Chapter 5 Modeling Objects

From ShadeCamp

The next three chapters will walk you through the entire process of creating a realistic scene in Shade. This chapter will move step by step through the process of modeling several kinds of objects. In chapter 6 we will apply textures to the objects in our scene, arrange the lighting and set the camera angle. Chapter 7 will cover the basics of rendering the scene to get a final image. Our finished result will look similar to the image below.

Modeling a Table

Our first step will be to model a table upon which the other objects can sit. To start, create a new scene by selecting File > New.

Modeling the Table Top

We’ll draw the table top from the Top view, but before doing so let’s click at the origin in the Front view to set the height of the cursor along the Y axis.
Choose Rectangle from the Create tool and click and drag in the Top view to draw a rectangle. Notice that the rectangle lies along the X-Z plane that intersects the origin (Y=0), since we clicked on the origin in the previous step. To specify a different X-Z plane, we could have clicked at a different height along the Y axis in the Front view.
The table top should have some thickness to look like a table, so we want to extrude it slightly. Choose Extrude from the Solid tool and click and drag downwards a little bit to extrude the rectangle. The Browser now shows it as an Extruded closed line.
In order to edit the table with greater flexibility, let’s convert it to a curved surface. To do this, select Convert to Curved Surface from the Convert tool.
Now let’s take a look at the Browser. You’ll notice that two closed lines are inside the curved surface part, and two are outside. We want to move the two outside lines in with the others, but in order to get the desired result we need to be careful about the order in which we move them. First click the closed line immediately below the curved surface part, and drag it to the first position inside the curved surface (above the other two). Next move the last line into the last position inside the curved surface part.
Select the topmost line in the Browser. From the Modify tool, select Degenerate to Point. The top part of the table that was open is converted to a single point, closing the shape. We need to do the same for the underside of the table, so select the bottom closed line in the Browser and select Degenerate to Point.
Let’s round the top and bottom edges of the table. To do this, select the close line that is second from the top and choose Round Edge from the Modify tool. A dialog appears asking you to enter the radius of the arc that describes the degree of rounding. Here we’ll enter “10.” Notice that a new closed line is generated below the currently selected line. Now do the same for the second-to-last closed line. This will give our table a smoother look.

Modeling a Table Leg

Next we’ll model the center column that will support the table. We’ll create an open line in the shape of the leg’s cross section and revolve that around a center vertical axis to create a solid, cylindrical leg with a base.

Select the root part in the Browser. We don’t want the table leg to be inside another part yet. Then select Open line from the Create tool and draw half the cross section of the table leg, as shown in the figure to the right.
With the open line you just drew still selected, choose Round Edge from the Modify tool. Enter “20” for the radius. By rounding the edges of the open line, tangent handles are automatically added to the control points.
Choose Revolve from the Solid tool. We want the table leg cross section to be revolved about the center of the table, so click and drag a vertical line along the Y axis (assuming your table is centered on the Y axis).
Now that both sections of the table are done let’s organize the Browser a bit. Move the “Revolved open line” inside “Part.” so that both the curved surface and the revolved open line are grouped together. Let’s rename this part to something that’s easier to recognize. Double-click “Part” and enter a name like “table.”
This completes our table. You can do a quick test-render to see how it looks thus far. Select the root part in the Browser and select Rendering > Render. Finally, let’s save our scene since we will use it in the next two chapters. Select File > Save and give it an appropriate name.

Modeling an Apple

Let’s open a new scene for modeling an apple. Select File > New.

Modeling the Fruit

First we’ll model the apple itself by revolving an open line.

Choose Open line from the Create tool and draw a curve in the Front view similar to this figure. Note the position of the control points and tangent handles. If you need help drawing the curve you may want to refer back to “Drawing Curves” in Chapter 4. If you aren’t satisfied with the apple’s shape now you can always enter Modify mode and edit the control points after finishing the other steps.
Select Revolve from the Solid tool. In the Front view click and drag along the Y axis to set the axis to revolve around.

Modeling the Stem

Just like we did for the apple itelf, we’ll model the apple’s stem by revolving an open line around the Y axis. Draw an open line with four control points as shown here.
Select Revolve from the Solid tool and revolve the line about the Y axis.
From the Convert tool choose Convert to Curved Surface. This will make the stem easier to modify.
Select the closed lines in the Browser. You should see the horizontal lines of the stem become highlighted in the Figure window. If instead the vertical lines are highlighted, select Switch from the Modify tool.
Select the top three closed lines in the Browser and choose Rotate from the Move tool. In the Side view click the base of the stem to set the “fulcrum” and click and drag to rotate the stem, as shown.
To bend the stem in the middle also, select the top two closed lines and rotate them as above.
Finally let’s organize the Browser. Select Part from the Part tool to create a new part, and name this “apple.” Then move the curved surface and revolved open lin inside the “apple” part.

