Andrew F. Scott: Laser Scanning Focus NURBS

In this post I will present a workflow for using the laser scanner to create elements for sculptural compositions. The illustration above presents the finished composition composed of a Nurbs Surface and linear contour elements.


The data was scanned in an earlier post Black Power Nkisi: Laser Scan. In that post the emphasis was placed on using Rapid Works to extract polygonal elements that could be used to create sculptural compositions. In this post the emphasis will be placed on using Rapid Works to derive a series of Nurbs elements that will be used in sculptural compositions.

The AutoSurface sub-menu is used to generate your Nurbs surface patches. You should focus on generating surface patches using both Evenly Distributed Networks and Feature Following networks. Once these patches are generated you have a variety of tools that can be used to edit the networks. Finally you can use your scanned mesh as the background for a networks that you create by drawing directly on its surface.

The finished surface typology is then imported in Rhino as an IGES file. Within Rhino the Curve From Object command is used to extract the contour curves from the nurbs patch network. Its always a good idea to organize your elements on separate layers so that you can access them when needed and its just good craftsmanship..

Grasshopper in invoked from within Rhino. Once in Grasshopper a simple script is created to read in all of the curves and transform them into adjustable pipes. Play around with the radius adjustment to play with the proportion of your tubes with the underlying mass and as an element unto itself.

The tubes should be baked into Rhino from within Grasshopper on separate levels.

The data can now be used in a wide variety of digital fabrication processes at a wide variety of scales. During this quarter I am teaching both Digital Applications in Sculpture and Direct Metal Sculpture. I look forward to exploring how these data sets and workflow can be used in both contexts.

7/14/2011 Update

Below are two of the initial studies based on the scanned data.

The first study is a serial exploration of the form. While I like the way that the cardboard looks I am interested in using this form as an internal armature. I want to see how well aqua-resin and cheese cloth works over this form. I am also interested in doing another serial study using wood.


In this study a 3d print of the computer model was created then molded using Smooth-On Rebound 25 silicone rubber. Afterwhich, urethane models were created using Smooth-Cast 325. I am interested in doing a few more castings and material explorations using these models. This is only the beginning.

Andrew F. Scott: Penthouse Gallery

ELDS 750/450: Spatial Simulation: Andrew F. Scott: Interior Lighting

This image was created in Maya using the Mental Ray shader. In this image A Physical Sky shader as the main source of light. Material_X is the primary shader used for all of the materials in this visualization. I think that I would like for the room to be in a penthouse so I will find an image for the backdrop that can create that context of I may just have to create the city myself.

I found a New York City skyline to use as the backdrop for my Penthouse Gallery. This image was created in Photoshop By compositing render passes from maya. The same work flow can be used in Keyshot to complete you image composites. Note the difference in the dynamic range of this image compared to the beauty shot in Maya.

I wanted to create another view of my Penthouse Gallery. I wanted this view to be set in a daytime context with a wider view of the gallery. I am beginning to like this notion of composing exhibitions of my work digitally. I followed the same work flow as in the previous image, first creatign the beauty pass in Maya. Afterwhich I used the render layers to compose several render passes.

This is the composited image in Photoshop. While I think it is a good start there is still some work that i have to do in Maya with the shadows to get it just right.

Andrew F. Scott: Keyshot rendering play

This image is from a class room demo showing how keyshot can be used to create render passes for compositing in Photoshop. This model presents some interesting considerations. The Nkisi-Nkonde figure was captured using a laser scanner. The approximate size of the model in 8 inches high. As a part of the scanning process texture coordinates were captured and fused together to create a texture map for the three dimensional model. Hypershot recognizes this data as a part of the model and applies it to your object when you import it into the program. It becomes a layer that can be used to both bump and texture map the model.

In this demo I left an important clue that would permit you to see that the image has been photoshopped. can you find it??

Mitul Mistry - Rendering in Context

For my object in context, I used my FDM ZBrush model. It's hard to come up with an architectural context for a giant three-legged monster. Of course, I'd love to see it in solid 24k gold in Millennium Park.

Tamela Sicay-Perrow Final Posting

This is my last post of the quarter. Over the course of this class, I've been inundated with a lot of information that will take a long time to synthesize. I can only hope to use a portion of it within the lifetime of my artistic career. The images included can hopefully show the extent of my apppreciation of the class and my education. This rendering is the final proposal of what I can imagine my fdm surface population turning into.And this is the produced abs printed fused-deposition modeling "egg" that was later painted to match the mettalic finish in the rendering previous. This following picture is a screen capture of the ideal of what the pepakura file for the final project could have produced. The final model is flawed and is not pictured here, but the synthesis of this idea will continue. Once completed, I will post again to show the potential of the idea being realized.

Some Grasshopper Eye Candy

-John Adams