Displacement, GH definition, paneling Tools, FlowAlongSrf?

[Marc (Marc Gibeault)]

I thought it would be more straightforward than this…

My goal is to have a textured surface that will be 3d printed. The base shape is a simple cone.
I thought about using displacement and then ExtractRenderMesh and build a mesh model around that but, with the level of detail needed, it was unworkable.

I checked a few Grasshopper examples but could not find how to divide the surface the way I wanted; not following the UV grid but like if a piece of fabric was draped on the cone, like this

I thought about modelling the desired pattern on a flat surface and then use FlowAlongSrf but, while the shape is easy to flatten precisely, I could not get it to flow back to the original shape. Anything I’m missing here @pascal ?

Then there’s the Paneling tools… If it’s the only way to go I’ll try it. I guess I will have to lay out curves in the desired orientation (as the grid in the UV Editor) and proceed with the steps shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3E8jOKeNOk&list=PLcCuMtdXzHHAz3oiYjiSNI0MN2ZATnDoc

I join a test file if someone has time to play with this.
test_cone.3dm (2.8 MB)

[pascal (Pascal Golay)]

Hi Marc - ExtractRenderMesh the displaced mesh and flow that. Is that good enough, as a mesh? This way the mapping is locked in so to speak.

-Pascal

[Marc (Marc Gibeault)]

Hi Pascal, thanks for taking the time.
That would work but I’m not able to get this result. No matter what combination of options I choose, I get bad results. Best I got:

Oh no, I get it!
For the base surface, I have to select the flatten surface with the “natural” UVs!