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Autodesk Alias 2010

Part No. 712B1-050000-PM05A

March 2009

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Summary of Contents for Autodesk ALIAS 2010

Page 1 Autodesk Alias 2010 Learning Alias Part No. 712B1-050000-PM05A March 2009...
Page 2 © 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Contents Learning Alias ......1 Chapter 1 How to use this book ......3 About the Learning Alias Tutorials .
Page 4: Table Of Contents
Using Tools ....... . 26 Using a Snap Mode ......28 Picking and Unpicking Objects .
Page 5: Table Of Contents
Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner ....279 Modeling Workflow ......280 Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces .
Page 6: Table Of Contents
Visualizing a PDA ......614 Conclusion ....... . 628 Q u i z .
Page 7: Learning Alias
Learning Alias Welcome to Alias and the world of three-dimensional modeling, rendering, and animating. Alias offers a complete solution for the creation of digital content in fields such as industrial design, automotive design, and consumer product design.
Page 9: Chapter 1 How To Use This Book
How to use this book This chapter shows how to use the tutorials, and presents the graphic and text conventions used in this manual. About the Learning Alias Tutorials The tutorials in this book present examples of typical concept design workflows. The tutorials introduce the powerful tools and interactive features of Alias, and demonstrate how to use them to accomplish your concept design tasks.
Page 10: For More Information
For More Information These tutorials are an introduction to Alias. They are not intended as an exhaustive guide to the capabilities and options of Alias, and will not teach you everything there is to learn about the products and workflows. For additional information and more comprehensive explanations of tools and options, refer to the online documentation included with the product, and read...
Page 11: Terms
When we ask you to choose a tool, we show the tool s icon next to the instruction, for example, select Pick > Object Terms Click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a mouse button once. Double-click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a mouse button twice fast.
Page 13: Chapter 2 Getting Help On Alias
Getting help on Alias Autodesk provides you with a number of resources to aid you in becoming a proficient Alias user. Finding help on Alias features Try this You want information about installing Alias Follow the on-screen instructions on the installation DVD. For more detailed instructions, see the InstallingAlias.pdf...
Page 14 You want to learn new techniques for using See “Learning Alias”. Alias See “Learning Technical Surfacing.” Go to the Communities section of tp://www.autodesk.com, and check out the tips and tricks. Visit http://www.autodesk.com/estore to find learning tools aimed at interme- diate and advanced users.
Page 15: Finding Alias Training Resources
Finding Alias training resources If... Try this You want to obtain in-depth training See the learning materials and training courses available from Autodesk, see http://www.autodesk.com/training. You want to get tips and techniques from For events near you, see the experts at Alias MasterClasses tp://www.autodesk.com/training.
Page 16: Finding Support For Alias
Finding support for Alias Try this You are a Platinum member and want to Go to the Alias support site at access the Knowledgebase or Ask Autodesk tp://www.autodesk.com/support You want to interact with other Alias users Go to the online User-to-User Discus- sion forum on the Alias support site at http://www.autodesk.com/support...
Page 17: Working With Alias
Working with Alias If you create concept designs Read about our concept design workflow Work through the modeling and rendering tutorials in Learning Alias If you build 3D models based on sketches Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning Alias If you build 3D models for manufacture Read About Curves and About Modeling Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning Alias...
Page 18 Check the community site for tips and tricks 12 | Chapter 2 Getting help on Alias...
Page 19: Chapter 3 Interface Basics
Interface Basics Learning objectives You will learn how to: Log into the system and start Alias. Arrange windows. Use tools and tool options. Customize shelves and marking menus. Tumble, track, and dolly the view. Use the Object Lister window to understand the model. Introduction Before you begin working in Alias, you should spend some time learning how Alias represents the scene and the model (both externally and internally), and...
Page 20: Starting Alias
2 Copy the downloaded folder into your folder. CourseWare user_data On Windows systems, this is typically: C:\Documents and Settings\[userid]\My Documents\Autodesk\Ali as\user_data\CourseWare On Mac OS X, this is typically: /Documents/Autodesk/Alias/user_data/CourseWare Starting Alias Logging In If you have not logged in to your account on your workstation, do so now.
Page 21 1 Do one of the following: Double-click the Alias 2010 shortcut icon on the desktop Select Programs > Autodesk > Alias 2010 > Alias from the Start menu. If you work in an environment where there are several Alias products installed, the first time you run Alias, you may be presented with a choice of products to launch.
Page 22 Click the Alias icon on the Dock. From the Apple Finder, select Go > Applications, browse to Autodesk > Alias2010 and double-click Alias. If you work in an environment where there are several Alias products installed, the first time you run Alias, you may be presented with a choice of product to launch.
Page 23: Overview Of The Alias Interface
Overview of the Alias Interface The main parts of the Alias interface are: the Palette (location can be customized) the Menu Bar, located at the top the Window Area, taking up most of the interface and located in the middle (this area may or may not contain view windows when you first start Alias).
Page 24: Using Help
of the interface. (To learn how to set options see Set options for a tool or menu item.) As you continue through this tutorial, you will become more and more familiar with the Alias interface. Using Help One of the most important menus is the Help menu. The Help menu is organized so you can get quick and specific information on just about any tool in Alias.
Page 25 2 Click the All Windows command to open the submenu, then click the All Windows option. The All Windows command arranges view windows in the following layout: Top, Left, Back, and Perspective. Arranging Windows | 19...
Page 26 These tutorials sometimes refer to menu options by the path through the menus to the item. So, All Windows is: Layouts > All Windows > All Windows . As an alternative to the single-click method, you can use the pull-down menus by dragging the mouse down the menu and releasing on the option you want.
Page 27 The view windows have more controls across the top, but for now, concentrate on the close box, title bar, maximize, and resize corners. You will discover the functions of the other icons later in the tutorials. Closing Windows To close the Top view using the close box Find the close box in the upper left corner of the Top view window.
Page 28 2 Drag a resize arrow to change the size of the window. An outline of the view window follows the mouse. 3 Release the mouse button. The corner of the window snaps to the new size. 4 Try dragging the resize corners in the other corners to see how they resize the window.
Page 29 6 Click the maximize box of the view window. The view expands to fill the entire screen. Notice that the maximize box changes to black to show the window is maximized. 7 Click the maximize box again to return the view window to normal size. Moving Windows To move and arrange the remaining windows 1 Find a view window s title bar.
Page 30 3 Release the mouse button. The window snaps to the new location. 4 By now you probably have some view windows overlapping other windows, similar to this: The windows are like a stack of papers on a desk. As you shuffle them, they can overlap.
Page 31 When windows overlap like this, you can click in a window to move that window to the front of the stack. 5 Click the title bar of the Perspective view window to move it in front of the other windows. The windows are probably a little disorganized at this point.
Page 32: Using Tools
The active view window is always the last view window you clicked in. Some tools change behavior based on which view is active, but for now you can disregard which view window is active. Saving an arrangement of windows If you have a particular choice of windows that you plan to use repeatedly, you can save the set by choosing Layouts >...
Page 33 The Palette window is divided into separate palettes of tools, each labeled with a tab at the top. For example, the Curves palette contains tools for creating new curves. The Curve Edit palette contains tools for editing and reshaping existing curves.
Page 34: Using A Snap Mode
Now use the geometric primitive tools to add some geometry to the scene. The primitive tools create simple 3D geometric shapes such as cubes, spheres, and cones. As a technical surfacer, you may not regularly need to add these simple shapes to a model.
Page 35 This arrow indicates that more, similar tools are available in a hidden subpalette. To access the extra tools, click and hold the mouse to open the subpalette. 1 In the Surfaces palette, click and hold the Sphere tool icon. 2 The Surfaces > Primitives subpalette appears. 3 Hold the middle mouse button on the different tools in the subpalette to see their names.
Page 36 The cube snaps to the grid intersections as you drag. 8 Place the cube at a grid point by releasing the mouse button. 9 Click the Grid snap button again to turn grid snapping off. NOTE In addition to using the Grid button, you can grid snap by pressing and holding the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key while you place a primitive.
Page 37 4 Click the Cone tool option. You have now seen two different ways to choose a tool from a palette. From now on, when instructed to choose tools by name, for example: “On the Surfaces palette, choose Primitives > Cone.” you can either click the tool icon, or choose the tool from the palette menu.
Page 38 2 Click the shadowed box next to the Cylinder item. 3 The Cylinder options window appears. 4 Double-click in the text box labeled Sweep, then type press 180 and Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to set the sweep to 180 degrees. 5 Use the slider next to the Sections text box to set the sections to 6 Click the Go button at the bottom of the window.
Page 39: Picking And Unpicking Objects
As you specified in the option window, the cylinder has a 180-degree perimeter and is created from four sections (spans). 8 Look at the Cylinder tool icon. It has a small option box symbol in the top left corner. Like the symbol in the menu, this indicates the tool has options. 9 Double-click the Cylinder tool icon.
Page 40 Unlike most selection tools, Pick > Object Types > All Objects/Lights does not stay selected, since you never need to use it twice in a row. When these momentary types of tools finish, the current tool reverts to the last continuous tool you selected. 3 In the Pick palette, choose the Nothing tool.
Page 41 2 Click the cone primitive in the view windows with the left mouse button. The cone highlights to show it is picked. 3 Click the other objects with the left mouse button. They also become picked. 4 With all the objects picked, click one of the picked objects with the left mouse button.
Page 42 The object you clicked becomes unpicked. The left mouse button toggles objects between picked and unpicked. 5 Now click one of the primitives with the middle mouse button. The object you clicked is picked and the other objects are unpicked. The middle mouse button picks only the object you click.
Page 43 The object is unpicked. The right mouse button unpicks objects. This is most useful with pick boxes, as you will see in the next procedure. To use pick boxes to pick and unpick several objects at once 1 With the Pick > Object tool still selected, click one of the primitive objects with the left mouse button.
Page 44 All the objects inside the pick box toggle between picked and unpicked. 3 Now drag a pick box with the middle mouse button around some objects. 38 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics...
Page 45 Now only the objects inside the box are picked. 4 Now drag a pick box with the right mouse button around some of the picked objects. Any objects inside the pick box are unpicked. To pick by name 1 Use the middle mouse button to pick only the sphere. 2 On the Windows menu, choose Information >...
Page 46: Shortcuts To Tools
The information window allows you to adjust parameters for objects in the scene. 3 Find the Name field. The name of the object should be sphere something similar. 4 Close the Information window. 5 Click in empty space with the middle mouse button. All objects in the scene are unpicked.
Page 47: Creating Custom Shelves
Shelves are like the palettes, except you control the tools options and their position on the shelves. You use shelves to organize all your commonly used tools. Marking menus appear at the current mouse location. They provide a very fast method to choose the tools you use most often (such as Pick > Object ). Hotkeys are special key combinations that perform common menu or tool commands.
Page 48 3 Drag down to the Save option and release the mouse button. A file requester appears. 4 Click in the Object name text field and type , then click Save. Default In the next procedure, you will start a new shelf of tools commonly used in curve fitting in preparation for the lesson on fitting curves to scan data.
Page 49 The old Shelf set is deleted and a new, empty shelf appears in the shelf area. Now you can begin adding tools to the new shelf. 4 In the Palette window, find the Curve Edit palette. 5 With the middle mouse button, drag the Fit Curve tool onto the CurveFit shelf in the control panel.
Page 50 The options let you set the knot spacing (parameterization) and degree of the new curve. 3 Make sure Knot Spacing is set to Uniform and Create Guidelines is off. 4 Set the Degree option to 2. 5 Find the tool icon at the top of the option window. This icon represents the tool as configured with these settings.
Page 51 Now when you choose this icon in the shelf, the New Curve (edit pts) tool creates degree 2 curves. 7 Back in the option window, set the Degree to 3. 8 Use the middle mouse button to drag the tool icon at the top of the option window to the shelf.
Page 52 Note that the two versions of the tool have the exact same name and icon. To be able to distinguish between the tools, rename them. 2 Find the first version of New Curve by Edit Points you dragged to the shelf.
Page 53 To remove a tool from the shelf 1 Add another tool to the CurveFit shelf. Let s now assume that this was a mistake and you want to remove the tool. 2 Hold the middle mouse button over the tool s icon in the shelf. The name of the tool appears.
Page 54: Using And Customizing Marking Menus
2 Set the Tool Icons to Small. If you want, you can also turn on the icon labels option to display name labels for all the icons. 3 Click the Go button at the bottom of the window to apply the changes. Alias loads smaller versions of all the tool icons.
Page 55 To choose common tools with marking menus 1 Hold down the Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Shift and Control (Mac) keys. 2 With the keys held down, hold the left mouse button. The left mouse button marking menu appears at the location of the mouse pointer.
Page 56 Once you have learned which direction corresponds to which tool in a marking menu, you can use a quick gesture to choose the tool. 6 Hold the Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Shift and Control (Mac) keys, then drag up and release the mouse button quickly. The black line shows the direction, but the menu is not drawn.
Page 57 To customize a marking menu with common tools 1 On the Preferences menu, open the Interface submenu and choose Marking Menus. The MarkingMenus shelf window appears. This is a special shelf window. The tools and menu items on the different tabs appear in corresponding marking menus.
Page 58 4 Release the mouse button to position the icon at the location indicated by the red arrow. You now have a tool on the marking menu to pick templated geometry. 5 Hold down Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Shift and Control (Mac) keys and press the left mouse button to show the marking menu again.
Page 59 The tool you just added is called Pick > Template in the marking menu. Change the name to something more concise. 6 In the MarkingMenu shelf window, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key and double-click the Pick Template tool in the shelf. 7 A dialog box appears.
Page 60: Using Hotkeys
You now know how to customize the marking menus. In later lessons, you will load pre-made marking menus with common surfacing tools. Using hotkeys Hotkeys are special key combinations that choose tools or perform menu commands. You can get a complete listing of all the hotkeys in the hotkey editor.
Page 61 Alias s option windows use a hierarchy similar to that of the File Lister: options are organized into hierarchical sections that can be collapsed and expanded. 2 In the Menu section, click the Layouts subsection title to expand it. Click to open a Section Heading. You can see the hotkey for the User windows item, as well as text fields for defining other hotkeys.
Page 62: Changing Your View Of The Model
You can define your own hotkeys, if you want. For the most part, you will not use hotkeys in these lessons. If you are new to Autodesk Alias products, we recommend that you spend some time working with the product before you define hotkeys, so you can learn which commands you use frequently enough to need a hotkey.
Page 63 Because these camera movements are so common, Alias uses special hotkey/mouse combinations to access these movements quickly. To use the camera move mode to move the camera in a perspective window 1 Hold down the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys. Keep the keys held down during the following steps.
Page 64 3 Drag the left mouse button to tumble the camera: Drag left and right to rotate the camera. Drag up and down to tilt the camera. Tumbling the camera changes the azimuth and elevation angles of the camera. 4 Release the left mouse button, but keep the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys held down.
Page 65 Dollying moves the camera forward and backward. 6 Again, release the right mouse button, but keep the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys held down. 7 Drag the middle mouse button to track the camera. Tracking moves the camera, but does not change the direction in which the camera is pointing.
Page 66 Now, try moving the camera in the orthographic windows. To use the camera move keys to move the camera in an orthographic window 1 Hold the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys to enter camera move mode. 2 Make sure the pointer is over an orthographic window such as Top, Side, or Back.
Page 67 5 Now try dragging the left mouse button to tumble the orthographic view. Nothing happens. You cannot change the view direction of orthographic windows. They always look in the same direction. Moving the camera is a very important skill in Alias. Throughout these lessons, you need to move the camera to work with geometry.
Page 68 5 Find the View palette. It is near the bottom of the Palette window. 6 Choose the Look At tool. 7 The active view window (the window with the white outline) changes to center on the picked object. 8 Pick nothing . 9 Use the Look At tool again.
Page 69: Changing The Point Of Interest
When you use Look At with nothing or everything picked, the view centers on all the geometry in the scene. Look At is most useful to quickly find geometry that is outside the view of a window or too far to be seen clearly. Alias provides two additional tools to make it easier to move the camera around a model quickly: the “point of interest”...
Page 70 4 Change the View Control setting to Viewing Panel. The ViewCube is the default view control, but we will use the Viewing Panel in these tutorials. The ViewCube and NavBar provide the same functionality as the Viewing Panel. For information, see Use the ViewCube tool and NavBar.
Page 71 Drag with the left mouse button to tumble. The view tumbles around the point of interest. 8 Click and release on another point on one of the primitive objects. The point of interest manipulator jumps to the new point. 9 Drag the circle at the center of the point of interest manipulator. The manipulator moves across the surface of the object.
Page 72 Use the following overview illustration as a reminder of the different controls on the point of interest manipulator. 66 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics...
Page 73: Using The Viewing Panel
Using the Viewing Panel The Viewing Panel appears when you enter camera move mode in the Perspective window.The ViewCube tool and NavBar appear by default, but you changed this setting in the previous section. This window lets you quickly switch the Perspective window to a default or user-defined view of the model. As you work on the model, you will probably find yourself changing the camera view back and forth between two or more areas of interest.
Page 74 The Viewing Panel appears in the upper left corner of the Perspective window. The images at the center of the panel (small icons of the top and bottom of a car) represent the model. 4 Click an arrow to view the model from one of eight different directions. The horizontal and vertical arrows represent front, side, and back views.
Page 75 6 Click the white arrow near the bottom of the Viewing Panel to return to the view previous to your last camera move. 7 Click the Viewing Panel section heading at the top of the panel to collapse the entire panel into a small heading. Using the Viewing Panel | 69...
Page 76 Use this technique to get the Viewing Panel out of the way when you want as much viewing area as possible. To use the Point of Interest manipulator 1 Hold down the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys, then press the left mouse button to open the Viewing Panel.
Page 77 4 Turn off the manipulator by clicking the Visible check box to hide the point of interest manipulator. Turn the Visible check box on to show the manipulator again. 5 Turn on the Locked check box to keep the point of interest manipulator locked at its current position.
Page 78 Many people find an isographic view easier for technical modeling, since parallel lines in the model remain parallel in the view window. For the remainder of the tutorials, the screen shots will show isographic views. However, feel free to turn the Perspective checkbox back on if you prefer a perspective view.
Page 79 A new bookmark appears at the bottom of the section. 4 Move the camera to a new view on the model. 5 Click the new button again. A second bookmark appears in the bookmark list. 6 Click the label for the first bookmark, then the second. The view switches back and forth between the two bookmarked views.
Page 80 9 Hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key and double-click the first bookmark icon in the Bookmark Lister. A dialog box appears. 10 Type a new name for the bookmark, then click OK. For production work, you should use meaningful names, such as “back panel”...
Page 81 The Publish button saves the selected bookmarks, current shelf bookmarks, or all bookmark(s) as image files on your disk. Clicking on a bookmark icon changes the view to that bookmark. This is the same as clicking a bookmark in the Viewing Panel. Clicking the right mouse button in an empty part of the Bookmark Lister, and choosing New shelf from the drop down menu creates a new shelf.
Page 82: Understanding The Object Lister
Understanding the Object Lister Alias keeps track of every aspect of the scene in a hierarchical data structure. You can view representations of this structure through the SBD (scene block diagram) or through the Object Lister. Curves, surfaces, groupings, transformations, components, lights, and everything else in the scene is represented by nodes in the hierarchy.
Page 83 Node States Grouped: you can group several objects. In the Object Lister, this is represented by putting the objects under an orange block. Instanced: you can duplicate an object as an “instance”. Instead of a new object, an instance is just a pointer to existing geometry. It is represented in the Object Lister as a white cube.
Page 84: The Object Lister Window
Templated: you can “template” objects in the scene so they are still visible, but cannot be transformed or picked. Nodes for templated objects do not change their appearance; however, when the object is picked, in the view windows, it will be pink. When inactive, gray. The Object Lister window To view and pick using the Object Lister window 1 On the Windows menu, choose Object Lister.
Page 85 6 Find the component filter buttons to the left of the promptline. These buttons appear when the Pick > Component tool is active. 7 Make sure the Surfaces button is pushed in. 8 Click the cube. Since you must click an edge, which is shared by two sides, a small box appears under the mouse pointer with the name of both sides.
Page 86: Conclusion
Conclusion You now know how to: Log into the system and start Alias. Get help. Arrange windows. Use tools and tool options. Customize shelves and marking menus. Tumble, track, and dolly the view. Use the Object Lister window to understand the internal representation of the model.
Page 87: Chapter 4 Introduction To 3D
This tutorial introduces you to working in 3D space, using the Autodesk Alias modeling environment. You will build a desk lamp from cylinders and spheres using the Alias Surfaces menu. As you build up the design, you will get used to moving, scaling and rotating objects in 3D space.
Page 88 First, you will create a base from cylinders. Then, you will build a moveable arm at an angle, also using cylinders. Finally, you will build a lampshade using spheres, which will then be assembled onto the arm. As you gain experience in using Alias, choosing a modeling strategy will become a natural part of your workflow.
Page 89 The file browser window appears. If the file is shown, jump to step 2. If not, follow the next steps desklamp to set up the directory. CourseWare On Windows, click the arrow next to the Go field and select Projects to open the directory.
