Points on Geometry Surface

[Naeem]

Hi,

I am trying to get points evenly spaced on the surface on an object. I used the Points from Volume SOP and it gives me evenly spaced points, however I get points inside the geometry as well. I'd like the points to be only on the surface of the geometry. How can I go about doing this?

Thanks.

[gui]

the scatter sop does that, but I don´t know if it suits your "evenly spaced" need. What exactly do u need to achieve?

[jkunz07]

Maybe have a look at this? http://schnellhammer.net/blog/2010/06/uniform-scattering-in-houdini/

[mawi]

Here is a file using point cloud and a ray sop to even out scattered points.

distPoints.hipnc

Edited June 19, 2013 by mawi

[Naeem]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am trying to convert a model to something like a mosaic but I want it to be hollow. That's why I am replacing points with boxes of even size.

@jkunz07 : I've tried that and for some reason I wasn't getting evenly spaced points.

@mawi : Thanks for the file! I'll take a look at it.

[Naeem]

See attached file to get a better idea of what I am trying to do. I want the same points, however just on the surface of the geo.

Thanks.

od_Mosaic.hipnc

[Naeem]

I have sort of gotten what I wanted using the Fluid Source SOP. However, I'd still like to know if there is another way of doing this. Attached file for reference.

od_Mosaic_Fixed.hipnc

[edward]

What about converting to VDB at the desired voxel size, and then converting back to polygons? ie. VDB From Polygons -> Convert VDB (convert to polygons) -> Add (keep only points)

[Naeem]

Hi edward,

That works too, but it isn't perfect. I get intersecting geometry when I copy the geometry onto the points. See attached file.

od_Mosaic_using_VDB.hipnc

[edward]

Sorry, no time to check out your hip, but do mean some points are too close together? In that case, maybe a Fuse SOP with suitable tolerance can be used to fix the result.

[bloomendale]

i think the easiest way is to try new Remesh SOP - increase iterations and you'll get nearly equilateral triangles. then just delete the prims.

[vi_rus]

if you want to get uniformly scattered points you can use this tecnique.

P.S. sorry, looks like mawi already proposed this trick

uniform_scatter.hip

Edited June 23, 2013 by vi_rus

[Naeem]

Thanks for all the help, everyone! I think the Fluid Source SOP is giving me the best result with the desired control that I need. But it's nice to know of other ways so I learn something new that way.