Parametric surfaces + shells

[OnoSendai]

I added some experimental parametric surface code to Indigo.
The general idea is to define a surface with a function that goes from a u,v pair, to a 3d vector representing the position of the surface for the given u and v.
The function is written in ISL, and the surface is triangulated at scene load time.

I'm not sure how useful it will be for everyone, but it's certainly fun for me
It can be pretty tricky to get correct shapes.

The shell render uses a parametric surface for the geometry, and an ISL shader for the albedo. So it's basically pure shaders!

[rgigante]

Great add Nick!

[lycium]

Really like the shells, very well detailed

[CTZn]

This is great, I am hoping to see the technique grow into a more practical tool !

How far does this bring Indigo from reading nurbs formats ?

Any chance to make the surfaces of the same substance than sphere primitives ? What is the type of surface of sphere primitives btw ?

I guess the mesh density can be controlled parametrically. Though, are view dependent subdivisions to be a feature again ?

[Whaat]

Hi Ono,

I am wondering if it's possible to write a fur or grass shader? (I'd love to see a demonstration... )

[ENSLAVER]

Hi Ono,

I am wondering if it's possible to write a fur or grass shader? (I'd love to see a demonstration... )

Ha, that's a great idea. The first thing I thought of was crazy 3D fractals.

[lycium]

Hi Ono,

I am wondering if it's possible to write a fur or grass shader? (I'd love to see a demonstration... )

Ha, that's a great idea. The first thing I thought of was crazy 3D fractals.

I'll be working on that this weekend

[OnoSendai]

Hi Ono,

I am wondering if it's possible to write a fur or grass shader? (I'd love to see a demonstration... )

Hi Whaat,
A single parametric surface by itself is, I think, only suitable for e.g. a single blade of grass, or a single strand of carpet thread.
However, parametric surfaces combined with a scatter tool should handle this very nicely. I plan to add a scatter shader into Indigo, which would basically scatter instances over the surface of some target object.
Expect to see some results this weekend!

[Zom-B]

I plan to add a scatter shader into Indigo, which would basically scatter instances over the surface of some target object.

If Parameters like density, scale etc. could be controlled via texture mask, then you end up with a quite flexible and for artists easy to handle system

[CTZn]

and a seed in order not to have jitter during animations...

[StompinTom]

Hi Ono,

I am wondering if it's possible to write a fur or grass shader? (I'd love to see a demonstration... )

Hi Whaat,
A single parametric surface by itself is, I think, only suitable for e.g. a single blade of grass, or a single strand of carpet thread.
However, parametric surfaces combined with a scatter tool should handle this very nicely. I plan to add a scatter shader into Indigo, which would basically scatter instances over the surface of some target object.
Expect to see some results this weekend!

Really excited to see what you come up with.

On a somewhat related note, if the .igmesh file format supported shape keys it could allow randomization of that object's form driven by an Indigo shader, perhaps. I'm just thinking of scattering and how to nicely randomize a scattered mesh object while keeping the model size down. In effect, it would be like driving the shape key parameter with a shader and texture maps, so similar to what you're saying about driving geometry parameters with shaders.

Very cool new side of Indigo.

[StompinTom]

But, more simply, it would be amazing for things like fur and hair. And probably quite light in terms of memory as well, no?

Excited to see some fur / fuzz examples! Fluffy towels galore

[OnoSendai]

Teapots everywhere

[OnoSendai]

[OnoSendai]

Taking it to the limit...
500K teapots