Page 90 On Mac OS X, select Projects from the Projects drop-down list to open directory. user_data The projects in the directory are displayed. If the user_data CourseWare project is not shown, refer to To install the courseware for use with Alias on page 14.
Page 91 On Mac OS X, click the directory, click Set Current. CourseWare 2 In the directory, choose the file and click Open. wire desklamp Alternatively, double-click the file to open it. When prompted to delete all objects, click Yes. Beginning a Model | 85...
Page 92 NOTE If your values for construction settings differ from those in the file, you are presented with a dialog box. Click Accept New desklamp.wire Settings to use the construction settings in desklamp.wire The file browser closes and the desk lamp exercise file appears in the Alias window.
Page 93: Part 1: Creating 3D Objects
A sketch of the desk lamp design displays in the Left view. This sketch is a reference image, known as a canvas plane. You will use it as a guide to model the desk lamp. If the two sketches do not appear, it is because the canvas plane display has been turned off.
Page 94 Creating a Primitive Object What are Primitives? Primitives are ready-made objects in familiar shapes. The primitives are made from a single surface, or a group of surfaces that form an enclosed volume. In Alias, you can create the following primitives: Sphere Torus Cylinder...
Page 95 Creating the lamp stand Now create a cylinder for the base of the lamp stand. 1 Create the first cylinder using the Top window. Maximize the Top view. Part 1: Creating 3D objects | 89...
Page 96 2 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Cylinder from the palette. If the palette is not open, choose Windows > Palette from the menu bar. 3 To choose the Cylinder tool, press and hold the mouse button, so the cursor is over the Sphere icon until the entire Primitives drawer appears.
Page 97 Release the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key and the mouse button. 5 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows or press the F9 key to display all four views, and check that the cylinder has been placed correctly, as shown. The cylinder remains picked, or active.
Page 98 lines. Most tools and commands work on picked objects. Since the Cylinder is picked, any tools or commands you choose will be applied to NOTE The cylinder has a manipulator attached to it, as do all primitives when they are first added to the scene. The manipulator can be useful for transforming a primitive, but is not relevant to this tutorial.
Page 99 The Scale icon is outlined in red to indicate it is the active tool. At the same time, the cylinder s manipulators disappear. 3 Click and drag the left mouse button to scale the cylinder equally in all axes. Scale the cylinder to roughly fit the width of the bottom cylinder shown on the sketch.
Page 100 The Transform > Non-p Scale tool (non-proportional scale) modifies the x, y or z scale of an object separately. This allows an object to be stretched or squashed. The mouse buttons are used to control the non-proportional scaling. For this section, use the 2D views (Top, Side, and Back) to control the transforms.
Page 101 Middle mouse button horizontal transform Right mouse button vertical transform Next use the right mouse button to adjust the vertical height of the base. 1 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale . 2 Click and drag with the right mouse button to adjust the height of the cylinder.
Page 102: Saving Your Work
Later, you will line up the cylinder to the grid line, to make the lamp base sit on the ground. Saving your work Now save the lamp as a new file. It is always important to save your work at each stage. However, to safeguard the files in the CourseWare project, it is write-protected.
Page 103 A new project is created which is immediately displayed in the File Browser. 3 Click the Up 1 level button to move up one directory. This is the directory that contains all the projects, including the user_data new_project Saving your work | 97...
Page 104 4 Click the right mouse button on the directory and choose new_project Rename from the menu. 5 Type and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). Lessons 6 Click the arrow next to the Project field and choose Set Current to make the current project.
Page 105 The wire directory of the project is now displayed in the File Lessons Browser. 7 In the Object name field, type and press Enter. mydesklamp Saving your work | 99...
Page 106 Alias saves the file in the project. mydesklamp.wire Lessons TIP It is good modeling practice to save often as insurance against having to start from the very beginning if you make a mistake. Saving your work in a Mac OS X environment 1 Choose File >...
Page 107 3 Click Create. A new project is created which is immediately displayed in the File Browser. 4 In the Save As field, type and press Return . mydesklamp Saving your work | 101...
Page 108: Part 2: Building The Lampstand
Alias saves the file in the project. mydesklamp.wire Lessons TIP It is good modeling practice to save often as insurance against having to start from the very beginning if you make a mistake. Part 2: Building the lampstand In this section, you will continue to build the lamp stand from cylinders. Watch Part 2 of the tutorial.
Page 109 The position of the pivot is modified using the Transform > Local > Set Pivot tool. 1 Choose Transform > Local > Set Pivot . 2 The pivot needs to be at the base of the cylinder. To move the pivot point to the base use curve snapping and select the bottom line of the cylinder.
Page 110 The pivot point snaps precisely onto the bottom edge of the cylinder. Release the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys and the mouse button. TIP If you make a mistake, choose Edit > Undo to step back. Next, move the cylinder onto the grid.
Page 111 5 Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snap mode, and press and drag with the left mouse button in any direction. The cylinder moves so that its pivot point always snaps to a grid intersection. Drag the cylinder to the origin.
Page 112 Your screen appears not to have changed. However, a second cylinder has been placed in the same location as the first, and is selected, ready to be moved or scaled. 3 Choose Transform > Move . 4 As the cylinder is already selected, you do not need to click the cylinder to move it.
Page 113 Next, snap this cylinder to the top of the first cylinder. 6 Check that the Transform > Move tool still has the red box outline, so it is active. If it is not active, choose it again. Hold down the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys together to turn on curve snapping.
Page 114 The second cylinder moves to the top of the first cylinder. Release the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) key to turn off curve snap mode. 7 Choose Transform > Scale and use the left mouse button to scale the cylinder to match the width shown in the sketch.
Page 115 A third cylinder is created in the same position as the second, and is active, ready to be moved. 2 Choose Transform > Move . Hold down the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys to turn on curve snapping mode. 3 Click the top edge of the second cylinder to move the new cylinder into place.
Page 116 4 Choose Transform > Scale and use the left mouse button to scale the cylinder. Resize the cylinder to match the width of the pillar. Remember to click and drag in the background, away from the objects. 5 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale and use the right mouse button to adjust the height of the cylinder to match the sketch.
Page 117 3 Choose Transform > Rotate . The Transform > Rotate tool is used to rotate an object around its pivot point. The axis of rotation is determined by which mouse button you use: The left mouse button rotates around the x-axis The middle mouse button rotates around the y-axis The right mouse button rotates around the z-axis 4 Using the middle mouse button, rotate the cylinder about the y-axis until...
Page 118 5 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale and use the right mouse button to adjust the length of the second pillar. Create the hinge cylinder Add one more cylinder to complete the design of the arm. 1 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Cylinder . Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping.
Page 119 2 Choose Transform > Move . Click and drag the right mouse button to move the cylinder to the hinge position. Part 2: Building the lampstand | 113...
Page 120: Part 3: Organizing The Model
3 With the cylinder still selected, choose Transform > Scale . Click and drag the left mouse button to resize the cylinder to match the hinge in the sketch. You have now completed the modeling for the base and the arm. Saving your work Choose File >...
Page 121 Using the Object Lister to control visibility Use the Object Lister to turn off the sketch, making the geometry easier to select. 1 Choose Windows > Object Lister from the Alias menu. 2 Choose Show > By Object on the Object Lister menu. The objects in your scene are listed.
Page 122 3 Click the right mouse button on the Sketch_Assembly name in the Object Lister. A submenu appears. Keep the mouse button held down and move to visible. Release the mouse button and the sketch disappears from the screen. NOTE Make the sketch visible again by selecting the same submenu and choosing Visible.
Page 123 The selected objects are highlighted in white and are also highlighted in the Object Lister. Note that each cylinder is showing a different pivot point. 3 Right-click on the selected objects in the Object Lister and choose Group from the pulldown menu. Part 3: Organizing the model | 117...
Page 124 NOTE If you are not using the Object Lister, you can group the selected objects by choosing Edit > Group from the main menu. The grouped objects are now shown with a single pivot point at the origin. The separate cylinders in the Object Lister have now been replaced by a single item named node.
Page 125 4 Double-click the word node in the Object Lister. The word node is highlighted. Type Base to name the group, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). Grouping the arm Next, group and name the upper arm of the lamp. 1 Choose Pick >...
Page 126 3 Right-click on the selected objects in the Object Lister and choose Group from the pulldown menu (or choose Edit > Group ). 4 Rename the new node to Arm. 120 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 127 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect all the objects. 6 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to display all four views, and check that all the objects are in the right locations. NOTE If there are any problems, ungroup the models and use Transform >...
Page 128: Part 4: Building The Lampshade
Part 4: Building the lampshade In this section, you will build the lampshade and a simplified bulb from primitive spheres. Creating geometry at the origin Many designed objects are symmetrical and aligned. It is good practice to build models centered on the origin, so grid snapping and mirror tools can be used.
Page 129 2 Click the right mouse button on the Arm text to select the submenu. Choose Visible to make the upper arm invisible. 3 Make the Base invisible using the same process. 4 Use the right mouse button over the Sketch_Lampshade text to select the submenu.
Page 130 5 Close the Object Lister. Creating the light bulb Build a simplified light bulb from a primitive sphere. 1 Maximize the Back window to start creating the bulb and lampshade. 124 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 131 2 Choose the Surfaces > Primitives > Sphere tool. 3 Hold the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key down to turn on grid snapping. Click and hold the left mouse button, and move the cursor around. The new sphere jumps to grid points as you near them. Position the new sphere on the origin.
Page 132 Use the right mouse button to move the bulb approximately on the center of the sketched bulb. 5 Choose Transform > Scale and click and drag the left mouse button to match the size of the sphere to the sketched bulb. Creating the lampshade Next, create the lamp shade.
Page 133 1 Choose the Surfaces > Primitives > Sphere tool. Double-click the sphere icon to open up the option box. Type in for the Sweep. 2 Click the Go button. Hold the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key down to turn on grid snapping. Click near the origin to place the half sphere. 3 Choose Transform >...
Page 134 Scale the half-sphere to match the width of the large outer curves on the sketch. 5 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale . Use the middle mouse button to adjust the height of the half sphere to match the sketch. NOTE The reason we use the middle instead of the right mouse button is because the scaling occurs with respect to the local axes of the half sphere, not the world axes.
Page 135 7 Choose Transform > Scale and use the left mouse button to scale it to approximately half its original size. Remember to click and drag in an area of the screen that will not accidentally select any of the objects. 8 Choose Transform >...
Page 136 10 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to display all four views. 11 Maximize the Top view. Now create a cylinder to connect the lampshade to the arm. 12 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Cylinder . Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping and place the new cylinder at the origin in the Top view.
Page 137 13 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to display all four views. Choosing to place the cylinder using the Top view has placed it in the correct orientation. 14 Maximize the Back window to reposition and scale the cylinder. Part 4: Building the lampshade | 131...
Page 138 15 Choose Transform > Scale to reduce the cylinder to a size suitable for the end of the lampshade. 16 Choose Transform > Move and use the right mouse button to position the cylinder to match the sketch. 132 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 139 Grouping the lampshade 1 Choose Windows > Object Lister to open the Object Lister. Use the right mouse button on the Sketch_Lampshade item to bring up the submenu. Choose Visible to turn off the sketch. 2 Use Pick > Object and pick all the objects. Part 4: Building the lampshade | 133...
Page 140 3 Right-click on the selected objects in the Object Lister and choose Group from the pulldown menu (or choose Edit > Group ). The objects are still selected, but notice they now have a single pivot point at the origin. The default location for a new pivot point is the origin.
Page 141 In the Object Lister, the new group is shown as node. 5 Double-click node to rename it to Lampshade. Part 4: Building the lampshade | 135...
Page 142 6 Make the Base and Arm components visible using the right mouse button and the submenu. 7 Choose Pick > Nothing . All the objects are deselected. 8 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to display all four views. 136 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 143: Part 5: Assembling The Desk Lamp
You have now built all the components of the lamp, and it is ready to be assembled. 9 Choose File > Save to save the current scene, and call your file mydesklamp4 Part 5: Assembling the desk lamp In this section, you will assemble the finished desk lamp by moving the lampshade into the correct position and grouping it with the upper arm.
Page 144 3 Choose Transform > Move . Click and drag (away from the objects) to move the lampshade to the end of the upper arm. 138 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 145 4 Choose Transform > Rotate . Use the middle mouse button to rotate the lampshade about the y-axis. Grouping the lampshade and arm Next, group the lampshade to the arm, so the lamp can be moved and arranged. 1 Use Pick > Object and select the lampshade and the upper arm. Part 5: Assembling the desk lamp | 139...
Page 146 The two groups are highlighted in the Object Lister. 2 Right-click on the selected objects in the Object Lister and choose Group from the pulldown menu (or Choose Edit > Group ). A new node is created and displayed in the Object Lister. 140 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 147 3 Rename the node Upper Assembly. The group is created with the pivot point in the default location, at the origin. To ensure the upper assembly rotates correctly, you will now move the pivot point to the center of the hinge. Part 5: Assembling the desk lamp | 141...
Page 148 4 With Upper Assembly selected, choose Transform > Local > Set Pivot . Hold the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys down and use the right mouse button to click the center-line of the hinge cylinder. The pivot point moves to the center of the hinge.
Page 149: Part 6: Posing The Lamp Model
Saving your work Choose File > Save As to save the current scene, and call your file mydesklamp5 Part 6: Posing the Lamp Model Watch Part 6 of the tutorial. The groups you created previously are still in the model. 1 In the Object Lister click the ‘+ sign to the left of Upper Assembly.
Page 150 These groups and subgroups allow you to move and rotate different components of the lamp. 2 Maximize the perspective view. 3 Click the Upper Assembly in the Object Lister to select the group. 4 Choose Transform > Rotate . Use the middle mouse button to rotate the upper assembly about the y-axis.
Page 151 5 In the Object Lister, click the Lampshade. 6 With the Transform > Rotate tool still active, use the middle mouse button to rotate just the lampshade about the y-axis. Part 6: Posing the Lamp Model | 145...
Page 152 You can position the lamp in many different poses, by picking and rotating individual groups around the x, y and z axes. Using Diagnostic Shading The wire model can be shaded to give a more realistic view of the geometry. Diagnostic shading can be accessed in the Control Panel to the right of the Alias interface.
Page 153 1 Choose Pick > Nothing . 2 Choose the Multi Color shade icon to color all objects in the scene. To return to the wireframe view, choose the wireframe icon Part 6: Posing the Lamp Model | 147...
Page 154 Conclusion Congratulations! You have just completed the desk lamp model. Most of your design work will involve more complex shapes than you have used here, but you have gained useful experience in controlling the Alias interface, which you will apply as you learn the more complex modeling techniques later in this book.
Page 155 (e) All the other objects go gray 3 When using Transform > Scale, if the object is already selected where is the best place to click and drag to specify the scaling? (a) Away from all geometry, in the gray background (b) Touching the object (c) On the transform palette (d) On another, unselected, object...
Page 156 On your own Now that you have created a complex object from simple primitive objects, see what else you can build. Here are some ideas to get you started. The alarm clock shown below is made from a half-sphere, with a torus for the rim and cubes for the hands.
Page 157 This USB memory stick was made from a cylinder with a half-sphere. They were created and aligned at the default size, and then grouped and non-proportionally scaled to create the flattened oval shape. A fun exercise that will give you the opportunity to use all the primitive tools is to build a snowman.
Page 158 need to open the option box to make sure that you mirror the objects in the right direction. Using Edit > Group on the head, or the arm objects for example lets you rotate them into realistic positions. 152 | Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D...
Page 159: Quiz Answers
Quiz Answers Answers to the Desk lamp Tutorial quiz 1 (b) Hold the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key down and click close to the origin. The Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key turns on grid snap mode, so the object will always be placed on the grid intersection nearest to where you click.
Page 160 6 (d) In the wire directory of a project created and renamed for your task, in the directory. It takes a few steps to set up a new Alias user_data project, but doing so will make your data much easier to manage and to find.
Page 161: Chapter 5 Modeling A Joystick
Modeling a Joystick Learning Objectives This tutorial introduces you to modeling. You will learn how to: Create curves using CVs and edit points Use curves to create different types of surfaces (skinned, revolved, extruded, and planar) View a model in hardware shaded mode Edit CVs Introduction In this tutorial, you will model a computer joystick like the one below.
Page 162 New tools used in this tutorial Curves > Primitives > Circle Pick > Point Types > CV Pick > Point Types > Hull Curves > New Curves > New Edit Point Curve Curves > New Curves > New CV Curve Surfaces >...
Page 163: Part 1: Creating The Joystick Handle
New menu items used in this tutorial Layers > New Layers > Visibility > Invisible/Visible WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade New Control Panel tools you will use in this tutorial Display CV/Hull Part 1: Creating the Joystick Handle In this section, you will create the joystick handle by revolving a profile curve. Watch Part 1 of the tutorial.
Page 164 If your values for construction tolerances differ from those in the file, you will be presented with a dialog: joystick.wire Click Accept New Settings to use the construction tolerances in joystick.wire The file is opened. 158 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 165 NOTE The scene contains two reference images on canvas planes. You will use these as a guide to model the joystick. If you do not see any images, choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Canvas Planes to turn on the display of canvas planes. To turn off the borders for canvas planes, choose WindowDisplay >...
Page 166 2 Choose Curves > New Curves > New CV Curve. 3 This tool allows you to create a curve by placing control vertices (CVs, for short). CVs control the shape of a curve. 4 Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snap mode, and click the left mouse button on the grid intersection at the top of the handle.
Page 167 A control vertex appears. This is the first CV of the curve and is displayed as a small box. 5 Release the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn off grid snap mode. 6 Press and hold the middle mouse button to the right of the first CV to create the second CV.
Page 168 The third CV appears. This and all further CVs on the curve are displayed as small crosses. The hull now consists of two red straight line segments between the first, second and third CV. 8 Press and hold the left mouse button again to position the fourth CV along the edge of the handle outline.
Page 169 At this point, don t worry about the shape of the curve. Later, you will adjust the position of each CV to change the shape of the curve. 9 Continue to place four more CVs in the following positions to complete the curve.
Page 170 3 Choose Transform > Move and drag the mouse to move the CV so that the curve lies directly on the edge of the handle sketch. 4 Click the fourth CV to pick it. 164 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 171 5 With the Move tool still active, drag the mouse to move the CV so the curve lies on the edge of the handle sketch. 6 Continue picking and moving CVs until the curve matches the sketch. Part 1: Creating the Joystick Handle | 165...
Page 172 Revolving the handle profile curve Next, you will revolve the profile curve to create a surface for the joystick handle. 1 Choose Surfaces > Revolve . In the prompt window, which is just below the menu bar, you are prompted to select a curve to revolve. 2 Click on the profile curve to select it.
Page 173 The curve is revolved and a surface is created. When you initially create a surface of revolution, it has two green manipulators. These manipulators enable you to easily change the sweep of the profile curve and the angle of the revolution axis. The surface you have created is correct, and so you won t adjust the manipulators.
Page 174 The manipulators disappear. Modifying the handle curve and surface Most surfaces you create in Alias have what s known as construction history. Construction history allows you to easily change a surface after you have created it. For example, if you move a CV on the original profile curve, the revolved surface will automatically update.
Page 175 2 Choose Transform > Move and drag the mouse to move the CV slightly. When you release the mouse button the revolved surface automatically updates. Part 1: Creating the Joystick Handle | 169...
Page 176 3 Choose the Edit > Undo tool, or the hotkey Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Command + Z (Mac) to undo the move. The surface is now complete, so next, you will turn off the CV display for the curve. TIP It is good practice to turn off the CVs for curves and surfaces, if you don’t need to use them.
Page 177 TIP If the Control Panel is not displayed, choose Windows > Control Panel to make it visible. In the Display section, the CV/Hull check box indicates that the CVs and hulls are currently visible. 4 With the CV still selected, click the CV/Hull check box to remove CVs from the curve display.
Page 178 The CVs and hulls are no longer displayed in the view. 5 Choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows to return to the four views. 172 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 179: Part 2: Creating The Joystick Base
TIP The hotkey for Layouts > All Windows > All Windows is the F9 function key. Use this to set the screen to show all four views at any time. Saving your work Now, you will save the scene as a new file. 1 Choose File >...
Page 180 If you were not successful in part 1, open the file called joystick_part2.wire located in the wire directory of the project. This file contains the CourseWare completed model from Part 1. Watch Part 2 of the tutorial. Creating the Base Outline Curve First, you will create a rounded triangle shape from a primitive circle.
Page 181 2 Choose Curves > Primitives > Circle . 3 Double-click the icon to open the option box for the circle. In the Sections box, the default number of sections is set at 8. As you will be creating a triangular shaped base, 9 sections will provide a better arrangement of CVs.
Page 182 4 Press and hold the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping. Click near the origin (where the two dark grid lines intersect) to place the circle at the center of the base. A small circle is placed at the origin. The manipulators are shown, but you won t use them for this part of the tutorial.
