Make Joints

There are 2 ways to make elementary bricks for Joints tool.

1. Make joints in 3DCoat. Read this document.
2. Make joints in some external editor. Read the specifications. 

Technical requirements for models with Joints

• The model should be created taking into account the scale of the grid. For example, if it is a cube, then 10*10*10, a brick – 20*10*10.
  The blocks could be larger, however, they should be made to apply neatly onto the grid of 10*10*10.
  The vertical axis is Y.
  If the model is a tube, then the diameter should be 5.
  If the tube’s corner, then any parameter taking into account the corner is applied to the tube of 5 in the diameter. 
• You may add joints to the model right in 3DCoat. For this purpose, please make the model in the Modeling room (sculpt and retopo or model in the Modeling room from scratch).

Then go to Modeling room->Make joints and add as many joints as you need. It looks like:

• Press Add joint to add new joint. There are several options for each joint – axial symmetry, vertical/horizontal alignment, compatibility with other joints.
• Please fill in the name of the model and press Publish as soon as the model with joints is ready. The model will be placed in the Joints palette and you will get to the Joints tool to test the model with joints. Pay attention that the model with the same name.
• Model requirements. The models are low-poly ones – up to 5К polygons per model.
• If there is a tube 16 segments should be created. 
• A model could be a composite one. If there is a sub-object (retopo group) with the name of Shader_Gold, there will be created a volume named Shader_Gold, where the subobjects of this type will be gathered.
• That volume will be assigned a shader whose which name fits best with the word of Gold.
• Examples of models with the joints put Here
• The ready-made models should be placed Here

JOINTS SPECIFICATIONS

Technical requirements for models with Joints

1. The model should be created taking into account the scale of the grid. For example, if it is a cube, then 10*10*10, a brick – 20*10*10. The blocks could be larger, however they should be made to apply neatly onto the grid of 10*10*10. The vertical axis is Y. If the model is a tube, then the diameter should be 5. If the tube’s corner, then any parameter taking into account the corner is applied to the tube of 5 in the diameter. 
2. The model should consist of the very model to insert into the scene and the Joints. The Joints are objects in the scene which names start from the word Joint …. 

Each Joint is a pyramid or a cone, the sharp angle is directed outwards from the object. The center of the parallelepiped around the Joint is the point where the Joints connect.
Here’s an example of an object with the Joints. A curved tube – the object, cones – the Joints.
The very Joints are not added to the scene, but only the object.   

Joints without the object.

Placement of the Joints on the mesh. The division value is 1.

3. Agreements on the names of the Joints. The name of the Joint is the name of an object where the joint is located. The name may consist of several tags, for example Joint_Vertical_Axial16_Type1_Type2_01
   – The Joint object always starts with the word Joint_
   – The object name may contain key lines which define the behavior model for 3DCoat. Below is a set of sublines allowed:
   – Horizontal – the Joint is always horizontal
   – Vertical –  the Joint is always vertical
   – Tile – the Joint is tiled; user can pull the object alongside the direction of the Joint and multiply the object. This flag is rarely specified manually. The Joint is considered tiled if it is directed along one of the axes and there is a Joint in the opposite direction and with an opposite coordinate.

– AxialХХ, where XX is multiple of the axis symmetry. For example Axial4 can be rotated at 90 degrees, Axial8 can be rotated at 45 degrees.
– Type1, Type2, Type3, Type4 – the joints can be of various types. If there no particular type specified, the joint is compatible with all the types. You can specify several types using the _ sign. Then the Joint will be compatible with the specified types only. 

4. Model requirements. The models are low-poly ones – up to 5К polygons per model. If there is a tube designed – 16 segments should created. 
5. 3DCoat automatically creates a facet on all the edges with the angle of sharper than 140 degrees. However, if the name of the object contains the word “Soft” or “Native”, or two underlines is a row “__”, the facet is not created.
6. A model could be a composite one. If there is an object with the name of Shader_Gold, there will be created a volume named Shader_Gold, where the subobjects of this type will be gathered. That volume will be assigned a shader which name fits best with the word of Gold.
7. Adding models to 3DCoat. Show the window with models – Windows->Popups->Joints. In that window we add the model. The models should be distributed by the categories, don’t throw everything into one pile.
8. Examples of models with the joints put Here
9. The ready-made models should be placed Here

Tutorials

Joints in 3DCoat: In this video, I will explain the use of Joints in 3DCoat.