Creating a Helix in Maya: A Simple Guide

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The discussion revolves around creating a helix in Maya using mathematical formulas. The user is exploring whether a logarithmic formula is necessary or if two phase-shifted sine curves can suffice. They have attempted to implement this in Excel but are struggling to visualize it in 3D within Maya. The user specifies that they need a constant angular twist and provides details about the desired dimensions and frequency. They are seeking guidance on how to achieve this visualization, particularly in Maya 6 PLE or through C# and DirectX.
echoSwe
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Hi!
I'm investigating whether you must use a logarithmic formula to describe a helix, or if it's enough to use two phase shifted sine curves... I've done a little excel document with a very siple implementation of two sine curves. One normal with the amplitude 23.8 and another one with the same amplitude as the first but phaseshifted such as: 23.9sin(1(x-90))+0. Where -90 is the phase shift.
My problem is that I can't plot it in 3d...
So the two are (degrees):
23.9sin(x) and
23.9sin(x-90).

I'd like to be able to rotate them such as you can do in e.g. Maya, to get a good feeling about how they look.

Does anyone know how to do this? I have Maya 6 PLE if that helps, which can do nurbs, and then if you find anything in C# or the .Net platform I also have the .Net framework to use, including DirectX 9.01 which can plot data. The only problem is that I don't know how.

The one criterea I have is that the angular twist is constant. Concider x,y,z on a paper lying on a desk. x, y are on the paper and z comming out from the paper, towards your face. The turn starts at (0, 1, 0) and finishes at (1, 0, 190) in meters. The angular turn per meter is constant. The formulas above are my first thoughts, and I would need to have a frequency of 90/190 = 0.47 in order to extend 1/4 cycle to 190 meters (the x-axis on the graph).

Do you all understand? :smile: Hope so.

//Henke
 

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I would look for an animation program on the internet rather than programming a new one.
 
Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?

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