Generative 3D mesh generation in Unity?

Hello,

I am working on a project that turns tweets into generated 3D forms.
I am new to Unity but think it could be the best option for my project.

My question is: Can I generate fairly complex (See Ernst Haeckel) 3D forms in Unity?

I am currently using Processing.js to access the twitter API so ideally I would be sending data from Processing to Unity to drive the appearance of a 3D form.

Thanks!

 

http://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Mesh.html

The rest is up to you understanding the math well enough to put it into a mesh.

 

Sure, as @RockoDyne pointed out, the API is there to do whatever you want.

But the main reason I chimed in, is to say that is a fascinating concept, and could be really cool. Please update us at it progresses. Good luck!

 

Be sure to look up Medusae, created in Cinder -
I believe Marcin had much of his code concept in a blog at some point, might be a good resource for making Haeckel type procedural images.

 

I'll answer the second part of your question, about sending data from Processing.js to Unity, that's quite straightforward. Here's the manual page for that(I assume you'll be using webgl, as the webplayer will be deprecated soon): http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/webgl-interactingwithbrowserscripting.html

 

Generating meshes, specially complex 'organic' ones at runtime is generally not easy. Vertex and triangles are easy enough, but uv maps and normals are really a pain.

I highly recommend a modular approach if possible. I've been using modules for everything procedural these days and so far the results are really good in terms of dev time, speed and end result. You can use 'sub-modules' for even more variations (e.g.: a dungeon generator could have modules for the 'rooms' to connect, but the rooms themselves could be made of modules (tiles, walls, etc.)).

 

Thanks for all your replies! If all goes to plan, i'll post my progress here!

 

everyday3d.com had some good Unity mesh resources. Sites been redesigned and looks nice, but things have been moved around. You'll have to search around for resources, but here's some stuff on meshes.