sti0003 - Create a squid model using polygon and curve modeling techniques

In this tutorial, you will create a squid model using polygon primitives and curve. Also, you will use deformers to give the shape. Figure 1 shows the final model of the squid.

 Figure 1

 1. Choose Model > Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Sphere from the main toolbar; the Scene_Root : sphere (General) property editor is displayed. Now, close the property editor. Press F12 to view all viewpots.

2.  Press X to activate the Scale Tool and then scale it along the Y axis. Press ESC to exit the Scale Tool and then the drag the cursor in the empty area of the viewport to deselect the sphere. Figure 2 shows the scaled sphere in the viewports.

 Figure 2

Next, you will create the tentacles of the squid.

3. Choose the Display Mode button from the Camera Viewport menu bar; the Display Mode menu is displayed. Next, choose Shaded from the menu; the geometry is displayed in shaded mode in the Camera viewport.

4. Choose Model > Create > Curve from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Next, choose Draw Cubic by CVs from the flyout; the shape of the cursor changes to a pen shape. Now, draw the two different shapes of curve in the Top viewport, as shown in Figure 3. Press ESC to exit from the  Draw Cubic by CVs tool.

 Figure 3

5. Create the 6 copies of the curve by pressing CTRL_D and then rotate them using Rotate Tool in the Top viewport. Now, press M to activate the Tweak Tool to edit the curves. Next, tweak the curves as required and then align them viewports, as shown in Figure 4.

 Figure 4

6. Select sphere in the Camera viewport and then press U to activate the Polygon mode. Next, select a polygon, as shown in Figure 5. 

 Figure 5

7. Choose Model > Modify > Poly. Mesh from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Choose Extrude Along Curve from the flyout;  the shape of the cursor changes to pick. Now, select the curve in the Camera viewport; the mesh is created in the Camera viewport and the Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Op property editor is displayed, as shown in Figure 6.

 Figure 6

8. In the  Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Op property editor, enter 8 in the Subdivs edit box in the Extrude tab. Choose the Transform tab and then enter 0.75 in the X and Y edit box in the Scaling area. Now, close the property editor.

9. Follow the steps from 6 to 8 to create other arms of the squid. Press the + (plus) key twice; the squid becomes smooth. Figure 7 shows the tentacles of the squid in the Camera viewport.

 Figure 7

10. Select the curve in the viewport and then activate the Rotate Tool. Next, rotate the curve in the Front viewport, as shown in Figure 8. Now, select all curves one by one and rotate them in the Front viewport. Figure 9 shows rotated arms in the viewports.

 Figure 8

 Figure 9

11. In the Camera viewport select the squid and then activate the Polygon mode by pressing U. Next select the polygon of the squid, as shown in Figure 10.

 Figure 10

12. Choose Model > Modify > Poly. Mesh from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Choose the Extrude Along Normal from the flyout; the selected polygons is extruded and the Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Normal Op property editor  is displayed. 

13. In this property editor, enter 2, 3, and -0.458 in the Length, Subdivs, and Inset Amount in the  Extrude Normal Op property set. Now, close the property editor. The shape is shown in the Figure 11.

 Figure 11

14. Press X to activate the Scale Tool and scale the extruded polygon  upward along the Y direction in the Camera viewport, as shown in Figure 12. Now, activate the Translate Tool by pressing V and move the selected polygon upward along Y direction, as shown in Figure 13.

 Figure 12

 Figure 13

15. Select the top most polygon of the squid and choose Model > Modify > Poly. Mesh from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Choose the Extrude Along Normal from the flyout; the selected polygons is extruded and the Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Normal Op property editor  is displayed. 

16. In this property editor, enter 1.88, 0 and 2.947 in the Length, Subdivs, and Inset Amount in the  Extrude Normal Op property set. Now, close the property editor. The shape is shown in the figure 14.

  Figure 14

17. Press E to activate the Edge Tool and then select the edge, as shown in Figure 14 and then press CTRL+D to duplicate the selected edge.

 Figure 15

18. Press SPACEBAR to activae the Object mode and then drag the cursor in the empty area in the viewport to deselect it. 

 Next, you will create the fins of the squid.

19. Press F12 to view all viewports and then create two curves using Draw Cubic by CVs tool in the Front viewport, as shown in Figure 16.

 Figure 16

20. Select squid in the Camera viewport and press U to activate the Polygon mode. Select polygon of the squid in the Camera viewport, as shown in Figure 17. 

