Variety 2018 (+Floating Icebergs - Salt n'Pepper shakes)

[TGS808]

Magnus, these are insane. If I commented on every single aspect that stood out to me we'd be here too long but I'll short list it...

Those welds (and just the quality of that metal overall), fantastic! The materials on the clock close ups are to die for, well done! The way you use wood (a material I haven't really played with) is amazing. It really looks organic and real. And I have to mention the little dust particles floating in the air in the clock animation. Drool-worthy details. (After Effects? Don't tell me that was KS.) Every time I think I'm getting pretty good at KS you post stuff like this and prove me wrong.  Your work is super inspirational. Keep it up and keep it coming!

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

Have missed some of your shots of late, Magnus. Lovin' every bit o'em

Cheers Josh! Nice to hear from you, and thanks for your ever present encouragement! Appreciate it

Magnus, these are insane. If I commented on every single aspect that stood out to me we'd be here too long but I'll short list it...

Those welds (and just the quality of that metal overall), fantastic! The materials on the clock close ups are to die for, well done! The way you use wood (a material I haven't really played with) is amazing. It really looks organic and real. And I have to mention the little dust particles floating in the air in the clock animation. Drool-worthy details. (After Effects? Don't tell me that was KS.) Every time I think I'm getting pretty good at KS you post stuff like this and prove me wrong.  Your work is super inspirational. Keep it up and keep it coming!

Holy cow man.. That was really the boost I needed today! I'm so happy to hear that the details put in are noticed to the extent you mention them. (The dust is indeed After Effects and not keyshot, yet)

I'm so happy to hear it's inspiring to you, as that was one of my top goals i set when I started with KeyShot that I someday would be able to be a source of inspiration.  And I know it's gonna sound repetitive, but I genuinely really appreciate all the kind words! It means a lot. Thank you.

[mitrut.m]

Thank you Will! I haven't even realized I have a particular style, so it's interesting that you mention that. It's also interesting that you ask about the website, as I've just recently got myself a webadress and will start building a page this summer

Excited! Nice write-up.

For anyone reading this thread, I can verify that I've tested this with Fusion 360 and it works. SolidWorks should work too. As a CAD program offers more tools and has a more robust set of tools for creating class-A surfacing, there's a better chance it'll allow you more fine-tuned control over said UVs and offer more ways to see them visualized.

I hope i am not too late on this thread, but i am trying to catch up with the UV mapping topic. Have you managed to export UV mapped surfaces from Solidworks? I am exporting an OBJ from SW using a free exporter and Unrwapping it in Rhino. So far so good, but when i map the texture in KS, it does not seem to follow the splines of the mesh. Am i missing a step ?

On one hand side, the mesh is not as clean as the native NX mesh in Magnus's example, but I don't know if that can lead to these mapping result.
Secondly, it looks like it does something right when applying the texture on the surface, but not 100% like I would like to.

Am i doing something wrong here?
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

I hope i am not too late on this thread, but i am trying to catch up with the UV mapping topic. Have you managed to export UV mapped surfaces from Solidworks? I am exporting an OBJ from SW using a free exporter and Unrwapping it in Rhino. So far so good, but when i map the texture in KS, it does not seem to follow the splines of the mesh. Am i missing a step ?

On one hand side, the mesh is not as clean as the native NX mesh in Magnus's example, but I don't know if that can lead to these mapping result.
Secondly, it looks like it does something right when applying the texture on the surface, but not 100% like I would like to.

Am i doing something wrong here?
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Hi!

Since I don't have any experience in Rhino, I'm gonna thread a bit carefully, but to me this looks like a polygon mesh, which must not be confused with NURBS.

Polygon meshes such as that are usually built up from a fixed number of polygons where you actively must go in and define the resolution (i.e. by subdividing). NURBS, on the other hand is built from mathematically defined curves and splines, and you have in theory access to an unlimited resolution.

To put it very basically, you can draw a parallel to the 2D world, where polygons are the raster images, whereas NURBS are vectors. (not completely correct but bear with me)

So UV mapping a polygon mesh requires you to unwrap the geometry and "paint" the textures on it. This  is not possible using NURBS since it's a triangulated and doesn't UV well apparently.

