Box Pleat Design

[chesscuber98]

Box pleating seems to be one of the most versatile way of design,
I have been experimenting with box pleating but my end result is always like a stick figure....
(see : viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10654&start=15)
So my question is how do you make box pleated forms more natural?
Thanks

[Rickygami]

This is basically the only thing i dislike about boxpleating. Bboxpleating is in my opinion by far the easiest design technique, but you do get this issue. There are ways to add width to boxpleated designs in specific places, which can help add a more realistic feel to your models, but if you want the model much more than 4 units wide then it can use up quite a lot of paper. Also if you spend more time shaping your models (or use some nicer paper) you may find that helps add character to them! I think really this is more a choice of selecting the technique to match the model you want to fold than trying to fold a model using what you are comfortable with. If you want to create a rabbit, for example, I dont think many people would try to boxpleat it because it is just not the best way. A scorpion on the on the other hand would be great for box pleating because it is quite close to a stick figure! This is probably not the answer you were hoping for, but as far as i know there's no real way around this... I'll be interested to know if anyone eslse disagrees though!!

[Joe the white]

Box Pleating is stick figure-ish by nature, but you might want to try leaving spaces between the pleats or doing some squashes to leave some surface area. You could also try pleat sinking with a normal base, the frog base offers a lot of points to start out with. (My Hermit Crab design uses a frog base that has most of its flaps pleat-sunk to varying widths http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs13/i/2007/ ... mistro.jpg ).

When I attended a lecture by Robert Lang he described the use of box-pleating as an easy on-the-go method of designing. It can create basically any number of points you need, but it is hard to make the model visually appealing. Circle Packing is not easy to do by hand, or requires used of a computer, so Hex-Pleating was an idea on merging the two for ease of design as well as artistic visually (but its still relatively difficult to do by hand). I don't even understand the notes I made at the lecture, so everything else is a blur .

[Baltorigamist]

The way to make BP designs more natural really depends on the subject you have in mind. For insects, a simple elevation change (a la Robert Lang's work, for example) will suffice, but not always.
One technique I've experimented with is to take a certain feature of the subject that wouldn't mesh well with BP and simply find a way to fold that feature alone. Then design the rest of the model around that feature.
(For example, I'm working on a model currently of Nightmare from Soul Calibur 4. The first challenge in that kind of structure is the mouth and the ball of energy in his torso. But once I managed to fold those from pleats, I simply incorporated that into the rest of the design.)

As Ricky and Joe touched on, BP doesn't suit everything, especially not more organic shapes (i.e., the rabbit mentioned earlier). The shaping also has a lot to do with it, but if the form isn't long and narrow, it might be better to use a different technique.

[chesscuber98]

This is probably not the answer you were hoping for, but as far as i know there's no real way around this... I'll be interested to know if anyone eslse disagrees though!!

Infact this was exactly what i wanted to hear. But some of the best human models are boxpleated (Hojyo Takeshi, Hoang Trunh Tanh, Sunburst,etc.)

When I attended a lecture by Robert Lang he described the use of box-pleating as an easy on-the-go method of designing. It can create basically any number of points you need, but it is hard to make the model visually appealing. Circle Packing is not easy to do by hand, or requires used of a computer, so Hex-Pleating was an idea on merging the two for ease of design as well as artistic visually (but its still relatively difficult to do by hand). I don't even understand the notes I made at the lecture, so everything else is a blur .

Hahah maybe i should continue reading ODS, the problem is i dont think my level of math is advanced enough for his book, I reached tiling .

The way to make BP designs more natural really depends on the subject you have in mind. For insects, a simple elevation change (a la Robert Lang's work, for example) will suffice, but not always.
One technique I've experimented with is to take a certain feature of the subject that wouldn't mesh well with BP and simply find a way to fold that feature alone. Then design the rest of the model around that feature.
(For example, I'm working on a model currently of Nightmare from Soul Calibur 4. The first challenge in that kind of structure is the mouth and the ball of energy in his torso. But once I managed to fold those from pleats, I simply incorporated that into the rest of the design.)

I have seen that most anime related things are made through box pleating but this is going to be a real challange! good luck!



Also How do Eric Joisels models look so natural? They are box pleated too but they dont look stickish.

[Rickygami]

As for joisel's models, I think he made a base (which was very stick figureish) and then pulled out a lot of pleats to give them the width they need, making them non- flat foldable. (this is what he did for his barbarians if that is what you are asking about) there is a fairly detailed photo sequence for the collpse here:

http://www.ericjoisel.com/barbarians.html#2

As for continuing with ODS, I'd reccomend it. Its becomes less maths-intensive in the boxpleating section and more about understanding of CP's

[Joe the white]

Infact this was exactly what I wanted to hear. But some of the best human models are boxpleated (Hojyo Takashi, Hoang Trunh Tanh, Sunburst,etc.)

Like Eric Joisel, they're pretty much masters of box-pleating. Copy paper really isn't the best medium for it, maybe you should play around with foil wrapping paper and see what you come up with given a larger medium to work with? I use 1.5 ft foil giftwrap for prototyping complex models, and box-pleating works well with it.

Hahah maybe i should continue reading ODS, the problem is i dont think my level of math is advanced enough for his book, I reached tiling .

I completely understand, my view of math is more visual in nature and I often have to discover a way for my mind to understand it (my method of counting the cash drawer at work is puzzling to my coworkers, but I'm also the fastest at it). ODS in general is still beyond my comprehension when it comes to the more technical side (let alone the algorithms). I get molecules, grafting, etc, but circle packing is probably the most difficult visually. I've attempted tree-maker, and not gotten much out of it, so it will probably take some time and experimenting before it clicks.

Also How do Eric Joisels models look so natural? They are box pleated too but they dont look stickish.

Eric was a master at "origami jazz". His models that involved box-pleating usually used it to begin a structure, then he would work with free form folds until he need to form another ordered structure. His work was similar to a fusion of Satoshi Kamiya and Giang Dinh/Akira Yoshizawa (the best of both worlds, I suppose?). Most folders develop their own style down the road and his was certainly his own.

[chesscuber98]

Thanks for the in detailed reply Joe!

[Baltorigamist]

Now that my newest design supports that I've finally gotten to be able to use BP effectively, I have to agree with what Joe said in regards to Josiel's style (which parallels what I said earlier). The structure that Josiel created was the basis for most of his designs in and of themselves--the specific feature of the individual subject. Then the freeform folding is essentially molding the rest of the model around the structure, and then of course, the rest of the model basically forms itself as you (he) go(es) along.
The trick, in a sense, is in being able to work the freeform folds into a particular structure, whether it be BP, 22.5, or something else. This is another part of Josiel's genius, and it shows in the uniformity and elegance of the few CPs he's released.