The city I'm building for Scene 002 continues at a slow pace. I realise I could save time by using Blender Guppy's excellent Random Flow add-on. It's great, but I always struggled to remember how to use it effectively, so lets get into it...
Documentation (updated recently after a significant change to the add-on's UI)
Random Flow
"Random Flow is a random mesh generator designed for fast and easy hard surface prototyping and concept art. This is a fast-changing add-on with lots of new functionalities in the future."
For science fiction environments, you often need to model a lot of surface detail that isn't particularly purposeful. Often, you are breaking up empty space with geometry and lines. Random Flow lets you quickly apply surface details by creating face-based panels and extruding them.
Once installed, you bring up Random Flow's master panel using Shift+F1 (see above).
- Usually, Random Flow details consist primarily of Random Panels, which break up surfaces without significantly changing the form of the target object.
- The details created depend on the size of the target faces; larger faces produce larger panels, while smaller areas naturally yield smaller panels.
- Randomisation is applied to generated/floating elements that are cut out of the target object, ensuring all changes are non-destructive. Randomisation can be applied in Object or in Edit modes.
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| Random Panels Page 1 |
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| Random Panels Page 2 |
There are a dizzying number of parameters. As Blender Guppy says, he could make the tool simpler, but such an effort would rob you of incredible fine control.
The operator presets are a great addition; I should get familiar with the effects of each one.
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