Sphere Generator

About

The Sphere Generator is an experimental procedural mesh generator that uses several algorithms and interpolation methods for generating a large variety of 3D spherical models. The resulting models can be exported in the STL format.

This program is available in the Donors version of Incendia.

Controls

The Algorithm Browser

This browser is used for selecting one of the various algorithms that Sphere supports.
There are two types of algorithms:

• Planar algorithms, that doesn't have any 3D extrusion or any depth. They are functions that happens between the three vertices of a triangle. A simple example is the Middle triangle algorithm, that turns every triangle of the model into three triangles by removing the central one. Planar algorithms are colored in brown.
• Extrusion algorithms, that generated a new 3D structure for every triangle of the model. Most of these algorithms use various interpolation methods for generating smooth 3D curves. And in most cases, they use the sphere center as a pivot for calculating the extrusion depth (by varying the radius). Extrusion algorithms are colored in silver.

Basic Parameters

This control is used for altering parameters of the selected algorithm.

• Alpha and Beta, For some algorithms, Alpha and Beta control the starting, ending and control points of the interpolation curves. In other cases, they can just control the position on where then triangles are calculated. Not all algorithms use these parameters.
• I. Rad., The name of this parameter is Interior Radius, and its value is often less than 1. This is used by most Extrusion algorithms for calculating the extrusion depth of the new 3D model. This parameter has no effect over the planar algorithms.

Interpolation Parameters

The interpolation parameters controls how the interpolation curves are affected by the the generated control points. These parameters are used on both algorithm types, but only on where the algorithms use curves. They are not present on algorithms that uses geometric methods (like the Middle triangle algorithm).

Mesh Generation Parameters

This control is used for determining the number of triangular segments used in the curvature interpolation, large values produces smooth results, but also a large number of triangles. Also, The mesh radius parameter determines the final size of the exported model. Since the export file format is STL, this value can be interpreted as Inches or Centimeters.