Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
We also need to download an image texture. Let's go to
www.cgtextures.com
and
download the image named
BronzeCopper0030
(ID 11583, visible on the link address)
from the
Metal
secion, and
Bronze And Copper
subsecion. This image will be used to
create the fake relecion efect for the canopy of the ighter.
We'll be working on a single file, called
fighter-storm.blend
. Inside this file, we're going
to work on separate scenes for the fighter and the clouds. Finally, we're going to assemble
everything into a single scene for animaing the aircrat and add the inishing touches.
Modeling the Fighter Aircraft
We are going to model our fighter by following the reference image provided. The first part
of the modeling will consist of defining the
topology
, which will later allow us to perform
some tweaking on the shape, rather than on the mesh structure itself. The top part of the
ighter will require quite some work from us whereas the botom part will be modeled ater
a very simple shape, since it isn't going to be visible to the camera. The final touches will
require us to create the flaperons and stabilators for the aircraft. The engine intake, the
exhaust, and all the internal parts will be ignored.
Prepare for Lift Off
1. Create a new scene and name it
fighter
. Delete any object that could possibly be
in it, to get it clear.
2. Open the properies panel (
View → Properties
) and locate the
Background images
secion. Enable it and click on
Add Image
. Select
Top
for the
Axis
seing and click on
the triangle poining to the right-hand side, immediately below the
Add Image
buton.
3.
Now click on the
Open
buton that appears below the
Axis
seing. In the
File
Browser
window that appears, locate the render of the finished fighter and
click on
Open
.
4.
Set the
Size
parameter for the background image to 2.6. Having the image ready,
it is ime to switch to
Top View
(
View → Top
) and
Orthographic Projection
(
View →
View Persp/Ortho
, once or twice). The image should appear at the center of
the
3D View
.
Engage Thrusters
1.
From
Top View
, add a new plane (
Add → Mesh → Plane
) and clear its locaion
(
Object → Clear → Location
), just to make sure that it is at the center of the 3D
world. Name the object
fighterBody
(
Item
panel, Properies Sidebar) and enter
Edit Mode
.