This is the supporting topic for my "Morphing Railing Add On For Railings01" freebie in the Renderosity Free Stuff.

I originally created this freebie several years ago, around 2013 I think, just for fun. It was tested back then in Poser 6 and 9, and in DAZ Studio 3 and 4.

Please feel free to post comments (good or bad - constructive criticism preferred), suggestions for improvement, and/or questions about this freebie here.

Link to item in Renderosity Free Stuff: Morphing Railing Add On For Railings01 (renderosity.com)

Alternative link to item at ShareCG: Morphing Railing Add On - Poser - ShareCG

Original Railing01 and supporting topic for Railings01 also here in Renfderosity Freestuff

(Original blurb)

Okay, here's a bit more flexibility for those Railings, an additional 'Morphing Railing'. Lets you bend the rails up, down and sideways and stretch or shorten them.

It's just a new OBJ (a few extra rings of vertices at each end of each rail), a new PP2, (and a new DSA for DAZ Studio users to auto-apply DS materials). The files will be in the same place as the original Railing01 props. On loading it looks exactly the same as the 'Pillar And Rails' prop, i.e. one pillar with three rails sticking out but there are now 11 morph dials:

Bidirectional morphs:
- Shorten-Extend - same as the 'Extend Railings' morph on the original.
- Horizontal Correction / Vertical Correction - extra adjustment mainly when Shorten-Extend is used with other morphs (can be used alone as a sharper Slope/Offset).

Unidirectional morphs:
- Slope Up / Slope Down - the start and end of each rail stays horizontal, the middle slopes up or down.
- Offset Left / Offset Right - the start and end of each rail are parallel to the unmorphed rail, the middle is at an angle
- Bend Left 90 / Bend Right 90 - 90 degree angle between start and end of each rail.
- Bend Left 45 / Bend Right 45 - 45 degree angle between start and end of each rail. Extra morph since the 90 degree one deforms too much at halfway values)

I haven't set any limits on the morphs, but suggest -1 to +1 for bidirectional ones, and 0 to +1 for unidirectional ones. Rules of thumb for using several morphs together - see the last two promo images.

Here's what the morphs look like.

From above:

From the front/side:

The vertical/horizontal correction morphs should only be used after you've got the shorten/extend, slope, and/or offset/bend morphs set as you want.

Here are some hints on combining morphs:

And here's an example:

Readme

        3DCheapskate's Morphing Railing (3DC021A Version 1)

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    An Add On For Railings01 - An Extra Morphing Railing Prop

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contents

========

- Summary

- What's Included

- Testing/Compatibility

- Licence/Copyright

- Credits

- Feedback

- Installing The Package

- Using The Package

  - Rules Of Thumb For Using Multiple Morphs Together

- Known Issues

- File List

Summary:

========

An extra railing prop for 3DC021 Railings01 with eleven morphs to make the railings more flexible

What's Included:

================

A single 'Morphing Railing' prop. 

Testing/Compatibility:

======================

Tested in DAZ Studio 3 (Free and Advanced) and 4 (Pro), and in Poser 6 and 9. On a windows PC.

Licence/Copyright:

==================

As usual you're free to do whatever you want with this. Credit is appreciated, but not required.

Credits:

========

No specific credits for this one (and unusually I didn't post any queries to the Renderosity/DAZ forums while working on this!).

So it's just the usual 'everybody on the DAZ and Renderosity forums who's helped me get to where I am'.

Feedback:

=========

Feedback is always appreciated. I can't fix problems if I don't know about them!

You can contact me via the DAZ or Renderosity forums, via ShareCG, and now also via DeviantArt. I'm user '3dcheapskate'. Alternatively use the feedback form on my website http://www.unrealimperfect.com

Installing The Package:

=======================

Copy the folders you require according to the notes below (if you've already got the 3DC021 Railings01 it would be sensible, but not essential, to use the same folders):

1) Runtime - this contains the standard Poser files. Copy them to your preferred Poser runtime (DAZ Studio users need to have this Poser runtime mapped).

2) Runtime (extra DS files) - this contains DAZ script files (DSA) to automatically load the DS materials and MAT pose files. DAZ Studio users should copy the contents of this folder to the same Poser runtime as above.

3) Templates - if you want to create your own textures copy the 'Templates' folder to anywhere you like. (The only change from the original 3DC021 Railings01 template is that the rail has extra vertices. Textures created against the old template should work fine) 

Using The Package:

==================

Load the new prop PP2 file from 'Runtime > Libraries > Props > 3DCheapskate > Architecture > Barriers > Railing01 > Morphing Railing'.

When the prop loads it may briefly appear in the preview window with a patchy black and white texture before turning dark grey (you'll need to render to see the texture).

On the Parameters tab/pane there are eleven morph dials. Fiddle with them to your hearts content!

Four paired dials (values of 0 to +1, or 0% to 100% in DAZ Studio, work best - negative values deform the railings):

- Slope Up / Slope Down

- Offset Right / Offset Left

- Bend Right 90 / Bend Left 90

- Bend Right 45 / Bend Left 45

A morph to adjust the length of the rails (values of -1 to +1, or -100% to 100% in DAZ Studio, work best):

- Shorten-Extend

Two dials intended mainly for correcting deformations when 'Shorten-Extend' is used together with other morphs:

- Horizontal Correction

- Vertical Correction 

Rules Of Thumb For Using Multiple Morphs Together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Slope morphs should work okay together with either Offset or Bend morphs, although the rails may look a bit flattened from some angles. You shouldn't need to use the correction morphs.

2) Shorten-Extend should work okay with Slope or Offset or Bend morphs, but you'll need to use a Correction morph as well:

- with a Slope morph, you'll need to set Vertical Correction to about the same value* as Shorten-Extend

- with an Offset or Bend 90 morph, you'll need to set Horizontal Correction to about the same value* as Shorten-Extend

- with a Bend 45 morph, you'll need to set Horizontal Correction to about HALF the value* of Shorten-Extend

* Same sign for Offset/Bend Right or Slope Up, opposite sign for Offset/Bend Left or Slope Down.

3) If you follow these rules of thumb and it still doesn't look right, fiddle with the correction morphs until it does!

Known Issues:

=============

1) When more than one of the morphs are used together the main part of the rails can appear squashed or deformed, and the bends look sharp and wrong. See the Rules Of Thumb for combining morphs.

2) All issues noted for the 3DC021 Railings01 also apply to this addon.

File List:

==========

The geometry

------------

Runtime\Geometries\3DCheapskate\Architecture\Barriers\Railing01\Pillar1Rail3Morph.obj

The Poser prop

--------------

Runtime\Libraries\Props\3DCheapskate\Architecture\Barriers\Railing01\Morphing Railing.png

Runtime\Libraries\Props\3DCheapskate\Architecture\Barriers\Railing01\Morphing Railing.pp2

The DAZ script to automatically apply DS materials on loading the prop

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Runtime (Extra DS Files)\Libraries\Props\3DCheapskate\Architecture\Barriers\Railing01\Morphing Railing.dsa

Texture Template

----------------

Templates\3DCheapskate\Architecture\Barriers\Railing01\Morphing Railing Template.png

Happy rendering!

Pete Williams (aka 3DCheapskate)

25th January 2013

Thanks!