Array Bend Deformer Map Override Stretch
Array
Array is a PolyMesh operator used for duplicating a model in your scene by instancing that geometry based on various inputs.
| PROPERTY | DESCRIPTION |
| Count | Determines the number of copies/instances of the geometry via a slider. The slider is limited to values from 1-100, though values over 100 may be input manually. |
| Translation | X, Y, Z Translation coordinates that can be applied to the instanced geometry. The values of the coordinates in between the first and last instance will be an average of the input value of X,Y, or Z divided by the Count Number |
| Rotation | X, Y, Z Rotation values that can be applied to the instanced geometry. The values of the coordinates in between the first and last instance will be an average of the input value of X,Y, or Z divided by the Count Number |
| Scale | X, Y, Z Scale values that can be applied to the instanced geometry. The values of the coordinates in between the first and last instance will be an average of the input value of X,Y, or Z divided by the Count Number. |
| Pivot | Pivot in the case of Array is used to set the center of the procedure, and indicates how the rotation and offset values will place the copied instances. |
| Pivot Mesh |
Bend Deformer
Bend Deformer
A PolyMesh operator that will bend your model based on a pivot location and a specified angle. If testing on a Box you will need to make sure your mesh has enough segments or edgeloops to see the results.
| PROPERTY | DESCRIPTION |
| Default Axis | This is a drop down menu which allows the user to control which direction the bend is coming from. You are given the options of bending in X, Y or Z. By stacking operators, a user can also bend their model in the other directions as well. |
| Angle | A slider that can go from 0 to 360 in either a positive or negative direction. This number controls the amount the geometry is bending. |
| Bend Rotation | Change the default Axis further by adding values in the X,Y,Z directions |
| Bend Pivot | This controls where the bend is occurring by translating the pivot based on user X,Y,Z inputs |
| Fixed Ends | Fixed ends is calculating the center of the top and bottom of your model, and as the angle is manipulated, the centers of the two ends stay in roughly the same spot. Effectively, it is moving the pivot point in a line, so at 180 degrees it is a line, and you get quite a bit more control that way {the whole time ANGLE is the field being interacted with to demonstrate the variation). |
Map Override
The Map Override is a polymesh operator that allows the user to override a particular input from an assigned material. The inputs that can be overridden from a material are Opacity, Bump, Normal, AO, and Light Images.
Example
Imagine there are multiple 3D models that share the same material.
Each model requires its own baked Ambient Occlusion map.
Add a map override to each model via the Add Operator button in the properties panel.
The user can assign each unique AO map to the various models on the platform without having to assign the AO on the material itself. This allows a material to be used across multiple 3D assets.
This polymesh operator allows the user to add the images as either an Asset or Node to each of the 5 categories (Opacity, Bump, Normal, AO, Light). While you can mix and match Assets and Nodes for the various groups, you must select either Asset or Node per section. Thus, the platform will not allow the user to accidentally set Opacity Image Asset and Opacity Image Node at the same time. It will set the selection to either Image Asset or Image Node based on what was set last.
Image Assets are images the user has uploaded to the platform, while Image nodes will select from items created in the current scene. A majority of the time, the user will use the Image Asset instead of Image Node.
It is strongly advised to not use image nodes in current state as they are local variables not global.
| PROPERTY | DESCRIPTION |
| Opacity Image Asset | User Uploaded Image used to override the Opacity of a set material |
| Opacity Image Node | User created node in scene used to override the Opacity of a set material |
| Bump Image Asset | User Uploaded Image used to override the Bump of a set material |
| Bump Image Node | User created node in scene used to Bump the opacity of a set material |
| Normal Image Asset | User Uploaded Image used to override the Normal of a set material |
| Normal Image Node | User created node in scene used to Normal the opacity of a set material |
| AO Image Asset | User Uploaded Image used to override the AO of a set material |
| AO Image Node | User created node in scene used to AO the opacity of a set material |
| Light Image Asset | User Uploaded Image used to override the Light of a set material |
| Light Image Node | User created node in scene used to override the Light of a set material |
Stretch
The Stretch Operator "stretches" a 3D mesh along a specified axis, by a specified distance, within a specified range.
Properties
The Stretch Operator has three properties; Axis, Stretch Distance, and Margin.
Consider a sphere with a radius of 1 meter, viewed orthogonally from the top, with the x-axis of the stretch operator as the target.
Increasing the Stretch Distance to 1.0, the object is uniformly stretched along its x-axis from the center, on both sides.
Increasing the Margin has the effect of limiting the application of the stretch operation. In the figure below, the outer 0.5 meters (the Margin value) on either side of the sphere has been excluded from the stretch operation, effectively retaining the sphere's original shape over that interval.
Interactive Demo
In Practice
The use-case outlined in the custom script action article presents a practical application of this operator.
Consider one of the table legs. Without use of the stretch operator, expanding the width of the table provides an undesirable result because it not only increases the width of the leg, it also increases the thickness of the leg's perpendicular section. See the figure below.
The Margin of the Stretch Operator is very useful in this context because we can limit the affect of the stretch operation, meaning we can effectively target the part of the leg that should be expanded, while ensuring the original geometry of the perpendicular section remains static.
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