Posts from February, 2010

Rhino Basics, Study Guide

The final exam for the Rhino Basics class will consist of a written short-answer test, a tools quiz (e.g. “show me how to hide an object”), and an in-class modeling challenge based on a Dieter Rams classic design. The following material will be covered in the test. Important vocabulary words are emphasized.

A full study guide follows: more »

Public Service Announcement: Save

Everybody knows that if you don’t save your work, you’ll lose it. Save early, save often, save iteratively.

But there’s another detail I’d like to throw out there as well: if you’re using the demo version of Rhino, please be warned that after 12 hours of continuous running, the demo version of Rhino shuts down. If you have un-saved work, it will ask if you want to use one of your 25 saves to save it. If you click no, YOUR WORK IS LOST.

The moral of the story is this: just use your 25 saves like normal saves. Don’t try to pinch and squeeze every last save out of the Rhino evaluation copy: if you like the program, just buy it. Then you won’t have any saving restrictions, and the world will be a happier place.

Ai/Ps Shoe Rendering, CS4

One of the most popular tutorials I’ve ever done on this site was a look at 2D shoe design renderings in Adobe Illustrator (here). I’m finally updating it, and this time it’s in video form.

There are many ways to skin this cat, but I prefer a hybrid solution using Illustrator smart objects within Photoshop. This tutorial will focus on doing line and graphic work in Illustrator, and shading/texturing in Photoshop.

More videos after the break: more »

3DWorld, Issue 127!

3DWorld Magazine issue #127 is now available in stores, and the modeling of the Bugatti Veyron is written and recorded by yours truly. Over six hours of video!

*NOTE: The large rendering of the Veyron on the cover is not my model. The model I built is the smaller red car at the bottom left of the cover.

UV Mapping Vs. Projection

In Modo, there are two ways of “mapping” an image onto a piece of geometry: UV mapping, and projection. Think of UV mapping as putting a bunch of pins into a piece of stretchy cloth on the surface of your object, so that no matter how the object moves or changes, the cloth goes along for the ride.

Think of projection as a film projector, throwing your image onto the object from across the room. The film projection analogy is incomplete, because there are actually several kinds of projection (solid, planar, cubic, spherical, cylindrical, etc), but the point is that you’ve got a ‘projector’–called a ‘locator’ in modo–that throws your image onto the object.

Here we’ll look at a few of the basics of these two mapping solutions. Second video after the jump: more »

Rhino Basics, Week 06

This is the sixth week in a series on the fundamentals of Rhino, as taught at Otis College of Art & Design in the spring semester of 2010. To follow the tutorial from the beginning, start here. There is a parallel series covering the basics of SolidWorks here. Enjoy!

This week we’ll begin work on our clocks, and as such we will begin the process of modeling the internal components that will be used in the clock. Each group will be expected to model their own internal components, and keep in mind that the quality and thoroughness of these models will influence your final grade!

Here are a couple of template files to get you started. Keep in mind that you must RE-BUILD everything here YOURSELF:

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ArduinoDiecimilia.STEP.zip

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ROB-08420_StepperMotor.STEP.zip

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More vids after the jump: more »