07-21-2025, 01:49 AM
I used to use a plugin called SplineMesher for tracing splines with geometry (http://www.rpmanager.com/plugins/SplineMesher.htm), but the plugin stopped being developed for the newer versions of 3ds Max.
I tried to use the tySplineMesher modifier in the same way, but ran into two differences that made it not work the same when animating the Stretch %:
1. When the mesh arrives to a knot that's a corner or bezier corner, the segments don't anchor right away, and so the edge will slide around on the corners, creating unsightly artifacts on the corners when rendering the animated Stretch % with motion blur.
2. When animating on a closed spline, it automatically connects the end of the mesh back to the beginning instead of just capping the ends.
It seems that it may be easy to add a couple of simple toggles to optionally a) create a segment instantly at every corner and b) cap ends on a closed spline instead of connecting back to the beginning.
I tried to use the tySplineMesher modifier in the same way, but ran into two differences that made it not work the same when animating the Stretch %:
1. When the mesh arrives to a knot that's a corner or bezier corner, the segments don't anchor right away, and so the edge will slide around on the corners, creating unsightly artifacts on the corners when rendering the animated Stretch % with motion blur.
2. When animating on a closed spline, it automatically connects the end of the mesh back to the beginning instead of just capping the ends.
It seems that it may be easy to add a couple of simple toggles to optionally a) create a segment instantly at every corner and b) cap ends on a closed spline instead of connecting back to the beginning.