Spider's web maker

Spider's web maker interface


"Welcome everybody"

Lately I was inspired by great xsi tool called Aging Cobwebs by Fabricio Chamon .... https://vimeo.com/26723944 and I thought it could be intresting to write maya- mel version.



Also I would like to thank Peter Shipkov for "volume sampling" explanation.

Anyway ...
with that post I want to introduce you with my spider's web maker script and show its options to make it easier to use.


Particle sampling tab is responsible for points/samples placing.



rate - number of points to distribute ( if using with volume method it means points to distribute inside object's BoundingBox )
samplingMethod - how points distribution should be made/performed
seed - distribution/emission seed
seedPerObject - if more than one object is selected every one gets different emission seed in range (0,seed). So if your selection contains for example 5 objects and you want them to have different seed in range of e.g. 0 - 100 . just select seedPerObject and under seed field type 100
If samplingMethod is curve based additional options show up
start - from what length (percentage 0-1) we want curve to sample
end - till what ... (percentage 0-1)
spins - how many samples/points per curve ( if curve.EP or curveCP samplingMethod is chosen it doesn't do anything )


Samples display section controls viewport display properties of points



size - point size
renderAs - display point as ... (point or spheres)
color - color
colorPerObject - similar to seedPerObject ... if you want to change color of all selected particleObjects turn it on . Color is drawed from range(0-componentValue) So if you want different colors on selected particle systems make sure colorPerObj is checked and set color to be e.g. white to get full randomization in rage 0 - 1(white)


Samples connection creates "web" curves based on variables below 



connectionMethod - how selected samples/points are connected
- distanceOptions
skipIf - minimum distance between two points to create connection/strand
threshold - min and max distance threshold to create connection ( if distance between points is in range of those two values, connection could be made )
random - it adds randomness to threshold values ( two(min,max) for randomness added to min threshold and another two (min,max) for randomness in max threshold )
x y z - single component distance threshold
- gravityOptions
vector - direction of gravity
random - adding variance to gravity direction e.g random 1 2 3 will generate vector equal X - rand(-1,1), Y - rand(-2,2), Z - rand(-3,3)
magnitude - multiplier of resultant gravity direction vector
placing - place of gravity point along curve in range 0 - 1.0
random - add noise/randomness to gravity placing (draw float between min and max and add it to placing value - be sure to keep whole placing in range 0-1)

curveDegree - maya help (it could be also used to control kind of  "gravity tightness" )


AdditionalOptions are just a few things for a quicker acces 


mix/reduce ParticleSystems with % of - by that procedure you can connect few particle systems into one with control over count percentage

Some quick images and examples by using spider's web maker.


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Maybe I should make kind of using/tutorial video for those who want to use it... will see .
I'm thinking also about some additional features, but  I don't have time ... so again- will see.

CREATIVE CRASH to download


Thanks for stopping by... cheers!!


Comments

  1. Hello! This looks like it would be a very good plugin, and it could be very, very popular. But I cannot get it to execute. At least one error on line 60 (is missing the } terminator). And then a LOT of errors. I posted the error file list for you on Creative Crash. I am using Windows 64-bit, and Maya 2012 and Maya 2013.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmmm.... it should work in 2012
      1. open script editor
      2. file > load script (pick spider's web maker)
      3. command > execute

      Friend of mine tries to execute it inside of 2012 and it worked

      That way or that way I will try to make it work in other versions of maya ...

      Delete
  2. In Maya 2014. It just appear a small part of the icon.
    i can´t view the full window with all the options.
    Tried to scale but don´t work. sorry my bad english.
    Anyway, the script looks awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I uploaded modified version so download it now ....
      This is the problem...
      http://www.creativecrash.com/script/spider-web-maker/bugs/1028>bug

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply BolekCG,following the link. it works perfectly. Cheers.

      Delete
  3. I know that I as a very stupid person, but how do I actually create a spider web using this plugin. It does load correctly in Maya 2011, but I have not been able to construct a spider web with it. Could you please post a set of instructions?????? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pam .

      I need to find some free time ( maybe next weekend? ) to make kind of quick video tutorial

      Delete
    2. Hi again.

      A little bit late ... anyway
      https://vimeo.com/77592479

      Best!!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Hi Sundar.
      There is many ways ... just few of them:
      - assign hair system
      - assign paintEffect to curves
      - convert curves to geo (extrude along curve)
      - curves renderer (arnold, renderman)

      Kind regards

      Delete
    2. Sorry, I am really stupid. I've generated the web (awesome by the way), but I cannot no matter what I do, apply any color, texture, hair or anything to it, so no matter what - when rendered, the threads are invisible. I tried to convert it to anything, and it just won't work, also applying nHair fails for me.... What am I doing wrong ?

      Delete
    3. I also have this issue. Has anyone solved this?

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello. The plugin is great, but for some reason I cannot get surface sampling to work. Would you happen to know why this would be?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Chris.
    Are you using polyMesh or nurbsSurface ?

    ReplyDelete
  8. PolyMesh. However, I was able to get everything working properly after moving up a version of Maya and rerunning the script. Thanks for putting this out there for free.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Glad to hear!
    No problem Chris. Best!

    ReplyDelete
  10. hi thanks alot for providing such an amazing tool.it helps improve the look of my cg.cheers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Prasanth. No problem at all. Cheers!

      Delete
  11. Thank a lot for the Plugin...

    ReplyDelete
  12. hey, i cant seem to make this work. i've started the script in maya 2015. but it does not do anything.

    "please ... select at least one particle transform or particle shape nodeplease ..." i selected but nothing happens..

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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