What is the Plating Generator?

Features:

• Generate a panel lines or scatter smaller objects using a random seed.
• Use on flat or curves surfaces.
• Choose from a range of completely customizable plating patterns.
• Save, re-use and share your own pre-set configurations, or choose from a variety of pre-bundled ones to get you started.
• Create your own greeble objects libraries or choose from the standard default library.
• The objects can either be created and edited separately or integrated into the base object.
• Go back and change the patterns and greebles from a fixed control panel at any time when they are created as separate objects.
• Create from a whole quad based mesh or on a sub selection of quad faces.
• Control the depth of the grooves, heights of the panels, thickness of the grooves, make corners rounded, and add bevel effects.
• Add your own materials and vary panel color through vertex colors.
• Greebles can either be overlapping or non-overlapping.
• Greebles can either conform to the shape of the face or maintain their proportions.
• Option to completely remove the grooves and leave the plates intact.

The Plating Generator added to a sci fi ship (Model Supplied)

Plating Generator added to a Sci Fi Space Station (Model Supplied)

Animation Nodes extra version available (Model Supplied)

Spaceship based on a design by Paul Chadeisson (Model Supplied).

Versatile for a range of sci fi scenes (Model Supplied)

Version 2.0 now available with sample files

Build your own customizable panels with the Levels feature. Deep Dive Video.

The Plating Generator being used on the Dynamic Jet

Featured Greeble Library

(Contact me via Blender Market if you have a library you’d like to share!)

Greebles pack for Plating Generator addon (Sold Separately) – SolCommand

The collection contains 271 3D meshes that you can use to spread across the walls and hulls of your spaceships, stations, futuristic cities and other projects you may have, in order to quickly make them look much more detailed and complicated in your final renders.

Greeble Pack by SolCommand

New Releases

Version 2.0 Officially Released!

See the overview video here:

Version 2.0 Beta – You (Can) Redo

This is a significant update to the add-on which introduces a re-useable fixed panel so you can go back and change your panelling whenever you wish.  See this overview video:

Version 1.30.0 – Greeble Libraries

You can now create your own greeble libraries that can be loaded into Blender. You could even sell them on Blender Market if you wish.

The update also comes with some example libraries and a user interface overhaul so that you can manage your greebles in a much more interactive way.

There is also a new Create New Object menu item which allows you to create the greebles separately from the main mesh, so that it won’t change your original object.

Version 1.26.0 – Create Plates Separately

Make your plating less destructive by using a new menu option which allows you to create plates separately from the main mesh:

Select Generate Plates (Create New Object) in the menu to get this effect:

Applying this will create a new object, called plating.

Version 1.25.0 – Materials!

Assign custom materials to the plates and grooves. See the documentation for more details:

Version 1.24.0 – Blender 2.9 ready

This version will now be compatible with Blender 2.9 and backwards compatible with Blender 2.83.  Do contact me if you have any questions.

Version 1.23.0

The latest version provides you with the option to subdivide the faces at the same time as adding the plating effect. This is done by changing the ‘Subdivisions’ settings under the “Plating Pattern” section:

Version 1.22.0

• I have added a new plating pattern variation which introduces triangular edges to generated plates which can add a different optional style.  I have also added this to the Animation Nodes feature.
• Fixed a bug identified by Juris Perkons where the add-on was erroring the second time you used the add-on in face edit mode.

Version 1.20.0

Some major new features released:

• Non overlapping greeble mode!
• Maintain the original proportions of a greeble.
• The materials and UVs of a custom greeble will be copied over.
• Height and material overrides for each greeble type.
• Customise the direction of each greeble (good for forests!)

See the documentation for more details!

Version 1.11.0: – Animation!

Animation with Animation Nodes

There is now an additional feature that will allow you to use the Plating and Greebles Generator as an add-on in the freely available Animation Nodes Blender framework.

This will allow you to do the following key things:

• Animate all the parameters for generating a plating and greeble effect.
• Dynamically configure the parameters in realtime without losing the configuration.

I have included a zip file in the downloads section that contains a set of sample .blend files showcasing this feature, including the Death Star trench!

I now have similar functionality in the Shape Generator add-on that will allow you create even more complex objects:

Version 1.10.0: Blender 2.8 beta

I have now upgraded the add-on for 2.8 beta and put it ready for download alongside the 2.7 version. You will be able to tell the 2.8 zip file version because it ends in 2.8!  I’ll be updating the documentation once 2.8 becomes the main Blender release.

Also, the both 2.7 and 2.8 version supports presets, so you can load and save your own settings, or reset to default!

Blender 2.8 is still in beta, so if you have any problems with the add-on let me know.

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