Re: create a tentacle

[studio]

Hi Arjo :     OK , I tried this at least 15 times with all different kinds of smoothings and subdivisions and it's no good . This is actually one of the many things I tried last night as well as extruding an SDS face and going from there .   This probably is a good job for Nurbs anyway , but I spent a fair amount of time with all the 1D/2D/3D controls and it seems to come down to trail and error as to which tool might give me some control over exact sizing in one direct- ion while maintaining coordinates .   Seems , for me , it always-always comes to this ; 1) Create a nurbs circle 2) Extrude it 3) Do a "Curve" function (curves from a surface) 4) Try and size those curves and distribute them using    'snap-to-grid' and numeric entry to get a nice cons-     tent looking object . 5) Do a Tools/Nurbs construction/Create Mesh from Cross-    Section Curves 6) Repeat steps 3 & 4 & 5 until satisfied .   I asked 2 years ago here for tips on how to build a steel scoop like you see used in bulk food stores , but in SDS since I tried &couldn't) . Nothing came from here so in the end , after a couple of sweaty days with SDS ... I built it from nurbs curves , one curve at a time , and was happy !    That's the way I am . I would tell 3D S/W developers this, "Don't make me sit there with a manual in one hand a mouse in the other , trying to decipher all the buttons & levers in a tool when all I want to do is create something very simple 90% of the time anyway" .   With a soft deformation tool I could have push-pulled that steel "scoop" out of a nurbs sphere in 10 minutes . studio www.niagara.com/~studio www.studiodynamics.net > Hi Garry, > > I assume you try to make a tentacle that becomes thinner to the end. > Try this one: > -create a SDS cylinder with the maximum circle size you want, while leaving > density at zero(default) > -scale the lenght to as long as you want the tentacle to be. > -go into point edit mode and select one of the circles of points and scale > them to the thin endsize. > -next go into edge edit mode and select the side edges. > -hit the split button in the sds control bar and fill out how many > subdivisions you want. > -go into point edit mode and if you did not change any selection >  all the points except the end circles will be selected. > -select the "add edges" function in the sds control bar. > -use the transformation>bend function to change the straight shape of the > tentacle > Arjo. > >   Tried various methods , nurbs curves rotate , Stef's > > 'extrude a tentacle animation' technique , but nothing > > that looks snake-like enough . > > > >    Is there an easy method to create a realistic looking > > snake-like tentacle ? > > > > Thanks In Advance . > > > > studio > > www.niagara.com/~studio > > www.studiodynamics.net