Strings (product) Bend Distortion

Melissa Conway

Hey guys. Is there a trick to bending this product without distortion? I rotated the neon tube on the z axis and as soon as I let go of the mouse, the next link in the bend became distorted, and so on. I'm hoping to avoid putting a ticket in because I neeeed this prop for a scene and can't afford to wait....LOL

Thanks! 

Edit: pic didn't attach, must have been too big, will re-attempt

Melissa Conway

Here it is

nicstt

Ha! I own it (yet another item I have never used.)

I'll have a look and come back to you.

Edit:

I changed to the active pose tool and grabbed the end, seemed to work well. (Can't believe I've never looked at this - thank you :D )

You might want to add a smoothing modifier and sub d - although they don't make a huge difference.

You can also click on a bone and under Create menu, select Create IK Chain; you can then manipulate the rope from the selected bone by manipulating the created IK chain item. Just Ctrl Z to undo if something looks weird. I did get different results using the IK chain I created then using the pose tool and dragging the bone itself.

Dragging bones with the universal tool has always been a poor way of handling bone tugging and pulling. :)

The thing to be aware of is that each bone controlls a specific amount of mesh, with fall-off into the adjacent bone; this is what can cause sharp corners; in real-world objects, sharp corners are a deliberate action and dependent on the material properties.

Saxa -- SD

LOL, see Nicstt answered already while I was taking a peek.

For your project looks like you need more precision to make it look like an engineer product.

Just expanded hierarchy of the node, and you can see all the bones.  Can also just click somehwere on "string" and you will get whatever bone is there.  Which is why having expanded hierarchy may be handy to know which bone you are bending.  Then activate the rotate tool at top on toolbar.  Then you use the 3d widget for rotating after you selected bone you wanted.  In my case just turned one the 3 circles (z-rotation) or as Nicstt wrote, do that in parameters too.

 

 

lilweep

Can you select a bunch of bones in the IK chain at once and rotate them together rather than trying to bend at one joint?

 I think there are some tutorials online for using the SIckleYield ropes and i would assume the same logic applies here.

Ive never had the patience to pose thse IK chains, and always end up with kinks,

Melissa Conway

Thanks for responding you guys, but I'm such a nincompoop lately (been sick) that it didn't occur to me before I posted that the scaling I applied before bending might have borked it. I tested it just now and that's the culprit. Bends fine before scaling. Means I can't use the product because I need the tube to be larger.  

felis

Melissa Conway said:

Thanks for responding you guys, but I'm such a nincompoop lately (been sick) that it didn't occur to me before I posted that the scaling I applied before bending might have borked it. I tested it just now and that's the culprit. Bends fine before scaling. Means I can't use the product because I need the tube to be larger.  

What happens if you do it in reverse, i.e. the bending first and then the scale?

Melissa Conway

Logic to the rescue! LOL Thanks Felis, that seems to have done the trick!  

felis said:

Melissa Conway said:

What happens if you do it in reverse, i.e. the bending first and then the scale?

 

Mechasar

Melissa Conway said:

Hey guys. Is there a trick to bending this product without distortion? I rotated the neon tube on the z axis and as soon as I let go of the mouse, the next link in the bend became distorted, and so on. I'm hoping to avoid putting a ticket in because I neeeed this prop for a scene and can't afford to wait....LOL

Thanks! 

Edit: pic didn't attach, must have been too big, will re-attempt

Hello Melissa,

First of all thank you for choosing STRINGS. I know this product is not so easy to manage, but with a little practice you can get the results you need. It seems there are already great tips here, so thanks guys for your help.

Some other tips:

1. You can select multiple bones at a time (hold the CTRL key and click the bones to choose them individually. If you want to select a series of adjacent bones, press the SHIFT key and select the first bone, then select the last bone and release the SHIFT key). You can use the first method even from the ‘Viewport’ panel, the second method only from the ‘Scene’ panel.
2. Once you selected multiple bones you can bend or scale them at the same time.
3. Use the ‘Parameters’ panel if you need accurate curvatures.
4. Use the ‘ActivePose’ tool if you need natural and inaccurate bending.
5. Start your work from the base node to the tip. Lock the bones you just bent, then move to the next bone.

Hope it was helpful. Here’s an example

Melissa Conway

Thanks for popping in Mechasar. IMO, Strings isn't all that difficult to use. I just didn't know how to scale it properly. Thanks for making this product! :)

Mechasar said:

Melissa Conway said:

Hello Melissa,

First of all thank you for choosing STRINGS. I know this product is not so easy to manage, but with a little practice you can get the results you need. It seems there are already great tips here, so thanks guys for your help.

Some other tips:

1. You can select multiple bones at a time (hold the CTRL key and click the bones to choose them individually. If you want to select a series of adjacent bones, press the SHIFT key and select the first bone, then select the last bone and release the SHIFT key). You can use the first method even from the ‘Viewport’ panel, the second method only from the ‘Scene’ panel.
2. Once you selected multiple bones you can bend or scale them at the same time.
3. Use the ‘Parameters’ panel if you need accurate curvatures.
4. Use the ‘ActivePose’ tool if you need natural and inaccurate bending.
5. Start your work from the base node to the tip. Lock the bones you just bent, then move to the next bone.

Hope it was helpful. Here’s an example

 

fastbike1

Well, this threa made me take another look at the product. Decided I could use it.