Digital Jewelry Sculpture

Jewelry Discussion
1

Recently there’s been some interest in using CAD for jewelry design.
I’d like to share this paper describing the new UDT tools in Rhino
4.0. (UDT stands for universal deformation technology). (I have no
affiliation with the authors or sponsors of the UDT I
just think it’s pretty amazing stuff).

http://tinyurl.com/pmnjk

Rhino is approaching the finesse and fluidity of ArtCAM’s digital
sculpting tools, but for relief modeling, ArtCAM still offers more
design freedom and control with it’s texturing tools and especially
with the sculpting tools which work like the brushes in Photoshop,
except that they effect virtual shape and depth. Once mastered, you
can deposit, carve, smooth, smudge and generally shape material just
like clay.

http://tinyurl.com/pop9q

This example is by an artist from Romania, he’s using an older
version of the software, but he’s absolutely great with it. If you
ever seen any of his other work, you’ll understand why he’s
apologizing for the simplicity of the tutorial example. To download
the videos, you must first join the forum.

Jesse

2

Jesse,

I just wanted to thank you for the link to that paper on UDT in
Rhino 4. I had heard various reports on it coming but had not read a
direct report yet. It’s an exciting addition to the capabilities of
Rhino, something I had always wished was easier to do in the program.
The possibiliteies with tool are seemingly endless. Looking forward
to the upgrade. Any idea when it’ll get past Beta?

Paul D. Reilly
The Paul Reilly Company
Colorado Springs, Colorado

3

Paul,

Glad you enjoyed the paper about the UDT tools in Rhino 4.0. It’s
often said you can make anything you can imagine in CAD, but with
these tools it’s less about wrangling with the program and more
about expressing your creativity. As for when it will be released as
an upgrade, I’m not sure…the website says later in 2006. For those
who dont know, if you own a copy of Rhino 3, you can download the
latest beta version of 4.0. It’s actually pretty stable at this
point. http://tinyurl.com/ja3cy

Regards
Jesse