Page 183 Click and drag with the left mouse button towards the top right corner of the screen, to make the circle larger. Match the size of the circle to the inside of the base outline, as shown below. TIP Use the screen diagonal direction for an increase or decrease in scale. Drag towards the bottom left corner to decrease the scale.
Page 184 TIP Check that the CV shown as a U is at the right side of the circle. If the U CV is at the left, it means that you have inverted the circle while scaling. Scale the circle again, being sure to click and drag towards the top right of the screen.
Page 185 The CV is selected and highlighted in yellow. 10 With the Pick > Point Types > CV tool still active, choose the CV at the top left hand corner of the sketch by clicking and dragging a pick box around it. The second CV is selected and highlighted.
Page 186 Check that the three CVs are selected and shown in yellow, and that there are two unselected (red) CVs between each corner CV. 12 Choose Transform > Scale . 13 Click and drag the left mouse button until the outline shape is matched. 180 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 187 Next, you will make the CVs and hulls invisible for the curve. 14 On the Control Panel, go to the Display section. Click on the CV/Hull check to remove it. Part 2: Creating the Joystick Base | 181...
Page 188 The CVs and Hulls for the curve are no longer visible. 15 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the curve. 182 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 189 Creating the Upper Curve for the Base Next, you will create the upper edge of the side wall, by copying and moving the first curve. 1 Choose Pick > Object and select the base outline curve that you just created. Part 2: Creating the Joystick Base | 183...
Page 190 2 Choose Edit > Copy followed by Edit > Paste . The screen appears unchanged, but a second curve is created and placed at the same location as the first. This curve is selected (shown in white) and ready to move. 3 Choose Layouts >...
Page 191 5 Click and drag the right mouse button upwards to move the curve upwards. Click and drag away from the selected curve to avoid picking the original curve. Move the curve so it is aligned with the top of the wavy edge of the joystick base sketch.
Page 192 Next, you will shape the curve in 3D. To be able to see the shape develop, you will work with all four views on the screen. 7 Use Layouts > All Windows > All Windows or the F9 hotkey to return to the four views.
Page 193 Next, you will move these CV points downwards in the Left view. 11 Choose Transform > Move . 12 In the Left view, use the right mouse button to move the selected CVs downwards, until the curve matches the shape of the top edge drawn in the sketch.
Page 194 14 In the Control Panel, click on the CV/Hull check box to turn the CVs off. Creating the Top Curve for the Base You will continue working in the four views to create the small circle at the top of the base, where the joystick handle is connected. 1 Choose Curves >...
Page 195 A small circle is placed at the origin, with the manipulator shown. 3 Choose Transform > Scale . 4 Be careful not to click on any of the curves, and click and drag with the left mouse button. Drag towards the top right of the screen to scale the circle to match the smaller inner circle on the sketch.
Page 196 6 In the Left view, click and drag the right mouse button to move the circle upwards to match the top of the base in the sketch. The circle is now in position at the top of the base. 7 On the Control Panel Display section, click on the CV/Hull check to turn the CVs and hulls off for the circle.
Page 197 Creating the base surfaces Next, you will create the surfaces for the base using the Skin and Planar surfaces surface tools. First, you will create the side wall of the base using a skin surface. 1 Choose Layouts > Perspective or F8 to maximize the perspective view. 2 Choose Surfaces >...
Page 198 5 Select the second triangular curve as the top edge of the side wall. 192 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 199 A skin surface is created between the two curves. Next, you will create the surface across the top of the base component. 6 With the Skin tool still active, select the second triangular curve again. The pick chooser offers a choice between the curve and the surface you just created.
Page 200 Keep the mouse button held down and move the mouse over the circle curve in the pick chooser. Release the mouse button to select the circle. 7 Now, you are prompted to select the next curve. Click the smaller circle at the top of the base.
Page 201 The top skin surface is created between the two curves. Next, you will create the surface underneath the base. 8 Choose the Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar tool. 9 Select the first triangular curve at the bottom of the base. The pick chooser appears.
Page 202 Select the circle curve. 196 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 203 Click on the Go button that appears in the bottom right of the screen. Part 2: Creating the Joystick Base | 197...
Page 204 A planar surface is created across the bottom of the base. 10 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the planar surface. 198 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 205: Part 3: Creating The Flexible Sleeve
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myjoystick2.wire Part 3: Creating the Flexible Sleeve In this section, you will create the flexible component that connects the base to the joystick handle.
Page 206 If you were not successful in part 2, open the file called joystick_part3.wire, located in the wire directory of the CourseWare project. This file contains the completed model from Part 2. Watch Part 3 of the tutorial. Creating the zig-zag curve To create the profile for the sleeve, you will first create a simple curve across the gap between the handle and the base.
Page 207 2 Zoom in to the sleeve area. Hold the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys down together and click-drag with the right mouse button. Part 3: Creating the Flexible Sleeve | 201...
Page 208 You will start with a single span curve stretched across the gap between the bottom of the handle and the top of the base. You will use curve snapping to accurately place the sleeve curve between the end of the handle and the base curves.
Page 209 A single span curve is created that has two Edit Points (one at either end) and 4 CVs. NOTE The part of a curve between two edit points is called a span. If a more complex curve is created with many edit points, there will be many spans, one between each pair of edit points.
Page 210 The curve currently has only 1 span. 6 In the Spans section of the control panel, type in 8 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). The curve is rebuilt with 8 spans, and now has 11 CVs. A preview of the rebuilt curve is shown in the view.
Page 211 Choose Accept to confirm the rebuild. 7 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the curve. Next, you will select some of the CVs to be moved to shape the curve. Looking at the top of the curve, the first CV is shown as a small square, and the second CV is shown as a U.
Page 212 Leave the last two CVs unselected so the sleeve curve remains connected to the base profile, and the direction of the end tangent is not modified. 10 Choose Transform > Move . 206 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 213 11 Click and drag the middle mouse button to the right until a gentle zig-zag shape is created, as shown. 12 With the CVs still selected, click on the CV/Hull check box to turn off the CVs and hulls for the curve. 13 Choose Pick >...
Page 214 Next, you will create the sleeve surface. 14 Choose Surfaces > Revolve . You are prompted to select a curve to revolve. 15 Click on the zig-zag curve to select it. 208 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 215 The surface is created and the green handles displayed. 16 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. The green handles disappear. Part 3: Creating the Flexible Sleeve | 209...
Page 216 17 Zoom out to view the whole joystick design. 18 Choose the F9 key to return to the four windows. 210 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 217: Part 4: Creating The Connecting Cable
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myjoystick3.wire Part 4: Creating the connecting cable In this section, you will create part of the cable that connects the joystick to the computer.
Page 218 If you were not successful in part 3, open the file called joystick_part4.wire, located in the wire directory of the CourseWare project. This file contains the completed model from Part 3. Watch Part 4 of the tutorial. Create the cable path curve 1 Choose Layouts >...
Page 219 You will create the cable on the left of the joystick, so you will modify the view to give you more space. 2 Hold the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys down and use the right mouse button to zoom out of the view. With the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys still held down, use the middle mouse button to pan the view, so there is some free space to the left of the joystick.
Page 220 3 Choose Curves > New Curves > New Edit Point Curve. 4 Hold the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key down to turn grid snapping on, and click on the grid intersection at the left side of the base. The first CV of the curve is created. 5 Click and drag the middle mouse button to position the second CV to the left of the first.
Page 221 Release the mouse button. The second CV is placed horizontally away from the first. 6 Continue to place CVs, creating a wavy path for the cable. Create the cable profile curve Next, you will create a small circle for the cross-section profile of the cable. 1 Choose Layouts >...
Page 222 2 Choose Curves > Primitives > Circle . 3 Double-click the icon to open the option box. The current options have 9 sections which was set previously for the triangular shape. The default number of sections is 8 which creates a good general purpose circular shape.
Page 223 4 Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn grid snapping on. Click near the origin in the Back window to place the circle at the center of the base. A small circle is placed at the origin. The CVs are highlighted in yellow and the manipulator is showing, but it won t be used.
Page 224 The circle is at the origin. Next, you will move the circle to the left edge of the joystick base, where the path curve begins. 6 With the circle still selected, choose Transform > Move . 7 Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping.
Page 225 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the circle. 9 The circle and the start of the path curve need to move upwards, so the cable emerges from the middle of the base side wall. 10 Choose Pick > Point Types > CV and drag a box around the circle CVs and the first two CVs on the path curve.
Page 226 13 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the CVs. 14 Choose Layouts > Perspective or the F8 hotkey to switch to the perspective view. The small circle is at the start of the path curve, centered on the side wall of the base.
Page 227 Create the cable surface Next, you will create the extruded surface for the cable. 1 Tumble the perspective view and zoom in to the area at the start of the cable. Hold down the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys and use the left mouse button to tumble the view, and the right mouse button to zoom in.
Page 228 Select the Go button to choose the circle as the generation curve. 4 You are prompted to select the extrude path. Click on the long wavy curve to select it as the path curve. The extruded surface is created. 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. 6 Tumble and zoom out to view the cable surface.
Page 229: Part 5: Assigning Objects To Layers
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myjoystick4.wire Part 5: Assigning objects to layers In this section, you will assign the curves and surfaces you have created to new layers.
Page 230 If you were not successful in part 4, open the file called joystick_part5.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 4. Watch Part 5 of the tutorial. Assigning curves to a layer Layers are a way of grouping related objects and organizing a scene.
Page 231 Next, you will select all the curves to be assigned to the layer. You will use the Pick > Component tool which allows you to specify the type of object you want to select. In this case, you will set it to select curves only, so that all the curves can be easily selected using a drag box.
Page 232 5 Drag a pick box around all of the objects to choose all the curves. Only the curves are selected. 226 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 233 6 In the Layer Bar, press and hold the left mouse button on the Curves layer to display the pull-down menu. Then, choose Assign from the menu to assign all the picked curves to the Curves layer. 7 Press and hold the left mouse button on the Curves layer, and choose Visible to turn off the visibility of the layer.
Page 234 Assigning the surfaces to layers 1 Choose Layers > New to create another layer. A new layer button called L2 appears in the Layer Bar. 2 To rename the layer, in the Layer Bar, double-click the L2 layer. Type the word Joystick, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). 3 Choose Pick >...
Page 235 5 In the Layer Bar, press and hold the left mouse button on the Joystick layer to display the pull-down menu. Then, choose Assign from the menu to assign all the picked surfaces to the Joystick layer. These surfaces are left visible, so you can continue working on them in the next section.
Page 236 9 Assign the cable surface to the cable layer. 10 Press and hold the left mouse button on the Cable layer, choose Set State, then Inactive to make the cable surface inactive. The cable surface is still visible, but is shown in pale blue and cannot be selected.
Page 237 Finally, as you have finished using the sketches as guides, you will turn them off. 11 Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Construction Objects to turn off the sketches. Part 5: Assigning objects to layers | 231...
Page 238: Part 6: Directly Modifying Surfaces
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. Name your wire Lessons file myjoystick5.wire Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces In this section, you will refine the design by directly moving the CVs of the handle and base surfaces.
Page 239 The top of the handle has a triangular, angled shape. A button has been added to the base. Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces | 233...
Page 240 Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 5, you can proceed directly to the next step, Deleting Construction History. If you were not successful in part 5, open the file called joystick_part6.wire located in the directory of the project.
Page 241 Watch Part 6 of the tutorial. Deleting Construction History All the surfaces are currently shown in dark green. This indicates that they have construction history, which means that when the curves are modified the surfaces will update. In this section of the tutorial, instead of using the curves to modify the surfaces, you will be modifying the surfaces directly.
Page 242 2 Choose Delete > Delete Construction History . A dialog box appears asking if you want to delete the construction history for the objects. Click Yes to delete the history. 3 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick all the surfaces. 236 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 243 NOTE The surfaces are now shown with dark blue lines, which indicate they have no construction history. Sculpting the Base You have already used CVs to create and shape curves. Surfaces also have CVs which can be used in the same way to directly modify the surface shape. By default, the CVs for a surface aren t displayed, so next, you will turn on the CVs for the top of the base.
Page 244 2 In the Control Panel, click the CV/Hull check box to turn on the CVs and Hulls for the surface. The CVs and Hulls are displayed. 3 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. 238 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 245 4 Choose Layouts > Top or F5 to switch to the Top view. The CVs on the surface are arranged in rows, connected by hull lines. The arrangement of hulls on this surface is shown below. Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces | 239...
Page 246 The hulls go in two directions. One set of hulls radiates out from the middle of the surface. 240 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 247 The other set of hulls goes around the surface. You will select the two center hulls from this set to sculpt a gentle curve into the top surface of the joystick base. 5 Choose Pick > Point Types > CV . Click the red hull line connecting the second row of CVs in from the outer edge.
Page 248 The row of CVs is selected and highlighted in yellow. 242 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 249 6 Click the red hull line connecting the third row of CVs in from the outer edge. Both rows of CVs are now selected. Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces | 243...
Page 250 You will now move these hulls, and the associated CVs, upwards in the Left view, to sculpt the surface. 7 Choose Layouts > Left or F6 to switch to the Left view. 8 Choose Transform > Move . 9 Click and drag the right mouse button to move the hulls upwards. Move them enough to create a gentle curve on the top edge of the surface.
Page 251 The surface bends to give a rounded shape to the top of the joystick base. 10 On the Control Panel, click the CV/Hull check box to turn off the CVs and Hulls for the surface. 11 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the surface. Sculpting the Top of the Handle Next, you will refine the shape of the top of the joystick handle.
Page 252 2 On the Control Panel, choose the CV/Hull check to turn on the CVs and Hulls for the handle surface. 3 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the surface. 246 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 253 Next, you will select the CVs that shape the top of the handle. NOTE The pick palette has the Pick > Hull tool showing. Click and hold the left mouse button on the Pick > Hull icon to open the tool drawer. Move the mouse to the CV icon and release to select the Pick Point Types >...
Page 254 The CVs are selected and highlighted in yellow. The first modification will be to the plan shape of the handle, so the transforms will be made in the Top view. 5 Choose Layouts > Top or the F5 hotkey to switch to the Top view. 248 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 255 6 Zoom in to see the handle CVs clearly. Hold down the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac) keys together and click and drag the right mouse button to zoom. 7 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale . 8 Click and drag the right mouse button to reshape the handle.
Page 256 TIP Click and drag away from any of the geometry to avoid selecting different geometry. The selected area of the handle surface is stretched. 9 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the CVs. 250 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 257 Next, you will select the CVs to the left of the handle, so you can create a soft pointed shape. 10 Choose Pick > Point Types > CV and drag a pick box over the central CVs on the left of the handle. The center-line CVs are selected and highlighted in yellow.
Page 258 11 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale and click and drag the middle mouse button the stretch the handle surface outwards to the side. 12 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the CVs. The top of the handle now has a smooth triangular shape. 252 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 259 Sculpting the Handle Angle Next, you will adjust the angle of the top of the handle, to make it more ergonomic. 1 Choose Layouts > Left or F6 to switch to the Left view. 2 Choose Pick > Point Types > CV and click and drag a box around all the CVs at the top of the handle.
Page 260 The CVs for the handle grip are selected. Rotation always works around the object s pivot point. The pivot point for the CVs defaults to the origin. To rotate the CVs correctly, you will position the pivot point at the center of the selected CVs, using the Center pivot tool.
Page 261 3 Choose Transform > Local > Center Pivot . The pivot point for the CVs is placed in the center of the CVs. 4 Choose Transform > Rotate and click and drag with the middle mouse button to rotate the CVs about the y-axis. 5 Choose Transform >...
Page 262 6 On the Control Panel, click the CVs/Hulls check to turn the CVs and hulls off. 7 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the object. 8 Choose Layouts > Perspective or F8 to evaluate the design 256 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 263: Part 7: Creating The Button
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myjoystick6.wire Part 7: Creating the button In this section, you will create a button from a modified sphere. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 6, you can proceed directly to the next step, Creating a primitive sphere.
Page 264 If you were not successful in part 6, open the file called joystick_part7.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 6. Watch Part 7 of the tutorial. Creating a primitive sphere You will now create the button for the joystick, by placing and transforming a primitive sphere.
Page 265 2 In the Layer Bar, click the Joystick layer to select it. The layer is shown in yellow. This means that it is the active layer, and any new curves or surfaces are placed on it. 3 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Sphere . 4 Double click the icon to open the option box.
Page 266 Click the Go button at the bottom of the sphere option box. 5 Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping. Click near the grid intersection just inside the right-hand edge of the base. A small sphere is placed on the grid intersection.
Page 267 7 Click and drag the middle mouse button to move the sphere to half way between the handle and the edge of the base. 8 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale . 9 Click and drag the middle mouse button to stretch the sphere sideways. 10 With Transform >...
Page 268 11 Choose Layouts > Left (F6) to switch to the Left view. 12 Choose Transform > Move . 13 Click and drag the right mouse button to move the sphere vertically until the center of the sphere is approximately aligned to the top edge of the base.
Page 269 14 Choose Transform > Rotate . 15 Click and drag the middle mouse button to rotate the sphere to approximately match the angle of the base. 16 Choose Pick > Nothing to unpick the sphere. 17 Choose Layouts > Perspective to switch to the Perspective view. Part 7: Creating the button | 263...
Page 270: Part 8: Visualizing The Model
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myjoystick7.wire Part 8: Visualizing the Model In this section, you will view the model using Hardware Shading. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 7, you can proceed directly to the next step, Shading the view.
Page 271 If you were not successful in part 7, open the file called joystick_part8.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 7. Watch Part 8 of the tutorial. Shading the view In the previous desk lamp tutorial, Diagnostic Shading was used to visualize the model.
Page 272 3 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade . The model is shaded in the default colour. 4 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to open the option box. 266 | Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick...
Page 273 5 In the Enable Environment Effects section: Click the Ground plane check box to turn on the ground plane effects. Click the Edit Environment button to open the Environment window. Part 8: Visualizing the Model | 267...
Page 274 6 In the Environment window, set the following options: Open the Ground Plane section by clicking the small arrow next to it. Set the plane Height. Type in -0.5 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to drop the shadow slightly below the base. Ensure the Shadows box has a check mark so that shadows are turned A shadow appears underneath the joystick and cable.
Page 275 Change the Shadow Blur. Type in 0.2 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to soften the shadows. TIP If your screen shows the wireframe view, choose the Shade On button at the bottom of the Hardware Shade Settings box. To view the design more clearly, you will now turn off the wireframe, grid, and lights.
Page 276 8 In the title bar of the modeling window, click the Show button to open up the menu and select Grid (to remove the check mark). The grid lines are turned off. 9 In the title bar of the modeling window, click the Show button to open up the menu and select Lights (to remove the check mark).
Page 277 10 Select Show > Model, Show > Grid and Show > Lights once more from the window s title bar to bring back the check marks. The scene returns to a wireframe view with grid and lights. 11 Close the Hardware shade settings option box by clicking the cross in the top right corner.
Page 278 Conclusion Congratulations! You have completed the joystick model and have gained experience in using curves and then surface tools to build freeform shapes. Important concepts to take forward to future modeling projects are: On a curve, a minimum of 4 CVs are needed to create the curve. Adding more CVs means that the curve can have a more complex shape.
Page 279 (d) A minimum of three (e) A minimum of four 3 To select a whole row of CVs on a surface with a single mouse click, which tool would you use? (a) Pick > Object (b) Pick > Component (c) Pick > Hull (d) Pick >...
Page 280 On Your Own The tools and techniques that you have learned are the basis of all complex modeling with Alias. Use curves and surfaces, controlling their shape with CVs, to create the following designs. The main body and lid of the coffee pot shown below are created using a revolved surface.
Page 281 The flashlight below is based on a circle which has been shaped to a smooth square shape. Skin surfaces have been used for the main shape, with extrude surfaces used for the grip detail and the lanyard. On Your Own | 275...
Page 282 Quiz Answers Answers to the Joystick Tutorial quiz 1 (d) Four CVs. You created a default degree 3 curve, which requires a minimum of 4 CVs before it is created. To learn more about CVs and curve degree, see Mathematical representations of curves. 2 c) Two or more curves can be used to build a skin surface.
Page 283 5 d) The Transform > Local > Center Pivot tool. This tool can be used with all objects, curves, surfaces, and groups of CVs. 6 Match the Hotkeys to the window views. Window Hotkey Back All four views Left Perspective Quiz Answers | 277...
Page 285: Chapter 6 Modeling A Vacuum Cleaner
Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner Learning Objectives In this lesson, you will build a hand-held car vacuum cleaner. This lesson introduces you to more surface building techniques. You will learn how to: Create swept surfaces Trim off the excess areas of surfaces Create rounded edges Use Layers to organize complex models...
Page 286: Modeling Workflow
Modeling Workflow In this tutorial, you will use a modeling technique called overbuilding and trimming. With this technique, you will create simple swept surfaces to define the main shape of the design. You will then combine these surfaces using intersecting and trimming. As the vacuum cleaner design is symmetrical, you will save time by only building and detailing one half of the model.
Page 287: Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces
Pick > Template Object Edit > Patch Precision Surfaces > Swept Surfaces > Rail surface Surfaces > Surface Fillet Surface Edit > Create CurvesOnSurface > Intersect Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface New menu items used in this tutorial Object Display >...