 Figure 17

21. Choose Model > Modify > Poly. Mesh from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Choose Extrude Along Curve from the flyout;  the shape of the cursor changes to pick. Now, select the curve in the Camera viewport; the mesh is created in the Camera viewport and the Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Op property editor is displayed, as shown in Figure 18.

 Figure 18

22.  In the  Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Op property editor, choose Extrude tab and then enter 8 and 0.8 in the Subdivs and Inset Amount edit boxes in the Extrude tab. Choose the Transform tab and then enter 0.5 and 1.2 in the X and Z edit box in the Scaling area. Now, close the property editor. Now, select the curve and then press C to rotate the curve slightly in the Front viewport.

23. For second fin follow same steps 16 and 17.  Figure 19 shows the fins of the squid in viewports.

 Figure 19

24. Select the squid in the viewports and press U to activate the Polygon mode. Next, select the polygons of squid as shown in Figure 20.

 Figure 20

25. Make sure the polygons are selected. Next, choose Model > Modify > Poly. Mesh from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Choose the Extrude Along Normal from the flyout; the selected polygons is extruded and the Scene_Root : sphere : Polygon Mesh : Extrude Normal Op property editor  is displayed. 

26. In this property editor, enter -1, 2 and 0.88 in the Length, Subdivs, and Inset Amount in the  Extrude Normal Op property set. Now, close the property editor. The shape of the eyes is shown in the Figure 21.

 Figure 21

27. Choose Model > Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Sphere from the main toolbar; the Scene_Root : sphere1 (General) property editor is displayed. In this property editor, enter 1.5 in the Radius edit box in the Sphere property set. Now, close the property editor. Press V to activate the Tranlate Tool and align it, as shown in Figure 22.

 Figure 22

28.  Make sure the sphere1 is select in the viewports and then press CTRL+D to create a copy of sphere1 and then align it. Next deselect the sphere2 and then choose Model > Create > Curve from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed. Next, choose Draw Cubic by CVs from the flyout; the shape of the cursor changes to a pen shape. Now, draw the two different shapes of curve in the Front viewport, as shown in Figure 23. Now select the bottom of the polygon of the squid and exturde it by using the Extrude Along Curve tool. the final output of the squid is shown in figure 24.

 Figure 23

 Figure 24

Special of the month - Avail 50 % discount

Avail 50% discount on the following textbooks:

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 - A Tutorial Approach

Adobe Flash Professional CS6 - A Tutorial Approach

The eyeon Fusion 6.3 - A Tutorial Approach

Now that’s some good deal to crack!

Buy Now

sit0002 - How to create grass in Softimage using Hair system

In this tutorial,  you will create the mountain and ground models by using polygon primitives and then texture them. Also, you will create grass on the ground using the Hair system in Softimage. Figure 1 shows the final output of the scene.

Figure 1

1. Navigate to the following link: http://www.mediafire.com/?m0is64rf9a0270o and then download zipped file to your hard drive. Next, extract the contents of the zipped file. Now, start Softimage and then choose Model > Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Grid from the main toolbar. The Scene_Root : grid (General) property editor is displayed. In this property editor, enter Ground1 in the Name edit box. Enter 50 in the U Length and V Length edit boxes. Now, close the property editor. The grid is created in the viewport.

2. Make sure the Ground1 is selected in the Explorer window. Next, press T to invoke the Point mode and select the points randomly on the surface by using the SHIFT key and then press V to invoke the Translate Tool. Move the points along the Y axis to create a bump shape. Now, press the + (plus) key once to smooth the Ground1 in the viewport. Figure 2 shows the smooth Ground1 in the viewport.

Figure 2

3. Press SPACEBAR to invoke Object mode. Next, create two copies of Ground1 by using CTRL+ D and align them in the viewport, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

4. Choose Model > Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Grid from the main toolbar. The Scene_Root : grid (General) property editor is displayed. In this property editor, enter Tree in the Name edit box. Close the property editor.

5. Make sure Tree is selected in the Explorer window. Next, Press X to invoke the Scale Tool and scale it. Press V to invoke the Translate Tool to align it. Figure 4 shows the alignment of the Tree in the viewport.

