Blender Experiments

I wanted to push Blender 2.82a to an extreme.

GEOMETRY SOFTWARES

The video below is a Math Mash Up of all the free math art softwares I found online, in an animation made in Blender 2.82a:

Wind Them Up!  --
Blender Experiment with Math Art

I added some free Cicada sound effects to the animation,  from the YouTube audio library.

Right click and choose "Loop"

to loop the above video continuously

***

Below are the math softwares I used, plus some of the tutorials I relied onto make the video above.  I had been following the 3D sculptor Bathsheba for a while, and discovered some of this math software from his list.

MathMod, by Aderrahman Taha, allowed me to create forms mathematically, and export them as OBJ files (which Blender accepts).

MathMod

SeifertView, by Jarke J. van Wijk of Technische Universiteit Eindhoven -- I could not export any 3D files from this program, but it did let me save a JPG of the object.

PROCEDURE: I erased the background of that JPG in Photoshop Elements (though I could have done it online in remove.BG), and saved it as a PNG with a transparent background.  Then I imported that PNG into PhotoAnim, and made a 3D object from it, exporting an OBJ file (after following this tutorial).  Blender accepts OBJ files.


YouTube Tutorial:  Blender Constant Spinning Object or Wheel Blender 2.8

PNG

SeifertView

Chaoscope, by Nicolas Desprez, allowed me to download a .csproj, .csattr, and .csview files, which may be in 3D, but will not import into Blender.  It did let me download the rendered BMP image file, which I could import into Blender using the "Image as Planes" choice.

YouTube Tutorial: How to Import Images as Planes in Blender 2.8 Eevee | TutsByKai

Tutorial:  Images as Planes: Blender Manual

Chaoscope

EditSDF, by Stéphane Ginier, exports JSON and GLSL files, but I could not import them into Blender 2.82a, or convert them to a format that I could import.  Therefore I took a screen capture, and imported that into Blender, to use as the background of the video.

Tutorial:  How to Render a Background Image in Blender 2.8 Using the Document World Settings

EditSDF

The Solid Silver Dancers, by me, were exported from Mixamo (Hip Hop and Samba Dancing), developed from a drawing I made on May 12, 2020.  

PNG

The Solid Silver Dancers

were developed from this drawing,

into a 3D animation

PROCEDURE: I scanned in this drawing on newsprint, erased the background in Photoshop Elements, and exported it as a PNG file with transparent background.  Then I made a 3D file of it in PhotoAnim (following this tutorial), and exported the result as an OBJ file. Mixamo accepted the OBJ file, then rigged and animated it, which I could export as an FBX file.  Blender 2.82a accepts FBX files.

GENERATIVE

Midge Sinnaeve:  I downloaded his Blender scene -- mantissa.xyz_loop_068 -- which he put in the public domain, and added a couple of my animated figures, which I created in Mixamo.  Apparently my laptop could not render the animation, but I could film the action with my camera:

My animated figure drawings

with Midge Sinnaeve's VJ Loop 68

***

I installed the GitHub: SuperPoke Blender addon -- the "Iterative poking tool for Blender" -- one of GitHub: many by Midge Sinnaeve.  I tried it out on one of my 3D figures, and am showing off the wrinkled result in the animated GIF below.

I wrinkled this figure

with the SuperPoke Blender addon

Below is the original drawing I started with, made from a model I drew on Croquis Cafe.

PNG

PNG drawing of a model

from Croquis Cafe, 

April 29, 2020

I converted the PNG drawing above into an OBJ figure with PhotoAnim.  Note how the 3D file below, looks a lot different from the ultimate wrinkled figured in the animated GIF above.

The 3D file made from 

original PNG drawing

I decimated the above 3D object with GitHub: Instant Meshes, into very basic polygons before importing it to Blender 2.82a.  Then I altered it with the GitHub: SuperPoke Blender addon.

I "poked" at this simplified 3D object --

Download this decimated OBJ +MTLfile

(Zip file, 31.36 KB)

Curtis Holt:  I  followed his YouTube tutorial -- Free Generative Modeling Addon for Blender 2.8  -- and downloaded -- BY_GEN -- his free generative Blender addon from Gumroad.

PROCEDURE: I used the same low polygon OBJ model as in the previous experiment, and applied the "Metal Shell" mode to it following this point in the YouTube tutorial (note I had to increase the thickness in the "wire frame modifier").  Anyone can download the resulting wire frame figure here (5.95 MB).

I followed this YouTube tutorial to make a turntable animation:  Blender Tutorial: Turntable Camera Rigs Made Easy.

Then I exported a MP4 animation, and converted it into an animated GIF with EZGif.

Download this wire frame figure

made with the BY-GEN Blender addon

(5.95 MB)

This BY-GEN Blender addon seemed to freeze my laptop when I tried to use it with more complex 3D files.  I suspect that my GPU is not powerful enough to render the alterations.

***

Blender Addons mentioned above:

• GitHub: SuperPoke Blender addon 
• GitHub: many by Midge Sinnaeve
• GitHub: Instant Meshes  (decimates the OBJ file, not an addon)
• BY_GEN

Googling "generative plug in Blender" I came across this discussion in the BlenderArtists.org, from September 2018, with some specific links:

• GitHub: Jaques Lucke’s animation nodes --  (video)
• GitHub: Sverchok add-on
• I wish that one day maybe we can have such tool for Blender VR: 3D Paint Strokes Grease Pencil.
• GitHub: alessandro-zomparelli/tissue --(video) --Tissue is already shipped with both Blender 2.79b and Blender 2.80.

Plus:

• Style transfer Blender addon -- GitHub: EmbarkStudios/texture-synthesis -- (video)
• GitHub: mtyka/attractor  -- (video) -- the video explains how to add thickness to a bezier curve