Page 288 A dialog box appears, asking if you want to delete all objects, shaders views, and actions. Click Yes. If your values for construction tolerances differ from those in the file, you will be presented with a dialog: vacuum.wire Click Accept New Settings to use the construction tolerances in vacuum.wire The file is opened.
Page 289 If the modeling views do not occupy the full size of the Alias window, choose Layouts > All Windows > All Windows . Watch Part 1 of the tutorial. Creating the lower surface You will start by creating the lower body shape using a mono-rail surface. 1 Maximize the Perspective view.
Page 290 2 Choose Surfaces > Swept Surfaces > Rail Surface. The Rail surface defaults to a birail, which has two path curves. You will now change this to a mono-rail, with only one path curve. 3 Double-click the Rail surface icon to open the option window. 284 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 291 4 In the Rail Surface option window, click 1 in the Rail curves section. Check that the Generation curves section is also set to 1. 5 Close the Rail Surface option window by clicking the X in the top right corner.
Page 292 You are now prompted to select the generation curve. 6 Use the left mouse button and click the curve shown to select it as the generation curve. The curve is highlighted. You are prompted to select the primary rail curve. 7 Click the lower profile of the vacuum to select it as the path curve.
Page 293 A mono-rail surface is created. 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces | 287...
Page 294 To see the shape of the surface more clearly, you will use diagnostic Shading on the Control Panel to shade the surface. TIP If the Control Panel is not displayed on your screen, choose Windows > Control Panel to make it visible. 9 Select the Multi Color shade icon to turn on the shading .
Page 295 The surface is shaded in a default blue color. 10 Select the diagnostic Shading Off wireframe icon on the Control Panel to turn off the shading. Use the diagnostic shading throughout this tutorial to visualize the geometry. Creating the Upper Surface Next, you will create the upper surface of the vacuum cleaner using a Mono-rail surface with two generation curves.
Page 296 2 In the Rail surface option window, click 2 in the Generation curves section. 3 Close the option window. You are prompted to select the generation curve. 4 Click the curve located at the front of the vacuum nozzle to select it as the first-generation curve.
Page 297 The curve is highlighted. You are then prompted to select the next generation curve. 5 Click the curve located at the rear of the vacuum cleaner body to select it as the second-generation curve. The curve is highlighted. Next, you are prompted to select the primary rail curve. 6 Click the upper profile curve of the vacuum cleaner body.
Page 298 A mono-rail surface is created that blends smoothly between the two generation curves. 7 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. 292 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 299 8 Use diagnostic Shading on the Control Panel to view the relationship between the two overlapping surfaces. You have now created the two main shapes that will be used to create the vacuum cleaner body. Saving your work Now, you will save the scene as a new file. 1 Choose File >...
Page 300: Part 2: Intersecting And Trimming
2 In the File Browser, locate the directory. Set the directory Lessons Lessons as the Current Project. 3 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 4 Name your file myvacuum.wire For information on creating the project, or saving your work, see Lessons Saving your work on page 96.
Page 301 If you were not successful in part 1, open the file called vacuum_part2.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 1. Watch Part 2 of the tutorial. Intersecting the upper and lower surfaces Now, you will intersect the upper and lower surfaces to create the body shape.
Page 302 3 You are prompted to select the surface(s) to intersect. Use the left mouse button to click the upper surface to select it. The surface is highlighted and a Go box appears in the lower right corner of the view. 296 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 303 Click the Go box to select the first surface to be intersected. The surface is highlighted in pink. 4 You are prompted to select the intersecting surface. Click the lower surface to intersect it with the upper surface. Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming | 297...
Page 304 The surfaces are intersected. Two curves-on-surface are created, one on each surface. By default, the Intersect tool creates a curve-on-surface on each surface so each surface can be trimmed. Both surfaces are now drawn with a dotted outline to indicate that each has a curve-on-surface.
Page 305 6 Drag a pick box around the intersected surfaces to pick the curves-on-surface. The highlighted curves that appear are the two curves-on-surface. It looks as though there is only one curve-on-surface, but in fact there are two in the same location, one on the upper surface, and one on the lower surface. 7 Choose Pick >...
Page 306 Trimming the surfaces Now, you will trim off the excess from the upper and lower surfaces. NOTE A trimmed surface is not actually cut; it exists in a hidden form that does not render or affect modeling. While performing a trim, you can easily discard part of a trimmed surface by selecting the unwanted portion of the geometry and clicking the Divide button that appears at the bottom right...
Page 307 The Trim tool places an indicator where you clicked and an option box appears in the bottom right corner of the view. 4 Click the Keep button. Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming | 301...
Page 308 The upper surface is trimmed. 5 Repeat steps 1 – 4 to trim the lower surface. 302 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 309 Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming | 303...
Page 310 Creating the nozzle surface Next, you will create a planar surface across the mouth of the nozzle, to complete the exterior shape of the vacuum body. 1 1 Choose the Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar tool. 2 You are prompted to select a curve. 3 Click the straight-line curve along the center grid line to select it as the first curve for the planar surface.
Page 311 The curve is selected and a Go button appears in the bottom right corner of the view. You are prompted to select another curve. 4 Click the front nozzle curve to select it as the second curve for the planar surface.
Page 312 5 Click the rear nozzle curve to select it as the third curve for the planar surface. The curve is selected. The three curves form a closed region within which the planar surface will be created. 6 Click Go to create the planar surface. The surface is created and highlighted in pale yellow.
Page 313 8 Use diagnostic Shading in the Control Panel to view the model. Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum2.wire Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming | 307...
Page 314: Part 3: Surface Fillet
Part 3: Surface Fillet Now that you have intersected and trimmed the upper and lower surfaces, there is a sharp edge where the two surfaces meet. To create a rounded transition between the two surfaces, you will create a fillet surface using the Surfaces > Surface Fillet tool. The surface fillet tool will create a rounded surface that blends smoothly between two surfaces, or two sets of surfaces.
Page 315 Creating the body fillet Next, you will create a fillet surface along the intersected edge of the vacuum cleaner body. The Surface Fillet tool uses surface indicators to choose which side of a surface to create the fillet. These indicators are easier to see in a wireframe view.
Page 316 You are prompted to enter the number of curves per patch. Type in 3 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). The surface is now displayed with some dotted lines across its interior. These dotted lines make the surface easier to visualize in wireframe, and can be used to select the surface.
Page 317 5 In the Radius section, type in a radius value of 0.75. 6 Click the Advanced tab to open the advanced options for the surface fillet tool. Part 3: Surface Fillet | 311...
Page 318 In the Flow Control section, there are pull-down menus for the Start, Interior, and End of the fillet surface. The Start and End options are set to DEFAULT. For the Start and End, select EDGE ALIGN. This choice ensures that the fillet surface is built to the full length of the edge, and the upper and lower surfaces are correctly trimmed.
Page 319 8 Pick the upper surface. If the pick chooser appears, select the mono-rail surface. The surface is selected and highlighted in pink, an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view. Part 3: Surface Fillet | 313...
Page 320 9 Click Accept to select the first surface for filleting. You are prompted to select the second set of surfaces. 10 Click the lower surface to select it. The surface is selected and highlighted in yellow, and an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view.
Page 321 For the upper surface, the pink arrow needs to point inwards towards the inside of the vacuum cleaner body. If it is pointing out from the surface, then click it to reverse it. The yellow arrow for the lower surface also needs to point inwards toward the inside of the vaccum cleaner body.
Page 322 13 Choose Pick > Nothing or press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to deselect all the surfaces. Creating the nozzle fillet The Surface Fillet tool can be used in different modes. The default mode, which you used for the body fillet, is to create a circular fillet. This creates a constant radius surface along the length of the fillet surface.
Page 323 2 The Flow Control settings can be returned to the default settings. On the pull-down menu for the Start and End settings, choose DEFAULT. NOTE The ends of the fillet fall on the center-line of the vacuum design. As the edges of the main surfaces are already aligned to the center-line, the Surface fillet EDGE ALIGN adjustment isn’t required.
Page 324 Choose CHORD from the pull-down menu to select a constant width fillet. 4 Only a small fillet is required around the nozzle, so set Chordal Distance to 0.5. Close the Surface Fillet option box. You are prompted to select the first set of surfaces. 5 Drag a pick box around the upper, lower and fillet surfaces, avoiding the planar surface.
Page 325 6 Click Accept to select the first set of surfaces for filleting. You are prompted to select the second set of surfaces. 7 Click the planar surface to select it. If the pick chooser appears, pick the trim_surface. Part 3: Surface Fillet | 319...
Page 326 The surface is selected and highlighted in yellow, and an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view. 8 Click Accept to select the second surface for filleting. Arrows appear on both sets of surfaces, indicating on which side of the surfaces the fillet will be built.
Page 327 The yellow arrow needs to point upwards towards the inside of the vacuum body. If it is pointing downwards, out of the surface, click the arrow to reverse it. 9 Click Build. The chordal fillet surface is created, and the surfaces trimmed to create a smooth, continuous exterior.
Page 328 Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the wire directory of the project. Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum3.wire 322 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 329: Part 4: Creating The Handle
Part 4: Creating the Handle In this section, you will create a hole through the vacuum cleaner body to create a handle. As before, when you built the main body shape, you will overbuild surfaces to create an intersection. This time, however, you will not use the intersection and trim tools to create a sharp-edged shape.
Page 330 Creating the handle surface You will create the handle using a skin surface, built from the handle curve provided in the tutorial file. First, you will make a copy of the handle curve and move it to the side of the vacuum, to create the two curves needed for the skin.
Page 331 4 Use the F9 hotkey to display all four views, to check that the copied curve is outside the main body. 5 Use the F8 hotkey to return to the perspective view. Next, you will create a skin surface between the two handle curves. 6 Choose the Surfaces >...
Page 332 The curve is highlighted, and you are prompted to select the next curve. Click the second handle curve to select it. The skin surface is created and highlighted in white. 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the skin surface. 326 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 333 9 Use diagnostic Shading to check that the handle surface passes through the body surfaces. TIP If the handle surface falls short of the body surfaces, use Pick > Object to select the second handle curve. Then, use Transform > Move with the middle mouse button to adjust the position of the curve.
Page 334 10 Return to a wireframe view by selecting the wireframe icon in diagnostic Shading. Creating the handle fillet Next, you will use the Surface Fillet tool to trim the handle and upper body surfaces, and to create a rounded edge. 1 Choose Surfaces >...
Page 335 The surface is selected and highlighted in pink, and an Accept button appears in the lower right corner of the view. 3 Click the Accept box to select the first surface for filleting. You are then prompted to select the second set of surfaces. 4 Click the handle surface to select it.
Page 336 The surface is selected and highlighted in yellow, and an Accept box appears in the bottom right corner of the view. 5 Click Accept to select the second surface for filleting. Arrows appear on both surfaces, indicating on which side of the surfaces the fillet will be built.
Page 337 The yellow arrow needs to point outwards from the handle surface. If it is pointing in towards the center of the handle, click the arrow to reverse 6 Click Build. A small fillet surface is created, and the upper and handle surfaces are trimmed.
Page 338 8 Type in the Chordal Distance field and press Enter (Windows) or 1.25 Return (Mac) to adjust the fillet size. A Recalc button appears at the bottom right corner of the view. 9 Click Recalc to rebuild the fillet. 332 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 339 The fillet is rebuilt to the larger size, providing a more comfortable handle design. 10 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect all the surfaces. 11 You have now completed the main body shape for the vacuum cleaner design. Part 4: Creating the Handle | 333...
Page 340: Part 5: Air Vents
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum4.wire Part 5: Air Vents In this section, you will create grooves to represent styled air intakes. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 4, you can proceed directly to the next step, Creating the groove surfaces.
Page 341 Creating the groove surfaces The groove surfaces will be created from three extruded tube shapes. The profile of the tubes will be circular, and the path will follow the general shape of the main body. To create an interesting intersection line, the path curve will pull away from the body shape so the grooves fade out at the outer edge.
Page 342 2 Choose Edit > Copy followed by Edit > Paste to create a copy of the curve. NOTE The surfaces are no longer highlighted in pink, as the new curve is a new copy with no relationship to the surfaces. 3 Choose Transform >...
Page 343 4 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the curve. This scaled curve will be used as a path curve for the extruded surfaces. The three gray circles at the front of the vacuum cleaner have been templated. You will now untemplate these so you can use them as the generation curves for the extrude surfaces.
Page 344 6 Choose ObjectDisplay > Template to return the curves to pickable geometry. You will now extrude the circles along the path curve. 7 Choose Surfaces > Swept Surfaces > Extrude . You are prompted to select curve(s) to extrude. 8 Pick all three circles. 338 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 345 Click Go to select the circles for extrusion. 9 You are prompted to select the extrude path. Click the larger curve you have just scaled to select it as the path curve. Three surfaces are created, following the shape of the upper surface. Part 5: Air Vents | 339...
Page 346 Intersecting and Trimming the air vents You will now intersect and trim the three extruded surfaces with the upper surface of the vacuum body. 1 With the three surfaces still selected, choose Surface Edit > Create CurvesOnSurface > Intersect . 340 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 347 The three extruded surfaces are highlighted in pink, indicating they are selected for intersecting. 2 Because the three extruded surfaces are already selected, you are prompted to select the surface to be intersected. Pick the upper surface of the vacuum. The surfaces are intersected and the curves-on-surface created.
Page 348 TIP If you have many surfaces to trim, you can select them all using a pick box before choosing the trim tool. 4 Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface . The surfaces are highlighted in pink, and you are prompted to select the regions to trim.
Page 349 5 Click the first extruded surface, in the region to discard 6 Pick the second extruded surface, also in the regions that need to be discarded. 7 Pick the third extruded surface, also in the regions that need to be discarded.
Page 350 8 Click Discard at the lower right corner of the view. The excess surfaces are discarded. Next, you will trim the upper surface. 9 Still in the Trim tool, pick on the upper surface to select it for trimming. 344 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 351 10 Click the main region of the upper surface to select it as the part of the surface to keep. An indicator is placed where you clicked and three buttons appear in the bottom right corner of the view. 11 Click Keep to trim the surface. Part 5: Air Vents | 345...
Page 352 The upper surface is trimmed. 12 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the trimming operation. Now that you have created all the main surfaces, you will make the curves layer invisible, so the surfaces can be viewed more clearly. 13 On the Layer Bar, click and hold on the curves layer to view the pull-down menu.
Page 353: Part 6: Power Button
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum5.wire Part 6: Power Button In this section, you will create the on/off button for the vacuum cleaner. You will create the button detail in two stages.
Page 354 If you were not successful in part 5, open the file called vacuum_part6.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 5. Watch Part 6 of the tutorial. Creating a cylinder for the power button First, you will create a cylinder surface for the outline of the power button.
Page 355 3 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Cylinder . Double-click the icon to open the cylinder options. 4 Set the Sweep to 180 and the Sections to 4 to create a half cylinder. Set the Caps to 0 from the pull-down menu, to only create the side wall of the cylinder.
Page 356 Click the Go button to create the half cylinder. 5 In the Top view, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to turn on grid snapping, and click near the origin. Snapping the cylinder on the origin ensures that it is centered. 6 With the cylinder still selected, choose Transform >...
Page 357 7 Choose Layouts > Left to switch to the Left view. 8 Choose Transform > Move . Hold down the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys to turn on curve snapping. Point the cursor at the top edge of the upper surface and click and hold down the left mouse button.
Page 358 The cylinder moves along the edge. 9 Choose Transform > Rotate and type in 0,-40,0 to rotate the cylinder around the y-axis. Check that the cylinder is entering the upper surface at a good angle. If you need to adjust the angle further, click and drag the middle mouse button to adjust the y-rotation.
Page 359 11 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the cylinder. Creating two surfaces for the button and the recess The cylinder you have just created will be used twice. First, you will use it as the sidewall of the power button, then a second copy will be used to create the sidewall of the recess in the main body.
Page 360 The original upper surface will be trimmed to create the recess for the button. To avoid confusion with these copied surfaces, you will first create layers for the body surfaces, and for the power button surfaces. 1 Choose Layers > New to create a layer. 2 Rename the layer body.
Page 361 6 Now, you will create a second layer for the power button. Choose Layers > New to create a layer. 7 Rename the layer power_button. 8 Choose Pick > Object . Pick the half cylinder and the upper surface of the vacuum body.
Page 362 10 On the Layer Bar, click and hold on the power_button layer to view the pull-down menu. Choose Assign to assign the two copied surfaces onto the layer. You now have two copies of the cylinder and top surface, one on the body layer, and one on the power_button layer.
Page 363 Only the two surfaces you copied are visible. 2 Choose Surfaces > Surface Fillet . Double-click the icon to open the option box. Change the settings to Construction Type RADIUS and Radius 0.25. Close the Surface Fillet option window. You are prompted to select the first set of surfaces. 3 Click the upper surface to select it.
Page 364 The surface is selected and highlighted in pink, and an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view. 4 Click Accept to select the first surface for filleting. You are then prompted to select the second set of surfaces. 5 Click the half cylinder surface to select it.
Page 365 The surface is selected and highlighted in yellow, and an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view. 6 Click Accept to select the second surface for filleting. Arrows appear on both surfaces, indicating on which side of the surfaces the fillet will be built.
Page 366 The yellow arrow needs to point inwards on the cylinder surface. If it is pointing outwards, click the arrow to reverse it. 7 Click Build. The fillet surface is created, and the upper and cylinder surfaces are trimmed to create the power button. 8 Choose Pick >...
Page 367 Creating the power button hole Next, you will use the Surface Fillet tool to trim and round the edge of the power button recess. 1 On the Layer Bar, click and hold on the power_button layer to see the pull-down menu. Choose Visible to make the power_button surfaces invisible.
Page 368 3 Make the body active by clicking the layer tab to make it yellow. This means all new surfaces will be assigned to this layer. 4 Choose Surfaces > Surface Fillet . The settings you used before are used for this fillet surface, and so you don t need to open the option box. You are prompted to select the first set of surfaces.
Page 369 6 Click Accept to select the first surface for filleting. You are prompted to select the second set of surfaces. 7 Click the cylinder surface to select it. The surface is selected and highlighted in yellow, and an Accept button appears in the bottom right corner of the view.
Page 370 For the recess, the fillet needs to be created on the other side of the cylinder, so the yellow arrow needs to point outwards on the cylinder surface. If it is pointing inwards, click the arrow to reverse it. 9 Click Build. The fillet surface is created, and the upper and cylinder surfaces are trimmed to create a recess for the power button.
Page 371: Part 7: Dust Bag And Cable Connector
11 Make the power_button layer visible by choosing Visible from the pull-down menu. You have now completed the main vacuum cleaner body surfaces. Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project.
Page 372 If you were not successful in part 6, open the file called vacuum_part7.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 6. Watch Part 7 of the tutorial. Extracting the body shape At the back end of the vacuum cleaner there are two additional components, a dust bag and a cable connector, shown on the sketch below.
Page 373 You will create these components as scaled copies of the rear surfaces of the main vacuum cleaner body. By using the same shape, you will create a rhythm of similar shapes, which gives the design its character. You will start by creating copies of the body surfaces and placing them onto a new layer.
Page 374 5 Choose Edit > Copy followed by Edit > Paste . A copy of the surfaces is made, placed on top of the originals, and highlighted. 6 In the Layer Bar, click and hold on the dustbag layer to see the pull-down menu.
Page 375 7 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surfaces. 8 On the Layer Bar, click and hold on the body layer and choose Set state > Inactive to make the body surfaces inactive. The layer tab is displayed in pale blue to indicate that it is inactive. 9 Do the same for the power_button layer to make the power button surfaces inactive.
Page 376 Trimming the dust bag surfaces Only the ends of the body surfaces are required for the dust bag and cable connector. Next, you will trim the surfaces so only the rear part of the shape is left. This will make the surfaces easier to work with and easier to visualize. You will trim the surfaces by using a curve to define the cutting line.
Page 377 Place the second edit point by clicking and holding the left mouse button. Keep the mouse button held down and move the edit point until the curve is roughly at the same angle as the back of the vacuum. Make sure your curve is long enough to extend beyond the body surfaces. 2 Choose Pick >...
Page 378 The Trim tool can be used to create a curve-on-surface directly from a projected curve before trimming the surface. You will now use the curve you have just drawn to cut away the front end of the surfaces. 3 Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface and double-click the icon to open the option box.
Page 379 The surfaces are selected and highlighted in pink. You are then prompted to select one of the following: Shift select to select additional surfaces or Select curves to PROJECT or click to select REGIONS. This time, you will use the Trim tool to project the curve onto the surfaces, and so you will respond to the second prompt.
Page 380 6 To see the effect of the projection, press the F8 hotkey to switch to the perspective view. You can see that a curve-on-surface has been created across the surfaces and is shown in bright blue. Still in the trim tool, you are now prompted with the three options. This time you want to select a REGION of each surface to keep.
