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| ‘Displacement’
of meshes and Toolpaths for CNC use is not a new concept. A
range of dedicated commercial software exists to exploit the principles
applied in this work. The costs associated with software of
this nature can be prohibitive. FREE and less costly displacement tools are available. These tend to offer only basic function with little opportunity to adjust output. Some apply blur-based smoothing. However, there is a lot more to displacement of meshes and toolpaths than application of blurring algorithms. |
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| Task
01: Applying
Heightmaps to mesh objects using
gmax.
As tasks in this chapter will clearly demonstrate there are
few tools that can equal gmax
ability to exploit mesh and toolpath displacement.
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| Task
02: gmax
'Materials Editor'
functions applied in several examples to the result of Task 01.
Fast and simple adjustments to create custom forms using basic gradients. 'Real time' feedback in the view greatly assists these adjustments. |
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| Task
03: gmax
Displacement
tools applied to create 'Real' objects. Mesh shaping with
these tools can avoid need for manual work in the view.
These methods assist creation of complex geometry without need of great experience or skills in 3D modelling. |
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| Task
04: gmax
Displacement
tools used to generate 'Dimensional Clipart'.
This example uses only the most basic tools and options to create output equating with costly commercial software. |
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| Task
05: A
more advanced example where gmax
tools and options are used to maximum effect to generate excellent
output .
'Shaped' meshes and 'Stacked' modifiers allow higher levels of detail with independant control over any number of 'layers' of displacement. Multiple images are applied to 'tune' output to suit user requirement. |
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| Task
06: gmax
tools
can apply and adapt planar displacement to non-planar geometry.
This allows use of cylindrical and spherical forms without need to go beyond the skills required to address flat or planar geometry. |
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| Task
07: When curvature in base geometry is more pronounced, planar to non-planar methods can cause relief detail to 'smear' . gmax mapping tools maintain clean perpendicular edges to detail even when curvature is extreme. gmax tools address non-planar geometry that is also non-uniform. Few if any other displacement tools have this ability. |
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| Task
08: gmax tools are highly adaptable to suit base geometry. Concave forms present little difficulty and again maintain clean perpencicular detail edges. Simple adjustments can repeat detail across or around surfaces when this is required. |
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| Task
09: One of the benefits of gmax displacement tools is that they can also be applied to shapes or splines to quickly generate templates for toolpathing and gCoding with CNC_Toolkit. Shape displacement employs identical methods to mesh work. No additional skills are required. This has great benefit for users of rotary axis configurations. |
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| Task
10: When gmax tools have been applied to generate relief detail, all parameters and mapping are simply copied and pasted onto a shape to form a toolpath. By varying the shape different types of toolpath are generated. Task 09 creates a 4-axis pre-finish path. By varying shape parameters, Task 10 creates a 4-axis finish path. |
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| Task
11: Identical methods are applied in the case of non-planar and non-uniform geometry. Work from Task 07 is exploited to generate a 4-axis template to cut the mesh detail. When a suitable shape has been created, using techniques from Chapter 4, copy and paste of modifiers and parameters forms this toolpath. |
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| Task
12: If detail is of smaller sizes, shapes to form toolpaths require small stepover values and higher subdivision. Simple adaptations allow a small area to be toolpathed. Adjustment to cut start position can apply the same toolpath at adjusted orientation. This technique can be of benefit in 3, 4 and 5 axis applications. |
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| Task
13: Identical displacement techniques can be applied to creation of 'Intaglio' or 'V-Carving' path templates. The only real adjustment in this work is the form of spline used for displacement. Centerline or edge-detect vectorisation creates a suitable initial path form. 'Region' shapes can be employed if required. Copy and paste of modifiers performs all template shaping. |
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| Task
14: Just as 'Relief' displacement can be applied to non-planar, non-uniform geometry, so too with 'Intaglio' or 'V-Carving' methods. In these cases planar to non-planar adaptations work very well. A single pass of the path is shown in these small images for clarity. |
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| Task
15: 3, 4 or 5 Axis machine configurations can be applied to 'Intaglio' or V-Carving toolpaths. CNC_Toolkit gCodes these paths quickly and efficiently, creating a usful cutting preview in the process, as shown in this image. |
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