Fold Till You Drop

There's an origami convention convention underway in Japan this weekend, with some truly impressive pieces on display. There's an AP story, but words don't do it justice. See the personal site of one of the professional paper-folders, or photos taken at a previous convention, or just discover the essence of origami.

Comments

Amazing folding

[TimeTrip]

Immpressive paper folding! Awesome, but did you know they can also fold SHIRTS impressively?

Check out the amazing action here

btw.. i'm not sure if the woman in the video is japanese, but its close enough.. right?? ;)

Re:Amazing folding

[Anonymous Coward]

There is an extended version on the net somewhere that shows more folding. The problem with this folding technique is that while the front of the shirt looks folded, the way it's folded is half-assed. The traditional slow way of folding tucks both sleeves in then folds the bottom part up. Hers folds one sleeve in then tucks, tucks the bottom part up, then the other sleeve gets folded over the bottom. This makes for a crappy fold on the reverse end.

Re:Amazing folding

[mst76]

For the hordes of us who don't understand Japanese, here's a Chinese version. Seriously though, this version is much longer and somewhat easier to follow.

Pepakura

[iamdrscience]

Okay, this isn't really oragami, but it involves building stuff out of paper and it's really nerdy and it's really cool. There's a program called Pepakura that I discovered a while ago that can take any 3D model and make a sheet that you can print out, cut out and fold to make a real-life 3d version of your model. I'm not great with 3D modelling so I couldn't do all that much with it, but it was still pretty fun. IIRC they have a version that's free to download so you can play around with it. Also, as an added bonus their English website is absolutely chock full of bad English translations!

Re:Pepakura

[martinthebrit]

There was an interesting paper at SIGGRAPH this year on the same topic. Again, not origami as cuts are involved, but impressive non the less, enabling smooth surfaces to be modelled in paper.

http://www.den.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mitani
http://www.den.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~suzuki

Re:Pepakura

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually in the very beginning origami did allow for cuts, but eventually evolved into an artform where only folding and such was allowed.

Amazing

[qmchenry]

These are quite impressive. In clicking around, I happened on this database of origami containing references to more than 23k models.

Origami on Steroids

[Alien54]

Everything you could care to know, including the application of origami to space telescopes.

we are not worthy

Eye Candy

[oz_ko]

Don't say I don't do anything for you boys.
On the yahoo site link, hit the next button for some Olympic Eye Candy ;)

Re:Warning

[Mad_Rain]

Please, next time, just link to the next picture!

wow. :) Yay volleyball!

Terrific origami book

[haruchai]

Peter Engel's book, Folding the Universe, is the most interesting book on origami that I've ever read. The first half of the book is almost like a
Godel, Escher, Bach for Origami. The models are simply terrific but most of them are ONLY for advanced folders.

Re:kinda off topic but try this

[Order]

try to fold a peice of paper over 7 times

It doesn't matter how thin the paper, or how big the sheet, you just can't do it. Have fun proving me wrong :)

Actually, proving you wrong is very easy. Here's your proof!
On that page you can see a photo of a piece of paper folded 11 times, and a discussion of all the math and physics involved.

Re:That blows my mind

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried unsuccessfully for about 5 times before I read the instructions. And yes, it really is that easy.

For the rest of us

[wombatmobile]

File > Print, cut and fold... Yamaha's excellent PaperCraft models are challenging but require no great origami expertise. The results are truly spectacular and will delight your kids or your friends.

Oh, and PaperCraft is free.

Re:For the rest of us

[MikeyToo]

Paper models, or card models, started at about the same time as origami but isn't as well known now. They were quite popular in the 20's and 30's and during the war when plastic was scarce.

Card models have made a comeback due to computers and the internet. It is now possible to download a model and print as many copies as you like. Very handy for mistakes. Just print a new part.

Most people think of card models as the simple "place tab 'a' into slot 'b'" kind of thing that you find on a cereal box. The models currently available are extremely realistic and detailed. It's amazing what you can do with a sheet of paper.

There are also quite a few sites that you can get models for free, maiking it an inexpensive hobby. Just scissors, glue, paper and ink.

Re:Stress Sheep

[eclectus]

Maxim article is just rip-off of artist's real work, dum-dums. You go buy origami boulder now!

Working Paper Weapons

[plagioclase]

Staying with the made-from-folded-paper-but-not-oragami tangent, here are plans for a working paper trebuchet.

I made one myself, it works pretty well.