times. This really helps. There is a missing component though when trying to choose direction from the dialogue box, it still has me click it- something i need to work on.

 

Production Time

One of the biggest concerns from our group was production time. From the beginning we realized that the triangulation  method that we have chosen proved to be really problematic when considering that each “node” is practically unique.  Cuts to each rod would have to be at very precise angles and welding time would be astronomical.

We currently have over 200 nodes intersecting all through out the project- of those over 80 percent of them would need to be custom cut with angles that vary through out the flock wall structure.

It took us 3 hours to create one node. If we be somewhat realistic to say that with the help of jigs, that time could be reduced. However, that process will still be labor intensive mainly because of the unique node connections.

My sensible prediction would allow me to say the 500 hours of labor- simply on the production of the nodes. I would add 120 more hours for the rest of the tubes, measuring, and assembly. It seems like too much for what we are trying to do.

Node Fabrication

So our team decided to see how efficient or otherwise the type of connection we were assigned. The object is modeled out of tubing. The connection allows for six tubes meeting at a single point- the idea for us is to create that node out of some type of pipe. We opted for metal for its ability to be welded, versus pvc or wood.

the hardest part is accuracy. The chop saw available to us only does an angle of 45 degrees, and since its a two part cut, the slightest deviation in angle would mean that the pieces would not butt up to each other, hence would cause for deviations in piping angles.

This is why we had such a hard time building this- not only do we have to use an angle grinder which is a very inaccurate cutting tool, we had to grind and measure with limited resources.

Tomorrow we weld....