The Origami Forum

Hi people,

I'm wondering how many of you use crease patterns?
I've never done it myself, I wouldn't know where to begin.

But I'm thinking I might add CPs to the diagrams on my website:
http://origami.island-three.net/
Do you think this would be useful to people?

And if so, how would you suggest I go about creating them - is it simply a case of unfolding a model and drawing the pattern you see?

Maybe when I've done this I'll come back and ask you all how to go about folding models from just a CP!

Cheers,
Martin

Nice diagrams. But, um, some of them are definitely not public domain, like Robert Lang's Parrot.

Actually, I would not recommend crease patterns for the work on your site.

CPs are for showing the structure of a model. They are best suited for compex models, where the base of the model itself is quite complex, and it isn't difficult to see what each flap becomes. For simple models, CPs are not very useful. Also, crease patterns aren't good for models where there are a lot of non-structural folds, such as pleats and simple mountain/valley folds.

Crease patterns are more an aid for model design than for showing a beginner how to fold. One helpful thing that can be seen in a crease pattern is the locations of the points. You can tell if the flaps come from the interior or edges, which may affect paper choice or something.

I'll argue that it can be a good exercise to draw CPs for simple models.

CPs can be extremely useful for turning simple models into complex ones. Once you see how a simple model is structured, you can insert grafts, or start moving the points slightly to fit in more flaps; both of these can add quite a bit of detail to a simple model.

i think simple cp's might help us cp challenged folks. (smiles)
ya know like cp's for dummies! dani

I only tried to fold from Crease Patterns a few times, and there I used very simple ones, just to get a feeling for how to work with them. It´s a little riddle to me how to accomplish a complex one, but every time I finish an easy one it gives me an understanding of how to solve the complex ones. Therefore I would say, that their is a place for simple CPs too and it would be nice if you would show them on your site together with the diagrams.

moik wrote:is it simply a case of unfolding a model and drawing the pattern you see?

A CP shows only the really needed creases of the finished model. All the required creases to come to it aren´t shown because it would end up in a chaos and no one would know is it only a unused guidline or is it an important crease for the model. In CPs for simple models you could maybe show the difference by drawing the guidlines with a light grey.
I would also recommend that you show the difference of mountain and valley folds.

Thanks for your comments guys.
I think I'll try making some crease patterns even if it ends up being solely for my own enjoyment

But, um, some of them are definitely not public domain, like Robert Lang's Parrot.

I'm a bit concerned about this now - is it a major issue?

Perhaps someone could explain to me the legal situation around this sort of thing.
Presumably designs found in books etc may not be reproduced, that's fair enough.

Is it ok to assume that designs found freely on the internet are (unless stated otherwise) allowed to be reproduced elsewhere?

And what about the situation where you come across a design (by being shown it by a friend or something) and have no idea who it was created by or how publicly available it's supposed to be?

Apologies for being so ignorant!
Cheers, M.

Oh joy, copyright again.

There's already a thread on this, so I'll reply to your post there.