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3D MODELING WITH PRESENTER PROFESSIONAL •••••••••••••••INTRODUCTION••••••••••••••• This section will discuss the installation and features of VIDI’s online introduction to the Presenter Professional modeling module. The other two modules of Presenter Professional, namely Presenter and Projector, are not included in this online introduction. This online version of the introductory package also does not permit import or export of other file formats, nor does it permit you to save files larger than 100K bytes in size. You will have access, however, to all of the other capabilities of what we believe is the most sophisticated 3D modeling software available on a personal computer. A more complete evaluation of Presenter Professional including a videotape, full documentation, tutorials, import translators (DXF, EPSF, PICT, Postscript, Super3D, VersaCad, and Electric Image Fact), plus Presenter and Projector, may be obtained from VIDI for $95.00 (plus $7.84 tax for California residents). It provides animation and sophisticated rendering capability as well as modeling, and differs from the real Presenter Professional used worldwide by the best designers on the Macintosh only in that it is limited to 100K byte file saves in native format only and rendering resolution is restricted to 320 by 240. What’s included in this package: • 1) A self-extracting file called “ModelerPRO.sea”. • 2) A self-extracting file called “Tutorial Files.sea” for use with the tutorials in this document. • 3) A self-extracting file called “Newton.sea” which contains a model you may find interesting. You may open this model file and make changes to it but you won’t be able to save the changed model unless you delete a large portion of it because it is larger than 100K bytes in size. • 4) This file, “Read Me Now” - readable in any program which opens ASCII text files. For best results, try opening it in MS WORD. System Requirements Presenter Professional will run on any Macintosh SE/30, Macintosh II, Quadra, Performa, or Centris which has a math co-processor, operating system version 6.0.3 or higher (including 7.1), and 32-bit QuickDraw. Though Presenter Professional will run on a system with 2MB of free RAM, 4MB or more is recommended. A 20MB or larger hard disk with 4MB of free space is required to install and use this online introduction to Presenter Professional’s modeling module. ...................................................................................................................................... GETTING STARTED • Create a folder called Presenter Pro on your hard disk and extract ModelerPro.sea and the other .sea files into it • Move the Presenter Pro Tools folder from the Presenter Pro folder to your System folder. • After you’ve done this, just double-click ModelerPro (in the Presenter Pro folder) to get started, and read along... The Apple Menu provides access to the About dialog, Modeler Help, and desk accessories. About Presenter Pro... • This displays VIDI’s mailing information, Presenter Professional’s version number and the names of Presenter Professional’s illustrious creators. Help… • The On-line Help Dialog provides information on all of the functions in the Modeler and Presenter modules of Presenter Professional. It is organized with the menus as the main topics, and each menu item as a sub-topic. • To use On-line Help: • Select Help… from the Apple Menu. • Click on the menu name of the topic you are interested in. At this point, the text window will display information about that topic. • Click on the parent indicator of the sub-topic. • Repeat these steps until the desired topic is reached. ...................................................................................................................................... MODELING BASICS This section describes the basics of the modeling module. Digital Clay modeling offers a flexible design environment that can be modified to meet the needs of the project and the user. In approaching a modeling project, you need to determine which modeling options and capabilities to use in order to be most effective and productive. The default screen configuration consists of the four window design environment introduced by VIDI in 1986, and which is now used by all professional 3D applications. In the four window configuration, three orthogonal 2D design windows and a 3D visualization window appear. Each window has the standard features you expect of Macintosh applications. As with most Macintosh windows, the drawing windows in the modeler may be manipulated. The windows are changed in the same way as standard Macintosh windows: clicking and dragging the Title bar will reposition the window, clicking in the box at the upper left will close the window, clicking in the box at the upper right will cause the window to toggle between a full screen zoom and a partial window. The bars at the right and bottom will scroll through the window, and the box at the lower right corner will change the size of the window. To open a window which has been closed, select the window from the Windows Menu. Expert Mode • In the Expert Mode, the screen will include four extra palettes and the full power of all the modeler commands are at your disposal. These palettes can be individually turned on or off in either mode. View Controls • At the bottom of each window are two zoom boxes which allow you to enlarge or shrink the view by clicking or holding on the appropriate icon. At the lower left of the window there is a Fit to Window icon which will change the scale factor of the window