SeaShells.max

Twist-O-Rama Version 1.01

Synopsis:
Twist-O-Rama is a new version of the Bend modifier for curl'ing things up. It does sea shells, corkscrews, etc.

Motivation:
This was built because we needed a way to easily coil things up and animate them uncoiling.

Installation:
Just put this plugin in your 3DS Max plugin path or use the "Configure Paths" dialog to add the location of the plugin to your plugin path.  See the Max docs for more help.  The modifier can be found in the modify panel by hitting the "more" button and looking for Twist-O-Rama.  There is also a Twist-O-Rama space warp that can be found in the Create panel under "Blur's Modifier Based."

 

Usage:
 
Coiling up a cylinder:

Create a cylinder [redius 10 x height 100] and give it about 30 Height Segments.  Go to the modify panel and apply the Twist-O-Rama modifier to the cylinder.  Set the angle on Twist-O-Rama to 720 degrees and the offset to 20.  You should now have a cylinder that is twisted up into something similar to a sea shell.  You can now simply curl and uncurl the object by adjusting the angle parameter.

tw_exmpl_1.max 
unwrapping with the angle parameter
Unwrapping the coil:

To take the same coiled up cylinder and unwrap it in a more "unrolling" sort of way, you have to use the Limit Effect.  Turn on Limit Effect and adjust the Upper Limit until you get the coiled up cylinder back.  Now click the Sub-Object button so that you can move the modifier's gizmo.  By moving the gizmo down the length of the cylinder, the coil will unroll.

tw_exmpl_2.max 
unwrapping by moving gizmo
 
This modifier was based upon Max's Bend modifier, so the interface is pretty similar.  Like Bend, there is the Gizmo and Center sub-objects that can be modified, however I don't see any difference between moving modifier's Gizmo and moving it's Center.

Angle and Direction work the same way they do in the Bend modifier.
 

Tightness:

The Tightness parameter is what actually does the coiling verses just bending.  Setting the Tightness to 1.0, the Offset to 0.0, and the Bias to 0.0 will  make Twist-O-Rama work just like the bend modifier.  The following image shows the Tightness parameter in action.  The Tightnes is changed from 1.0 to 0.0 from left to right.  The top-left cylinder shows a standard Bend achieved with a Twist-O-Rama, whereas the top-right cylinder shows the deformations that occur during a normal (ie. Tightnes = 0.0) Twist-O-Rama bend.  The bottom row of twisted cylinders shows the Tightness parameter again, but this time in conjunction with an an Offset of 40.0.

tw_exmpl_3.max
Tightness and Offset parameters
Bias:

Bias is used to offset the curl in the direction perpindicular to the curvature.  Using Bias you can do things like corkscrews or long pointed sea shells, like augers.

tw_exmpl_4.max
Bias

To Be Done:
The algorithm could use some more work to give the user a better handle on controlling the self intersection of thick objects.

General:
The usual disclaimers apply - Blur studio cannot support or guarantee this thing in any way. Its gratis - enjoy. If you have any comments or questions, direct them to blurbeta@blur.com - If we have the time, we'll do what we can.  See also:  the license agreement. our generic readme, this plugin's current bug list.

You may not distribute this without permission from blur studio.

If you use it, your company has cool T-Shirts, and your looking for a way to show your gratitude, send a shirt or two to:

R&D at Blur Studio, Inc.
1130 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

software@blur.com
Scott Kirvan - Blur.

Last Modified : 09/29/99