Duplicate (or replicate) along an interpolated curve....

nudude

Hello,

This has likely been covered before, but my searches don't seem to be turning up an answer. I'm playing around with the vertex modeler, and I can't quite figure out how to model something that looks like half a zipper. I've looked at a gear tutorial, and it's almost perfect except for the fact that the teeth end up along a circle. It was done with a combination linear replication of a tooth and then application of a bend twist modifier - hence the circular form. My ultimate goal is to have the teeth along an interpolated curve (found in the modeling room), but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to do it. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, so a push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

WendyLuvsCatz

I would model one tooth in the vertex room and then in assembly room duplicate it as many times as needed myself, it places the next one in line as to how you transformed the previous one and you still have a master object you can uv map and edit if needed.

tbwoq

Other modeling programs have a copy along path or spline etc. Unfortunately, Carrara's vertex modeler(or other editors)doesn't have this feature. You might have to use replicate commands or manually model and duplicate at least one half of the zipper. Then use something like the bend modifier, IK chains, or bones to bend into position(s).

Roygee

In Hexagon, this would be a snip - simply "copy on a support". In Carrara, in the VM, replicate, as Pete did with the gears, then modify it with the bend and twist deformer - tricky to get the parameters right, but it can be done with some experimentation.

Even simpler, attach bones, bend to suit, then export as an object - be sure to select "Export object with morphs and skinning" - import and delete the original.

PGre

If you replicate the zipper teeth and then apply the bend modifier, you will end up distorting the teeth. I don't see a way to replicate along a polyline in the VM, but in this example I drew a polyline with segments that matched the height of the teeth; applied the bend modifier at 40 degrees, -90 degrees bend angle, 60% limit, Z axis selected; and then used the ALIGN command to position each tooth along the curve. The trick is to select a single edge along the back of the tooth, Shift+select a single segment along the curved polyline, CTRL+ALT select a vertex along the curved polyline (at the bottom of the selected edge), and CTRL+K for the ALIGN operation. A little tedious, yes, but it does work. The teeth splay out along the curve with out distortion.

nudude

Thank you all for the great ideas. Since hexagon is only $20, it sounds like a rather straight forward way to do what Carrara seems to lack. Is it pretty easy to use?