so the entire model will fit in the window. Next to the Zoom Icons, the Scale Selector PopUp allows previously defined scale values to be selected or new ones to be assigned. • Found under the Windows Menu is the Clean Up Windows Option. When this option is selected, all of the active palettes and windows are automatically arranged so that they perfectly fill the screen. Drawing Elements There are several different types of elements in Modeler, each with a clear set of advantages and uses. Included as elements are lines, splines, spline meshes, 3D primitives and flat surfaces. One of the things that will quickly make you more adept at using Modeler is understanding the differences and proper usage of these element types. Line Elements • Line elements include all of the 2D drawing tools, like lines, polygons, parallel lines, arcs, circles, Ngons, etc. The primary purpose of these tools is to aid in constructing contours for the Tools Menu operations like Extrude, Path Extrude, Lathe, Loft, and Sweep Surfaces. They differ from splines in that each line type is described by a specific equation, rather than a general one. • The advantage of line elements over splines is that they take up only about a third as much space in the database as splines. Whenever selecting a surfacing operation from the Tools Menu or reshaping a line element, the line is converted to a spline, and can thereafter be modified as such. Any line element or primitive can be converted to splines using the Elements to Splines option under the Tools Menu. Neither line type elements nor splines can be rendered. Primitives • Primitives are basic 2D and 3D shapes, like a flat plane, cylinder, cone, box or sphere. Modeler provides a selection of two 2D and seven 3D primitives. They can be easily placed, moved, and transformed within modeler. They take up little memory, and can be rendered without being Auto-Surfaced. Primitives can be re-sized and rotated and transformed with any of the normal techniques. Primitives, however, cannot be reshaped as splines without converting to a Spline Mesh and Surface Mesh. In other words, you can change the proportions of a primitive, but not its basic geometry. To insert vertices and modify the surfaces of a primitive, convert them to splines using Elements to Splines. The primitive will be changed into a Spline Mesh in the shape of a primitive. It will also take up more memory. Almost any real world object can be at least roughly modeled by lumping together some primitive shapes, so use them freely to explore spatial relationships and form while conceptualizing. Splines • Splines provide a powerful design capability in modeler. Not only can they accurately and intuitively represent straight and curved lines like an illustration program, but they can be easily modified with smooth control handles. As with line element types, Splines are only used to define contours and cross sections for the surfacing operations under the tools menu. • Modeler uses parametric cubic Splines, which are more powerful than Bezier curves. Splines are 3D curves defined by four control points. A good analogy to the way Splines work is a flexible steel bar. If you held the ends of a flexible steel bar in your hands and applied force to it, the bar would flex to form a curve. Your hands would be the anchor points of the bar like the end points of a Spline. The force applied to the bar is provided by your arms. In the case of a Spline, the force is applied by the two control points extending from each of the end points. When two Splines are continuous and share an end point, the curvatures of the Splines affect each other, thus forming a smooth compound curve. Spline Meshes • A Spline Mesh is a collection of adjacent Splines that define a form. They are created automatically whenever an operation is performed on a contour using an option from the Tools Menu, or whenever a primitive is converted to splines using Element to Splines from the Tools Menu. A Spline Mesh is the gateway to a Surface Mesh in that Surface Meshes are laid over a Spline Mesh. • A Spline Mesh is useful for making major structural changes to an object. You can insert and delete vertices and structural components when editing a Spline Mesh. While all of the changes made to a Spline Mesh could also be made to a Surface Mesh, a Spline Mesh allows you to make changes more quickly, due to a greatly decreased redraw time, and more easily, due to a less confusing mass of intersecting lines on screen. Remember that Spline Meshes are only building blocks and that only objects that are surfaced will render. So when you are finished reshaping a Spline Mesh, be sure to select it, then select Auto- Surface from the Tools Menu to create a surface mesh. Surface Meshes • A Surface Mesh is created automatically whenever you select an operation from the Tools Menu. Except for primitives and flat surfaces, Surface Meshes are the only element type that can be rendered. It is possible to modify a Surface Mesh in the same manner a Spline Mesh can be modified, including inserting and deleting points, but it takes more time for the object to redraw. • The true strength of a Surface Mesh is in the ability to reshape the points that lie within the mesh, as opposed to those that define its edges. This push and pull capability is referred to as “Digital Clay”. It is recommended that you use Surface Meshes only for freeform shapes, since they are the most memory intensive element type in modeler. To save memory, use a flat surface or primitive shape whenever possible. •••••••••••••••TUTORIAL••••••••••••••• 3D Sculpting with Digital