Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Modeling the Shell
We'll be creaing the shell shape irst. For this task, we're going to apply a very nice technique
for geing the main shape easily done and then proceed to perform some hand tweaking.
Prepare for Lift Off
Let's fire up Blender, delete the default cube from the scene, and save the file as
snail.blend
in the project's directory.
Engage Thrusters
1. To s t a r t w i t h t h e m To d e l i n g To f t h e s h e l l , l e t ' s s w i t c h t To
Front View
(Numpad
1
) and
go to
View → View Persp/Ortho
(Numpad
5
) to set it to
Orthographic
. Let's also
make sure to have the 3D Cursor located at the origin of the 3D World (
View panel
,
in the
Properties Sidebar
).
2. Then go to
Add → Mesh → Circle
, go to the
Tool Shelf
(
View → Tool Shelf
), and
set the number of verices to 10 and enable the
Align to View
opion. Let's also go
to
Object → Apply → Rotation
(
Ctrl
+
A
→ Rotation
) to ensure the object gets its
rotaion reset.
3. Before switching to
Edit Mode
, let's now change the name of the circle to shell
(
Item panel
, in the
Properties Sidebar
).
4. Now let's switch to
Edit Mode
, select all the verices (
A
key, once or twice) and
move them 2.89 units along the X axis (
G
key,
X
key, then type
2.89
).
5. The next step is to extrude the whole circle. Press
Escape
to keep the extrusion in
place, then go to
Mesh → Vertices → Hooks → Hook to New Object
to create
an empty object to use as the hook for the extruded verices.
6. Let's now switch back to
Object Mode
, select the empty object added as the hook,
and set its name to
empHook
.
7. Let's make sure the 3D Cursor is located at the origin of the 3D World; add a new
Empty object and set its name to
empArray
.
8. Finally, let's select the
empHook
and
empArray
objects (in that order), go to
Object → Parent → Set
(
Ctrl + P
), and select the
Object
entry from the list.
At this point, we have the basic setup of objects from which the shell shape can be created
very easily.