Page 381 8 Click in the rear part of the upper surface to select it as the part to keep. An indicator appears on the surface to show it is selected for trimming. 9 Click the rear part of the fillet. Avoid clicking any of the lines on the fillet surface, as these will be mistaken for projection lines.
Page 382 An indicator appears on the surface to show that it is selected for trimming. 10 Click the rear part of the lower surface. An indicator appears on the surface to show that it is selected for trimming. 11 Click Keep in the bottom right corner of the view to keep the ends of the surfaces.
Page 383 The surfaces are trimmed. 12 Choose Pick > Object and select the curve. 13 Choose Delete > Delete Active , or press the Delete key on the keyboard to delete the curve. You have trimmed out a part of the vacuum design that can now be used to create the dust bag and cable connector.
Page 384 NOTE The original body surfaces are unchanged, and are shown on the invisible (pale blue) layer. Scaling the dust bag and connector Next, you will group the surfaces together so that they can be scaled and positioned to complete the design of the dustbag. 1 Choose Layouts >...
Page 385 3 Choose Edit > Group . The surfaces are now grouped with a single pivot point, placed at the origin. Next, you will move the pivot point to the end of the surfaces using curve snapping. The pivot point will be used to control the scaling of the surfaces.
Page 386 The pivot point jumps to the end of the surface edge. 5 Choose Transform > Scale and type in a value of 0.85 to shrink the surfaces. A dialog box appears asking whether you want to delete the construction history for the surfaces. Click Yes. The surfaces are scaled smaller to form the dustbag.
Page 387 As the dustbag only needs to be moved slightly from its current position, you will switch to relative dimensioning, so the coordinate values will move the surfaces relative to their current position. 7 Type r and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). 8 Type 1.25,0,-0.5 and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to move the dust bag 1.25 cm in x and -0.5 cm in z.
Page 388 A copy of the dustbag is created and is selected, ready to transform. 2 Choose Transform > Scale . Type in 0.6 to reduce the size of the group of surfaces. 3 Choose Transform > Move . Type in , and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) to move the cable connector 1.25 cm in x and -0.5 cm in z.
Page 389 NOTE You can move the surfaces freely using the mouse buttons if you want to adjust the design. 4 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surfaces. 5 On the Layer Bar, click and hold on the body layer to see the pull-down menu.
Page 390 6 Use diagnostic Shading to view the completed dustbag design. For a concept design, it is typical for changes to be made regularly to the model. During this phase, it is acceptable to leave the dust bag and connector surfaces overlapping with the main body shape. This allows you to quickly experiment with scaling and moving the components to explore the design.
Page 391: Part 8: Completing The Model
Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum7.wire Part 8: Completing the Model In this section, you will complete the model by mirroring the surfaces. You also have the option of creating the power cable to finish off the presentation of the design.
Page 392 Watch Part 8 of the tutorial. Mirroring the surfaces Finally, you will mirror all the surfaces to create the final design. 1 Choose Layouts > Left or the F8 hotkey to switch to the perspective view. 2 Choose Pick > Object and drag a pick box around all of the surfaces to select them.
Page 393 3 Choose Edit > Duplicate > Mirror to open the mirror tool option box. 4 Choose XZ as the Mirror Across plane, and click Go. The vacuum cleaner surfaces are mirrored, and the whole design can now be viewed. 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the mirrored surfaces. Part 8: Completing the Model | 387...
Page 394 6 Use diagnostic shading to view the completed model. Optional: Create the power cable If you have time, you can create the power cable using an extruded surface, as you did in the joystick tutorial. The curves are supplied as templates on the curves layer of the tutorial file.
Page 395 Optional: Trimming the dust bag and connector If you are feeling confident using the intersecting and trimming tools, you may want to tidy up the rear of the vacuum cleaner by intersecting and trimming the dust bag and cable connector. Remember to intersect all dust bag surfaces with the body surfaces, and the connector surfaces with the dust bag surfaces.
Page 396 2 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myvacuum8.wire Conclusion Congratulations! You have completed the vacuum cleaner model and have used intersecting and trimming to create a detailed, complex model. Important concepts to take forward to future modeling projects are: The technique of overbuilding surfaces, and then intersecting and trimming them can be used to create detailed designs.
Page 397 1 Curve snapping helps you place or transform an object so that it snaps to a curve or an edge. How do you turn curve snapping on? (a) Hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key (b) Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key (c) Hold down the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys (d) Hold down the Shift and Alt (Windows) or Shift and Command (Mac)
Page 398 (e) five 5 The Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface tool can be used for which of the following functions? (a) To discard an area of a surface defined by a curve-on-surface (b) To keep an area of a surface defined by a curve-on-surface (c) To divide a surface into two areas defined by a curve-on-surface (d) To project a line onto a surface to create a curve on surface (e) All of the above...
Page 399 On Your Own | 393...
Page 400 The car key model is typical of many electronic devices with function buttons. You can use the same technique that you used with the vacuum cleaner power button to create the key fob function key. 394 | Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner...
Page 401 The wheel shown below is created from one revolved surface and six skin surfaces. Intersecting and trimming is used to cut the holes out of the revolved surface. On Your Own | 395...
Page 402 The barbecue fork is modeled in much the same way as the shapes would be made in a workshop. Imagine the fork prongs as a sheet of steel, bent to give the gentle curve along their length. The prong shape is then cut out. The handle is made from two large mono-rail surfaces, intersected, trimmed and then filleted.
Page 403 Quiz Answers Answers to the Vacuum Cleaner Tutorial quiz 1 (c) Hold down the Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys. 2 (d) The layer tab is shown in yellow. 3 (d) type r before you enter the values, either on the same line, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) between the r and the values.
Page 405: Chapter 7 Modeling An Mp3 Player
Modeling an MP3 Player Learning Objectives In this lesson, you will build an accurate model of an MP3 player. You will learn how to: Use Keypoint curves to create accurate geometric shapes. Create surfaces with a draft angle. Set up Construction Options for accurate modeling. Create edges with a radius using the Fillet and Round tools.
Page 406 New tools used in this tutorial Object Edit > Offset Edit > Duplicate > Object Curves > Arcs Curve Edit > Create > Fillet Curve Surfaces > Draft/Flange Surfaces > Round Object Display > Template Object Display > Invisible 400 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 407: Introduction
Introduction Modeling to Dimensions In the previous exercises you have focused on building complex forms, using freeform shapes. In this exercise, you will focus on geometric shapes and working to accurate dimensions. X,Y,Z Coordinates To specify dimensions and locations in Alias, you will refer to the X, Y, Z grid directions.
Page 408 The Information Window As well as entering coordinates in the prompt line, the Information Window can be used to check or modify the dimensions of lines, curves and objects. You will use the Information Window to specify the radius of arcs. Keypoint Curves In the previous tutorials, you created freeform curves using CVs and Edit Points.
Page 409: Part 1: Creating The Casing Curves
Part 1: Creating the Casing Curves In this section, you will use Keypoint curves to create the outline of the MP3 player casing. You will choose millimeters as the units for measurement and building, and use X, Y, Z coordinates to accurately position the curves. To save time, you will build only one quarter of the geometry, and use symmetry to create the full model.
Page 410 Creating a New File For this tutorial, you will create a file and work from the dimensioned drawing to create your model. Watch Part 1 of the tutorial. Choose File > New to open the File Browser. If you already have a file open, you will be asked if it is OK to delete the current file.
Page 411 Setting Up Modeling Units When you are using dimensions to specify a model in Alias, you first need to select which units to use. All the commonly used units are available: For this tutorial, you will be working in millimeters, so first you will ensure that the modelling units are set to mm.
Page 412 To help you visualize the scale of the new model, you will change the grid spacing. 2 Choose Construction > Grid Preset and double-click the icon to open the option window. 3 Set the Grid Spacing to 10.0 mm in the Preset Grid Options window. 4 Click Go to change the grid.
Page 413 6 Zoom into approximately 10 grid squares vertically; this will give you a good view for the size of the MP3 player. Creating the Casing Curves First, you will create the side and top curves of the MP3 player casing. 1 Choose Curves >...
Page 414 3 With the curve still selected, choose Transform > Move and type in -25,0,0 at the prompt window to move the curve 25 mm to the left in the x-direction. TIP If the last coordinate numbers are zero, then you can omit them. For example, 25,0,0 can be entered as 25 only.
Page 415 The arc will define one half of the design, which will later be mirrored. It is therefore important that the arc is tangent to the center line, so that it will create a smooth result when it is mirrored. So first, you will create a horizontal construction line to help create a tangent arc.
Page 416 NOTE The length of the line isn't important; it just needs to be snapped to the center grid line, and be horizontal. Now you will create the arc at the top of the MP3 player. 6 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Arcs >...
Page 417 TIP The coordinate given for the end point gives you an arc similar to the design shown at the start of this tutorial. TIP If you want to modify the arc, and design your own shape, choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Drag Keypoints and click and drag the end of the arc until you achieve the desired curve.
Page 418 Now you will use the Curve Fillet tool to create a smooth corner. 10 Choose Curve Edit > Create > Fillet Curves . 11 You are prompted to choose a curve. 12 Pick the vertical line. Then you are prompted to choose a second curve. 412 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 419 13 Pick the arc. 14 When prompted to adjust the fillet radius, type in a value of 7.5. 15 Click Accept to create the fillet curve. TIP Guidelines may be created when you use keypoint curves. They appear as dotted lines which highlight when the cursor is near. They can be useful when laying out a design, but you don’t need them for this tutorial.
Page 420: Part 2: Creating The Side Surfaces
To delete the guidelines, choose Delete > Delete Guidelines from the menu. Save your work 1 Choose File > Save As to save the current scene. 2 Save your work in the wire directory of the Lessons project. 3 Name your file myMP3Player.wire For information on creating the Lessons project, or saving your work, see Saving your work in a Windows environment...
Page 421 Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 1, proceed to the next step: Creating the Side Surfaces, below. If you were not successful in part 1, open the file called MP3Player_part2.wire located in the directory of the project.
Page 422 Watch Part 2 of the tutorial. Creating the Side Surfaces First, you will move your curves away from the center line in the z-direction. This will leave some space for a split-line feature you will create later in the tutorial. 1 Maximize the Perspective Window.
Page 423 Now you will create the side wall using the Draft surface. 5 Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange . Double-click the icon to open the option window. You will start with the default Draft settings, and then modify them after the surface is created. 6 As the curves are already selected, click Go to create the surface.
Page 424 TIP To change the draft pull direction for future designs, click the dotted lines and arcs representing the axes. Now you will modify the Draft Angle and the Surface Depth to match the required dimensions. 7 In the Draft option window, change the settings to an Angle of -3 degrees, and a Surface Depth of 2.
Page 425 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the surface creation. 9 Now you will build the chamfered surfaces. 10 Double-click the Draft icon to open the option window again. Change the settings to an Angle of -45 degrees, and a Surface Depth of 5. NOTE You will build the chamfered surface to an approximate length.
Page 426 Click Go to create the chamfered surfaces. 12 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the Draft surfaces. 420 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 427 Creating the Split-Line Next you will use the Flange surface to create the small split-line feature at the center line. The Flange surface can only be built from a surface edge, not a curve. This is because it measures its angle from the surface edge, not from a draft direction. So first, you will template your curves to make it easier to select the surface edges.
Page 428 5 Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange . Double-click the icon to open the option window. Change the Construction Type from Draft to Flange. 6 Change the Surface Depth to 0.5, and change the Angle to 3. NOTE The angle of 3 degrees compensates for the draft angle of 3 degrees on the sidewalls.
Page 429 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the Flange surface. To finish off the sidewalls, you will now create another set of flange surfaces to meet the center-line. 9 Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange again, double-click the icon to open the option window. 10 Change the Angle to 0 and the Surface Depth to 0.25.
Page 430 12 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the Flange surface. The side profile of the surfaces shows how the draft angles and split-line detail have been accurately created. 424 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 431: Part 3: Completing The Casing
TIP The Draft and Flange tools may create some extra curves-on-surface. Use Pick > Object Types > Curve on Surface and drag a box over all the surfaces to select them. You can delete these, as they aren’t needed. Saving your work 1 Choose File >...
Page 432 Finally, you will duplicate the front casing to create the rear casing, and organize all the geometry onto layers. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 2, proceed to the next step: Creating the Front Surface, below. If you were not successful in part 2, open the file called MP3Player_Part3.wire located in the...
Page 433 2 Choose Surfaces > Primitives > Plane . You are prompted to enter the new plane position. Use the Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key and grid snap the plane to the origin. The Plane surface is created 1mm square in size. It is already selected, so you will now scale and move the plane to form the front face of the casing.
Page 434 3 Choose Transform > Scale and click and drag the left mouse button to make the plane large enough to see clearly. Now you will set the pivot point for the Plane to the lower right-hand corner. 4 Choose Transform > Local > Set Pivot . Use the curve snap (Ctrl + Alt (Windows) or Control + Command (Mac)) to snap the pivot accurately to the bottom right corner of the plane.
Page 435 5 Now choose Transform > Move . Use grid snap (Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key) to position the plane exactly at the origin. 6 Use Transform > Non-p Scale to size the plane to approximately fit the design. Make sure that the plane overlaps the chamfered edges. Part 3: Completing the Casing | 429...
Page 436 Next, you will move the plane up in the z-axis. 7 Maximize the Left window 8 Choose Transform > Move and type 0,0,5.5 in the prompt window to move the plane up 5.5 mm in the z-axis. 430 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 437 Filleting the Plane Surface Now you will use the Surface Fillet tool to trim the front face and create an edge with a radius in one operation. 1 Maximize the Perspective window. 2 Choose Surfaces > Surface Fillet and double-click the icon to open the option window.
Page 438 5 Click Accept. 6 Next you are prompted to select the second set of surfaces. Click the three chamfered surfaces. 7 Click Accept. Arrows appear on both surfaces indicating on which side the fillet will be built. In this case, we want the pink arrow to point down, and the yellow arrow to point inwards.
Page 439 8 If necessary, click an arrow to reverse its direction. 9 Click Build. The edge with the specified radius is created and all the surfaces are trimmed. 10 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the fillet. Part 3: Completing the Casing | 433...
Page 440 Using Round for the Remaining Edges Next you will create a radius on the remaining edges using the Round tool. You could use either the Round or the Surface Fillet to create the softened edge. As the surfaces already meet at a sharp edge, the Round tool will be quicker to use.
Page 441 4 Click Build to create the round surfaces and trim back the draft surfaces. 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to complete the round. Part 3: Completing the Casing | 435...
Page 442 Completing the Front Casing The MP3 Player casing is made from two similar components, the front and the back casing. You will complete the front and rear casings using the mirror tool and Layer symmetry. First you will create the lower quarter of the front casing. 1 Choose Pick >...
Page 443 4 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surfaces. Layer Symmetry You used mirror to create the lower surfaces, so that the top surfaces can be modified, by adding a screen, and the lower surfaces can be modified by adding buttons.
Page 444 The symmetry on layers is typically used in one of the three axis directions. Now you will set the Symmetry Plane so that your geometry is mirrored left to right. The new layer is selected and shown in yellow. (If the layer isn t selected, you need to click the layer tab to select it).
Page 445 The large yellow plane changes to the right axis for your model. 7 Click Set as Default to set this axis for all future layers. 8 Click Set Plane to set the plane for this layer. On the Front Casing layer, choose the symmetry option from the layer sub-menu.
Page 446 The geometry on the layer is mirrored and shown as dotted lines to indicate that it is only a visualization of the mirrored geometry, not real geometry. Creating the Rear Casing Now is a good time to copy the surfaces for the rear casing, before you start to detail the front.
Page 447 3 Choose Edit > Duplicate > Mirror to open the option window. Choose the XY plane and click Go. The surfaces are mirrored. Part 3: Completing the Casing | 441...
Page 448: Part 4: Creating The Screen Recess
4 With the surfaces still selected, Assign them to the Rear Casing layer. 5 Turn on Symmetry on the Rear Casing layer. 6 Turn off Visible on the Rear Casing layer to make it invisible. Saving your work Save your work in the directory of the project.
Page 449 Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 3, proceed to the next step: Creating Offset Curves below. Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess | 443...
Page 450 If you were not successful in part 3, open the file called MP3Player_part4.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 3. Watch Part 4 of the tutorial. Creating Offset Curves To keep the structured style of the design, the shape of the screen will echo the curve at the top of the MP3 player.
Page 451 A curve is created that is a duplicate of the surface edge. 5 With the Curve Edit > Create > Duplicate Curve tool already active, select the fillet surface at the left side. 6 Again, choose the fillet edge, not the edge of the plane. Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess | 445...
Page 452 7 With the curves still highlighted, choose Object Edit > Offset and type in -3 to create the top and side curves for the screen. 446 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 453 8 Click Accept to create the offset curve. Now you will duplicate and mirror the top curve to create the lower curve. This time you will use a different technique for mirroring. The Edit > Duplicate > Mirror tool always mirrors across a grid axis. You will use the Edit >...
Page 454 10 Choose Transform > Local > Set Pivot and use the Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key to snap the pivot point to the end of the curve. 11 Choose Edit > Duplicate > Object to open the option window. Change the Scaling in the y-direction to -1.
Page 455 TIP The Duplicate Object tool is used to duplicate and transform objects in one operation. It is useful for creating patterns of many duplicates, and you will use it later in the tutorial to create the pattern of control buttons. Click Go to create a duplicated curve, scaled in the Y-direction to create a mirrored copy.
Page 456 13 Choose Curve Edit > Create > Fillet Curves and follow the prompts to create fillets between the curves. Set the fillets radii to 2.0 by typing the value on the prompt line. 450 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 457 Projecting the Screen Curves Next, you will Project the curves onto the front surface to cut out the screen shape. The direction of projection is determined by the active window: the curves will be projected perpendicular to the active window. By continuing to work in the Top window, you will be setting the direction of projection correctly.
Page 458 3 You are then prompted to select the curves to project. Drag a pick box over the screen outline curves you created. 4 Click Go to project the curves. 452 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 459 5 Maximize the Perspective window. You will now template the curves, so that you can see the curves-on-surface more easily. 6 Choose Pick > Component and choose the curves-only option. 7 Drag a pick box over all the curves to select them. Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess | 453...
Page 460 8 Choose ObjectDisplay > Template to template the curves. Now you can see the curves-on-surface created by projecting. 454 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 461 Next, you will trim the front face of the casing to create the opening for the screen. 9 Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface . You are prompted to select a surface to trim. Pick the plane surface. 10 You are then prompted to select a region.
Page 462 11 Click Keep to trim the surface. Creating the Screen Surfaces Now you will create a chamfered edge for the screen, and a screen surface. 1 Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange. Double-click the icon to open the option window. Reset the Construction Type to Draft.
Page 463 2 Select the edges of the screen to create the draft surface from. 3 Click Go to create the draft surface. Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess | 457...
Page 464 If the surfaces are built in the wrong direction, click the blue dotted line to switch the pull direction of the Draft surface. To finish off the screen, create a planar surface for the face of the screen. 4 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Lines >...
Page 465 Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess | 459...
Page 466 5 Choose Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar and select all the lower edges of the screen chamfer. 460 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 467 6 Click Go to create the planar surface. 7 Assign all the surfaces to the Front Casing layer. You now have lots of curves, so it s a good idea to organize them onto a separate layer. 8 Choose Layers > New to create a layer. 9 Change the layer name to Curves.
Page 468: Part 5: Center Navigation Key
10 Use Pick > Template to select the templated curves, and Assign them to the new Curves layer. 11 Use Pick > Component to pick any remaining curves and Assign them to the Curves layer. 12 Make the Curves layer invisible. 13 Turn Symmetry on for Front Casing layer, and use diagnostic shading to evaluate the design.
Page 469 A cross-section of the Navigation Key is shown below. Only the part of the key that will be seen above the casing will be built. The dimensions for the Navigation Key profile are shown below. This will be revolved to create the button surfaces. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 4, proceed to the next step: Navigation Key Curves below.
Page 470 If you were not successful in part 4, open the file called MP3Player_part5.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 4. Watch Part 5 of the tutorial. Navigation Key Curves You will create the cross-section profile of the Navigation key using Keypoint curves, and then Revolve them to create the surfaces.
Page 471 Use the middle mouse button to place the second point of the line horizontally to the left of the origin. The length of the line isn t important, as it will only be used to help create a tangent arc. Now you will draw the line for the outer chamfered edge.
Page 472 Now you will create an arc for the center of the button. 5 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Arcs > Arc Tangent to Curve . You are prompted to Select curve at location to make arc tangent to. Click the first line, and without releasing the mouse button drag the start of the arc to the end of the line at the origin.
Page 473 6 The horizontal line you created isn t needed any more, so use Pick > Object to select it and press the Delete key to remove it. 7 Choose Curve Edit > Create > Fillet Curves and double-click to open the option window.
Page 474 1 Maximize the Perspective window. 2 Choose Pick > Object and select the profile curves. 4 Choose Surfaces > Revolve and double-click to open the option window. Choose the Global option for the Axes. This will allow you to revolve many curves at once, around the origin, not around each curve s pivot point.
