the exoskeleton

still not perfect, still not how i wanted it to turn out...but i suppose this is a step.
dont know how much more i will have done by tomorrow, but at least im really understanding the powercopying command.



pretty sexy if i do say so myself...

failed structure attempt

using powercopies, i created the structure using 16 points placed on the circle both above and below. then i created a tube, and using planes and the intersect tool, i was able to pull several circles off the tube.



i then placed points on those circles that had been created, and began the process of powercopying my powercopy into the tube structure. for some reason...it failed as you can see here. so i am now working out the kinks and attempting it again. possibly as just individual powercopies and not a multiple powercopy

failed exoskeleton study...

In my attempt to recreate/study the skin of the tubes, i have found out that its creates its own physical constraints without my knowledge. When making the sections with splines, i find that although they pass through the correct points, the lines are not tangent to one another. when i attempt to make the splines tangent, the first two usually work out fine, and then (unless the construction lines are all right angles and vertical and horizontal) the drawing turns red and hates me.

When i try the same concept using curves along 3 points, i am successful in making all the curves tangent to one another and the construction lines. However, the points of connection to the continuing curves cannot remain tangent. Basically i have separate curves that dont look continuous, and if i set them tangent to one another...drawing turns red and again, hates me.

Starting to wonder if this characteristic can be changed or if the structure is built on a set of universal parameters that i am only beginning to understand...perhaps i STILL cant bend the laws of phsyics. God knows i'll keep trying...

exoskeleton

The individual tubes each have an exoskeleton that encases it. The structure is reflective of the structure of the overall building itself. I have only begun to play with and test the parameters of this concept...seems pretty stubborn and against change.

I have affectionately dubbed this the wave structure, and what I have realized is that each individual wave is tangent at alternating points with the waves next to it. In changing the size, direction, or length of any one of these segments, the entire wave (and surrounding waves) seem to morph out of control and beyond recognition. So I need to fool with it a bit more.

Some screen shots of DP are coming soon...

(hopefully tomorrow)