JWV <Willempie_39___@___hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> Since the IRTC is back again, it seemed a good idea to jump in and make
>   an image. Staying on-topic of rebirth, plants and seeds are a suitable
> topic to make a not to complicated scene. So, there i go, making a
> dandelion seed (just flying away from the flower). The problem now is,
> how to make the seed head? At the moment it is a scaled sphere, but it
> should be more like this image (yes, i know, i am shamelessly
> reproducing the image :-)):
>
> http://stevehickey.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dandelion_seed.jpg
>
> As you can see, there are dimples in the surface. My idea would be to
> make a surface with blobs. But how to place the blobs? The dimples
> should be evenly distributed over the surface (like a golfball). The
> only thing that comes to mind is to place the dimples randomly, and then
> iterativly let them "find" the place where they are the least close to
> their neighbours. Needles to say, this is complicated and a project on
> its own.
>
> So, any pointers?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> JWV

are you talking about the seed or the flower head?  If you used a blob for the
flower head, the placement may not be too complex.  You could start with an
ordered placement to maintain the correct separation and perturb them randomly,
or, like you mentioned, use a random placement that checks to make sure no two
are too close.  The ordered start method is easiest and can produce acceptable
results with some tinkering.

I would probably do it as cut-aways - have the head be a larger sphere, and
place the group of smaller ones at a fixed location (of distance radius from
the center of the large sphere), then use a series of ordered rotations to
place them on the surface.

Alternatively, you could use a mesh (which is probably what I would use).  That
may also make making the petals easier.


-Reactor

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