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: Work on Chess Pieces

On Monday we began making a checkers set and on Wednesday we began making chess pieces.  Today we will continue working on our chess pieces and getting them on a chess board.  I would like you to feature your checkerboard / chess board on a table of some sort with a floor and walls.  Remember that a large block makes the floor, another large block makes a wall, and another makes another wall, although you can feel free to add them to one of the tables in a room that you already created.

Some specifics:

• Chess Pieces -- A full chess set includes:
• Pawn (8 of each color)
• Rook (2 of each color)
• Knight (2 of each color)
• Bishop (2 of each color)
• Queen (1 of each color)
• King (1 of each color)

Bryce: Streaming Light

Today we are going to do a project that adds realism to a piece of work, but requires some specific steps and setup.

	Step 1: Disable Sunlight Before beginning, go into the SKY LAB - Click Sky & Fog and then the "Rainbow" then click Disable Sunlight.
	Step 2: Create a Block Use the Resize tool to flatten the block into a wall shape.
	Step 3: Reposition the Wall Use the Reposition tool to move the wall back.
	Step 4: Resize the Wall Use the Resize tool to raise the height and expand the width of your wall.
	Step 5: Create a Second Wall Do a CTRL+C (to Copy) and then CTRL+V (to Paste) Hold SHIFT and drag ROTATE to make a wall at a 90 degree angle
	Step 6: Reposition the Second Wall Use the Reposition tool to move it to the back.
	Step 7: Create the Ceiling CTRL+C (Copy) and CTRL+V (Paste) to create a new "Wall" Use the Rotate tool (Z Axis) while holding SHIFT to make the new wall flat.
	Step 8: Move the Ceiling Up Raise the ceiling up using the Reposition tools.
	Step 9: Resize the Ceiling You want to have a ceiling large enough that you don't see light hitting the floor in your room.  Use the Resize tools (Front X and Z Axis) to make the ceiling larger.  Render the scene to make sure you have it covered.  If everything is correct, the rendered scene will be very dark.
	Step 10: Create a Window-Shaped Block Create a block and use the Resize tools to make it "window-shaped". Use the Resize tool to drag out the Back Z Axis so that it easily goes through the back wall.  This shape will be used to cut a hole in the wall.
	Step 11: Make the Block Negative With the block selected, click on the A (Attributes) button. Set the shape as "Negative" and deselect "Transfer Material of Negative Boolean"
	Step 12: Make the Wall Positive Click the A (Attributes) Select the Positive bullet Click the check mark.
	Step 13: Make the Window Cutout Select the block (the negative object). Hold SHIFT and click the wall (the positive object) Click the G (Group) button. You should see a cutout shape in your wall.
	Step 14: Render Your Scene If you render your scene now, you should see a window shape.
	Step 15: Begin Bars for Windows While I personally don't LIKE bars on windows, adding them to this project allows the light streaming through the window to be broken up a little bit more.  It adds some interest to the final render.
	Step 16: Finish the Bar Use the cube in the center of the Resize tool to shrink your cylinder down to the thickness of a bar for the window. Then stretch the shape out by grabbing the Y axis in the Resize tool to create the final bar shape.
	Step 17: Copy the Finished Bar Do a CTRL+C (Copy) and a CTRL+V (Paste) to make a copy of the bar.  Then use the arrows on the Reposition tool to drag the bar over.  Continue doing this until you have a series of bars.
	Step 18: Group, Copy, & Rotate Bars Next, hold SHIFT and select all of the bars. Click G (Group) then CTRL+C (Copy) then CTRL+V (Paste). Use the Rotate band while holding SHIFT to cross the bars.
	Step 19: Reposition the Bars Into the Windows Use the Reposition tool to move the bars back and into the window opening. Do a Render to check positioning.
	Step 20: Add a Spotlight Create a new "Square Spotlight" (pyramid shaped). Use the Resize tool (Y axis) and shorten the light about half way.
	Step 21: Reposition the Spotlight Use the Rotate tool and the Reposition tool to move the spotlight to the outside of the wall facing in through the window.  Note the shadow cast on the floor in the example.
	Step 22: Adjust Spotlight Properties (see image)

Finally, you can add some textures, additional items or even change the color of the light to get a fairly realistic scene.

