Nicholas Bishop is currently working on implementing an armature based automatic mesh generating modifier. Whilst still in development, it looks like a fantastic way of generating basemeshes for sculpting or creating smooth meshes with arbitrary topology. See the video for a demonstration:
Nicholas Bishop writes:
Currently, the code mainly handles the topology generation with some extensions of my own to nicely handle almost arbitrary topology with loops. I've coded some of the tricky mesh evolution too, but it's mostly non-functional right now.
If I can get the mesh evolution stuff working, this could become a very powerful tool for generating forms; even in it's current immature state it's quite fast and easy to generate basic stuff. Certainly nothing you couldn't do with ordinary edit mode, but a bit faster (at the cost of precision of course.)
One last note, please refrain from sending me links to ZSphere videos and saying "make it do x, y, and z!". Believe me, I'm aware there's more work to be done here, but I don't get paid to write Blender code. A little patience is needed :) Thanks!
For a more detailed outline of how it works, see the paper it's based on:
http://www.math.zju.edu.cn/ligangliu/CAGD/Projects/BMesh/
(Note: The name B-Mesh used in the paper is nothing to do with the blender B-mesh project.)
49 Comments
Almost Excellent! Is a veeery useful feature! Waiting for updates!
Wow, just WOW. Fingers crossed this makes it into the trunk. I also hope is PTEX work makes it in there SOON!!!!
I am astounded at the almost daily progress of development going on with blender. This particular feature I would love to play with. Can't wait, awesome, awesome work! Glad I switched over to Blender.
Cool, reminds me of Spore :D
Very Nice. does somebody know if i can turn bone envelopes into a mesh?
It seams this thing is stolen from ZBrush....but it seams to be very useful
Zspheres :) Hehe! Great!!!
Haha! BSpheres for all!
BMesh has given a bad reputation to anything named BMesh.
Cool !
No need to redifine the armature of the mesh. Is it possible to get it and animate it ?
that is awesome and really cool it reduces lot of work great work keep it up
Yes, it reminds me Zbrush too, and this tool is wonderful. But there is a very important point if you want it to be easy usable. This procedural model has to keep Sculpt informations. You should be able to move a Bsphere, go to sculpt and vice and versa.
really impressive!
thankyou!
Great! Becase of this feature I buyed 3D Coat some days ago!
Problem Zspheres?
ZSphere you can be happy that people care about you:)
Oh yeah I don't think precision is really .lost because there is not just ONE way of creating an object
What ever happened to Array Sketching that did this earlier? Anyway, looks great!
This will really be useful for certain mesh constructions. First rate work, sir!
Let me also take this opportunity to say that I am continually impressed by the creativity and abilities of the fine programmers who add such interesting features to the Blender software package.
Sweet! I'd like to see some other modifiers (like subsurf) applied while he is using the skin modifier.
Hot snot this is exactly what I wished Blender would have (other than an easier UI :) )
Yes, this looks very similar to Pixologics ZBrush "ZSphere" but that's why it's great. The ZSphere was what made ZBrush that much more powerful. Quickly build organic meshes. Since it costs my first born I never bought the program, but the trial made me drool and wish I could!
I hope this gets implemented or just shared. Would come in handy with my multitude of projects.
And Blender takes yet another step toward professional level production.
Looks fantastic. Can't wait to play with it.
Only issue so far seems to be the need for adding custom data. And also, because it's procedurally created, I presume it won't work with sculpt mode. 'Tis a shame. You'd have to freeze your mesh first, which means you can't easily add topology or change limb poses.
great feature! Go on!! :D
Yes!!!! Finally a modifier that make base meshes easy to create
this is great! will it be automatically pose-able?
All kinds of awesome there, bro! I will take whatever you develop! I'll wait as long as it takes to have this feature! Thank you! Man, this has been a week of amazing improvements to Blender!
Looks great! I'm looking forward to use it!
Awesome tool!
Great! I can't wait for this (and PTex) to make it into the trunk! It'd make a fabulous character-modeling tool.
Really great - it seems like a really good idea, and should speed up mesh development by a huge margin. I've never seen this type of technology before, but I've basically only been using Blender for the past few years.
shush!! Keep quiet... pilgway (3d coat devs) might hear about this and then steal nicola to do it for them.. we will never see it in blender afterwards :D
WOW
should be nice for trees
hey you should send the code to farsthary maybe he can use your code for the fluid meshing system that would be Awesome!!!!!!
Mmmmmm... ZSpheres. Nom.
Awesome stuff!!!
Wow! Maybe this project "BSpheres" go to GSOC 2011! It´s awesome!
Really awesome!
Now if you carry on on this path... You will become a developer for one of these
big money making company and we will miss your truly remarkable skills...
This is truly awesome.
52Aewsome work Nic, I've been a fan of your work since Sharp Construct. Good luck!
Just tried it and it's fantastic.
An amazingly quick method to build a base shape ready for sculpting (once you apply the modifier), much quicker than the classical way to do it.
Once it gets bug free (sometime there are holes in the mesh being created) and become stable (i had a few crashes), it will be a brillant Blender feature that digital sculptors will enjoy tremendously to create their base model in no time.
Thank you so much Mr Bishop for having took the time to implement such concept into Blender, another step to the next generation of really usefull modelling tools.
Just awesome! I can't wait to see this in the standard Blender version!
how to get it!!!plz give me~
BUMP - there is a way to test the skin modifier? pleeease :D
the video moves too fast to actually see how this modifier works.
any further development on this?
is awesome
Just in case anyone stumbles across this Skin Modifier is now officially in the trunk for Blender 2.64
Sweet, thanks