For additional organization, you can create two more new parts, place the curved surface in one and the revolved open line in the other, and then name the parts stem and fruit, respectively. At this point you probably want to render the apple to see how it looks. Select all the parts in the Browser, open the Image window (View > Image window) and click the Render button. Don’t forget to save your work.

Modeling a Glass

Let’s open a new scene for modeling a drinking glass. Select File > New.

Draw an open line in the Front view like shown here. This will be half the cross-section of the glass.
Before making the glass solid, let’s round the inside and outside bottom edges. Enter Modify Mode from the Modify tool. Click the control point at the outside corner, and select Round Edge from the Modify tool. Enter “20” for the radius (the appropriate radius size depends on the size of your glass). Now select the inside corner and do the same, this time entering “10” for the radius. This will give the inside of the glass a nice smooth surface.
Select Curved Surface from the Part tool to create a curved surface, and move the open line inside the curved surface.
With only the open line selected, choose Numerical from the Copy tool. When using numerical transformation you will need to first click a point in the Figure window to set a reference point before a dialog with numeric input appears. Click at the left edge of the open line (at the origin) in the Top view, which will become the center of the glass as viewed from above.
In the Numerical Transformation dialog, enter “20” to Rotate about the Y axis. Click OK. You should see the open line revolve 20 degrees counter-clockwise from the X axis.
The new open line copy should be automatically selected in the Browser. We need to repeat steps 4 and 5 to create a faceted glass with eighteen sides, but Shade provides a shortcut to make this otherwise-repetitive process easy. Click on the Repeat tool in the Toolbox, and select the ellipsis (...) to enter a value greater than 10. Enter “16” in the Repeat dialog. The last operation you did, which in this case is the Copy > Numerical transformation, is repeated 16 times.
You may notice that the glass is missing a wedge.The best way to complete the circumference of the glass is to close the open lines. To do this, first select the entire curved surface and choose Switch from the Modify tool. The Figure window doesn’t change, but in the Browser you’ll notice that the number of open lines has changed: instead of 18 open lines, only eight lines are showing. These are the horizontal lines in the lattice structure that forms the curved surface.
Select all of them and then check the Closed checkbox in the Object Info window.

Select Part from the Part tool to create a new part, and give it a name like “glass.” Then move the curved surface inside the “glass” part. Finally, render the scene to see how your glass looks. It probably won’t look too hot until we add surface attributes such as transparency (Chapter 6), but check to see that the basic shape looks correct. Don’t forget to save your work before continuing.

Modeling a Wooden Doll

Before modeling the next object let’s again open a new scene. Select File > New.

Modeling the Doll’s Face and Hat

Let’s start by modeling our doll’s face.

In the Front view draw an open line similar to the figure here. This will be the doll’s face (his head minus the area covered by his hat).
Revolve the open line about the Y axis, following the same steps as you did when revolving the apple.
Let’s flatten the doll’s head a bit so that it’s wider left-to-right than it is front-to-back. To do this, choose Scale from the Move tool and click and drag towards the central Y axis in the Side view. This will shrink the head along the Z axis.
Next we’ll make the nose. First, convert the revolved open line to a curved surface and Switch to show the horizontal (lateral) lines in the Browser.
Enter Modify Mode and select one of the horizontal lines near the top of the face. Add two control points to this line near the middle, like shown in the figure to the right. These will be the positions of the eyes. (Remember, to add a control point hold down X + Z (Win) or 0 + option (Mac) while dragging across a line in Modify Mode.)
To add the nose, select Switch from the Modify tool to switch to the vertical lines in the curved surface. Select the line in the center of the doll’s face and in the Side view add a control point to about the middle. Now select this control point and drag it outwards to create the nose.
Next we’ll create the hat. First click on the origin in the Top view to set the cursor position. Then draw an open line forming the cross section of the hat and revolve this about the Y axis, like we did for the head.
You should get a nice looking hat, but it doesn’t fit our doll’s head shape very well. Since his head is wide and flat, let’s tailor the hat to fit him better. Use Scale from the Move tool to shrink the hat in the Side view.

Modeling the Doll’s Torso

Scroll the workspace up so that you can model the doll’s body more easily. Choose Scroll from the Pan tool or hold down space, then click and drag in the Figure window to scroll.
Set the cursor position in the Side view to just behind center, so that our doll’s head will sit slightly forward on his body. In the Front view draw the outline of the body. In the figure here we used only four control points, but you can use more if you like.
Revolve the body about the center vertical axis. Then select Convert to Curved Surface from the Convert menu.

Creating Symmetry

For the doll’s arms, legs, feet and eyes we will model only the right side of the figure, and then at the end copy them to the left side to complete the model. Not only does this make it much easier to model a symmetrical figure, it will also save time and effort.

