Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for two more polygon loops so that you have the center polygon, a loop around that,
and six groups of three polygons surrounding the center selection.
6. Activate the Move tool and pull the selection up (y-axis) 8 mm. This creates six extensions that give
the bottom of the bottle a defined shape.
With these steps completed, you should have a relatively complete bottle shape. Adding some thickness
to the model and a little cleanup will give you something that you can texture, light, and render in the up-
coming chapters.
Adding thickness is quite simple. Double-click on one of the polygons to select the entire model and ac-
tivate the Thicken tool, which is located in the Polygon section. Click in the viewport to activate the tool.
Set the Offset to -1 mm, leave the scale at 100%, and change Max Smoothing to 175 degrees (this will fix
some errors at the bottom of the bottle).
Sharpening some of the edges comes next. Three sections need to be a little more crisp: the top at the
opening, the borders of the label area, and the feet at the bottom. We will get into some more-detailed prin-
ciples of subdivision surfaces in a later chapter, but for starters, adding some additional loops of edges will
help to create sharper edges. Select two polygons around the top of the bottle and enable Loop Slice (Alt/
Option+C). Set Count to 2 and set Mode to Symmetry. Click and drag until the edges are at 10% and 90%
(for the symmetrical edge). Do the same thing with the angled polygon loops at the top and bottom of the
label area.
For the feet, a slightly different approach is needed. Add a single loop slice at the bottom of the neck area
to create a more creased contour. Finally, select the polygons that make up the flat bottoms of the feet and
run the Bevel tool (press the B key). Drag the red square handle to scale in the newly beveled sections until
you reach the desired shape (I chose about 3.5 mm). Repeat these steps on the inside of the bottle to firm.
Now, you will remove some edges to clean up the mesh a bit. Select the horizontal edges running around
the middle of the label area. This can be done quickly by selecting one on each loop and then pressing the
L key. Leave one loop on either side of the section to keep the geometry defined. Press the Delete key to
remove these edges and create long, straight polygons connecting the two halves of the bottle. Once again,
do the same thing to the inside of the bottle, and the model is complete! At this stage, you should have a
model looking something like the one pictured in
Figure 2-18
.
Adding Edges and the Thicken tool
These sharpening and cleanup actions can be done before thickening the bottle. However, these steps
create some geometry that is very close together. Often this will cause serious problems with the Thicken
tool that take a significant amount of extra time to clean up.
Figure 2-18:
Bottle mesh at the end of this stage
