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| The
Main Idea |
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The Shape Synthesizer is a new system for artistic 3D modeling.
Rather than computerize an existing 3D medium, we develop
a new technique for creating shapes. We turn to the highly
successful field of sound synthesis, and derive three principles
that were important to sound synthesizers and map well into
3D geometry. We use this mapping to develop a set of modules
and a single data type carried by the "wires" between
modules. The result is a new system which we call a shape
synthesizer.
The synthesizer is capable of creating a rich variety of shapes,
particularly when the technique of shape modulation is used.
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| Results |
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Here are a few little examples. On
the far left is a little blue twisty thing I made by taking
a sphere and applying a step of shape modulation. To its right
is an ellipse that rotated about its center as it moved in a
circle; an easy way to get a general swept surface. Finally
on the right is an image of a ring that I designed with David
Marimont. |
| Details |
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The basic insight is pretty simple, and involves looking
at an analog sound synthesizer as a constrained dataflow system.
The constraints are few: there are only a few types of modules,
each module has some front-panel controls, and there is only
one type of connector.
This last constraint is the big winner. Early sound synthesizers
were programmed using patch cords that had 1/4" phone
plugs at both ends. These cords were used to carry both sound
information and control information, and because they were
all the same shape, one could easily plug a control signal
into a module that "expected" a sound signal, and
vice-versa. This deliberate confusion of control and data
is very much like the common digital store in a modern computer.
Previous dataflow environments for making 3D models have always
used a variety of patch cords (even though they were just
pictures on a screen), which I believe weakened the constraints
that help one to focus. The shape synthesizer adopts the simple
constraints of the analog synthesizer, and by forcing the
designer into a more narrowly defined design space, frees
the user to new types of invention.
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| More
Info |
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You can read see many more examples and read about the implementation
details of the system in my paper, "A Shape Synthesizer".
Here's the complete citation:
Glassner, Andrew S., "A Shape Synthesizer",
IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, May 1977, volume
17, number 3, pp. 40-51
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