At this point let’s also take a look at Shade’s Continuous Mode. Continuous Mode is perfect for when you need to use the same tool repeatedly. Click the button labeled “Cont.” in the Toolbox to switch to Continuous Mode before selecting the tool you wish to use.

Normally the cursor reverts to the default selection tool after completing an operation in the Figure window, but in Continuous Mode the current tool remains selected until you select a different tool. Click the Finish button in the Toolbox to exit from Continuous Mode.

Modeling an Arm

Instead of modeling the arm for scratch, let’s copy the body shape and then scale it down. Select the body (a “Revolved open line”) and select Translate from the Copy tool. Move the copy to the right of the original in the Front view.
Next let’s select Uni-Scale from the Move tool. Click and drag to scale down the arm in all three dimensions.

For the appropriate girth the arm is clearly much too short; to fix this use Scale in the Front or Side views to lengthen the arm. Finally, use Translate to move the arm next to the doll’s torso.

Modeling an Eye

For the eye, first Ctrl click (Win) or Option click (Mac) to set the cursor position appropriately in the Side view. Then draw an eyeball in the Front view (choose Sphere from the Create tool).
To make our doll look less like a bug, let’s use Scale in the Front and Side views to make the eye flatter and more narrow.

Modeling a Leg

Now it’s time to model the leg. Draw an open line similar to the figure on the right, and Revolve it to create a cylinder shape.
If necessary use Scale to adjust the size of the leg. Then convert it to a curved surface from the Convert tool.

Modeling a Hand

Next we’ll model the hand. Draw an outline in the Front or Side views following the example here, and then use Revolve to create a very simple hand.
Use Scale in the Front view to make the hand narrower along the X axis.

Modeling a Foot

For the feet, let’s draw a disk in the Top view, and use Scale to make it oval-shaped.
Choose Convert to Line Object from the Convert tool. The disk changes to a closed line.
Now select Curved surface from the Part tool to create a new curved surface, and move the closed line inside it.
Select Uni-Scale from the Copy tool. Click a reference point in the Top view as shown and then click and drag to create a much larger oval copy. In the Front view, use Translate to move this copy downwards, as shown.
Next we will make an identical copy of the small and large ovals. Select one oval (a “closed line”) and select Edit > Copy. Then select Edit > Paste. Repeat this for the other oval, so you have two new closed lines. Now move these new closed lines outside the curved surface in the Browser. Finally, create a new part (Part from the Part tool) and put the curved surface and the two new closed lines inside it. The Browser should look like the figure to the right:

Mirror Copy

The Copy tool can be used to create a “mirror image” of one side of a model.

Select the eye, arm, hand, leg and foot in the Browser.
Select Numerical from the Copy tool. In the Front view, click on the Y axis to set the reference point. In the Transformation dialog, enter values as shown here:
Entering “-1” in the first box copies the selected objects over to the negative side of the X axis, but at the same size.

Modeling a Stand

Let’s create a stand for our doll. Draw the half the cross-section in the Front view and then Revolve it about the Y axis.

At this point you may want to organize the Browser a bit. Here we create new parts for the Head, Hat, Eye, Torso, Arm, Hand, Leg, Foot and Stand. In the next chapter we will add surface attributes to each part, so let’s also put the Hat, Torso, Arm, Hand, Leg and Foot into a part called “Clothes” since these will all have the same surface attributes.

Let’s render the doll to see the results of our work. Select all the objects in the scene and click the Render button in the Image window. Save the Shade scene before moving on.

Arranging Objects in the Scene

Now we will combine the table, apple, glass and doll into one complete scene. Let’s start by opening the “Table” scene that we saved earlier.

Importing Files Into a Scene

Before importing an object, Ctrl + click (Win) or Option + click (Mac) to set the cursor position at the point you want the object to be added. To import one Shade scene into another scene (combining the second scene with the first), select File > Import > Shape... Select the apple scene you saved earlier.
You should see the apple be added to the table scene, but it might not be the right size. If your apple is bigger than the table, don’t sweat. We can shrink it down to size using Uni-Scale from the Move tool.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the glass and the doll, importing them into the table scene and then scaling them appropriately to match the size of the table and other objects. As you adjust the size of the objects you will also want to Translate them in the Front or Side view to an appropriate position so that they sit on the table.
Next position the objects in the Top view as necessary so that none of them appear to be floating in space.
Let’s make a copy of our apple so that we have two. Select the apple and choose Translate from the Copy menu, and move the new apple away from the original so that the two objects don’t intersect.
For a twist, choose Rotate from the Move tool and rotate the second apple on its side. Reposition it if necessary.

In Chapter 6 we will add surface attributes to all the objects in the scene and position the camera and lighting. |