How can I distribute various objects based on their size?

Question

Are there any techniques or tools in Blender to help make an image like this?

There are a few things in this image that I'm specifically interested in:

@atomicbezierslinger still image is fine. I just edited my question which hopefully clarifies what I'm trying to do — ajwood, Jul 30 '17 at 20:06
Blender has no dynamic modeling built-in. 1, 2 and 3 can be done with cycles particle system. #4 may be done with the animation nodes addon, which can measure distance between particles.. — Leander, Jul 30 '17 at 20:30

Duarte Farrajota Ramos · Answer 1 · 2017-07-30T21:55:43.070

2

Disclaimer: This is not a true way of sorting by size, just a way of faking it by scaling objects.

This works by using a vertex group to affect the particle size and density, simply create a gradient to affect particle size as desired

Start by creating a circular mesh, a cobweb like topology will likely help.

Add a new vertex group and use Weight Paint mode to paint in in a gradient shape to your liking.

Create new particle system set to Hair type, and use the previously created Vertex Group to drive both its Density and Length parameters.

edited Jul 30 '17 at 21:55

answered Jul 30 '17 at 21:36

One of the things I really like about the reference image I posted is how there are small objects packed around the large objects to make for a really dense layout, without having any object overlap. Is there any way to achieve that with this method? – ajwood Jul 30 '17 at 22:54
Not directly no, but you could convert the particles into real objects afterwards, add rigid body properties then drop them with a physics simulation. That should make a non intersecting distribution roughly respecting the already obtained gradient. This may help https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/80690/random-sized-cylinders-with-no-intersection-gaps/80721#80721 – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Jul 30 '17 at 23:12

score -2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 30 '17 at 20:00

-2

answered Jul 30 '17 at 20:00

2 Answers2