@mcvltd In your post (#100, yesterday) what is this:
I’ve never seen anything like this in any Rhino control windows. Is it a static “helper” picture or a dynamic thing similar to Rhino’s command specific help except right at the immediate “point of use”?
Do you find it noticeably more helpful than Rhino’s approach? Is the picture generic or actually related to the object you are working on?
Also, some more notes regarding the matching. Since blending option in Icem Surf are quite diverse, it really helps to create the ‘Variant Sets’. On top of that, the deviation analysis is provided numerically within the window but also as a graph directly in the 3d view. It is also worth to note, that the deviation within the 3d view highlights the extremes. This way, it is possible to fine tune the matching result by moving control points which are free to transform. Unfortunately, after the command ends, the analysis is terminated and has to be re-enabled for manual tweaking. I also remember a slider allowing you to interpolate between the unmatched and matched state. Which is useful when you match to multiple boundaries and an average is desired.
Is the view scaling link correct? (I thought it was going to be about this.)
Also, if you want to add a link for match blending, here’s one example.
…
Most of my threads have to do with surfacing tools I find missing in Rhino, but since I come from Alias and never used VSR, I’ll just stand on the side and cheer on this thread because it will make all of our lives better and McNeel stronger and less vulnerable in the long term.
The picture is related to the Fillet option you choose (the dropdown above). It clearly explains the parameters in the rest of the window. I think there are around 5 types to choose from. Its static for each mode, but I find it quite nice, since you have a large icon explaining you what this variation will produce.
See attached.
VSR Shape modeling.pdf (6.4 MB)
Rhino can replace Autodesk Alias if it can implement all of these functionalities (not that many…) in VSR. VSR contains the most critical tools in Alias; these tools are designed exclusively for automobile Class-A modeling, which is also beneficial for general users.
Outlining what might become a basic Class-A toolset:
Working scripts for:
Single span filleting LINK
Real time deviation analyis LINK
Planarising Control Points LINK
View scaling/Non proportional Zoom LINK
2 Point tracing plane LINK
Youtrack entries for:
So the biggest steps forward at the moment could be made with:
- Control Point modelling
- MatchSrf with deviantion report, handles, Falloff/Blend, projected matching, partial etc.
Same idea for curves:
Ok, I promised I’d stand on the side buuuuuut… Alias has absolutely rock solid history, and not just single history but an unlimited relation tree (only limitation is your CPU power) where you can even go in an replace history references without breaking anything. That means you can trim a surface all you want, match the same surface all you want and fillet it all you want, and ALL of that will update just fine if you CV massage it. But I realize we’re not getting that in Rhino anytime soon. (Sorry, I’ll try to shut up now.) 
Yes, just this. Static and generic just to show you what you should be selecting and expecting from the command. The box above it has the same drop-down menu but with a basic written description. It’s a bit odd…
(apologies, already answered by Tom…)
No! Please chime in. It’s all the same kind of work flow, VSR - Alias - ICEM… and totally relevant for improving Rhino!
I have a suggestion for the rebuild commands in rhino.
Currently there are 4 orders.
2 for surfaces
_Rebuild and _RebuildUV.
and 2 for curves
_Rebuild
and _RebuildCrvNonUniform .
it would be a good idea to have all these commands run under a single command, all simply (_rebuild )
with a single icon instead of four icons.
this single icon opens the window dedicated to your choice.
curve or surfaces.
I would like to comment particularly on the option (select master curve)
which is a powerful option
it gives good results in certain cases where the usual reconstruction fails.
however the current window is not at all productive, you have to create your base curves before running the command, which is not practical at all.
how many curves must be created before launching the command???. I will let you guess ! .
in addition to that, if you click on this option you cannot go back, you must exit the command before launching it again.
I illustrated in a photo the facade of these windows with the content options.
there she is.
Well, in that case I would repeat one of the first things I asked about when I first got into Rhino: A good soft edit/move/proportional modification system. I know we have two already, but frankly, they’re both practically unusable. And yes, technically they work but they lack intuitive options, have very poor realtime visual feedback (especially when it comes to selection), and no post-editing tweaking options. Neither current system makes you any faster than just ignoring them.
Oh, and then there’s also the most basic thing…
I believe you can also share insight regarding Rhino’s UI/UX.
In response to your earlier statement, it ultimately boils down to the modelers’ knowledge of Class-A surface modeling, such as Zebra influence, the technique for forming QuadSurface, and control point relationships (hence surface), etc. However, without these VSR/Alias (functionally equivalent) capabilities, it is difficult to achieve Class-A standards. VSR and Alias are identical to me.
Hahahaha…
Great list.
Thank you Norbert!
When you look at the comments here, it will always come down to the same tools.
I talked about this with my surfacing team yesterday, and we came to the same conclusions, because that is how Class-A surfacing works. There is no secret to it. The workflow is always:
It is exactly what a machinist would do operating a lathe. And the more precise your parts needs to be, the more you need to measure.
This is why those tools are so important.
Deviation analysis is basically your calipers and View Scaling is your straight edge.
In Class-A surfacing that the holy trinity.
And no matter who you ask, the answer will always the same tools. Just like if you ask a machinist how he gets his parts so precise.
Working scripts can be found here:
Real time deviation analyis
View scaling
One of the first things I did after learning VSR was to create my own display setting. The transparency tells me the surface normal. I can’t see isocurve direction, but I know that Violet is for V and Ugly yellow is for U.
I can spot naked edges (red vs. black), closed (poly) srfs (more transparent), etc.
There’s a lot of good stuff hidden in Rhino’s display settings.
I’m not into visually analyzing models as I just model cars for fun every 5 years.
Can you show an image of how this looks on a model?
The closest I could get to this is by testing out a zebra striped environment.
But I imagine you don’t want the stripes to come together in poles, but rather radiate circles from them. Is that correct?
So this instead of that? (illustration only)
Yes exactly!
Currently the Zebra shader uses some sort of projection mapping that helps showing bad surface transitions.
But “Static Zebra” or isophotes works similiar to a draft angle analysis, in that areas of the same angle (range) to a vector have the same shading. This helps understanding curvature flow of a topology in relation to that vector.
Parallel contours in that direction will have parallel zebra stipes. If contours twist it will show in the Zebra stripes accelerating up or down. Low shallow curvature has wide stripes, round high curavture hat tight stripes etc.
