Rhino: Award or Trophy

Today I would like you to create some sort of award or trophy.  Maybe it's a trophy for best trombone player, a plaque for "my favorite web page", a monument for "best friend forever", etc.  You can use Rhino [and Bryce if needed] to showcase it.  You might try using letters and then boolean difference to make them look engraved.  Be creative.

In this example, I added some chrome effects, included a 3D model from a previous project, and did some lighting.  I also added some virtual screws and rotated them to different angles for added realism.

Rhino: Tissue Box

Today we will be putting together a tissue box in Rhino using exact dimensions and a new "loft" technique to join two curves together.  We will also use the "bend" command to adjust a tissue emerging from the box.

1. Begin your project as "Small Object - Inches"
2. Create a box shape with the exact dimensions of a tissue box
1. Our example box is:  ______" wide by ______" long by ______" high.
3. You can lightly fillet the edges if you would like a little bit of rounded edge
4. Draw a curve [in the top viewport] which will be the open space on the top of the box.
5. Extrude the curve to go through the box top, then cap it to make a solid shape.
6. Do a Boolean Difference, keeping the box and using the new shape as your cutting object.
7. Create a box inside the main box [make sure it's not touching any of the edges]
8. Do a Boolean Difference, keeping the outer box and using the inner box as the cutting object.
9. Draw a curvy line which will be the top of the tissue and drag it up above the tissue box
10. Draw a curvy line which will be the bottom of the tissue and drag it toward the bottom of the box
11. Draw a shorter straight line which will be the exit point for your tissue.
12. Deselect everything and type "Loft"
13. Select all 3 curves (the lines we will be using for the tissue) and press Enter.
14. Bend your tissue until it looks fairly natural.
15. Apply textures and transparencies to taste.  :)

Rhino: Rubber Duck

Today we're going to learn a few new tools and techniques to build a Rubber Duck. If you need to follow a printed tutorial later, you can check out The Training Manuals online (see previous post).  Today we'll be using Rhino Training Manual Level 1 [pages 156-169].  Following a tutorial from a book [particularly an online book] can be difficult, so I will work through this one with you as well.

The Basics (see illustrations below):

1. Create two spheres (head and body) in the RIGHT viewport
2. Select both spheres and type REBUILD
3. Set dialog for 8, 8, 3, 3, Delete input, ReTrim, OK
4. Select the body (or de-select the head)
5. Turn Control Points on (F10)
6. Select the bottom 1/3 of Control Points (on the body)
7. Go to TRANSFORM > SET POINTS and Set Z and Align to World
8. Drag upward to have a flattened bottom of the ducks body
9. Drag around some control points to select them and stretch the body to look more "duck-like" (i.e. puff out the chest, pull out the tail shape, etc.).
10. Turn Control Points off (F11)
11. Select the head (sphere)
12. Follow the same select > drag/stretch to form the bill and head shape
13. Right click on RIGHT to select Ghosted as the view type
14. Draw a curve (I usually use the free sketch curve) COMPLETELY intersecting the head shape
15. De-select everything and type SPLIT
16. Follow the prompts by selecting the object to split (the head) and then the cutting object (the curve)
17. The bill and head should now be separate objects so you can color/texture them as you wish
18. Draw a straight line cutting through the base of the head
19. Copy and paste the straight line, then drag it to intersect the top-right section of the body (copying and pasting keeps the lines perfectly parallel)
20. Type TRIM and select the pieces to trim (or delete) and press ENTER when finished
21. Go to SURFACE > BLEND SURFACE 
22. In the Perspective window (I find this is the easiest to work with in this step) select the first edge of your cut object then press ENTER
23. Select the second edge (the other cut object) and press ENTER
24. Check the PREVIEW box and adjust the "bulge" to look its' best 
25. Add colors/textures/gloss 
26. Add some shapes (i.e. spheres, ellipsoids (flattened spheres), etc.) to create eyes.

Please Note:  I am trying to teach you the basics of editing shapes (split, trim, blend, etc.) and not necessarily how to build a rubber duck -- so experiment and have fun with it.  You don't have to have a duck that looks exactly like mine [in fact I like creativity].  Here are some examples of creative ducks.  :)

Homework: Measuring Assignments

These homework assignments count for points.  The room measurement is 10 points and each object measurement is 5 points.

ASSIGNMENT #1: MEASURING A ROOM -- I will be handing out a sheet that you can use to measure a room -- it can be a room in your house (bedrooms usually work well) or a room at the school or a room at a local business.  You will be measuring the dimensions of the room (length, width, and height) and the locations for major architectural features (windows, doors, closets, etc.) as well as making notes about what materials are used (e.g. blue carpet, red paint, flower wallpaper, etc.).  We will be using these dimensions and material ideas to build the room in 3D with Rhino.  Feel free to make notes on the back of the paper (materials, colors, etc.).

ASSIGNMENT #2: MEASURE 2 OBJECTS -- Locate two items that you are willing to create in Rhino.  Accurately measure and sketch the dimensions of your object, noting the material, color, etc.  Pick shapes that are unusual or easily identifiable but also doable in Rhino.  For example, if it was a desk, you might have a sketch like this:

If you wanted to do a toaster redesign, it might look something like this (with the inches to be figured out later):

It might be useful to built items that can go into the room plans you are making.  For example, if you're doing a bedroom you might want to try an alarm clock or a desk or a nightstand.

Rhino: Wooden Pull Toy

Today we are going to be creating a wooden pull-toy which will include wheels, axles, a rope, etc.  Remember that a wooden toy for children typically has rounded (filleted) edges.  Because there isn't a definite pattern for this project, I expect it will take a couple days to find a good design, model the body, create the wheels, etc.  Over the next couple days [while you are working on this project] I will also be grading your projects.

The basic outline for what we're doing includes:

• Add a "BackgroundBitmap" 
• Trace with a complete "Control Point Curve"
• Remove the BackgroundBitmap
• Extrude the Curve
• Cap the Curve
• FilletEdge (if possible) -- although complex curves almost never work
• Add a base platform (if necessary)
• Add wheels (cylinders) and axles (cylinders)
• Draw a curve for a rope/string
• Bend the rope/string curve to "hang" to the ground
• Pipe the rope/string curve
• Add a floor and walls
• Texture all of your pieces
• Add lighting as needed

Here are some examples of wooden pull toys that I found simply by typing "wooden pull toys" in Google.

Notice the different ways that wheels are done, different painting styles, different types of wood pieces (spheres, flat wood, beveled edges, etc.), and different methods for ropes/pulls.

 

You can also find woodworking plans on the Internet which you can actually use to create 3D models.  Here are a few examples:

Something else you might want to try is doing a search for "silhouette animal".  Here are a couple examples:

Using the camel silhouette, I traced a curve, extruded it, capped it, filleted the edges, and created the following pull-toy: