Animating Wolfram surfaces with Blender: Modified parametric surfaces​
​by Guenther Gsaller
This is a continuation to the posts listed at: https://community.wolfram.com/web/ggoff/

Abstract

One aspect of Mathematica is the possibility to experiment. In Example 1 the sphere in parametric form was modified by swapping the parameters of the third coordinate. In Example 2 a torse of an ellipsoid was used in parametric form. The parameters were adapted resulting in a cross-like structure.
Blender was utilized to create animations starting with the structures from both examples.

Experiments

Example 1: Swapped

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A sphere in parametric form :
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ParametricPlot3D[{aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[v]}/.{a->2Pi},{u,0,2Pi},{v,-Pi,Pi}]
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Swap the parameters in the third coordinate of the parametric form :
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ParametricPlot3D[{aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[u]}/.{a->2Pi},{u,0,2Pi},{v,-Pi,Pi}]
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To enrich the surface add v to the third coordinate of the parametric form :
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ParametricPlot3D[{aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[u]+v}/.{a->2Pi},{u,0,2Pi},{v,-Pi,Pi}]
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Swap the parameters in the third coordinate of the parametric form again:
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ParametricPlot3D[{aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[v]+u}/.{a->Pi/2},{u,0,2Pi},{v,-Pi,Pi}]
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The result is a corcscrew surface.
​
For Example 1 create a bunch of curves:
In[]:=
term1={aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[u]+v}/.{a->2Pi};​​terms=Table[term1/.{v->v1},{v1,-Pi,Pi,Pi/16}];​​gr1=(ParametricPlot3D[#,{u,0,2Pi}])&@terms;​​term2={aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[u]+v}/.{a->Pi,u->0};​​gr2=ParametricPlot3D[term2,{v,-Pi,Pi}];​​gr3=Show[{gr1,gr2},PlotRange->All,Boxed->False,Axes->False]
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Export curves and surface as dxf - files :
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SetDirectory[NotebookDirectory[]]
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/Users/gg/Desktop/ship
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Export["curves.dxf",gr3]
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curves.dxf
In[]:=
term4={aCos[u]Sin[v],aSin[u]Sin[v],aCos[u]+v}/.{a->2Pi};​​gr4=ParametricPlot3D[term4,{u,0,2Pi},{v,-Pi,Pi},Boxed->False,Axes->False]​​
In Blender the curves and the surface were imported with the released dfx-addon. The curves were beveled round, given a material and animated through rotation. The surface with a second material was animated from transparent to opaque and included in the rotation.

Example 2: Ship

In animation Ship a torse of an ellipsoid was used as basis. Adapting the values for the parameters delivered following structure:
Both surfaces were exported from Mathematica as dxf-files and imported in Blender.
​
In Ship animation - part 1 the first cross-like surface was zoomed in/out. The material applied simulates the settings in Mathematica. Part 2 animates the cutting to the second form. It is done by using a boolean modifier. Part 3 closes the top/bottom gap and switches the materials in a gradual animation. Part 4 shows a structure with a camouflage surface, refined with the subsurface-modifier.

References

List of animations

https://vimeopro.com/orbs78/animations
Ship (B1, A1)
Swapped (W1, W2, A2))

References

Web:
(1) Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ (accessed 2021-07-13).
(2) Corcscrew Surface - Wolfram|Alpha https://www.wolframalpha.com (accessed 2021-07-13).
​
Book
(1) Krivoshapko, S.; Ivanov, V. N. Encyclopedia of Analytical Surfaces; Springer International Publishing, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11773-7.
Audio
Stock Music & Sound Effects - Royalty Free Audio - Storyblocks https://storyblocks.com/audio
​
(1) -. Lepine, S. Good Chilling Vibe (30 Seconds Intro).
(2) -. Smith, P. Modern Trans 2.