Bryce: 3D Model Using Symmetrical Lattice

We have used the Symmetrical Lattice tool to build a 3D logo, but we haven't yet tried to build an object to be used in a full scene.  For example, if I wanted to create a graveyard for a Halloween scene, I could make gravestone blocks or even crosses, but what if I wanted more detail?  I could create a "bump map" (a square image where black is the lowest elevation and white is the highest) just as we did with our City Scene.

Here are some examples:

If you're looking for even more detail, you can create a painting in Photoshop such as this:

We are going to use these techniques to build a sword from separate pieces.  For example:

I will use this as the guard at the top of my sword handle.  Notice the gradient so the white part will be thicker and the darker gray will be thinner.  It helps add to the 3D effect.  I could also add decoration (i.e. text) if I wanted to.

The blade is pretty much just drawn and then a Guassian Blur is applied to soften the edges.  While common sense says a "sharper" edge would make a sharper blade, the blur gives the edge a gradiant effect, thereby making the edge thinner (or sharper).  Notice the random gray symbols which I can use as engraved characters.

We would still have to create a handle, align things properly, and group them, but you can see that the majority of the work is done now.

Bryce: Underwater Scene

First of all, create your overall scene (don't worry about making it underwater yet):

• Change your plane into something natural which you would find under water (i.e. sand)
• Add a Terrain and erode it to look natural and weathered, then apply the proper texture
• Add some items that you would find under water (i.e. anchor, fish, dolphin, etc.)
• Import and texture your Sculptris Underwater Creature that you built last week.

• Add a water plane and move it up above your scene to create a water surface.
• Try different skies until you find one that looks more realistic.

• Next, add some haze and fog and adjust the colors accordingly.
• Finally, add a spotlight and a filter to make light ripples.

Below is a gel image:

Bryce: Outer Space

Todays project is really the absence of terrain... and sky... and haze.  It's space.  In this instance we will be creating a moon, stars, a comet or two, and [if you want] some sort of space craft.

I am also including a video tutorial below if you need the extra help.

Here's another tutorial on producing photo-realistic planets:

Bryce: Importing External Objects

As we learn object modeling in Rhino [which we will begin after Winter Break] we will be saving models to be used in other programs (like Bryce).  Fortunately there are also web sites which sell and/or give away external models which you can use to build your 3D projects.  For example, let's say you are trying to create a medieval scene with a knight on a horse, but you don't know how to "build" a horse.  You can download a pre-built horse and place it in your scene.

So where can you get 3D models?  Well, there are many in your L: Drive already.  You can browse through those models [most don't have good descriptions] and experiment a bit.

There are also many websites where you can download models:

• TurboSquid: http://turbosquid.com/ 
• Daz3D: http://www.daz3d.com/

Bryce: Boolean Difference

Today we will be learning how to create a "Boolean Difference" in Bryce -- basically meaning you cut one shape out of another shape.  The image below features a "cave" that was created by cutting a "symmetrical lattice" (looks like a mountain on top of an upside down mountain) out of a regular "terrain" (a mountain).  You can cut a block out of a sphere... a cone out of a pyramid, or whatever other shapes you might need. 

To begin this process:

• Place the two shapes together intersecting one another (touching)
• Select the shape you want to use as a "cutting tool" and click the "A" (Attributes) tool.
• Select the "Negative" bullet and un-check the "Transfer Materials of Negative Boolean" option.
• Click the "check mark" to okay the change.
• Select the shape you want to cut IN to (the shape you want to keep).
• Click the "A" (Attributes) button.
• Select the "Positive" bullet mark and click the check mark to okay the change.

Next you have to "Group" the objects to be joined/cut:

• Select the 1st object (i.e. the "negative" piece)
• Hold SHIFT and select the 2nd object (i.e. the "positive" piece)
• If it looks like you have other objects selected, deselect and try again.  You may have to rotate the scene a bit to make clicking easier.
• With both pieces selected, click the "G" (Group) tool. 

Now you should be able to "Render" your scence and view the cut out shape.

Bryce: Buildings

Monday we will be creating some City Scapes using the Terrain Editing features we used before.  But today we will be making some individual buildings.

We are going to be using both PhotoShop and Bryce for this project.  We will create a grayscale image in PhotoShop (size 1024 x 1024 pixels) with a "bumpmap" of our building design.  Remember that the white is the highest point in the map while the black is the lowest point.  

So something like the following would resemble a pyramid:

Here are some examples of buildings used in a bryce scene:

The rounded building on the above-right image is an example of that.  Here are a few examples of "bump maps" that you can use for interesting buildings.