3D Mazes?

[Maze Creator]

We have been working with 3D lately.  Many people have asked about this form of rendering.  If you have ideas that you would like to see after looking at this sneak peek, please email us ASAP!

Most of the professional users have been asking for this feature for Ad copy, box shot, and illustration usage.  We will give you more samples as well perfect the rendering.



Click this link to see a bigger version:

http://www.mazecreator.com/images/MazeCreator3D_development.gif

[Maze Creator]

Here is another more recent example....

[bladesmith]

Good day.

           One thing that would be handy for my purposes is to be able to render the maze in such a way that the walls are height mapped. In my case that would mean grey scale where the floor would be black, and the walls would
shade from black at the inside and outside to white in the center. one could envision wall profiles that could be entered into the program to shape the profile of the walls in cross section.
Thank you for considering.

                     Bladesmith

[Maze Creator]

Good day.

           One thing that would be handy for my purposes is to be able to render the maze in such a way that the walls are height mapped. In my case that would mean grey scale where the floor would be black, and the walls would
shade from black at the inside and outside to white in the center. one could envision wall profiles that could be entered into the program to shape the profile of the walls in cross section.
Thank you for considering.

                     Bladesmith

Hi Bladesmith,

I want to make sure I fully understand your request.  Please look at the image below and let me know if either the side marked A or B (or neither) match your description of the wall mapping.

Thanks,
Greg Peatfield
Maze Creator Author

[bladesmith]

Greg,

       Thank you for considering my request. Drawing B is more what I had in mind. That particular gradient would (on my CNC carving machine) create a maze wall that would be high in the center, and slope toward the maze floor on either side.
A would Be a straight vertical drop from the top, and a slope toward the bottom a bit like a saw tooth. Think of it in terms of laying the image you provided flat, tuning it to view from the right side, then A would go up at an angle toward the right,
B would go up, and then back down. The particular shading used defines how the slope would look. the faster the change in grey, the sharper the slope.

      Please let me know if you have further questions, I will be glad to talk to you more about it.

                       Michael Griffith

[Maze Creator]

Greg,

       Thank you for considering my request. Drawing B is more what I had in mind. That particular gradient would (on my CNC carving machine) create a maze wall that would be high in the center, and slope toward the maze floor on either side.
A would Be a straight vertical drop from the top, and a slope toward the bottom a bit like a saw tooth. Think of it in terms of laying the image you provided flat, tuning it to view from the right side, then A would go up at an angle toward the right,
B would go up, and then back down. The particular shading used defines how the slope would look. the faster the change in grey, the

Okay,

I think I am getting a better idea.  It seems like you are not looking for a 3D project of the maze upon a 2D plane like the first image.  I think what you might be asking for is a top-down view of the maze, and each "pixel" if you will is ultimately a mapped height at that point.

From your description above, you seem to want the walls to be softer.  Rather than the 2 levels your CNC machine would map today given the White Floor and Black Wall, this would cause a sharp angle for the wall (ultimately 90 degrees) around the maze.  Image B from above seems to indicate to me that you are looking for more of a channel (sloped walls, maybe more to match say a marble rather than a cube).

Below is a mock-up of what might work for your CNC machine.  Although, the black and white might be inverted and the walls might be more gentle like "B" image above.

Is this closer to what you are looking for?  So the color (degree of blackness if you will) maps to the depth of the cut into the block of wood or whatever material you are cutting?

-Greg Peatfield

[bladesmith]

Greg,

          You have exactly the right idea. In fact, I did an experimental maze carving in wood, and
found that the 90 degree walls came out too thin, and were often broken by the force of the bit
(about 1/16 inch or less in thickness). With a radius at the bottom, or a taper from a wider bottom
to a narrower top, there will be more cross section to hold them together, and to the remaining wood.
As for the issue of which is top and which is bottom, the software default is white high, black low, but
there is a handy button to toggle normal / inverse which makes it a non-issue (as long as you use the right one).

     Thank you again for considering the idea. If it makes it in, it will, I think be very handy.

                              Cheers,

                                   Michael