I have a mesh with a subsurf modifier applied that looks a bit like a flat plain with a smooth hill in the middle. What I would like to do is trace a path on this surface (that a characater could walk along for example) by going into the top view, drawing the path in the x-y plane, and then somehow make the path follow the z (height) position of the mesh. That is I’d define the shape of the curve in the x-y plane, but I want the curve to take the meshs z value at each point along the curve.
I would use the retopo feature to first transfer a mesh line (or using the paint feature) to your landscape.
You can find out more about retopo here:
and then with your mesh line path in edit mode, select from the mesh menu in the 3DWindow header, > Scripts > ‘Edges to Curves’. That’ll give you a PolyLine - you can then convert it to a NURBs curve ( Curve Tools panel).
The only thing that you may have to watch out for is that you don’t make any bends in the path that are too sharp, and that you don’t have too high a vertice count (though you can drop the curve resolution if needed).