Page 475 Click the Go button and the surfaces will be revolved. 5 Choose Pick > Object and the surfaces will automatically be selected. Part 5: Center Navigation Key | 469...
Page 476: Part 6: Control Button
6 Choose Edit > Group to group the surfaces together to create the navigation button. Assign the grouped surfaces to the NaviKey layer, and make it inactive. Assign the curves to the Curves layer. Saving your work Save your work in the directory of the project.
Page 477 The button surfaces will be created using the Revolve, and Round tools. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 5, proceed to the next step: Control Button Revolved Surface below. Part 6: Control Button | 471...
Page 478 If you were not successful in part 5, open the file called MP3Player_part6.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 5. Watch Part 6 of the tutorial. Control Button Revolved Surface First, you will create the outline circles for the button design.
Page 479 You are prompted to enter a point on the radius of the circle. Type in 17.5 to create a circle with a radius of 17.5 mm. 4 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Circular Arc again, and create a circle with the center at the origin and a radius of 11 mm.
Page 480 Now you will use these circles to create an arc for the top surface of the buttons. Maximize the Left window and zoom into the right-hand side of the circles. You will use the Keypoints on the two circles to locate the arc. 5 Choose Curves >...
Page 481 When prompted for the next point on the arc, select an approximate location for the peak of the curve. This doesn t need to be accurate, as later you will set the radius of the arc accurately using the Information window.
Page 482 The radius is changed, but the end points remain in the same locations. Now you will move the arc up to raise the button surface above the casing. 7 With the arc still selected, choose Transform > Move and type in 0,0,0.75 to move the arc up 0.75mm in the z-direction.
Page 483 9 Choose Surfaces > Revolve and double-click the icon to open the option window. Change the Sweep Angle to 45, and ensure that Axes is set to Global, then click Go. TIP When revolving a smaller amount, you can reduce the number of sections to reduce the isoparms in the revolved surface.
Page 484 The revolved surface is created. Now you will temporarily hide the revolved surface and the arc, to make it easier to work on the outline curves. 10 Choose Pick > Object and select the surface and the arc. 11 Choose ObjectDisplay > Invisible to temporarily hide the surface and the curves.
Page 485 Creating the Control Button Draft Surfaces Now you will trim the two circles to create the button outline. 1 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox , then Keypoint Curve Tools > Break & Join > Break Curve at Keypoint . Click the top keypoint of the outer curve.
Page 486 The curve is split, and the top right-hand segments now have keypoints at their centers. You will now break the curves at these keypoints to create a 45 degree segment. Click the middle keypoint of each curve to break it into 45 degree segments.
Page 487 2 Choose Pick > Object and select the parts of the circles you don t need. 3 Press the Delete key to delete the curves. Part 6: Control Button | 481...
Page 488 Trimming Curves Next, you will trim the two arcs and the line to create the outline of a single button. 1 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox , then Keypoint Curve Tools > Lines > Line and snap to the grid points (Alt (Windows) or Command (Mac) key) to create a horizontal line.
Page 489 3 Choose Curve Edit > Curve Section . You will be prompted to select a curve to trim. Click both arcs, above the line and click the GO button You will be prompted to select the trimming curves. Choose the line. Part 6: Control Button | 483...
Page 490 The arcs are trimmed. 4 Choose Curve Edit > Curve Section again and this time choose the line. Make sure you select the curve in between the arcs, to keep that part of the line. When prompted to select the trimming curves, first choose the outer arc. 484 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 491 Then choose the inner arc to complete the trimming. Part 6: Control Button | 485...
Page 492 Creating the Draft Surfaces 1 Maximize the Perspective window. 2 Choose Pick > Object and select all the curves. 3 Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange and double-click to open the option window. Modify the settings to Draft Angle -2 degrees, and a Surface Depth of 2 mm 486 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 493 TIP The pull direction may be set to –z from the last Draft operation. Click the dotted blue line to make sure the pale blue arrow is pointing upwards in a positive z direction. NOTE Depending on your curves, you may need to change the Draft Angle to +2 to get the side walls falling inwards with the draft.
Page 494 Intersecting and trimming the buttons Now you will intersect and trim the button surfaces to create a trimmed model and then use the Round tool to complete the button design. 1 Choose Pick > Object and pick the draft surfaces. 2 Choose Surface Edit >...
Page 495 The surfaces are intersected and curves-on-surface created. 3 Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface . Follow the prompts to trim the revolved surface to keep the inner part. Trim the draft surfaces to keep the lower parts. Part 6: Control Button | 489...
Page 496 4 Choose Pick > Component to select all the curves and Assign them to the Curves layer. Rounding Multiple Edges 1 Choose Surfaces > Round and double-click the option box to open the option window. 2 Change the Unequal Radius Corner to Single Surface to create a simple rounded corner.
Page 497 3 Select one of the side edges, and type in 1 at the prompt line to set the round radius to 1 mm. 4 Select the other side edge and leave the radius value at 1. Part 6: Control Button | 491...
Page 498 5 Select one of the top edges and type in 0.35 in the prompt line to change the round radius to 0.35mm. 6 Select the other three top edges. 7 Click the Build button to create the round. 492 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 499: Part 7: Completing The Model
The advantage of using the round tool on multiple edges is that the blended corner surfaces are built automatically. Saving your work Save your work in the directory of the project. Name your file wire Lessons myMP3Player6.wire Part 7: Completing the Model You will now complete the MP3 Player design by duplicating the control buttons, and moving all the buttons into the correct position on the front casing.
Page 500 If you were not successful in part 6, open the file called MP3Player_part7.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 6. Creating Four Buttons Watch Part 7 of the tutorial. First, you will rotate the half-button into the correct orientation, and then mirror the surfaces to create one full button.
Page 501 3 Choose Edit > Group to group them all , with a single pivot point at the origin. 4 Choose Transform > Rotate and type in 0,0,45. You will be asked about losing construction history, answer Yes. 5 Choose Edit > Duplicate > Mirror and select the YZ plane to Mirror Across.
Page 502 6 Click Go to create the mirrored geometry. 7 Choose Pick > Object and select both halves of the button. 8 Choose Edit > Group to group them as a single button. 496 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 503 You now have one complete button, in the desired orientation, so now you will create three additional buttons. Choose Edit > Duplicate > Object First, click the Reset button at the bottom of the option window. This will restore all the default settings. Then set the Number of duplicates to 3, and the Rotation to 90 degrees in the z-axis.
Page 504 9 Make sure that all the buttons are on the Control Buttons layer, and set the layer to inactive. Positioning the Buttons Now you will move the buttons into their correct location, centered on the lower part of the Front Casing. 1 Maximize the Perspective window.
Page 505 2 Make the Front Casing layer visible. 3 Turn off the Symmetry on the layer. 4 Set the state of the Front Casing layer to Reference, so that it can be snapped to, but not fully pickable. Part 7: Completing the Model | 499...
Page 506 5 Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox, then Keypoint Curve Tools > Lines > Line and use curve snap (Ctrl and Alt (Windows) or Control and Command (Mac) keys) to place the curve along the edge of the casing. You will now use the center keypoint on the new line to position the buttons.
Page 507 6 Make the NaviKey and the Control Buttons layers Pickable. 7 Choose Pick > Object and select all the buttons. 8 Choose Transform > Move . Use the point snap (Ctrl (Windows) or Control (Mac) key) to position the keys on the center Keypoint of the line. You will be asked if you want to delete construction history: answer YES.
Page 508 9 To convert the Layer Symmetry geometry into real geometry, first set the state of the layer back to Pickable. 10 Then, turn on the Symmetry for the layer. 502 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 509 11 Select the layer and use choose Layers > Symmetry > Create Geometry . The mirrored geometry is no longer shown in dotted lines, and can be modified independently. 12 Do the same for the Rear Casing layer to complete the MP3 Player design.
Page 510 13 Use the diagnostic Shading to evaluate the design. 14 Use the Show menu in the window title bar to turn off the Model and Grid for a better view. Saving your work Save your work in the directory of the project.
Page 511 Conclusion Congratulations! You have created an accurate model of the MP3 Player. You have learned to: Use Keypoint curves to create accurate geometric shapes. Create surfaces with a draft angle. Set up Construction Options for accurate modeling. Create edges with a radius using the Fillet and Round tools. Create symmetrical and duplicated geometry.
Page 512 3 How do you modify the radius of an Arc or Circular Arc after you have created it.? (a) In the Attributes section of the Windows > Information > Information Window. (b) Use Object Edit > Query Edit and click the curve. (c) You have to delete the curve and create a new one.
Page 513 Most computer speakers make good subjects for practicing your modeling. Take measurements and try to replicate the shape as accurately as you can. On Your Own | 507...
Page 514 508 | Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player...
Page 515 Have a look back at the Vacuum Cleaner tutorial to remind yourself how the button was detailed. You can finish off your MP3 player model by recessing and filleting the buttons and the button holes in a similar way. On Your Own | 509...
Page 516 You can use Surfaces > Tubular Offset to create grooves from projected curves-on-surface. Use the Help > Alias Help if you haven t used this tool before. Quiz Answers Answers to the MP3 Player Tutorial quiz 1 (c) In the Preferences > Construction Options window 2 (b) The active window: the curve will be projected perpendicular to the window view.
Page 517 5 (e) The Round tool can create a corner surface between three edges. Quiz Answers | 511...
Page 519: Chapter 8 Modeling A Sports Shower Gel Bottle
Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle Learning Objectives In this lesson, you will build a sports shower gel bottle. This lesson introduces you to surface continuity. You will learn how to: Create smooth transitions between surfaces Model accurately for manufacture Use Layer Symmetry Change the degree of a curve We will expect you to know how to do certain things, like opening and saving files, picking...
Page 520: New Concepts
New Concepts Continuity In this exercise, you will learn how to create continuity between surfaces and between curves. The three main types of continuity used in Alias are shown in the illustrations of three curves below. Positional Continuity The dashed curve touches the two solid curves, but there is an angle between them and so there is a sharp break between the curves.
Page 521 There is one other use of continuity that you will use in this tutorial: Implied Tangent. Implied Tangent A curve or surface is created on the center line, and will be mirrored. The Implied Tangent tools make sure that the two surfaces (original and mirrored) will be tangent to each other.
Page 522 Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces In this section, you will use the Square, Skin, and Align tools to create the basic shape of the shower gel bottle. You will build the front half of the bottle, which will later be mirrored to complete the design.
Page 523 4 A dialog box appears, asking if you want to delete all objects, shaders, views, and actions. Click Yes. 5 If your values for construction tolerances differ from those in the file, you will be presented with a dialog. showergel.wire 6 Click Accept New Settings to use the construction tolerances in showergel.wire.
Page 524 The Construction Preset is set to User Defined. While this is suitable for rapid concept development, a more accurate setting will be needed for data transfer to a CAD or Rapid Prototyping system. 2 In the option window, choose General CAD Settings. 518 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 525 To see what tolerances you will be working to, open the tolerances section of the Construction Options window. TIP For future projects, you can choose settings that match the CAD system you will be exporting data to. 3 Close the Construction Options window. Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces | 519...
Page 526 Creating the Main Bottle Surface You will start by creating the main bottle shape using a Square surface. 1 Maximize the Perspective view. 2 Check that the Bottle layer tab is shown in yellow, indicating the new surfaces you create will be assigned to it. If not, click the layer tab to make it active.
Page 527 In the Square option window, the four boundaries of the square are listed. For boundaries, 2 and 4 change the continuity option to Fixed. This ensures that the square surface accurately matches the curves. For boundaries 1 and 3, change the Continuity option to Implied Tangent.
Page 528 You are prompted to select the four boundary curves. Click the curves in the order shown. When the fourth curve is selected the square surface is created. 522 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 529 Creating the Neck Surface 1 Adjust the view to see the curves for the neck of the bottle. 2 Choose Surfaces > Skin and, when prompted, select the two neck curves to create the neck surface. Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces | 523...
Page 530 3 Now that you have built the main surfaces, turn off the Curves layer, leaving only the surfaces visible on the screen. Creating the Shoulder Surface The shoulder surface needs to blend smoothly from the main body surface. First, you will create the shoulder as a simple skin surface from the body to the neck.
Page 531 Tangent Continuity Two rows of CVs are aligned to the other surface. Curvature Continuity Three rows of CVs are aligned to the other surface. Creating the Shoulder Surface First, create the shoulder surface with positional continuity. 1 Choose the Surfaces > Skin tool. 2 When prompted, select the edges of the body and neck surfaces to create the shoulder skin surface.
Page 532 Aligning the Shoulder Surface Now, you will use the Align tool to modify the shoulder surface, making it Tangent to the body surface. First, delete the Construction History of the shoulder skin, to allow it to be modified. 1 With the shoulder surface still selected, choose Delete > Delete Construction History and answer Yes when prompted.
Page 533 3 Choose Object Edit > Align > Align 2008 . Double-click the Align icon to open the option window. Set Continuity to Tangent. You are prompted to select the boundary of the surface to be aligned (the input). This is the skin surface you created for the shoulder. 4 Move the cursor to the junction of the bottle and shoulder surfaces.
Page 534 The selected edge is highlighted and labeled as “Input”. You are prompted to select the object to align to (the master). 5 Click on the boundary between the two surfaces again to select the edge of the body. The top edge of the body surface is automatically selected. The CVs of the shoulder surface are modified to align the shoulder to the bottle surface with tangent continuity, as indicated by the T on the green indicator.
Page 535 6 Turn on Tangent Balance. This adjusts the hull shape of the input surface to match that of the master. (Turn on the CVs and hulls on the master to see this). 7 Scroll to the bottom of the option window and turn off Continuity Check to remove the continuity indicator.
Page 536 Now, you will modify the character of the shoulder blend by moving and scaling the CVs and Hulls. 8 Use the F9 hotkey to show the four modelling windows. 9 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface. 10 Choose Pick > Point Types > Hull . 11 In the Back window, select the hull of the second row of CVs from the top by clicking the red hull line.
Page 537 12 Choose Transform > Non-p Scale and drag with the middle mouse button to create a smooth shoulder shape. NOTE The pivot point for the CVs defaults to the origin, so the CVs will scale correctly. 13 In the Left window, drag with the middle mouse button to refine the shoulder shape.
Page 538 14 With the right mouse button click the hull of the third row of CVs and drag upwards to sharpen the shoulder profile. Continue to adjust the vertical position of the hulls until you are happy with the design. 532 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 539: Part 2: Creating The Finger Grip
15 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the CVs. 16 Turn off the CVs and hulls, using the Control Panel. 17 Use diagnostic shading to evaluate the result. TIP Set the Continuity option to Curvature in the Align tool to adjust the third row of CVs and get an even smoother transition.
Page 540 The finger grip area is created by removing part of the body surface, and replacing it with a birail surface which follows the grip profile, and blends in smoothly to the body. Watch Part 2 of the tutorial. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 1, proceed to the next step: Making Space for the Grip Detail below.
Page 541 1 Maximize the Perspective window. 2 Choose Pick > Object and select all the surfaces. 3 Choose Delete > Delete Construction History and answer Yes when prompted. NOTE Detaching leaves a good quality edge on the surface. However, it is not reversible, so we recommend you save before using Detach! 4 Choose the Object Edit >...
Page 542 TIP Move the mouse to check that the detach tool has locked on to the isoparm. The isoparm is highlighted and a Go button appears. 5 Click Go to detach the surface. 6 Choose Pick > Object and select the smaller piece of surface. 536 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 543 7 Press the Delete key to delete the small surface. A curve has been provided on the GripCurves layer to define the profile of the finger grip. 8 Turn on the visibility of the GripCurves layer by selecting Visible from its layer tab menu.
Page 544 Creating the Birail Surface Now, you will create a Birail surface for the finger grip. The Birail will be tangent to the edge of the body surface and tangent to the shoulder surface. It will match the curve at the base with positional continuity, and have Implied Tangency on the finger grip curve, where the surface will later be mirrored.
Page 545 2 Choose Position for each of the four Continuity options (you will change these after the Birail surface is created). If any of the Rebld boxes are checked, click in them to remove the check. TIP The Rebld option can improve the parameterization of an edge, typically a trimmed edge.
Page 546 The birail surface is created. With the surface still selected, and the option window still open on screen, you can now adjust the continuity options at each edge. 540 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 547 4 Change the following continuity settings: gen2 Tangent rail1 Tangent rail2 Implied Tangent The surface is rebuilt with the new continuity settings. Part 2: Creating the Finger Grip | 541...
Page 548 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect the surface and use diagnostic shading to evaluate the design. TIP Use the Show menu on the window pane to turn off the model and the grid. Remember to turn them on again when you remove the shading. Creating the Base Surface The base of the bottle will be created as a flat plane.
Page 549 3 Click Go to create the planar surface. TIP The space bar can be used as a short cut instead of clicking Go. 4 Make sure that all the surfaces are assigned to the Bottle layer. 5 The curves are no longer needed, so turn off the visibility of the GripCurves layer.
Page 550: Part 3: Label Surface
Part 3: Label Surface In the Vacuum exercise, you intersected surfaces to create curves-on-surface that could then be used for trimming. In this exercise, you will Project a curve onto the surface, which will create the curves-on-surface needed for trimming. First, you will trim out the label shape from the main body surface.
Page 551 If you were not successful in part 2, open the file called showergel_part3.wire located in the directory of the project. This file contains the wire CourseWare completed model from Part 2. Trimming the Label Area First, you will project the label shape curve onto the bottle surface. The projection direction will be determined by the active window, so you will use the Left window.
Page 552 2 Make the LabelCurves layer visible. The layer has two curves for the outline of the label. The outer curve will be used to trim away the main body surfaces. Now, you will Project the outer label curve onto the body surface. 3 Choose Surface Edit >...
Page 553 5 Click Go to accept the surface. You are then prompted to select the projecting curves. 6 Click the outer label curve to select it, and then click Go. The curve is projected onto the surface. 7 Maximize the Perspective view to see the curves-on-surface more clearly. Part 3: Label Surface | 547...
Page 554 8 Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface . 9 You are prompted to select the surfaces to trim. Click the main bottle surface to select it. 10 You are then prompted to select REGIONS. Click the part of the surface you want to keep (the part outside the label area).
Page 555 11 Click Keep shown in the bottom right corner of the window. The surface is trimmed. 12 Use diagnostic shading to verify the surface has been trimmed correctly. Part 3: Label Surface | 549...
Page 556 TIP If the trimming is not correct, click Revert at the bottom of the screen to go back one step and re-select the trim regions. If you want to correct the trim at a later stage, you can use Surface Edit > Trim > Untrim to restore the surface to its untrimmed state.
Page 557 2 Choose Surfaces > Skin . Follow the prompts and select the two label surface curves to create a skin surface. Next, you will project the label outline curve onto the surface and trim the surface to the shape of the label. This time we will show how both operations can be executed at once by using the 3D Trimming option in the Trim Surface tool.
Page 558 You are prompted to select curves to PROJECT. 5 Click the inner label shape curve to select it. You are then prompted to select REGIONS. 6 Click the part of the surface you want to keep (the part inside the label area).
Page 559 The surface is trimmed. 7 Turn on diagnostic shading to verify this. 8 Make the Bottles layer visible, and assign the new surface to it. Part 3: Label Surface | 553...
Page 560 9 Make the LabelCurves layer invisible Save your work 1 Save your work in the wire directory of the Lessons project. 2 Name your file myshowergel3.wire 554 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 561: Part 4: Adding Blend Details
Part 4: Adding Blend Details Creating the Blend Surface The label surface is recessed back from the main bottle surface. The gap between the two surfaces will be bridged by a Birail surface, which will give the label area its character. To create the Birail, you will use the two trimmed edges as Rails, and create two new curves for the Generation curves.
Page 562 Creating the Generation Curves Previously, you used the Align tool to create tangent continuity between two surfaces. Now, you will use the Align tool to create a tangent relationship between a curve and the edge of a surface. To keep the Birail surface smooth and taut, you will use a curve with only 3 CVs to define the character of the blend.
Page 563 The first edit point of the new curve is placed. 5 Use Curve Snap again and click the edge of the label surface, then without releasing the mouse button, drag to the top of the edge. Part 4: Adding Blend Details | 557...
Page 564 NOTE The Birail tool requires that all boundaries are accurately aligned, so it is important that the curve is snapped accurately to the corner. 6 Choose the Object Edit > Align > Align tool. Double-click the icon to open the option window. In the Continuity section, choose Tangent.
Page 565 7 You are prompted to select the object to align (input). Click the curve, near the label surface. 8 You are prompted to select the object to align to. Click the vertical edge of the label surface, near the curve. Part 4: Adding Blend Details | 559...
Page 566 The curve is adjusted to be tangent to the surface. 9 Adjust the view so you can see the lower part of the label surface. 10 Create another Degree 2 edit point curve across the gap, using curve snap to place the curve edit points exactly at the corner of the surfaces. 11 Use Object Edit >...
Page 567 12 Zoom out to see the whole label area. Building a Birail Surface with Continuity 1 Choose the Surfaces > Swept Surfaces > Rail Surface tool. Double-click the icon to open the option window. 2 Check that the options are set for 2 generation curves and 2 rail curves. Adjust the Continuity settings to: gen 1 Implied Tangent...
