connect two point sets by closest distances

Hey guys ,

I stuck on an easy to tell but somehow difficult to solve
problem.

I basically have two random pointsets with same amount of points
and try to find all the closest conections . (finding smallest distance between all
the points , connect two points with smallest distance ,cull used items start again )

i did for a few points by copying the compound next to each other
but i guess i will have to write a loop.
but is there any other way to do it because i have to connect something like 5000 points with 5000 points and this might take ages ....

thanks for any help

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on October 18, 2010 at 3:12am

Hi Chris,

have a look at the Vector->Point->Closest Point component. It finds the closest point in a collection of points.

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by chris on October 18, 2010 at 10:56am

thanks for your quick response
but i am still curious how to move on after the closest point was found
since i need to cull this one out when i go into the next round

currently as on the attached image the all connected by list index but i need to find the closest way

Attachments:

set.jpg, 184 KB

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on October 18, 2010 at 11:54am

Ah, I didn't realise you wanted to remove the points from earlier answers. That indeed makes it much harder, in fact I suspect you'll need a script for this.

When you do this though, the order in which you perform the search becomes very important. Are you sure you're happy with just a simple iteration?

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by chris on October 18, 2010 at 3:35pm

hey david ,

thanks again for your quick answer. for now the simpler to write for me
the better so the iteration would do .

i have only made some very simple vb scribts before .
so just basic questions -

once i got the two arrays in :

1* is there a similar command like the closest point compound
2* how can i cull a number out of an array

do i have to do it like ?

looping through all points
finding closest point
make create vector between them
get the information out of the loop
cull the 2 points from the arrays
start loop again
l

thx for your help

chris

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on October 19, 2010 at 7:46am

I attached a file with a VB script that finds and subtracts closest points. It also shows very clearly why the order is important and what kind of problems you can get with this approach.

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Attachments: