The Lathe Modifier

Starting off with a rectangle I used the line tool to create a long shape inside the rectangle, after creating the shape I deleted the rectangle as it was only for a guide.

I added the lathe modifier to the shape and it created a strange object.

This was because all it had done was rotate the shape on its axis.

Selecting the Min option changes the point at which the object is rotated to the minimum point on the x axis.

This gave a shape like this:

Editable Splines - Creating a letterbox

Starting with a rectangle spline I converted it to an editable spline, this option isnt available to 3D objects only splines.

After selecting the Vertex level I used the fillet option under the geomerty header.

The fillet option allowed me to move the corners of the rectangle inwards to round the top of the rectangle.

I swapped to the spline level I used the outline option to create an inner wall for my letterbox.

Which looked like this:

Using the extrude modifier brings the walls I have created out to make the base of my letterbox.

To create the back place of the letterbox I cloned the body and then deleted the inner outline I had created and adjusted the scale so it was thin and slightly larger than the main body.

After that I just aligned the body with the back place to create the letterbox.

Storyboard

Tie-Fighter

This started off with more of a rounded body so I started with a sphere. After converting it to an editable poly I grabbed the edges of the cylinder and pulled them out to create the arms.

As the arms gradually became smaller and then enlarged again I used the Bevel to create this effect.

To create the window I used the same techniques as I did for the laser on the Death Star as it was essentially the same thing but instead of indenting the inner cylinder I pulled it out slightly to create a rounded window effect.

For the wings I used a box object that I adjusted to size based on the blueprints that I had put on the planes. I simply pulled out the edges of the wing to create the correct shape and then aligned it with the end of the arm, To create the second wing I just cloned the first one I made and then aligned it with the arm on the opposite side.

As I had adjusted the size of my Death Star to make sure the scale was correct against my X-Wing, I imported my X-Wing and adjusted the size of the Tie-Fighter to make sure the proportions would be correct for both ships against the Death Star.

When I was happy with the scale I had a completed Tie-Fighter.

The Death Star

As the Death Star Is a reasonably basic shape I used the Boolean object to create the cut outs.

I started with a sphere shape and then used a smaller sphere to Boolean the cut out where the ships laser is.

After that I wanted a small cylinder inside that cut out to act as the actual laser so I created what I wanted it to look like and used inserts to create polygons that I indented to give it more of a jagged flattened look to define it as different from the initial cut out. As I wanted it to lay inside the original Boolean I cloned the cylinder so I could use one of them to create an exact Boolean of where I wanted to sit it. When I had cut it out I simply slotted the original cylinder into the gap to create the laser.

The Death Star has one more defining feature which is the main trench that runs around the outside center. To get this I used the Boolean again but on a larger cylinder to create a large ring shape, This was then aligned around the center of the body and had the Boolean object again to cut out one main trench that run all the way around. This would be used for the main chase in my battle where the X-Wings are attempting to destroy the Death Star from the inside.

This gave me my basic Death Star.

One problem I ran into was the fact I had created the Death Star the same size as my X-Wing fighter, This would be useless in my animation as it would be too small to battle around.
To fix this problem I imported my model of the X-Wing fighter and changed the scale of my Death Star so the X-Wing could fit inside the trench.

The X-Wing Fighter

After the last attempt failed, I tried again starting with a box shape.

To start with I created two planes and used the materials editor to load some top and side view blueprints to them so I could get an idea of what I wanted my X-Wing to look like as well as scale it properly.

I created a small box shape at the back of the X-Wing as this is the very base shape where all the other features would be created from. I made the box an editable poly so I could extrude the rest of the body from it using the options under the 'edit polygons' such as 'Extrude' 'Insert' and 'Bevel' which I had learnt about in my previous online tutorial.

Extrude - Creates a polygon on the selected surface that can be extended out of the object.

Bevel - Used to create larger polygons on smaller shapes.

Insert - Used to create a smaller polygon which could then be pulled out to the size of the selected polygon givine a sloped point effect.

Using these features gave me my main body for my X-Wing.

As you can see in the image, I have used the blueprints to create the right proportions to the ship.

To create the engine I used a cylinder shape and aligned it to the edge of the original box, using inserts I cut out the inside of the engine and created the intake. I used the extrude option to create the extensions out of the back of the engine.

To replicate the engine four times I cloned the original engine and then aligned with them with the corrisponding edges.

Again using the same process I created the guns on the edges of each wing but when It came to the tips of the gun I used the bevel option to make the shape larger and then become smaller again.

And finally to add the shape for R2D2 on the top I simply used a sphere and placed it half way into the body.

This gave me my basic model for my X-Wing Fighter.

First Attempt at an X-Wing Fighter

With my first attempt at the X-Wing Fighter I started with a Cylinder shape and I planned to pull the edges out from it. But after looking at images of the X-Wing I decided to scrap it and use a box shape instead as the main body was more square than it was round.

A quick online tutorial

I found a very good online tutorial that taught me how to create a basic spaceship.
It taught me to use various tools such as 'Insert', 'Extrude' and 'Bevel'.

It was quite basic but it was very simple to understand and gave me the basic guidance to start creating my models.

http://www.republicofcode.com/tutorials/3ds/spaceship_aziz/ Accessed 24/10/11

Applying materials to projects

For this post I will be explaining how to apply materials to various shapes.

As I have before I started with the the material editor.

Under the Shader Basic Parameters there are various shading options available but for now I am going to use the 'Blinn' option which is just for general purpose shading.

Next I set the colours of the Diffuse (colour of material under normal light) and Specular (colour of highlights on the material)

I adjusted these to create a shinny metal look and then selected another slot and created a wood effect.

Now I defined the texture which is going to be placed on the object called a 'Map'. Using a bitmap means I can take a 2D image and wrap it around an object.

Next was to create an object to wrap my map around, I created a standard box shape and converted it to an editable poly. Now using another slot in the material editor I loaded my sample image to be used in my map. Using the toolbar below allows me to apply the map to the shape.

Assign Material to Selection (third button from the left) - Applies the map to the object.

Show Standard Map in Viewport ( fourth button from the right) - makes the map visible on the object.

I used this same process on multiple objects to see how the map was applied.

 Using the UVW Map Modifier allows for the direction of the projection of the map is applied to the object.

After converting the object to an editable poly the UVW map modifier can be applied which allows the GIZMO level to be selected when the rotation, scale and move options can be used. Changing these settings modifies now the image is projected onto the object.


Under the Mapping parameters there are various options for changing the way it is projected again, for example using the Planar option allows the image to be replicated multiple times across the object.

This is what the image looks like when the Wrap option is compared with the Sphere option.

Now I learnt about combining procedural maps together, for an exercise I will create clouds that can be seen through.


It involved using techniques I learnt earlier in the tutorial which created a final output like this:

I will use a similar method for creating the space in my animation.

My Idea

For my 30 second clip I am going to recreate a 30 second version of the scene when the rebel alliance attacks the the Death Star to destroy it from the inside.

It will involve X-Wing Fighters being chased through the trenches of the Death Star by two Tie-Fighters and a Tie-Interceptor to the point when shots are fired through a gap on the Death Star which destroys it from the inside.

Research Board

Death Star

http://www.thebricklife.com/wp-content/uploads/Death-Star.jpg


Accessed 04/10/11

X-Wing Fighter

http://www.geeks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/x-wing.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11



Rebel strike on the death star

http://www.vegatransports.com.au/starwars/OTC/death_star_trench.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11

Destroy Death Star

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/ce/DeathStar2Core.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11

Millenium Falcon

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/d/dc/Melfal.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11


Tie-Fighter

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/0/03/Tiefighterfull.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11

Tie-Interceptor

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/6/65/Tieinter2.jpg

Accessed 04/10/11