I just started learning Blender. It might be a silly problem. But I will appreciate any help on this.
I am trying to draw a double helix structure. I have found some structures online. But they are all for DNAs. But I don't want to keep the bonds in between the two strands. I just want to have the double helix with the final ends of the strands extended. Similar to the following image.
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1 Answer
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If you have 2 vertices on each side of the origin and you use a screw modifier with these setting it will give you a double helix.
You can add a skin modifier to them or start with squares or other shapes instead of single vertices to have them be 3 dimensional.
To have the ends like that you'd need to a apply the modifier and extrude them manually
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$\begingroup$ I have used the screw modifier before to draw a single helix before. But how did you draw these 2 vertices on each side of the origin? to extrude them manually, what modifier do I need to apply? Do I have to do it in edit mode? $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 17, 2023 at 19:45
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$\begingroup$ I just put 2 vertices in edit mode. You can duplicate one and rotate it 180º. You could also have only 1 vertex and use a mirror modifier before the screw modifier. That would duplicate it on the other side $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 17, 2023 at 20:14
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$\begingroup$ That worked by using the mirror modifier! But the problem is if I try to extrude the ends of the helix, it just changes shape. How can I extrude only the ends and not mess up the structure? $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 18, 2023 at 20:12
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$\begingroup$ You have to apply the modifiers to further modify the mesh. Either that or duplicate the object, apply the modifiers, select the end vertices of the spiral in edit mode and delete everything else and then extrude them how you like them. You can then join both objects with a boolean or geometry node but the easiest way is to just apply the modifiers to begin with $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 18, 2023 at 23:11