Page 568 3 Because the Rails will be the trimmed edges of surfaces, choosing the Rebld option on the two rails will improve the quality of the surface. 4 You are prompted to select the curves in order. Choose the curves and edges as shown.
Page 569 The Birail surface is created. 5 Choose Pick > Nothing to de-select the surface. 6 Choose Pick > Object , then pick and assign the two curves you created to the Curves layer. 7 Use diagnostic shading to evaluate the result. Part 4: Adding Blend Details | 563...
Page 570 Completing the Model with Round Surfaces To complete the model, you will soften all the sharp edges with Round surfaces. 1 Remove the diagnostic shading from the model. 564 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 571 2 Zoom in to the neck area. 3 Choose the Surfaces > Round tool. Click the edge between the neck and the shoulder surfaces. 4 The default radius value is shown, and highlighted in white. 5 Type in a new radius value of 1. Then, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac).
Page 572 8 Adjust the view to look at the edge of the label panel. 9 Use the Surfaces > Round tool again to create a fillet along the sharp edge of the label birail surface. 10 Choose Pick > Nothing to remove the round indicators. 566 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 573 11 Adjust the view to look at the base of the bottle. 12 Use the Surfaces > Round tool again to create a fillet. As there are two edges at the base, click first on main bottle surface edge. Type in a Radius value of 10. Then, click the edge created by the finger grip surface and the base.
Page 574 13 Click the Build button to create the round surface. 14 Choose Pick > Nothing to remove the round indicators. 15 Make sure that all the new surfaces are assigned to the Bottle layer. 568 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 575: Part 5: Embossed Logo Details
16 Adjust the view and use the diagnostic shading to evaluate the rounds. Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 2 Name your file myshowergel4.wire Part 5: Embossed Logo Details In this section, you will create an embossed logo at the base of the pack. You will use an offset surface to create the logo surface;...
Page 576 Watch Part 5 of the tutorial. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 4, you can proceed directly to the next step: Trimming the Body Surfaces below. If you were not successful in part 4, open the file called showergel_part5.wire located in the directory of the...
Page 577 Trimming the Body Surfaces The transition surface will be created using the Freeform Blend. This tool quickly creates a tangent or curvature blend between two edges, and is particularly useful when the edges are made up of many sections. The embossed logo surface will be created using the Offset tool. You will start by projecting the outer logo curves onto the main surfaces.
Page 578 5 Click Go. You are prompted to select the curves to project. As there are many curves in the logo detail, drag a selection box over all the curves. All the curves are highlighted. 572 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 579 6 Click Go to project the curves. Curves-on-surface are created on the two surfaces. 7 Maximize the Perspective window to see the curves-on-surface more clearly. Next, you will trim away the main surfaces. 8 Select the Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface tool. You are prompted to select the surface to trim.
Page 580 9 When prompted to select the trim regions, click the part of the bottle surface to keep, as shown. Click the Keep button to trim the surface. The surface is trimmed to the outer curves, the inner curves are ignored. 574 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 581 Do the same for the finger grip surface, trimming away the small corner of the logo that crosses into the surface. 10 Select the Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface tool and follow the prompts to trim the finger grip surface. The surfaces have now been trimmed to allow the logo details to be embossed.
Page 582 1 Choose Layers > New to create a layer. The layer will only be used to temporarily organize the model, so there is no need to re-name it. Now, create the offset surface. 2 Choose Object Edit > Offset and select the main bottle surface. 3 At the prompt line, type in an offset value of 0.5.
Page 583 4 Choose Pick > Object and you will see the new surface is already highlighted. 5 Assign the surface to the new layer. 6 Make the Bottle layer invisible so only the new surface is showing on the screen. When the surface was offset, the curves-on-surface and trims were offset with it.
Page 584 8 Choose the All option, so the surface will be fully untrimmed in one operation. 9 Choose Pick > Object Types > Curve on Surface and drag a pick box over all the curves-on-surface to select them. 10 Press the Delete key to delete the curves-on-surface. 578 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 585 11 Maximize the Left view. You can see that the logo curves extend beyond the surface by a small amount. The easiest solution is to extend the surface slightly so the curves fit. You will use the Extend tool interactively, to extend the surface a small amount by eye.
Page 586 13 The edge is still highlighted. Click and carefully drag the left mouse button to extend the surface just beyond the inner logo curves. TIP If you over-extend the surface, type in 0 at the prompt line to return the surface to its original shape.
Page 587 3 When prompted to choose the curves to project, use a drag box to select all the curves. 4 Click Go to project them onto the surface. Part 5: Embossed Logo Details | 581...
Page 588 Next, you will trim the offset so that only the three inner shapes remain. 5 Select the Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface tool and click the offset surface when prompted. 6 When prompted, select the three inner Regions, and click Keep. 582 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 589 The surface is trimmed into the three parts of the logo. Now is a good time to tidy up the layers. 7 Choose Pick > Object and select the offset surface. 8 On the Bottle layer tab, select Assign. Part 5: Embossed Logo Details | 583...
Page 590 The surface disappears from the screen because it has been placed on an invisible layer. 9 Make the Bottle layer visible and check that the new offset surface is there. 10 Make the LogoCurves layer invisible. 11 Remove the temporary layer by choosing Layers > Delete > Unused Layers Creating the Freeform Blend Surfaces To give a smooth ‘embossed edge to the logo, you will use the Freeform Blend tool to blend from the outer to the inner shapes.
Page 591 1 Maximize the Perspective view and use diagnostic shading to check that the gaps have been created for the blend surfaces. Next, you will create the freeform blend surface. As the logo shapes were made up of many curves, you can use the Chain Select option to select the whole edge.
Page 592 The whole edge is selected and highlighted in pink. 5 Next, click the edge on the bottle surface. 586 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 593 The edge is selected and highlighted in yellow. 6 Click Recalc to build the Freeform Blend. Part 5: Embossed Logo Details | 587...
Page 594 7 To continue building the blend surfaces, click Next in the Freeform Blend option window. 8 Repeat the process to create the other two blends. 588 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 595: Part 6: Completing The Model
9 Use diagnostic shading to evaluate the logo embossing. 10 Finally, make sure all the surfaces are assigned to the Bottle layer. Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 2 Name your file myshowergel5.wire Part 6: Completing the Model In this section, you will complete the model by mirroring the surfaces and...
Page 596 Watch Part 6 of the tutorial. Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 5, proceed to the next step: Mirroring the surfaces below. If you were not successful in part 5, open the file called showergel_part6.wire located in the directory of the project.
Page 597 2 Click in the layer tab to make the layer active. It will be shown in yellow with a white border. 3 Choose Layers > Symmetry > Create Geometry to convert the mirrored image of the geometry into actual geometry. Part 6: Completing the Model | 591...
Page 598 To complete the model as a closed volume, add a planar surface to the top of the neck. 4 Choose Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar and select the two top edges of the neck. Click Go to create the surface. 592 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 599 Volume Measurement If you have built your model carefully so there are no gaps between the surface patches, you can calculate the volume enclosed by those surfaces. For the volume calculation to be accurate, all the surfaces need to face outwards.
Page 600 3 The surfaces are highlighted, 4 Click Classify. The surfaces are highlighted in blue, and a Unify button is shown. 594 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 601 A blue arrow is also shown, indicating the orientation of the surfaces. This arrow should point out, away from the model. If it doesn't, click it to switch the direction. 5 Click Unify to unify the surface orientations. A message is shown in the prompt window confirming the surfaces have been unified.
Page 602 Interpreting the Calculated Volume The figure given in the mass properties window is in cubic millimeters. Most packaging designs are measured in milliliters. To make the conversion, divide by 1000. So, in this example, a volume of 336555 cubic millimeters is 336.5 milliliters. Also, the volume measured is the external volume of the whole bottle.
Page 603 So, if our target is a product volume of 250 ml, you would expect to add 25% to account for the plastic material and airspace, giving a target of 312.5 ml for the external shape modeled. This would then be displayed as 312500 mm3 in the Mass Properties window.
Page 604 5 Click Go in the option window to create the cap surfaces. 6 Assign the new cap surfaces to the CapCurves layer. The Shower Gel pack design is now complete. 598 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 605 Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 2 Name your file myshowergel6.wire Conclusion Congratulations! You have completed the Shower Gel Bottle, and have an understanding of continuity and how to build smooth forms in Alias. Conclusion | 599...
Page 606 You have learned how to: Create smooth transitions between surfaces Model accurately for manufacture Use Layer Symmetry Change the degree of a curve Quiz Now that you have completed this shower gel modeling tutorial, do this quick quiz to help you remember the tools and techniques you have learned. 1 Which of the following can be toggled on and off using the Show menu on the window pane? (a) Model...
Page 607 (b) Use Transform > Rotate (c) In the Layer tab, use the symmetry setting. (d) Use the symmetry setting in the Control Panel (e) Use the Symmetry setting in each surface tool 4 How many CVs does a single-span, degree 2 curve have? (a) one (b) two (c) three...
Page 608 On Your Own This exercise has given you an introduction to the tools that can create continuity between surfaces. Mastering these techniques fully takes time and practice, and is one of the advanced topics to study in Alias. Below are some ideas for practicing and exploring these techniques. Packaging design is a good area to look for freeform and smooth surfaces.
Page 609 The techniques you learned modeling the label area on the Shower gel bottle can be used to create features on product designs and vehicle designs as well. The finger recess on the back of this cell phone is created in the same way as the recessed label.
Page 610 The raised center section of this car hood is blended into the main surface using a Birail with curvature continuity. 604 | Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle...
Page 611 If you are using Surface or Automotive versions of Alias, you have more options for creating curvature continuity surfaces. If you are using one of these products, try rebuilding the shower gel bottle with curvature continuity instead of tangent. Look at the model supplied for Shaders and Lights on page 631.
Page 613: Chapter 9 An Introduction To Rendering
An introduction to Rendering Learning objectives In this tutorial, you will learn the foundations of rendering and experiment with the toggle shade tool. You will learn: rendering theory resolution theory shaders and texture theory the Multi-lister the hardware shader editing shaders and textures assigning shaders To complete this tutorial, you will be supplied with the model of a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Page 614: Overview
New menu items used in this tutorial Window Display > Hardware Shade Render > Globals Render > Multi-lister > List shaders Overview After you have created objects, lights, and shaders, you can bring these elements together in the final rendering process. Alias offers industry standard sizes and types of rendering with adjustable quality levels.
Page 615 saved and rendered later using a command line batch renderer. Users with programming experience can also edit the SDL file to change how it will render. Rendering types To decide which rendering type is required for your work, you must decide on the look you want.
Page 616 Raytrace - This rendering type gives a smooth shaded rendering of the scene that includes reflections, refractions, and shadows. Render globals Before rendering, you must decide on both the size of the image and how detailed the image will be. The Render Globals window, under the Render menu, is used to set the size and resolution of the image, the quality of anti-aliasing, the raytrace rendering limits, and many other rendering 610 | Chapter 9 An introduction to Rendering...
Page 617 parameters. Since many of the settings change the rendering time, you must balance the need for quality with that of size. Image file output In the Image File Output section of the Render Globals window, you can set which cameras or orthographic views are rendered and the size of the rendered images.
Page 618 As an example, North American image size for video is 645 x 486, which defines the NTSC standard. If you want to render for print, you need to render at a pixel resolution that will give you enough pixels for the size of the printing job. Many print jobs use 300 pixels per inch (ppi) as a standard.
Page 619 For example, if your printer is using 85 lines per inch (say, for a newspaper), your image should be rendered at a maximum resolution of 85 x 2, or 170 pixels per inch. If your printer is using 150 lines per inch, your image should be rendered at a maximum resolution of 150 x 2, or 300 pixels per inch.
Page 620: Visualizing A Pda
Visualizing a PDA Watch the tutorial. To open the tutorial file 1 Open the file called , located in the sub-directory pda_rendering.wire wire of the directory. CourseWare NOTE For information on how to open a file, see Opening the tutorial file on page 82.
Page 621 The file is displayed. 4 Next, choose Preferences > Workflows > Visualize . This will hide all tools not needed for visualization or rendering work. 5 Close the tool palette. To pick objects or components, you can use the marking menus. 6 Choose Windows >...
Page 622 7 Click the Maximize icon on the Perspective view to expand it. Your Alias window should look like the following illustration. Shaded mode As a first step in the journey to understanding rendering, you will use shaded mode. This tool provides a fast colored and shaded reference of a model in a modeling window.
Page 623 2 In the Hardware Shade window, click the Shade on button to shade the model in the Perspective view. Tumble about to get a good view of the model. Click Shade off. Visualizing a PDA | 617...
Page 624 3 Close the option window. 4 Now choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade without opening the option window. It applies the Shade settings to the window, without having to open the window. You will notice that color and surfaces have been applied to the wire frame of the personal digital assistant (PDA).
Page 625 1 Drag the bar down until you see all the shaders in this wire file. The resident shaders section should now look similar to the following image. Visualizing a PDA | 619...
Page 626 All of these spheres are shaders that are assigned to different parts of the PDA. To see which sphere is assigned to which part of the PDA, click a sphere. 2 Choose the second icon from the left in this section of the panel: This tool picks objects by the current shader.
Page 627 5 Push the bar under the Resident Shaders section up to reveal the Shader Parameters for this shader. The most commonly used shader parameters are shown in this section of the panel. 6 Click the green rectangle under RGB Color. This opens the color palette, so you can choose a different color for the shader.
Page 628 7 Change the color to orange by clicking the color wheel. You can modify the color s intensity in the HSV triangle. Close the window when you have got a bright orange selected. 8 Notice that the color rectangle in the Visualization panel has changed to orange.
Page 629 Visualizing a PDA | 623...
Page 630 In addition to editing shaders, you can also create new shaders by copying and modifying existing shaders, or import new shaders to your model from a library by double-clicking a shader in the library. The Multi-lister The Multi-lister is the full interface you use to create, edit, manage, and display shaders, textures, lights, and the environment.
Page 631 The Chrome editor is opened. Notice there are two tabs: Software and Hardware. You can use either tab for this exercise. The Hardware tab shows a subset of the fields available on the Software tab: these fields are used in WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade. NOTE If you use the Hardware tab, you must first set the Shading method to Per pixel or Per vertex in the Hardware Shade option window.
Page 632 5 Scroll down and click the Sky button located in the Environments section. This opens the SkyTexture editor. 626 | Chapter 9 An introduction to Rendering...
Page 633 The Shaders window is updated to reflect the changes. Note how the Chrome shader wears the Sky texture. 6 To see the effect of your changes, look at the shaded model in the perspective window. Visualizing a PDA | 627...
Page 634 Now it is reflecting the sky. Conclusion Congratulations! You have completed this tutorial. You now know some rendering and image resolution theory the Multi-lister shaded mode how to edit shaders and textures the visualization panel 628 | Chapter 9 An introduction to Rendering...
Page 635 Quiz Test your grasp of the material. Now that you have completed the Introduction to Rendering tutorial, try this quick quiz to see how much material you have retained. 1 Which rendering type offers true reflections, refractions, and shadows? (a) Raytracing (b) Hidden-line (c) Raycasting (d) Shade mode...
Page 636 On Your Own Experiments of your own design. Now that you have begun your journey into the rendering of images, try experimenting with the knowledge you have learned. For example, you can 1 Continue to apply the Cloth shader to the other gears in the drill model. 2 Create new shaders that can be applied to the drill.
Page 637: Chapter 10 Shaders And Lights
Shaders and Lights Learning objectives In this tutorial, you will learn how to create shaders and lights, and use Hardware Shade to create rendered images of your design. To complete this tutorial, you will be supplied with a scene of two plastic bottles. New tools used in this tutorial Window Display >...
Page 638 Render > Create lights > Directional File > Export > Current window File > Show image You will learn how to: Create and edit shaders Create and edit lights Modify the Environment shader Use Hardware Shading Create an Image File from your scene Introduction The scene you will render will need different materials for the cap, bottle, and label.
Page 639: Part 1: Creating Shaders
Part 1: Creating Shaders In this section, you will use Hardware Shade to render a scene, and create shaders for the caps, bottles and labels. Watch Part 1 of the tutorial. Opening the tutorial file 1 Choose File > Open to open the File Browser. 2 In the File Browser, locate the directory and set it as the CourseWare...
Page 640 Click Accept New Settings to use the construction tolerances in Render_Basics.wire The file is opened. The scene has two shower gel bottles in different positions, one with the cap open, and one with it closed. Viewing a Shaded Scene When setting up a model to be rendered, it is useful to work interactively with a rendered view.
Page 641 2 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade to open the Hardware Shade Options. 3 Choose All Geometry from the option window and click Shade on at the bottom of the option window. Part 1: Creating Shaders | 635...
Page 642 The bottles are now visualized using the Hardware Shading. Choosing a Shading Model The bottles are using the Default shader, which has the Blinn shading model. There are four types of shading model in Alias: LAMBERT is useful for representing matte surfaces like plaster walls, paper, or blackboards.
Page 643 Next, you will create three new shaders one for the bottle, cap, and label. After that, you will choose the right shading model for each one. Using the Visualize Control Panel For this part of the tutorial, you will use the Visualize Control Panel to create and modify shaders.
Page 644 If the name of the Default Shader is not shown underneath the grey shader ball, you can turn on the icon labels in the General Preferences. 2 Choose Preferences > General Preferences to open the preferences window. 3 The Interface section is opened. Check the Icon labels box to turn on the icon text.
Page 645 The Resident Shaders section in the Visualize Panel now shows the name of the Default shader underneath the shader ball icon. It is good practice to not use or modify the default shader, as you will copy it to create new shaders. So first, you will create a shader for the bottle.
Page 646 2 Double-click the new shader icon to open the shader editor. The default settings are shown. 3 Change the Shader Name to Bottle, and leave the Shading Model set to BLINN. This will give a soft highlight for the bottle plastic. Now, you will choose a color for the bottle.
Page 647 Click the grey color chip to open the Color Editor. 5 In the Color Editor, choose a color for the bottle. The color chip updates, and the Bottle shader shows the new color. Part 1: Creating Shaders | 641...
Page 648 Now, you will Assign the new shader to the bottle surfaces. 6 Select the bottle surfaces by using the Pick Objects option on the Bottles layer sub-menu. All the bottle surfaces are selected. 7 Click the Assign icon on the Visualize Panel to assign the new shader to the bottle surfaces.
Page 649 The bottle surfaces are now shown in the new shader color. Now, you will repeat this process for the cap shader. 8 Click the default shader to select it. Then, choose the Copy Current Shader tool to create a second new shader. 9 Double-click the icon of the second new shader to open the shader editor.
Page 650 Now, you will assign the shader to the cap surfaces. 10 Pick the cap surfaces using the Cap layer sub-menu. 11 Assign the Cap shader to the cap surfaces using the Assign icon in the Visualize Panel. A small bright highlight appears on the caps illustrating a glossy plastic material.
Page 651 Modifying Shaders in the Visualize Panel The most common parameters for a shader can be accessed in the Visualize Panel. Now, you will give the cap a more shiny appearance, and the bottle a softer finish. 1 Click the Cap shader to select it and open the Shader Parameters section of the Visualize Panel.
Page 652 The cap material should look more shiny. TIP You can use Render > Direct Render to see the changes more accurately. 3 Click the Bottle shader to select it. 4 In the Shader parameters section, modify the Eccentricity and Spec. Rolloff values to make the bottle plastic look less shiny, with a softer surface finish.
Page 653: Part 2: Adding A Label
TIP Only the most commonly used parameters are shown in the Visualize Panel. To access all the parameters for each shader, either double-click the shader ball icon, or use Render > Multi-lister> Shaders. Saving your work Now, you will save the scene as a new file. 1 Choose File >...
Page 654 The result is that the graphic file follows the U and V directions of the surface. If the surface is trimmed, the graphic appears on the part of the surface that is visible. To apply the graphic as a colored label, you will map the Color parameter. TIP Mapping can be used on many of the shader parameters, such as transparency, bump, or reflection.
Page 655 Watch Part 2 of the tutorial. Create a Label Shader 1 Click the Default shader to select it. Then, choose the Copy Current Shader tool to create a third shader. 2 Double-click the icon of the new shader. Change the Shader Name to Label and set the Shading Model to LAMBERT to represent a matte paper label.
Page 656 You don t need to change the color of the shader, as you will now map the label graphic onto the Color channel. The graphic image will replace the default grey color. Mapping the Color Channel 1 In the Label shader editor, click the Map… button beside the Color parameter.
Page 657 The File Browser opens into the directory of the project. To Lessons retrieve the file that contains the label image, navigate to the CourseWare directory. 4 Select the image. ShowerGel_Label.tif The pathname of the label file is shown in the Image section. Leave the editor window open on the screen, as you will use it later to modify the position of the label.
Page 658 Now, you will assign the label shader to the label surfaces. 5 Pick the label surfaces using the Layer sub-menu. 6 Assign the Label shader to the label surfaces using the Visualize Panel Assign icon. 7 The label graphic now appears on the label surfaces. 652 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 659 8 Choose Pick > Nothing to de-select the surfaces. 9 The placement of the label can be modified in the Surface Placement section of the texture editor window. 10 In the Rotate section, type in 90 degrees to see an alternative label position.
