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I'm looking for a tool that allows me to create shapes (along the lines of a rendering application) which will also generate the parametric equations of the various shapes.

I need to use it for some Java3D work I've been doing. Normal shapes (spheres, boxes etc.) are easy, Java3D has built in types for them. However, when it came to creating non standard shapes (in particular curved surfaces) I find myself using graph paper to sketch, and then manually putting a large number of point into a point array.

Surely there is an easier way?

Saf
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2 Answers2

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When I'm fitting data, I use splines and Bezier curves to help me generate curved lines and surfaces. They can work in as many dimensions as you required, so perhaps they'd be useful to you as well?

Stochastically
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  • Thanks, yes, they are, I'm currently working on the math to try and figure them out. I was hoping there was a tool out there that sidestepped the whole math business entirely. Ideally a tool that has an x,y,z plane & allows me to draw shapes using the mouse, and then gives me the parametric equations for those shapes. – Saf May 19 '13 at 22:54
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You can use java3D's triangulator to get a shape from those points.

http://download.java.net/media/java3d/javadoc/1.3.2/com/sun/j3d/utils/geometry/Triangulator.html

huseyin tugrul buyukisik
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  • That's pretty much what I've been doing. I'm looking for a tool that will allow me to draw a shape on a canvas, and the tool will give me the parametric equations of the shape, rather than a very large collection of points. – Saf May 19 '13 at 22:51
  • Then you mention tesselation and displacement mapping? – huseyin tugrul buyukisik May 20 '13 at 10:32