Figure 4

6. Choose Scene button from the Main Command Panel. The Explorer window is displayed. Select Ground1 from the Explorer window and then press X to scale it, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5

7. Select Ground3 from the Explorer window. Choose Model > Get > Material > Lambert from the main toolbar. The Ground3 : Material# : Lambert property editor is displayed. Choose the Diffuse Connector corresponding to the Diffuse parameter from the property edito; a flyout is displayed. Choose Image from the flyout; the Material# : Image property editor is displayed, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6

8. Choose the New button from the Image area of the Material# : Image property editor; a flyout is displayed. Choose New From File from the flyout; the New Image Clip dialog box is displayed. Select mountain.jpg from the dialog box. Next, choose the OK button to close the dialog box.

9. In the Material# : Image property editor, choose the New button in the Texture Projection area; a flyout is displayed. Next, choose the Unique UVs (polymesh) option from the flyout; the mountain.jpg texture is projected on the Ground3 in the Camera viewport, refer to Figure 7. Next, select the Enable check box from the Bump Mapping area and enter 2.5 in the Factor edit box. Now, close the  Material# : Image property editor.

Figure 7

10.  Follow the steps from 7 to 9 to assign the Ground.jpg texture to  Ground1 and Ground2 and set the texture projection as Cubic. Figure 8 shows the texture projection of the Ground1 and Ground2 in the Camera viewport.

Figure 8

11. Select the Tree from the Explorer window. Choose Model > Get > Material > Lambert from the main toolbar. The Tree : Material# : Lambert property editor is displayed. Choose the Diffuse Connector corresponding to the Diffuse parameter from the property edito; a flyout is displayed. Choose Image from the flyout; the Material# : Image property editor is displayed.

12. Choose the New button from the Image area of the Material# : Image property editor; a flyout is displayed. Choose New From File from the flyout; the New Image Clip dialog box is displayed. Select tree.png from the dialog box. Next, choose the OK button to close the dialog box.

13. In the Material# : Image property editor, choose the New button in the Texture Projection area; a flyout is displayed. Next, choose the Cubic option from the flyout; the tree.png texture is projected on Tree in the Camera viewport, refer to Figure 7. Now, close the  Material# : Image property editor.

14. Make sure the Tree is selected in the Camera viewport. Choose Render > Modify > Materials from the menu bar; the Material Manager window is displayed, showing the network of the nodes in the Render Tree workspace.

15. Choose Nodes > Texture > Image from the Render Tree menu bar; the Image1 and noIcon_pic nodes are added in the Render Tree workspace, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9

16. Double-click on the Image1 node in the Render Tree workspace; the Material# : Image1 property editor is displayed. 

17. Choose the New button in the Image area of the Material# : Image1 property editor; a flyout is displayed. Choose New From File from the flyout; the New Image Clip dialog box is displayed. Select the invert_image.tiff file and then choose the OK button to close the dialog box.

18. Choose the New button in the Texture Projection area of the Material# : Image1 property editor; a flyout is displayed. Choose Cubic from the flyout to set the projection. Now, close the property editor. You will notice that a connection is established between the invert_image.tiff and Image1 nodes. Next, delete the noIcon_pic node from the Render Tree workspace.

19. Press and hold the left mouse button on the out port of the Image1 node and drag the cursor to the Lambert node; a flyout is displayed. Choose transparency from it; a connection is established between the Image1 and Lambert nodes. Figure 10 shows the node networks in the Material Manager window. Close the Material Manager window.

Figure 10

20. Choose Render > Render > Preview from the menu bar. The render out is displayed in the Default_Pass-1920x1080 (Display Scale 1:2) window, as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11

21. Choose Model > Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Sphere from the menu bar; the Scene_Root : sphere (General) property editor is displayed. Enter sky in the Name edit box.

22. In the Sphere property set, enter 100 in the Radius edit box. 

23. In the Geometry property set, enter 12 in the U and V edit boxes of the Subdivision area.

24. In the Geometry property set, enter 71.02 in the Start V edit box of the Extent (Angles) area and then close the property editor. Figure 12  shows sphere in the scene.

25. Make sure the sky is selected in the Explorer window. Choose Render > Property > Texture Projection > Cylindrical from the menu bar and then apply the cloudy_sky.jpg to  sky in the Camera viewport as discussed earlier. Figure 12 shows sky in the scene.

Figure 12

Next you will add the lights in the scene.

26. Choose Model > Primitive > Light > Infinite from the menu bar; the Infinite light is added to all viewports and the Scene_Root : Infinite (General |Rendering) property editor is displayed.

27. In the Scene_Root : Infinite (General |Rendering) property editor, enter 0.348 in the Intensity edit box in the Colors area. Next, select the Enabled check box in the Shadows area and enter 0.07 in the Umbra edit box. Now, close the property editor.