Page 660 11 Return the label rotation to zero degrees, to get the correct label view. Toggle off the wireframe and grids using the Show button in the Perspective window pane. 654 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 661 TIP To see how the label graphic is applied to the shader choose Render > Multi-lister > Shaders. The Multi-lister is an alternative to the Visualize Panel for working with shaders. (You will use it in the next section to work with lights.) In the Multi-lister, you can see the label graphic is shown as a File Texture attached to the Label shader.
Page 662 NOTE Don’t use Delete > Active from the main menus, as this will delete any geometry selected in the scene! Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 2 Name your file myRender_Basics2.wire 656 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 663: Part 3: Lighting The Scene
Part 3: Lighting the Scene Opening the tutorial file (optional) If you successfully completed Part 2, proceed to the next step: An overview of lights used in Alias below. If you were not successful in part 2, open the file called , located in the directory of the Render_Basics_part3.wire...
Page 664 Default Lights When you choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade , a set of default lights are automatically created to light your scene. The default lights are one Ambient and one Directional light. Lights in the Multi-lister When you create lights, they are listed in the Multi-lister. If you double-click a light icon in the Multi-lister, you open the Light editor.
Page 665 Lights in the Modeling Windows Lights are also shown in the modeling windows. This allows them to be positioned and rotated, so that lighting and shadows can be accurately controlled. The lights are shown as green symbols (yellow when selected), a different one for each type of light.
Page 666 In Software rendering (Render > Render ), shadows will be accurately calculated as the light falls on the geometry. So, for example, you will need to create a floor surface for shadows to be cast onto a floor. Lighting your Scene Now, you will apply these concepts to the lighting in your scene.
Page 667 Shadows on a Ground Plane Next, you will display the shadows cast by the lights, so you can design the lighting for your scene. First, you will enable the ‘virtual ground plane in the Environment shader. This is an invisible floor plane that catches the shadows, but does not appear rendered in the scene.
Page 668 4 Check the Shadows box (if unchecked), and set Shadow Position to USER DEFINED. 5 Set Shadow Blur and Shadow Transparency until you get an acceptable shadow in the shaded view. 6 Close the Environment window. 662 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 669 NOTE If the shadow disappears after setting Shadow Position to USER DEFINED, open the Light editor for each of your lights, and set Ground Plane Shadows to ON. See Lights in the Multi-lister on page 658. Changing the Light Direction Now, you will rotate the Directional light to modify the shadow direction.
Page 670 The two default lights are shown as green symbols. 3 Choose Pick > Object and select the Directional Light. TIP You can Transform > Scale the light symbol to make it easier to see. This will not change the lighting effects. 4 Choose Transform >...
Page 671 Observe the effect on the shadow in the perspective view, and position the shadow so that it falls to the right side of the bottles. This shadow position helps to emphasize the design of the finger grip. TIP It is often easier to view and manipulate the lights in the 2D windows than in the Perspective window.
Page 672 Creating a New Light Now that you have changed the light to create an interesting shadow, the lighting on the bottles has changed. You will now create another light to fill in the dark areas. 1 Choose Render > Create Lights > Directional . 2 You are prompted to place the light in the scene.
Page 673 4 Observe the direction of the light in all the windows, and continue to rotate it in any of the three axes, until it is illuminating the dim areas of the bottles. The bottles may be over-lit, as the new light has an Intensity of 1. Now, you will modify the second light using the Multi-lister.
Page 674 The new light is shown in the Multi-lister. 2 Double-click the new light icon to open the option window. Open the Common Parameters section, and reduce the intensity to around 0.5. 3 Check the shaded view and adjust the light intensity further, if necessary. 668 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 675: Part 4: Creating An Image
Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the project. wire Lessons 2 Name your file myRender_Basics3.wire Part 4: Creating an Image In this section, you will use the Hardware shade rendering to create a high quality image that can be used for presentations or work-in-progress discussions.
Page 676 Watch Part 4 of the tutorial. Setting the Image Quality First, set the quality of the Hardware Shade to High. 1 Maximize the Perspective window. 2 Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade . 3 Make sure that Quality is set to HIGH and Shading method is set to Per pixel, to create a high quality image.
Page 677 NOTE The HIGH quality settings may also slightly change how the lights appear on the surfaces. You can modify the intensity or direction of the lights to adjust the image. Now, you will change the background color using the Environment shader.
Page 678 NOTE If the Hardware Shade window is closed, you can also go to the Visualize Control Panel and double-click the Environment shader icon to open the Environment editor window. 6 In the Background section of the Hardware tab, change the color to white (or any other color).
Page 679 Adding Ground Plane Reflections To add realism to the image, you can add a reflection in the ground plane. 1 In the Ground Plane section of the Environment shader options, check the Reflection option to see a reflection of your model in the ground plane.
Page 680 2 Modify the Reflectivity and Reflection Depth options to change the reflections in the view. Exporting an Image Now, you can set up the view and export the image. 674 | Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights...
Page 681 1 Tumble the view to frame and compose the image you want to capture. 2 Choose File > Export > Current Window to open the option window. The Image File Type defaults to .tif. You can specify an alternative format, if necessary. The Image Size defaults to the screen size.
Page 682 The image is created and saved in the pix directory of your current project. 5 To view the image in Alias, choose File > Show Image . Alternatively, you can view the image using any Windows or graphics software, or import it into your presentation documents. Save your work 1 Save your work in the directory of the...
Page 683 Modify the Environment shader Use Hardware Shading Create an Image File from your scene Quiz To help you remember the rendering techniques you used, try this short quiz. 1 Which Shading Model would you use to render a pool ball? (a) Lambert (b) Blinn (c) Phong...
Page 684 (c) Using a Ground Plane for shadows and reflections (d) Tumbling the view to set the scene viewpoint (e) Setting the Environment color 5 Which of the following does not affect the light cast by a Directional light? (a) Position in the modeling windows (b) Rotation in the modeling windows (c) The intensity value (d) The color...
Page 685 Use the scene you have just set up and create some detail views of the design. On Your Own | 679...
Page 686 Use Bookmarks to save particular views, so that you can re-render them as your design progresses. All the previous models that you created can be rendered using the techniques shown. For example the joystick handle is likely to be made from soft-touch plastics, so try using the Blinn shader.
Page 687 For the MP3 Player, you may want to drag some shaders from the shader library to create metallic finishes. On Your Own | 681...
Page 688 Quiz Answers Answers to the Rendering Tutorial quiz 1 (c) Phong 2 (b) Modify a light 3 (c) The Ground Plane is enabled in the Hardware settings tab of the Environment shader editor. 4 (c) Using a Ground Plane for shadows and reflections 5 (a) The position of a Directional light doesn t affect the light it casts on the scene.
Page 689: Chapter 11 More Rendering
More rendering Learning objectives In this tutorial, you will learn more advanced rendering techniques, including color mapping, bump mapping, environment mapping, 3D textures, and raytracing. In this tutorial, you will learn how to: edit the Render Globals parameters create a background environment create a sky texture create a fractal texture...
Page 690: Part 1: Editing The Render Globals Parameters
create a granite texture create a bulge texture delete a texture raytrace a scene adjust surface reflectivity Part 1: Editing the Render Globals parameters In this section, you will adjust the Render Globals parameters to improve the quality of the rendered image. Then, you will render the scene again, and save your work.
Page 691 A dialog box appears, asking if you want to delete all objects, shaders, views, and actions. Click Yes. NOTE If your values for construction tolerances differ from those in the file, you will be presented with a dialog. Click Accept New more_rend.wire Settings to use the construction tolerances in .
Page 692 Rendering the scene 1 Choose Render > Render. The file browser opens. 2 In the File Browser, go to the project. Set the Lessons project as Lessons the Current Project. 3 In the project, open the directory. Lessons 4 Type in the Object name field (Windows) or Save As field render3 (Mac), then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) or click the Save...
Page 693 The file browser closes and the render begins. When rendering begins, the Render Monitor opens. 5 When the render is complete, click the Show button on the Render Monitor. The render is displayed. Part 1: Editing the Render Globals parameters | 687...
Page 694 The body of the teakettle has a chrome material assigned to it, the grip has a plastic yellow material assigned to it, and the table top has a flat brown material assigned to it. Also, you can see that the render is very faceted, especially any area with relatively high curvature, like the metal handle and the base of the teakettle.
Page 695 The Render Globals window allows you to set all the variables for the quality of the final render, including the size and type of image. 2 Click MEDIUM in the Global Quality Level field. A pop-up menu appears. Global Quality Level is one of the most important variables in the Render Globals window, because it specifies the quality of the final render.
Page 696 look you are happy with, you will render the scene at HIGH Global Quality Level to achieve a better quality result. 3 Set the Global Quality Level to HIGH. 4 Click the tab called Global Quality Parameters to open this section. 5 Set Mesh Tolerance to 0.02.
Page 697 6 Close the Render Globals window. Rendering the image again 1 Select the Render command (Render > Render). The file browser opens to the directory of the project. Lessons Click the Save button to overwrite the previous file named render3 A dialog box appears, asking if you want to overwrite or replace the file.
Page 698: Part 2: Creating A Background Environment
2 Save your work in the file of the directory. wire Lessons 3 Name your file myadv_rend.wire For information on creating the project or saving your work, see Lessons Saving your work on page 96. Part 2: Creating a background environment Next, you will create an environment that will be used to reflect onto the teakettle.
Page 699 3 In the Background section, click the Map button next to the Color field to open the Texture Procedures window. There are three types of textures: Surface, Environments, and Solid. 4 Click the three texture tabs to open them. The Surface section contains 2D textures. Part 2: Creating a background environment | 693...
Page 700 The Environments section contains procedural environments that give the appearance of real objects in the scene without adding additional geometry. The Solid section contains textures that appear to be created from a block of solid material, like wood or marble. 694 | Chapter 11 More rendering...
Page 701 5 Click the Sky button in the Environments section. This opens a parameter window called SkyTexture. The sky texture is a very “procedural texture” that simulates a sky. “Procedural” means that the program executes a series of commands to create the texture, instead of using a 2D image of the sky.
Page 702 For this example, you will not be creating an animated sky, but you will create a static sky. 6 In the SkyTexture Control Window, click the Cloud Parameters tab. This section contains variables that control the clouds in the sky. Currently, there are no clouds in the sky texture, as you can see in the Multi-lister swatch.
Page 703 The Texture Procedures window appears. 8 Click the Fractal button in the Surface section. This is a two-dimensional texture that works well to simulate clouds and other textures like fog or smoke. Part 2: Creating a background environment | 697...
Page 704 A new control window appears called Fractal. You do not need to edit the default variables for the fractal texture, because they are sufficient for producing a good cloud image. NOTE The Multi-lister now contains a Fractal swatch. The Fractal texture is used to simulate clouds.
Page 705 9 Click the left arrow at the top of the Fractal control window. This brings you back to the SkyTexture control window. 10 Click the Floor Parameters tab to open this section. 11 Click the OFF option next to the variable Has_Floor. This turns off the default floor in the Sky texture.
Page 706 12 In the Sun_Parameters section, drag the slider in the Elevation field down towards zero. Notice that the sky texture in the Multi-lister becomes orange, as it does in real life at sunset, and finally black. Now, drag the slider back to its maximum value. Notice how the sky texture changes from black to orange and finally to a very bright washed out color.
Page 707 13 Close the SkyTexture Control Window and the Multi-lister. Rendering the scene Now, you will render the scene to see the sky texture. 1 Select the Render command (Render > Render). The File Browser opens to the directory of the project.
Page 708: Part 3: Creating A 3D Solid Texture
NOTE The sky texture is in the background of the image. Because the sky texture surrounds the scene, if you moved the camera angle and re-rendered the scene, you would see the sky from another position. 4 Click the close box in the Render Monitor window and the rendered image window to close them.
Page 709 Watch Part 3 of the tutorial. Creating a granite texture 1 Open the Multi-lister window, and display only the shaders (Render > Multi-lister > Shaders). 2 Double-click the Tabletop shader to open the Tabletop control window. 3 In the Tabletop Control Window, change the Shading Model to Phong.
Page 710 5 In the Solid section, click the Granite button. The Granite Control window opens. 704 | Chapter 11 More rendering...
Page 711 6 Within the Granite Texture Parameters, there are four variables that control the color of the granite. Click the color swatch next to the Filler Color parameter. The Color Editor opens. 7 Select a teal color, or set the red value to 51, green to 255, and blue to 255.
Page 712 8 Now, you will change the colors of the small aggregate stone flecks within the granite. Click the Color2 parameter to open the Granite:Color 2 Editor. Darken the color by moving the cross hairs down on the triangle. 706 | Chapter 11 More rendering...
Page 713 9 Click the Color3 parameter to open the Granite: Color 3 Editor. Darken it, as well. Part 3: Creating a 3D solid texture | 707...
Page 714 10 Look at the Tabletop swatch in the Multi-lister. It displays the edited Granite texture. NOTE The flat brown shader originally assigned to the Tabletop shader is invisible, because color textures supersede the shader color. 11 Close the Color Editor, Granite Control Window, and Multi-lister. Rendering the scene Now, you will render the scene to see the granite texture on the tabletop.
Page 715 A dialog appears, asking if you want to overwrite the file. Click OK. The rendering process begins. 3 Click the Show button on the Render Monitor to view the rendered image. The tabletop now has a granite surface. Although the camera angle that you are using does not show the thickness of the tabletop, if you were to re-position the camera to view the table thickness and re-rendered the scene, the table would look like it was cut from a solid piece of granite.
Page 716: Part 4: Creating A 2D Bump Texture
Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture In this section, you will create a shader for the Grip surface by duplicating an existing shader. Then, you will apply a bump map to the new shader to create the effect of a bumpy surface. Watch Part 4 of the tutorial.
Page 717 4 In the layer bar of the modeling window, click the Grip layer button, and select the Pick Objects option. The grip becomes active. 5 Assign the new Plastic#2 shader to the grip. 6 Choose Pick > Nothing to deselect all objects. Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture | 711...
Page 718 7 Double-click the Plastic#2 shader to open the shader's control window. You will change the characteristics of the material to be more like a hard sponge. The surface will still be somewhat shiny, but will not be very reflective. 8 Set the Diffuse parameter to 0.2. 9 Set the Shinyness value to 2.
Page 719 10 Click the color swatch to open the Color Editor. 11 In the Color Editor, click to open the Swatches section, click a red swatch, then close the Color Editor. At the Shader Name cell, change the shader name to Grip. Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture | 713...
Page 720 Creating a bump map for the Grip shader To create an effect of a bump on a surface, you use a technique called bump mapping. Any image can be used as a source for creating a bump on a surface. Typically, the image used in a bump map is gray scale.
Page 721 2 Click the Map button next to the Bump parameter. Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture | 715...
Page 722 The Texture Procedures window is opened. 3 In the Surface section, click the Bulge texture. You will use this texture as the image in the bump mapping procedure. 716 | Chapter 11 More rendering...
Page 723 The Bulge control window is opened. 4 Click the Surface Placement tab to open it. The Surface Placement parameters control the number of times the image is repeated across the surface. Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture | 717...
Page 724 5 Click the Urepeat field and type 20, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). Click the Vrepeat field and type 20, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). 6 Look at the Grip swatch in the Multi-lister. The bulge texture is apparent.
Page 725: Part 5: Raytracing
The File Browser closes and the render begins. 3 Select the Show button on the Render Monitor to view the rendered image. The grip now has a bumpy surface. 4 Close the rendered image and Render Monitor. Save your work 1 Choose File >...
Page 726 There is a second type of renderer called a raytracer. This type of renderer is much more accurate and can produce accurate reflections and refractions. Raytracing is also a process that takes much longer to compute than a typical raycast render. In this section, you will learn how to raytrace an image.
Page 727 3 In the Multi-lister, select the Delete Active command [Delete > Active]. 4 Click the OK button to confirm that you want the chrome to be deleted from the model. 5 Close the Multi-lister. Raytracing the scene 1 Select the Render options command (Render > Render ) to open the Rendering Options window.
Page 728 3 Click the Save button to save Raytracer as the Renderer Type. The Rendering Options window is closed. 4 Select the Render command (Render > Render). The File Browser opens to the directory of the project. Lessons 5 Type in the Object name field (Windows) or Save As field render6 (Mac), then click the Save button.
Page 729 The sky texture is reflected in the entire scene, including the teakettle and the tabletop. The reflection of the grip is visible in the top of the teakettle, and the reflection of the teakettle is visible in the tabletop. 7 Close the rendered image and Render Monitor windows. Adjusting the reflectivity of surfaces In some cases, you may prefer to limit the amount of reflection that occurs on a surface.
Page 730 3 In the Metal Control Window, change the Reflectivity value from 0.5 to 1.0. This will make the teakettle very reflective, similar to a mirror. 4 Click the Color field to open the Color Editor. 5 In the Color Editor, change the color of the metal surface from grey to red.
Page 731 6 Close the Color Editor. 7 Click the Tabletop shader to display its parameters in the control window. 8 In the Reflectivity field change the setting from 0.5 to 0.2. This will reduce the amount of reflection on the tabletop. Part 5: Raytracing | 725...
Page 732 9 Close the Tabletop control window and the Multi-lister. Raytracing the scene again 1 Select the Render command (Render > Render). The File Browser opens to the directory of the project. Lessons 2 Type in the Object name field (Windows) or Save As field render7 (Mac), then click the Save button.
Page 733 The teakettle is red, as opposed to gray. The reflectivity of the teakettle in the new render is very high, like a perfect mirror. The tabletop is not as reflective as it was in the previous render. Save your work 1 Save your work in the file of the directory.
Page 734 create a two-dimensional bump texture (bulge) delete a texture raytrace a scene adjust the reflectivity of surfaces Quiz Now that you have RayTraced the teakettle, do this quick quiz to see how much you remember. 1 What method of rendering produces accurate reflections? 2 There are three buttons on the bottom of the Render Monitor.
Page 735 On your own Now that you have rendered the teakettle, try creating more complex shaders, environments and lighting for the other models you have created, like the shower gel bottle and the remote control. Practice raytracing the images. Quiz Answers Answers to Rendering the Teakettle Tutorial quiz 1.
Page 737: Index
Index 3-point arcs 3D model changing view 56, 75 backgrounds environment shader image accurate dimensions in modeling birail surface active continuity active window birail tool adding adjusting continuity after building a bookmarks surface adding lights to a scene continuity and tangency Alias blend surfaces help menu...
Page 738 changing view coordinates Look at tool absolute vs relative measure Viewing Panel copy objects chordal surface fillet copying circle primitive geometry and scaling for changing options rhythm circular arc tool corner fillet for lines circular fillets courseware between surfaces installing click creating definition...
Page 739 extrusion surfaces creating in tutorial default draft direction default lights (in tutorial) deleting construction history file browser shaders creating new projects in Windows textures environment 96, 100 design files concept design workflows opening in Windows detach tool environment using to modify surfaces saving in Windows dimensions environments...
Page 740 hierarchical interface control panel main window menu bar overview hardware shade palette and environment editor shelves and ground plane reflections interface options and ground plane shadows icon size and lighting point of interest enabling and disabling intersecting saving images and trimming surfaces viewing a model surfaces help menu...
Page 741 placing directional lights models lights changing view 56, 75 creating new definition directional modifying Line tool curves by moving CVs lines mouse buttons fillet corner use in non-proportional scaling lofted (skinned) surfaces use in rotate tool logging in to Alias moving logo, embossed camera...
Page 742 overbuilding showing and hiding overview using Alias main window positional continuity control panel primary surfaces interface primitive NURBS objects menu bar cone palette creating shelves cylinder sphere primitives circle, changing options modeling with packaged goods projected curves creating embossed logo and trimmed surfaces creating recessed label projects...
Page 743 render globals saving files in Windows command environments 96, 100 global quality level saving images render menu in hardware shade globals saving with hardware shade render rendering nodes bump textures 714, 719 scaling geometry copies for rhythm 366 facetting (removing) scaling using pivot points global quality level scene...
Page 744 saving square surfaces shortcuts start-up screen 15–16 shortcuts starting up hot keys 41, 54 process 15–16 marking menus 41, 48 start-up screen 15–16 shelves 41, 48 troubleshooting 15–16 shelvesl workspace window 15–16 tools starting up Alias showing CVs sub-palettes showing hulls simulating editing cloud...
Page 745 skin surface tools skinned adding to shelves smooth blending options sponge picking components square removing from shelves tessellation renaming transitions shortcuts trimmed small icons trimming using sweep angle tools palette changing in revolved surfaces tracking sweep option transition surfaces switching between absolute and relative trim measurements label area on packaged goods...
Page 746 pick boxes modifying shaders Pick tools volume measurement primitives and mass properties tool tools Viewing Panel window location in Alias view windows changing 56, 75 active viewing a model with hardware arranging 19, 26 shade closing Viewing Panel moving bookmarks section palette 26, 30 perspective option...