Monday 28 September 2009

Meshless Deformations in ICE

I've just posted a preview of an implementation of meshless deformations in ICE. The system deforms a polygonal mesh using particles and shape matching. It seems like a fairly efficient way of generating various types of soft body deformations whilst preserving the volume of the original mesh.

http://www.vimeo.com/6794261

I'd love to release the compound soon but the whole area of collision and soft-body/soft-body collision is huge and is definitely going to take some time to implement before it's user friendly!

Saturday 26 September 2009

Dart Throw Update

3rd July 2013: Please note: the latest, updated,  version of Dart Throw is here.

I've updated the Dart Throw ICE node to version 0.9b. The new version utilises the new port dirty state features in the SDK to prevent the compound firing when you make changes in the overall tree. I've also added a cancel button and re-wired the evaluation cycle. All in all, this version is more stable and usable. Big thanks to Amaan Akram for help and advice with the code.

dart_throw_0.9b.rar?dl=0

Please note that due to limitations in the SDK when you cancel an evaluation in progress, the values in the PPG cannot be reset to their original values. CTRL-Z will restore those values.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Dart Throw Custom ICE Node for Softimage 2010

3rd July 2013: Please note: the latest, updated,  version of Dart Throw is here.

I've just finished off a custom ICE node in C++ utilising the new geometry features in the 2010 SDK. The node will let you position random, non-overlapping points on any polygonal geometry. The more iterations you use, the more 'packed' the distribution will be.

http://www.vimeo.com/6483842

The nodes are packaged in a RAR file as an Addon with a sample scene here:

0.9b (Latest version)
http://www.exch.demon.co.uk/xsi/files/dart_throw_0.9b.rar

0.8b
http://www.exch.demon.co.uk/xsi/files/dart_throw_0.8b.rar

It's a beta release a the moment, so please let me know if you have any problems/suggestions. Since it uses features only available in Softimage 2010, it won't work in earlier versions.