Cineversity

How Do I create a seamless honeycomb Hex pattern, that flows along a compound curved surface without distortion? And have it animatable with effectors?

Thanks

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

The terms you have used seems to exclude each other: to animate, flow along a compound and all of that without distortion. In this general question, I can’t find an answer.

What would be the compound curved surface, and please supply a sketch what should have happen with the animation. I have really no idea if there is a solution.

All the best

All tutorials that discuss Hexagons or Honey combs. They do not answer your question, but might help to find a solution:
http://www.cineversity.com//vidplaylist/hexagons

Hi,
so here is my problem:

I have created a hex honeycomb pattern using a simple cylinder set to 6 sides with 0.01 height and a Mograph cloner. I want to take said hex pattern and have the pattern seamlessly (meaning no irregular spacing in the pattern) follow the surface of a piece of geometry that is curved in more than one direction (compound curved surface).  Then I want to be able to apply an effector to the cloner like say a plain effector with falloff to animate the individual hexagons rotating.

I’d like to achieve all this without using a deformer, because it will distort the geometry.

I thought this would be a simple thing for Mograph to do but apparently not, I can’t seem to figure this out and I would love some help with this.

thanks

Joseph

Joseph, thanks for a little bit more information The problem might be given, even if you get the initially scale of all clones, that they won’t rotate correctly in place. (Not the animated rotation, the initial structure is already the problem)

Besides that, if you have a multi directional curved object the curves can’t be created with “untouched” hexagons. There is need to have some deformation on them. Otherwise each hexagon has to be in the same size, as it must be “gapless”. This leads to the one size only result. With that, no curved surface, especially not a multi curved surface, can be shaped.

If you take the studies and models of Buckminster Fuller, you might see very quickly how that works. At least those explorations comes to my mind, back from the days studying architecture. In his domes you will find always a mix to compensate for the needs of a multi curved structure.

You might have to find the element that can vary in your request equation, to get your idea as closely as possible. But as described initially, that problem has not been solved to my knowledge.

Of course you have to explore it “practically”, perhaps set up a rind with hexagons, then try the next ring on top of it, but with a tilt to the side, like a start of a bend tube. I guess, if not the first, then the second element of the new ring will show the problem clearly. Or take the Platonic object, set it to Bucky and delete the Phong tag to see the edges more clearly. There is always a pentagon in it.

Let me know if you have a model that you can share.

My best wishes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller#/media/File:Géode_V_3_1.gif

Thank you so much for the detailed reply

Is this a problem that could better be solved by fields? I really just want to have a non distorted hex pattern that flows along a surface. It would be cool if I could set the shrinkwrap deformer to position objects in a cloner to a surface instead of distort them.

Anyway, I guess I’ll just keep looking for a solution, although I really wish mograph could solve this out of the box.

thanks

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

I will try again. To create a multi curved surface out of Hexagons, some of these have to change in scale (if not distorted). Otherwise the shorter parts of the surface would force the elements to move. This move can’t be healed later on, without distortion. Mixed scales will results in gaps:
The fact that you don’t like to have gaps among them leads the the fact that shorter edges can’t naturally match the longer ones. So, only the same size hexagons would be possible based on your request.

Please have a look here, which I guess is a simple multi curved object:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/7azPLzm2L859mBWUUsez8lune8NXx2Les8FY20dN0k8

Given your request that they should not have any distortion, they have to stay as a six sided object with equal length and angle to each “edge”. Shrink Wrap will absolutely distort the geometry, if the surface is multi-curved.

To ask for the Fields, indicates that the geometrically problem was not understood. This problem is not solved at all, and to my estimation it will not solved at any time, hence why I mentioned Fuller, a genius in that field.

Your requests leads to an unsolvable puzzle to begin with, practically and theoretically. So, no: software or new feature will not overcome what geometry can’t to begin with. Fields will have no solution for that.

A hexagon could be build out of six equilateral triangle. It is flat. Add more of these triangles to it (expanding) and the surface will stay flat. If the edges will change in length then it will allow for a non-flat surface, which is then a distortion of the hexagon.

One example of what could work is here:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/1AmCaRT7VI2WldS1Y0b20SJuAFfrFCMjCTC9yZlHbh7

Cheers.