Which settings to modify for better Tube fidelity?

I’m very new to Nomad Sculpt, so my question might have a really obvious / simple answer. I do 3D lettering and was really excited at the prospect of using the Tube tool to freely draw cursive (or otherwise) letterforms, rather than having to use Blender’s 3D bezier pen to manually draw my strokes. However, when I draw a nice-looking path with the Tube tool, it becomes sort of a jumbled and over-simplified mess once I lift the pen and generate the actual Tube. I’ve tried to modify the lazy pen, snapping, smooth, and validation box settings but am getting more or less the same results. I just want the output tube to look as close as possible to the path I’ve drawn. I’m definitely missing something here, right?

Not sure if this will help for what you want. You can edit the tube handles and add segments, size and delete before you validate the tube. It may give you easier control. :man_shrugging:t3:

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Another thing to note is that there will be better freehand tube generation in the next 1.52 update :+1:t2:

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There is no free adjustment for the simplifying curve algorithm.
It’s in developers hand only.
Which is a plus for newbies and a mess for everyone looking for different results, like you.

I would love to see an interpolation option to adjust the interpolation precision ( along drawn curve ) before or after one have drawn a curve. Interpolation should be independent to curve sides to create a very smooth four sided path.

This is a standard but not in Nomad. There must be a reason which I don’t know.

It’s no fun as long as you want to draw organic, but also precise lines like in calligraphy.

New version comes with a new hard coded simplifying algorithm in same style.
Quite useless for you.
You can test it here:
https://stephaneginier.com/archive/nomad_demo/
There is no svg import as far as I know.
So no workaround option.

Two ways left like said:

1.Start with path tool directly and loose all drawing dynamic and creation speed.
2.Draw a wonderful line with curve, loose it, and readjust it by inserting single points.

There are not many things I am not happy with in Nomad, and so many things are getting more and more wonderful with every release, but fixed curve smoothing algorithm is a “No go” to me.

As said, there must be a reason?

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Thanks for the reply. I have been using the segments to edit, but wish there were a way to just have the tube look more like the curve I’ve drawn from the jump. Another feature that I’m curious about is a more Bezier-style system, where each point along a path has handles which can be pulled and modified for better curve precision. As it functions currently, I’m adding what feel like a lot of superfluous points to create curves, when I could be adding only points at the extremes of curves and modifying with handles. Maybe in a future release!

The web version was not updated by the way.
The curve fitting issue (from freehand drawing) has nothing to do with the underlying curve type (centripetal catmull-rom).

Ah yes, I see. I was mentioning above a desire for a more Bezier-style functionality with the curves. Each point on the path has two handles which create way more precise (and less clunky) curves. I will say that in your demo link, the curve precision from my freehand drawing (using my trackpad on my laptop) seems way, way better than I’ve been experiencing in Nomad on my iPad. I wonder if that’s because of the update or has something to do with the scale at which I’m drawing?

And yes, an SVG import would be awesome—I’d be able to draw my type skeleton as cleanly as I like and then add tube architecture to it after the fact. A guy can dream!

I’m not adding the thing with 2 handle per point fo now, but a smoother curve type is planned.

The web demo is sometimes updated with new incoming features, that’s the feature @Bezzo mentioned.

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You can use your iPad.
Check WebGL2.0 in Safari experimental features

Bezier are cool but can be 90% replaced with Nomad curves at once, and most issues after adding points. Some arc presets would be lovely though.

Anyway, a slider for general curve interpolation in recognition algorithm is what I am hoping for.

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Awesome; thank you for the reply and for your awesome work on Nomad! It’s been a great tool to begin learning and I look forward to continuing to watch it flourish.

I updated the demo with a spline alternative nomad - WebAssembly

This is experimental so not sure yet I’m going to release it (I’m gathering a bit of feedbacks on the discord as well).

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First of all I need to apologise.
I oversaw so many already existing features and possibilities.
The web version is truly fun.

The representation of drawn stroke is very precise.
I like default Spline@ most.
With less smoothing one could increase point insertion.
Very cool!

But if there are things to improve, I would add and “insert by distance” slider for inserting more points if wanted. And a rotation option could lovely for better orientation with low division X factor.