More zebrawood laser-cut art (at least in simulation)

[mattbell]

I really liked how my last round of designs came out, and now I'm interesting in trying something more sophisticated.

These spirals are pretty, but I want to create more complex patterns:



Creating more complex patterns of the style I'm envisioning will require some math though.  As a result, I've written some software that allows me to generate vector fields that correspond to various equations of interest.  Some of the equations are inspired by physical phenomena (eg magnetic fields).  Other equations are designed to create stars, spirals, and waves.  I can superimpose these elements to create more complex patterns:

 

The software chops up the field into areas of roughly the same orientation -- these pieces are destined to be cut from a single piece of wood.
I quickly realized I could write a simulator that took bits of a picture of an actual piece of zebrawood to see what the actual piece would look like, saving hours of work.  For example:

 

Here are some other designs I played with:

 
 
It remains to be seen how hard it will be to actually create these, but I like how they look now.

---

I also realized why I like this kind of art so much.  It mixes the rich sensory experience of organic material with the more precise beauty of mathematics.  The experience of looking at and feeling the actual zebrawood spiral is something that doesn't really come across in pictures -- the wood has all kinds of interesting specular highlights and subsurface scattering properties that make it really pop.

Comments

[savorie.livejournal.com]

Wow! These are incredibly intricate and gorgeous.

[happyinmotion.livejournal.com]

Woo.

[ferrouswheel.livejournal.com]

So awesome!

Mind if I ask what you used (library/language) to create the vector fields?

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

It's all in python I just wrote what I needed from the ground up. I'm using the math module and the Python Imaging Library. I had to rewrite atan and a couple of other functions to do what I wanted. Chances are there's some library that handles vector math better but at this point I've got what I need.

[ferrouswheel.livejournal.com]

Sometimes doing it from scratch is the simplest way :-)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the whole thing was like 4-5 hours at most.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

<3 <3 <3

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I should make a heart-shaped one for Valentine's day. :-)

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

*glow*

Hey, the last two don't seem to have cut-lines. They would in reality though, right? Cut-lines seem to be pretty significant visually (usually in a good way).

Absolutely

[catithat.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

Wowie zowie!

[ravenslost.livejournal.com]

I continue to be amazed at these. I like the top right, of the four mocks. And the bottom left.

And the first mock up with the multiple loci? I keep seeing wings in that design. It's lovely.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

You're not the first one to see wings. I was thinking of removing the top central portion to make them even more winglike.

[crotchgoblin.livejournal.com]

These are excellent, Matt. Absolutely fascinating. I think you're on to something here.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[jacquesk.livejournal.com]

I think you might be inspired / know people who might be inspired by this: Open search for an application idea for an electron or X-ray beam with high energy (3000 € reward) (http://presans.com/challenges).

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

That does remind me of the people who have been using particle accelerators to create museum-quality Lichtenberg figures.

http://www.capturedlightning.com/frames/interesting.html