However, when making NURBS I'm able to utilize how the local surfaces flow. If you look at the first picture below, this  is a NURBS surface and the grid (with the small circles) you see is actually what happens behind the scenes (!) The grid, or poles, are what defines the shape of the surfaces. And it is this very grid that allows me to map locally.

Take the other example below (picture 2 and 3). The two geometries are near identical. The only difference is that the right one has been converted to a polygon model. This means that this no longer have the NURBS information. It's just a dead lump of polygons. The NURBS surface to the left, however, has a network of poles that controls the shape of the surface.

So if you want to utilize the technique I presented here, you have to use Rhinos NURBS mode. I think it's called t-splines or something? Could that be correct? I merely presented this technique as a way for us working in more pure engineering CAD-softwares to be able to utilize a UV-mapping technique.

[Robb63]

I think you'd be better exporting a STEP, or IGES file from Solidworks to bring into Rhino. Then unwrap the surface in Rhino.

[mitrut.m]

First of all thanks a lot for taking your time to walk me through it. I also agree with your point of streamlining the CAD designer/engineer workflow and opening the doors to easier UV mapping.
That model is indeed turned to polygons since I was living under the impression that it needs to be unwrapped in order to get to the point where textures can properly follow a surface from A to Z. And I went through converting your bench surface to polygons, importing to Rhino, unwrapping, and so on.

It makes total sense now. Rhino is native NURBS, as far as i know, and I have just tried it again, but this time using the native Rhino file. Works like a charm.
Thank you for the CAD theory 101. It made me realize why my texture was not following the dead path of the polygons.

By the way, Magnus, your work is fantastic. Truly inspiring. And i find it so cool, that you also take your time to boost up the level of the entire community.

Keep us entertained and thanks again.

[mitrut.m]

I think you'd be better exporting a STEP, or IGES file from Solidworks to bring into Rhino. Then unwrap the surface in Rhino.

Hi Robb,

have you done this with good result. You will be able to unwrap in Rhino after you mesh the surface. And meshing in Rhino is the bottleneck in this process, as far as i have gotten into it. Can you share 2-3 screenshots? I am very curious if this is so flexible to extend to Solidworks rigid functionality.

Thanks

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

First of all thanks a lot for taking your time to walk me through it. I also agree with your point of streamlining the CAD designer/engineer workflow and opening the doors to easier UV mapping.
That model is indeed turned to polygons since I was living under the impression that it needs to be unwrapped in order to get to the point where textures can properly follow a surface from A to Z. And I went through converting your bench surface to polygons, importing to Rhino, unwrapping, and so on.

It makes total sense now. Rhino is native NURBS, as far as i know, and I have just tried it again, but this time using the native Rhino file. Works like a charm.
Thank you for the CAD theory 101. It made me realize why my texture was not following the dead path of the polygons.

By the way, Magnus, your work is fantastic. Truly inspiring. And i find it so cool, that you also take your time to boost up the level of the entire community.

Keep us entertained and thanks again.

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words. Appreciate it!

Secondly, i'm really happy to hear that my description made sense! I've understood that it's possible, but not very pretty nor easy to unwrap triangulated geometry such as engineering CAD tools produce. 

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

Just a quick render passing through for the render challenge RenderWeekly. Will probably make some more of this guy, but it's gonna be a little while until i can find the time.

The glass represents (maybe obviously) the sea level, while the salt/pepper at the bottom represents the bottom of the ocean. The grains at the bottom also acts as a quick identifier for which one to grab and not be surprised by the content

Designed and modeled using NX. 

[JonWelch]

Oh dang, I like this concept and these shots alot!

[DMerz III]

  very masterful composition. Love the entire image.

[cjwidd]

man, the lighting in the salt and peppers shaker scene is tremendous

[MK-ID]

Just a quick render passing through for the render challenge RenderWeekly. Will probably make some more of this guy, but it's gonna be a little while until i can find the time.

The glass represents (maybe obviously) the sea level, while the salt/pepper at the bottom represents the bottom of the ocean. The grains at the bottom also acts as a quick identifier for which one to grab and not be surprised by the content

Designed and modeled using NX.

So inspiring! Nothing to add - beautiful work!

[Magnus Skogsfjord]

Thank you all so much guys! I really appreciate it

[Will Gibbons]

So. Dang. Good.