Random Spherical Doodad

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That’s awesome! How’d you make that?

I created two periods of a sine wave mapped on the surface of a sphere:

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Then used the Follow Me tool with a circle:

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After making this a component, 11 copies were made spaced at 15 degrees:

I used the U-V PolyGen plugin to make the sine curves using the following parameters:

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X = Math.cos(u) * Math.sqrt(1.0 - (0.75 * Math.cos(2.0 * u))**2)
Y = Math.sin(u) * Math.sqrt(1.0 - (0.75 * Math.cos(2.0 * u))**2)
Z = 0.75 * Math.cos(2.0 * u)

Interestingly enough, the Follow Me tool follows this curve very nicely. For example, the ring below was made the same way, but used a letter “E” shaped cross-section instead of a circle:

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As many have discovered, the Follow Me tool will many times twist and turn the profile when used with a helix or similar curve. In doodling with a sine curve on a sphere, I didn’t get the results I had expected. However, when I did the same with a sine wave traced out on a cylinder, the result was similar to previous results:

Interesting behavior :wink:

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Variation on a theme …

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That last one is really great looking. I don’t know when I’d want to use it, but I want to put it into one of my designs somehow. It could be a really pretty accent to a light fixture…

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