Help with colour gradient? Can it follow a curve?

Hey everyone

Hoping someone could enlighten me with much knowledge regarding colour gradients.

I have these ramp-like objects and I'm currently using modelab tools' bakematerial component to get the colours. These are currently working with an attractor. Image and definition:

So how can I get the gradient to work on the ramps? Or would I have to use a curve and somehow tell it to follow the curve? The gradient seems to work on other objects.

Grasshopper and rhino file attached below if anyone wants to have a look!

Thanks in advance!

Ra.

Attachments:

ramp.3dm, 325 KB
ramp.ghx, 73 KB

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on May 31, 2010 at 6:37am

Hi Ra,

You can only assign a single colour to a NURBS surface, you need to create a mesh and colour each vertex in order to achieve a gradient. Decompose a Mesh to get the vertices to measure you distance against and then plug the gradient into the Mesh Colours Component. Also Meshes will bake with their colour attributes intact.

Here's something to get you started. Note you might have difficulty with managing multiple BReps

Permalink Reply by Ra on May 31, 2010 at 8:44am

Thanks Danny!

I was wondering though, have you tried plugging it back into bakedmaterials (a component from modelab tools)? For some strange reason, it keeps baking 288 copied on the layer i chose.

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on May 31, 2010 at 8:47am

I don't have modelab tools, sorry.

Permalink Reply by Ra on May 31, 2010 at 9:52am

No problemo!

Thanks for the mesh definition anyway!

Permalink Reply by Ra on June 1, 2010 at 3:46am

Hey Danny,

I tried baking the mesh colour component. But when I tried rendering, the colour didn't show up!

Is there a way of fixing this?

Also can I get a gradient to follow a curve?

Sorry that I have many questions!

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on June 1, 2010 at 4:24am

I thought this might come up, (about the curve) here's my solution for working out the distance along the curve, for this example I've used a dupedge from rhino as the referenced curve.

MeshColourCurve.png
What renderer are you using?

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on June 1, 2010 at 6:14am

Instead of the Preview component use the modolab tool. This works with multiple BReps referenced at the beginning.

Attachments:

RaRampZColSrf.ghx, 209 KB

Permalink Reply by Ra on June 1, 2010 at 6:31am

Thanks! Sorry, for some strange reason, I didn't get an email notification for your reply!

I'll have a go at it!

I somehow miraculously figured out how to do gradients according to heights!

Oh and I'm using Vray. I tried hooking it back to the modelab tool but i don't think it worked. Tried rendering it and it became all fuzzy.

Permalink Reply by Ra on June 1, 2010 at 9:05am

Sorry Danny, I have another query.

I have some objects(columns/balustrades) that run along the ramps. I tried plugging those breps into the function you did earlier where the gradient follows the curve. For some strange reason, it didn't work.

Here's an image:

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on June 1, 2010 at 9:22am

shouldn't you be in bed by now!

can you post your latest 3dm model and ghx?

Permalink Reply by Ra on June 1, 2010 at 9:51am

(for some strange reason, I couldn't reply below)

My sleep averages to about 3 hours a night really. You can see how my brain is dead!

Here are the files below! I also found a simpler way to do the gradient according to height.

Even if we figure it out, I still can't find a way to render it with colours :(

Attachments:

colour test3.3dm, 53 MB
colour test3.ghx, 833 KB

Permalink Reply by Danny Boyes on June 1, 2010 at 10:35am

I think your brain is toast. The easy answer is you are plugging in curves and the two ramps to the Mesh from BRep component. Not the intended geometry from your earlier efforts. But also unplug the mesh settings component as this level of detail might be causing the component to error as well.

Good luck