How to align stitches after scattering using spacing tool?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to scatter stitches using shapes and spacing tool, the tool does align the stitch to the local tangent of the shape when I tick "follow", but fails to align each stitch perpendicular to nearest polygons.

Is there any way to combine the spacing tool, or the path constraint, with another constraint that would keep each stitch perpendicular to underlying surface at all positions?

[RobH2]

I started thinking about this when I saw the post a few days ago. Below is a good tutorial on a different way to do it that might help. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLtZH_E5zjY&ab_channel=Arrimus3D

In the meantime, I'm going to experiment and see what I can come up with. 

[RobH2]

I can't figure out a way to have each stitch align with the normals it's over. Maybe someone else will. But, I did play with another way to add the stitches besides the spacing tool. Use the 'Path Deform Binding (WSM). It gives you a few more controls. 

First you make one stitch and then instance it several hundred times or however many you need. Attach them all together and then link them to the spline. Adjust from there. What it will allow you to do if you have a closeup shot is to rotate the stitches so they look good for that shot. It won't help for a wide angle view though. I've attached a Max file that I played with. You can reverse engineer it. I used a free plugin from ItooSoftware called 'Glue' to conform the spline to the surface. It's really handy and good to have in your toolbox. 

One thought... you have your stitches sticking way up showing the legs. That would not be realistic for real stitches which are kind of buried in the surface. If the legs are not showing, then the angle inconsistencies won't be as apparent. Consider just pushing the stitches into the surface. From far away shots you won't notice anything is wrong. Personally, I'd try the method in the link I attached. It uses maps instead of meshes and will make your file smaller. 100s or 1000s of stiches can grow your file poly count significantly. 

Sorry I couldn't help more.