Getting Started

First, download RagingHull.jsx and install it as usual. On executing the script with no active selection you'll get the preferences window:

RagingHull Preferences window.

Click the “Indiscripts Menu” icon button (bottom right) to have RagingHull available in a dedicated menu. Default settings are suitable for a smooth start, so click Save and you're up for the game.

The easiest way to test the script is to create and select a rectangle in the active document, then to call RagingHull from the Indiscripts menu. The result is shown below:

RagingHull running on a basic rectangle.

If you plan to increase the number of bounding boxes, undo the process (Cmd Z), open again the preferences window (release the selection and go into Indiscripts > RagingHull), then set the Step angle to a lower value, e.g. . You can also adjust the Stroke weight, smooth the corners (Rounding field), and so on. RagingHull's settings are self-explanatory. When you're done, save your prefs, re-select the target rectangle (or anything else!) and re-run the script.

From boxes to patterns

As an experiment, select the group of boxes you have just created, ungroup (Cmd Shift G) then click the Exclude overlap button in the Pathfinder.

Creating a compound path from areas that do not overlap.

You then have a compound path whose inner pattern can be revealed by pressing Shift X (Swap Fill and Stroke):

The final pattern.

As you will see spinning boxes spawned by RagingHull have many interesting and aesthetic properties. Here are some samples that emerged while I was writing this tutorial:

Sample 1.

Sample 2.

Sample 3.

Sample 4.

Be creative!