Best way to model a net???

spectre1130

I'm reaching the final stretch in my portfolio model of a steampunk submarine, and need to model a hot air type balloon with a net to go over it and keep it from floating away. I've looked for tutorials on how to do a net but I'm coming up short. At this point, I won't get around to unwrap and texture the project so it is going to be just a high poly model with clay renders, and probably a turntable animation. Has anyone ever modeled a net??? Any help or refs would be great.

James Ordner

I don't know which package you use, but in Blender you can model the net using only edges:



And then apply a Skin Modifier to it to add an actual mesh with clean topology that follows the edges:



You can fin the documentation for it here. If you use something else other than Blender, there's probably something similar in your 3d package. You could also model a section of the net, use an Array Modifier (or your package's equivalent), and align the mesh to a curve.

JonathanLambert

If you are using Max, you can model your high poly flat and make a low poly plane with verts that match up with your hi's intersections. Run a cloth sim on your low poly plane to get the shape that you want and use the skin wrap modifier to drive the deformation of your hi poly.

BARDLER

It all depends on what program you are using. Maya has deformation tools, and the make live ability that would let you wrap a mesh over top another mesh.

Joopson

James Ordner wrote: »

If you're in Maya, you can do this too, albeit a bit differently.

You could duplicate the mesh, delete all the faces where you won't want the net, then bevel all the edges that are left. Then delete all faces save for the ones which were just created through the bevel. Then extrude those and add support loops where needed.
Should work.

spectre1130

I'm using Max. I guess I'll make the balloon first, and then duplicate the mesh and work from that geo. The cloth sim is a good idea. Thanks for the responses.

Goat Justice

This would probably be a good time to use the SlideKnit script.

http://cghub.com/scripts/view/79/

.morph3us

yes, but that created shape will not be connected well.
it will be a lot of splines, but not really a net. because max cannot handle more than to lines connnecting at one knot.

maybe you could select those edges that are orange in the blender screenshot and chamfer them. then delete the center pieces...

Twister3

Now with Micromesh you can create your net very well! Joseph Drust demonstrated this technique here: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?174353-Character-Assets-Update-4-quot-Viper-quot-Ghillie-Suit-Creation-Videos