I have been playing with an origami pattern design tool called ORIPA, made by Jun Mitani (his blog here).
Once I figured out how to get it properly running on my Mac, it was pretty easy to figure out. here’s a handy tip for that. it needs latest java release 1.5.0; the mac still uses 1.4.2 by default, so you have to call the 1.5.0 version specifically to execute the runtime. I did this by stashing the jar file (the packed program file) in my origami directory, and created this shell script:
#!/bin/sh
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5/Commands/java -jar ~/origami/oripa012.jar
which I saved as /usr/local/bin/oripa on my machine; although you could just as easily save it to your desktop as a clickable icon.
anyhow, that bit of stuff aside, I was having problems getting it to properly fold some of my hexagonal design right- but I had seen other files which were more complex and folded quite well. So I uploaded some simple examples to the upload board for ORIPA, and I saw today that Mitani-san had written some information on his blog about how to fix the problem.
here’s his commentary from yesterday; it’s probably quite a bit more helpful if you run it through babelfish first.
basically, I was starting with this pattern:
and it was getting stuck. that was because there were several lines in wrong places, and 2 lines that had essentially 0 length- they were throwing things off. He suggested opening it up in a text editor and changing the coordinates of those lines so they can be properly deleted, which then allows it to fold properly.
It did so for him, and once I tried the same thing it worked for me also.
I’m not sure I can properly express how absolutely cool this program is- it lets you plot out all your crease lines and then not only can you export it as DXF (for import into tools like FreeHand or Illustrator) but you can hit the button and see the final folded rendition of your piece!
I’m working on a larger (permanent) page for this site on how to use it, and some english links for the various bits needed to make it run, but by all means check it out if you are so inclined. the download page is here; you’ll need to grab the oripa012.jar file, and for Windows you’ll need the latest version of the Sun Java Runtime Environment. You can grab the english version here; you’ll want the link titled “Download JRE 5.0 Update 6” and then pick either the “Windows Offline Installation, Multi-language” or “Windows Online Installation, Multi-language”, depending on what kind of internet connection you’re using.
once you have that installed, it’s just a matter of double-clicking on the “oripa012.jar” file on your desktop to run it. it’s all in japanese, of course, so it takes some fiddling to use, but there aren’t a ton of options and the tools have relatively self-explanatory buttons. I hope to get a more comprehensive writeup done later for this wonderful program.
UPDATE: Mitani-san has released a localized english version of ORIPA! Here’s the English Language Page; ORIPA version 0.16 is the latest at this time, and is in english. -Eric (2005/02/16)
Hi! Have you tried using Alex Bateman’s program Tess? I have more experience with that (although I’m not sure if I ever got it running on my Mac…) and I’m curious to know the differences between Tess and ORIPA. Here’s the link:
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Users/agb/Origami/Tess/
I was able to get Tess running on my mac; but I made it a little easier to run on my PC, by compiling it into a windows runtime program. I meant to add in some “export-to-PDF” capabilities but Alex suggested waiting until he releases a newer version.
Tess is certainly an impressive bit of programming. I don’t use it much, because I don’t do well with folding crease patterns; I prefer to generate a grid (or reference points, even) myself and fold from scratch. however it’s really useful for exploring ideas, and for the non-mathematically oriented among us (like myself) it’s quite handy.
ORIPA is different in that it’s an editor- you manually place all the lines, set their fold status, and you can click a button and it folds exactly what you’ve plotted out; or if it can’t, it tells you which vertices are the problematic ones.
It’s really quite fantastic, as it’s capable of rendering rather complex tessellation patterns, as well as some complicated representational forms. It doesn’t do things that are 3d, so that much is out, but it has some nice features for showing underlying layers, seeing “wireframe” versions, etc.
It will run on your mac as long as you have the java 1.5.0 release 3 install, and if you call it specifically from the command line to run the oripa.jar file (the mac will use the java 1.4.2 engine by default, otherwise). I put the info to do that on my blog entry about it, if you need that info.
Jun Mitani (the creator) just released two newer versions, the last on 12/27 I believe- I haven’t played with those ones yet but it’s really an interesting tool to use.
I’ve been meaning to write a little “howto” on the various options but I think for the most part they are self explanatory, and a little fiddling around is enough to figure out how to use it.
Hideo Komatsu has been playing with it a lot- if you look through his blog, you can see several different things he has made/tried using it- including his “christmas santa” fold he just published a week or so ago.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/origami/
Komatsu-san is where I got the link in the first place, for that matter. he’s a great source of info on the younger japanese folding world, for those of us without any connections to it otherwise.
-Eric Gjerde
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I’ve been having trouble with figuring out ORIPA on my Windows XP laptop; I realize that you are a Mac person, but nonetheless…
I downloaded one of the zipped folders from his website, but I couldn’t find an .exe file; You say here that I need a .jar file, but all I found were a bunch of CLASS files, and other file types that I don’t recognize. Mitani-san’s website is offline, or at anyrate I can’t access it at the moment, so I don’t even know if I downloaded the right thing. To top it all off, you say that I need the Java runtime environment– will most computers have it already? I have a 40.0kbps internet connection and would rather not try to download the 15MB file from Java’s website…
Hi Andrew,
well, I’m not really a mac person – as an IT guy, I cover a lot of bases, so I have several XP machines as well 🙂 I just prefer to use my mac for “artistic” stuff, as it tends to give me less technical distractions.
Anyway, here’s the deal: You need to have the Java runtime environment to run ORIPA. Many machines are bundled with it by the OEM, but Microsoft is forbidden to do so due to a court order. So in case your manufacturer hasn’t been so kind as to do this, then it is probably in your best interest to obtain the java runtime environment from Sun’s website (or have a friend with high-speed access do so, etc.)
you then call the .JAR file using java from the command line; although really, once you have java installed, you can double-click on the .JAR file and it will run like an application (which is really exactly what it is, more or less.)
I’ll try to track down some updated stuff and do a little write-up for you soon; it’s been too long since I’ve played with ORIPA, particularly now that Tomohiro has released his excellent 3D rendering tool for ORIPA crease patterns.
Another problem I’ve been having is that the oripa file I’m dowloading is a .zip file, and I can’t find any .jar files inside it…. I’m guessing that I have to use the java plugin to run it from the zipped folder, but I have no idea how to do that…
Just in case anyone is still having problems from Windows:
go to dos prompt then
change directory into the folder where you keep your latest copy of ORIPA*.jar – eg:
cd Documents and Settings\YourName\Desktop\oripa
then type in the following:
“C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\java” -jar oripa030.jar
(changing “jre1.50_09” for your version of jre, and “oripa030.jar” for the version of ORIPA that you have) and the programme should start.