28. Make sure the Infinite light is selected in the Explorer window. Now, create a copy of Infinite light using CTRL+D and set intensity to 0.3.

29. Choose Model > Primitive > Light > Point from the menu bar; the Infinite light is added to all viewports and the Scene_Root : Point (General |Rendering) property editor is displayed.

30. In the Scene_Root : Point (General |Rendering) property editor, enter 0.136 in the Intensity edit box in the Colors area. Next, select the Enabled check box in the Shadows area and enter 0.019 in the Umbra edit box. Close the property editor. Now, Align the lights in the scene using Translate Tool. The alignment of the lights are displays in the Figure 13.

Figure 13

31. Select the Ground1 from the Explorer window. Press CTRL+2; the Hair toolbar is displayed. Choose Hair > Create > Hair from the main toolbar; a flyout is displayed.


32. Choose From Selection from the flyout; the hair is created on Ground1 and the Scene_Root : Hair : Hair property editor is displayed, as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14

33. In the Scene_Root : Hair : Hair property editor, enter Grass in the Name edit box. Select Render Hairs from the Display type drop-down list in the Display Setting area. Next, enter 7682 in the Total hairs edit box in the Render Setting area and then close the property editor. Press Q and drag the cursor in the Camera viewport to check the render of the Grass in the scene, as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15

34. Choose Strand from the Main Command Panel. Now, press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor over some part of the Grass in the Camera viewport; the strands of the Grass are selected in the Viewport.

35. Choose Scale from the Hair toolbar; the shape of the cursor is changed. Now, press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor in the Camera viewport; the length of the grass strands is changed. Press SPACEBAR to exit the Scale tool.

36. Similarly, select other Stands of Grass strands in the Camera viewport and set their length randomly by using the Scale tool, refer to Figure 16.

Figure 16

Next, you will add style to the grass strands by using the Brush tool.

37. Choose Tip from the Main Command Panel. Now, press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor over some part of the Grass in the Camera viewport; the tips of the Grass are selected in the Viewport.

38. Choose Brush from the Hair toolbar; the shape of the cursor is changed. Next, press and hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor; the selected Grass tips are brushed in various directions. Next, select other strands and add style to them as well, as shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17

Next, you will apply the shader to grass.

39. Press SPACEBAR to invoke the Object mode. Select Grass from the Explorer window. Choose Hair > Modify > Shader from the main toolbar; the Hair_Material : Hair_Renderer (Rendering) property editor is displayed.

40. In the Ambient area, enter 0.392,  0.400, and 0.224 in the R, G, and B edit boxes, respectively, corresponding to the Color parameter.

41. In the Diffuse area, enter 0.345, 0.463, and 0.251 in the R, G, and B edit boxes, respectively, corresponding to the Root Color parameter.

42. In the Tip Colors area, enter 0.345, 0.463, and 0.251 in the R, G, and B edit boxes, respectively, corresponding to the  Color A parameter and then enter 0.231, 0.325, and 0.157 in the R, G,and B edit boxes, respectively, corresponding to Color B parameter.

43. In the Hair_Material : Hair_Renderer (Rendering) property editor, enter 28.125 and 12.5 in the Root(%) and the Tip (%) edit boxes, respectively. Enter 0.512 in the Center and Range edit boxes in the Root/Tip Crossover area and then enter 0.75 in the Color variation edit box. Now, close the property editor.

44. Set the view angle in the Camera viewport. Choose Render > Render > Preview  from the menu bar. The final output of the scene is displayed in the Default_Pass 1280*720 (Display Scale 1:2) window, as shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18

Softimage Book - 2013

Autodesk Softimage 2013 book introduces the readers to the Autodesk Softimage 2013, one of the world’s leading 3D animation and visual effects software. This Softimage book covers all features of Autodesk Softimage 2013 such as modeling, texturing, lighting, rigid bodies, ICE, Syflex cloth, hair, Lagoa, crowd simulation, and visual effects. It also explains the use of the Face Robot toolset that is used to create different facial expressions. Wide coverage of tools and description of each concept through tutorials as well as the pedagogical arrangement of chapters make this textbook unique in itself. This Softimage book will help you unleash your creativity, thus enabling you to transform your imagination into reality with ease. The textbook caters to the needs of both novice and advanced users of the software. Written with the tutorial point-of-view and learn-by-doing theme, this textbook is ideally suited for learning at your convenience and pace.

Use coupon code cgs2013 to get $4 discount.


Buy Now