Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Select the large central face on the top side of the seat. Extrude the face with the E key, and immediately
switch to scaling mode with the S key. Make it a bit smaller, then accept the transform with the LMB. The
new face is surrounded by four new faces that look like a type of picture frame. This technique is great
for adding windows and doorways to walls or any time you need to punch a hole through a quadrangular
face without adding a bunch of extra geometry.
Use the G key (along with the Z key to constrain the motion) to pull that new central face down a bit.
Toggle out of Edit mode for a moment to see what the new surface looks like without the mesh cage
surrounding it.
Let's add the legs. Use your MMB to rotate the view so the underside of the seat is showing. Make sure
that you are now working in Solid view mode, and that the Occlude Background Geometry button on
the 3D view header is enabled. It is located immediately to the right of the Vertex/Edge/Face selection
controls. When enabled, it prevents you from seeing through your model while you work and further
prevents you from accidentally selecting elements on the opposite side.
In Face select mode, select the four quadrangles that we designated in
Figure 4.26
. You'll grow the chair's
legs from them. Press the E key to extrude, followed by the Z key twice to make sure the new geometry
moves straight down. Once you've confirmed the extrusion and placement with the LMB, a problem
arises. The legs look … bad. They are fat and rounded at the tops and have tiny points that don't even
reach the whole way to the end of the mesh cage on the bottom. The solution? Loop cuts.
Using the same technique as you did when working with the seat, add three loop cuts to each leg:
●
Don't forget to start in Edge select mode.
●
Place a triple loop cut around the center of a leg.
●
Alt-RMB select the top cut.
●
Invoke Edge Slide from the Ctrl-E Edge Specials menu.
●
This time, though, don't slide the edge with the mouse. From the keyboard, just enter “.9” (as in: point
nine) and press the Enter key. This will slide the edge 90% of the way upward. We'll want to keep all
of the legs the same, so it makes sense to do this procedure in an exactly repeatable fashion. If you had
used the mouse, you would probably be close, but you would still just be eyeballing it.
●
Alt-RMB select the lower cut. Invoke Edge Slide, but this time type “−.9” (minus point nine) and
press Enter. This moves the lower cut almost next to the floor, giving this chair leg a much more
pleasing form.
Do this same procedure for the other three legs. You can see a close-up of a finished leg in
Figure 4.27
.
At this point, you can add some form and interest to the model by playing with the legs. Carefully observe
a real example of the style of chair we're building. The legs usually splay out a bit at the bottom, covering
slightly more space than the area of the seat.
Here's a cool trick for moving them all outward at once. You would think that the scale tool would be
able to accomplish this, and it can. However, if you just select the bottom faces of the legs and hit the S
key, they will move apart as you scale them up, but they will also grow in size. We'll try a new pivot
style to solve the problem.
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