Thread: Wondering How Best to Approach Mapping the Interior of a Curved Object (Neatly)

If it is a cylinder, then your easiest way to go would be to unwrap each layer.

Draw an 'elevation view' from the end of the cylinder (Concentric circles), and mark a base line or two that goes from the center straight to the edge. From here you can use the angle between the baseline and a point on one deck in the elevation to calculate its distance from the baseline on each map. How far something is from the baseline in the deck map is then the proportion of the circumference of the deck's level. If something is centered at 45 degrees, then it is centered at 1/8th of each deck's circumference.

I'm not really following that, but my big issue is making all the curves neat--I don't have any issues actually figuring out where they ought to go.

your best bet is using Illustrator. establish your center point and you can make all the circles you want with all the curves matching. You can also cut lines to make half doorways and what not.... I would use the outline path feature to give the walls thickness.

1. make all the circles
2. stroke the lines (my shapes have fills which helps in the next step.
3. Change the fill colors of the various shapes.
4. Ungroup the walls from the floors, then select all the walls and combine them.
5. I added some quick simple doors.

If some of this doesn't make sense google Illustrator, stroking a path. and Illustrator, Pathfinder.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

Okay, thanks, that cleared things up a bit.