Ive got several of these shapes to make for a race seat project. Im working off of 3d scan data for the primary surface(red arrow). The workflow for the first one was to quadremesh and trim mesh, then quadremesh to subd (orange arrow).
I then want to offset the subd from the primary shape to create a mold for flexible cushion. I have successufly done that one time on a small sample. This is a photo of 4mm of flexible polyurethane surrounding a rigid 3d print. (the mold is in the background)
It worked pretty well at a constant offset, but i would really like an offset that is thicker on the front and thinner on the back and to blend the two (maybe blend surf?).
Everything ive done has been very slow and full of trial and error as i dont feel like I now the tools all that well. I wonder if anybody would have some suggestions for my workflow. I have several more of these to make based on future scans and i really want to it to be less effort than building an entire sub with all those loop lines all the way around.
your workflow is quite sound, I’d simply chase efficiencies with hotkeys and a few reps.
I’d hotkey:
stitch
add edge
add point
and then get comfortable with gumball and how to use it we with subd- Once you get familiar with the tools, (work in box mode, adjust and tune in smooth mode) you will realize how fast subd can be.
one thing to consider, if you can quad remesh to the smallest possible number of quads that gets your shape captured your subd models will be easier to manage.
As for your offset, you can thicken a subd and then simply adjust the inner surfaces to add more or less thickness as needed.
this is a cool project, please update as you go, I’ll be happy to help as much as is useful.
I see what you mean by getting better with the tools. Its still really slow going though.
To get the two thickness i cut a transition seam all the way around by deleting faces then offset the two different thicknesses, then recombine with a bridge. The loop lines dont go exactly where i want them too even when using the guide curve in quadremesh. So I have to make my seam by cutting into other loops and then i delete the point of the quad to make a triangle.
personally for offset stuff, I copy/paste then scale as needed, then bridge from inner to outer after I have adjusted everything in box mode that I wanted adjusted.
it makes it easier (for me) to be able to just see the inner and mod it alone as there is less “stuff” on the screen.
