Installation

The TWINGSISTER's projects contains a number of Blender addons. So to enjoy something here you first have to download and install Blender. Please use a search engine, look for Blender download and install it. Remember that, to enjoy TWINGSISTER's projects, you will have to download Blender's latest version (Blender 2.80). Pics in this document refer to Blender 2.79. Users familiar with Blender
will be able to adapt these examples to the new UI in 2.80. For the absolute beginners we advise them to go for 2.80 and use links we provide (boldface in the following) to some web demos we created. These web demos are taken from operations on Blender 2.80. For instance here is a guide to install a Blender addon. We keep here these outdated examples with the 2.79 UI believing that they convey some information anyway.

Next you need to understand how install a Blender addon. Please use a search engine, look for Blender addon installation and learn how to install a Blender addon. Here, a tiny guide to Blender addon installation follows.

Basically, to install a Blender addon, you first need to download the addon. Addons usually come as a .py or as a .zip file. Then you must go into Blender at File>User Preferences>Add-ons ("Add-ons" is a tab on the user preferences page) and click on "Install from file". A file selection dialog appears and you have to select the .zip or .py file that contains the add on. Next, in the user preferences page, a line with the addon name appears.
On this line, on the right, you can notice an empty check. Check it and the addon will be installed and ENABLED. Finally press "Save User Settings" to make this installation permanent. See the screenshot below for reference

If you want to take the easiset, but not so complete, path you can skip the step below and do not use TWINGSISTER's Quadrics addon with Sverchock or Animatiob Nodes We advise you not to do this! Both Sverchock and Animation Nodes are great addons! Time spent to learn how to use one of them will quickly return in faster operations and graceful visual documentations of your ideas. Be sure, using Sverchock or Animation Nodes will make your operations so easy! So,please, do not skip this step or consider to follow this in a near future. Furthermore more complex nodes by TWINGSISTER must be used with either Sverchock or Animation Nodes. If you want to try Quadrics without them follow the web presentation here .

So, next, you need this, quile large, Blender addon called Sverchock. Please use a search engine, look for Sverchock. Currently Sverchock for Blender 2.80 is a pre release. This is tested with these plugins. You can find the original version here. We maintain a copy here. Please note that this is the same source code as that distributed online. Nevertheless small modifications are applied to make this consistent with our development.

In General, if interested in latest version of Sverchock, at the time of writing this Wiki, looking for Sverchock, you will end up in GitHub. At first, at least for me, it was unclear what to do with GitHub Simply you have to PRESS DOWNLOAD ZIP and you will be prompted to receive a zip file.

This works fine with Blendbridge plugins, so, please use pre release version.

To install Sverchok follow the web presentation here . After this presentation you can use also this .blen example and the corresponding json file here , as explained in this web presentation.

Similarly for Animation Nodes version 2.1.4 is tested with these plugins. You can find this version here. Again this is the same source code as that distributed online.
To install Animation Nodes follow the web presentation here . You can use also this .blen example.

Take Sverchock or Animation Nodes to your hard disk and use it for the procedure described above, and install it as a Blender add on. Sometimes ENABLING an addon gives a runtime error. Forget it, addon wil work anyway. When process is over do not forget to press "Save User Settings" in Blender user preferences add on panel. Then SHUT DOWN BLENDER to make your installation permanent.

If you skip the above installation, please, note that, in future, BEFORE installing Sverchock or Animation Nodes and enjoy the BlendBridge addons in Sverchock or AN you HAVE TO UNINSTALL the BlendBridge library and all the BlendBridge addons. This must be done pressing the remove button in the Blender addon user preferences panel
Then shutdown Blender, install Sverchock or AN, shutdown Blender, install the BlendBridge library and each BlendBridge plugin. By the way this is another good reason to start with both Sverchock and Anomation Nodes as soon as possible. Please note that a little glitch in the BlendBridge installation will give you the impression all is not working. Actually you can go on. See this ticket for details. Browse tickets for other problems.
Finally to enjoy one of these TWINGSISTER's addons you need to install and enable the BlendBridge library in Blender. The BlendBridge library is avaible as a perk in the TWINGSISTER's crowdfunding campaign here. The BlendBridge library comes as a .zip file and must be installed as a Blender addon as described above.

If you have done all the steps in this guide you are ready to use the Quadrics addon and all the addons using the BlendBridge library. You can get the Quadrics addon here. This addon comes as a .zip file. So, install the Quadrics.zip file, enable it, and the SAVE USER PREFERENCES to make this installation permanent.

A step to step web tutorial to use the Quardics node is provided here . Files used in this tutorial and ready to use examples can be found in the Examples folder.

Note that the .blend files can be loaded from Blender File>Open menu. The .JSON files can be loaded from the Sverchock control panel. Operations needed to load JSON are explained in the paragraph named For those using Sverchock below.

The tiny Quadrics addon allows you to plot a (piece of) a (non singular) quadric surface. The whole family of non singular quadrics can be obtained changing the value of the three, non zero, parameters $sgnA2,\; sgnB2,\; sgnC2$. The portion of the quadrics plotted is controlled by the parameters Patch that must be a positive real number. Patch control the extent of the surface plotted. Patch is relevant only for unbounded quadrics. Patch is not used drawing the ellipsoid. The parameter Positive is relevant only when the surface has two sheets. In this case the two sheets are obtained cheking and unchecking the Positive box. Please note that if a unique surface is needed there is a simple procedure, in Blender, to tie the two sheets together into a single object. Linking the two sheets together what you will get will be a surface made up of two topologically unconnected components. The output of this plugin will be a triangulated mesh with vertices with x and y ranging over a non uniform grid. The number of points in the grid will be controlled by the parameter $Div$. The grid will contain $Div$² points. The plotted surface will be the existing portion of the quadric

$\begin{array}{cc}& \genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{x^2}{sgnA2}+\genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{y^2}{sgnB2}+\genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{z^2}{sgnC2}=1\hfill \end{array}$

If you don't read the equations correctly, please try to change the browser that you are using.

Please note that for some choice of the geometric paramenters $sgnA2,\; sgnB2,\; sgnC2$ the quadric unfold in the complex space and you won't see anything.

Now let's come to the management of the parametrization mechanism. There are two distinct options.

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For those using Sverchock
You can experiment the ten steps procedure outlined below (see this image alone on your browser to see it in full size).
You can take the simplest path loading the .json file Quadrics.json (see the image above alone on your browser). You will find this in the downloaded Quadrics.zip file. Note that the possibility of storing these graphs in JSON is another goodie provided by Sverchok. To load Quadrics.json you have to go to scroll to SV Import/Export, and go to imported_name>Here. Please note that JSONs CANNOT be used with Animation Nodes.

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For those using Animation Nodes
You can experiment the three steps procedure outlined below (see this image alone on your browser to see it in full size).

You will not find Quadrics, or any of the nodes of the BlendBridge family, inserted in some menu of Animation Nodes.
They come up in the search and simply clicking on them you get an instance.

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For those not using either Sverchock or Animation Nodes
Well, please take a look to the beauty and elegance of the settlement above and consider to switch to Sverchok or AN in a near future. Then go to the user preverences panel, addon tab and unfold Quadrics. Four easy steps are for you here.

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Project Members:

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