3D Design
Community
Discussion
|
Artifice 3D Design Community Discussion |
|
Posted by CJ Shumate on June 22, 1998 at 13:02:33:
In Reply to: Re: Making a round object posted by CJ Shumate on June 17, 1998 at 11:04:42:
How to create a sphere using the DesignWorkshop Lathe Machine:
Working in an Elevation mode, create a circular polyline using the Circle Tool. Be sure the center of the circle is aligned with the origin. You should get something looking like this:
* *
* *
* ** *
* *
* *
-|- (0,0)
Noticed how the center of the circle is aligned with the origin. Now, using the Snap-to-Handles function, trace the left half of the circle, beginning with the first vertex on the left half of the circle and ending by double-clicking when you reach the last vertex on the left half of the cirlce. The resulting trace should look something like this:
+ *
+ *
+ *+ *
+ *
+ *
-|- (0,0)
Where the plus symbols are the traced vertices and the asterisks are the vertices of the circles you created beforehand. Delete the full circle and save the model file with only the traced polyline. If you want to resize the traced polyline, do not use the Object Info box. Doing so will turn the polyline into an extrusion, which will not work with the Lathe Machine. If you wish to resize the traced polyline, use the Edit menu, Scale command, or drag with the mouse.
Now go to the DesignWorkshop Lathe Machine, select the saved polyline,
set the axis of rotation to Z, set the number of facets, and make the
lathed object!
Notice how you didn't have to begin the polyline by having vertices
directly on the (0,0) line. The Lathe Machine creates nice, solid end
caps automatically which look better than if you had begun and ended the polyline on the (0,0) line. You can try it yourself to see what I mean.
A couple more things to keep in mind. The circle facet setting in DesignWorkshop has an affect on how smooth the sphere will look; the more facets, the smoother the effect will be. Also, the facet settings in the Lathe Machine will also affect the apparent smoothness of the resulting sphere. Smaller spheres do not need as many facets to appear smooth as do larger spheres.
As always, we appreciate any user feedback.
-CJ Shumate