Parametric modeling lets you create fancy things using a visual layout of interconnected operations.
Rhino3D has a component called Grasshopper… Blender has Geometry Nodes… not sure what the other software contenders are. Fusion 360 has parametric aspects as well, though not a visual coding one. I highly recommend taking advantage of these features for making variations on your work.
I was modeling a starfish pendant that looked kind of plain, so I wanted to spice up its skin by giving it an organic look. I though a Voronoi pattern could work.
Created some curves to represent the design…
…then referencing those curves on the leftmost of the flow, performed a series of operations…
This flow:
- Made a surface using the green curve
- Populated that surface with random points
- Made Voronoi boundaries around each point
- Offset each boundary to use as a hole in the surface
- Adjusted the hole sizes based on how close they were to the pink circle
- Thickened the surface
- Piped the green border and the spines
- Arrayed little spheres along the sides of the spines for some detail
- Then bent the model into a curved Shape
The sliders on the left can adjust various aspects of the model without having to manually model anything and the referenced curves can be updated. I manually modeled a loop for a chain.
In the end, the model wound up looking like this…
…and after printing, casting in gold, and polishing…
Parametric modeling is pretty amazing. Architects like Zaha Hadid Architects use it for some wild buildings and facades.
I don’t yet have the mad skills to pull off anything close to that… but I think I’ll explore more with parametric jewelry, wall art, lampshades, furniture, etc!