Clay™ In this tutorial, you will shown how to create various objects in the modeler. In addition, you will be shown some of the basic sculpting features that make the modeler such an effective 3D illustration tool. While doing this you will notice that the same Bezier type controls are available in the modeler module as you would expect in a 2D illustration package like Illustrator™ or Freehand™ - except Presenter Professional does it in 3D! ...................................................................................................................................... Creating a Vase In Presenter Professional's modeler, the Reshape command, located under the Edit menu, is the gateway to digital clay sculpting. Digital clay is a way of working with splines and surfaces by pushing and pulling points that closely simulates the real world technique of sculpting. For this example, we’ll create a simple vase and sculpt it. • If you are not already in the modeler application, launch it from the desktop. • Select New from the File Menu. • Click on the Spline tool in the Tools Palette at the left of the screen (it looks like an S-curve) to draw your spline curve. It will change color to indicate that it’s been selected. • Note: The Tools Palette is at the left of the screen, the Tools Menu is at the top! • In the Front View window, draw the left half of the outline of a simple vase. With the cursor in the Front View window, click and release the mouse button to begin drawing the curve. Each successive mouse click positions a vertex point with which you can shape the curve. • When you’ve finished, click once to set the end point, then click twice in rapid succession to end the curve and select it for the next operation. • To change from a simple drawing mode to reshape mode (nicknamed Digital Clay), select Reshape from the Edit menu now. • Control handles will appear on your spline curve. Click on any point or curve to get Bezier type control handles like the ones used in 2D illustration packages. These control handles allow you to modify the curvature of lines without affecting the end points. Use the control handles to smooth out the curvature of your vase outline. • When the vase silhouette looks good, click in the drawing window away from the spline to terminate the reshape. If you accidentally terminate the reshape before you’ve finished working, just select the spline again (see the next step) and choose Reshape from the Edit Menu. • Choose the Element Selector tool in the Tools Palette (the single arrow at the top of the palette), then click on the spline you’ve drawn to select it. • Choose Lathe from the Tools Menu at the top of the screen. When the Lathe angle line appears, click and hold on its center point, then drag it so that it lines up vertically with the right most point of the spline. • Double click in the drawing window to complete the lathe operation. When the lathe is complete, you will have both a spline mesh and a surface mesh displayed in the view windows. • In the Tools Palette, choose the Group Selector tool (double arrows) then click anywhere on the model to select it. Under the Group Menu, choose Manipulate Data. When the requestor appears, click on the Purge radio button then click on the Surfaces checkbox. Hit Return to purge the surface mesh. • From the Tools Palette, choose the Element Selector (single arrow). Click anywhere on the spline mesh to select it and then choose Reshape from the Edit Menu. • In the Front View, click and drag on the upper right control point to form a lip for pouring. Try dragging other points around in various view windows to see how 3D sculpting works. • When you’re satisfied with the shape you see, exit Reshape mode by clicking in a view window away from the spline mesh. • To prepare for rendering, click on the spline mesh to select it and choose Auto-Surface from the Tools Menu. If you would like to see a quick rough rendering of your object, click on the solid polygon icon at the bottom of the Front 30/30 perspective view window now. ...................................................................................................................................... Using Lofting for Cross-Section Modeling Lofting is useful for modeling real world objects if you have access to their cross-sections. For instance, a topographic map and production drawings contain all of the cross-sections you need to model terrain, ships and planes. Lofting is also known as cross- sectional design, or surface skinning. It involves surfacing across two or more cross-sections of an object. In the Novice Mode, the entire object is automatically surfaced with flat surfaces. If you are in the Expert Mode, you can view and edit each of the cross section connections before the operation is completed using the Tool Info Bar controls. The order you select the cross-sections for lofting is important, since it affects the form of the 3D model. For example, the same four circular cross-sections can be lofted as a vase, a table lamp, or a jet engine. • To perform a Loft: • Select New from the File Menu. • Move the cursor to the Front View window, anywhere near the bottom of the window. Press the spacebar to set the drawing depth at that location. • Select the ellipse (circle) tool from the Tools Palette. Move to the Top View window. Press and hold the mouse button and drag out a circle or elipse. Release the button and note that the ellipse is positioned in the Front View window where you set the depth with the spacebar. • Repeat this process 3 or 4 more times, setting a different depth each time in the Front View window. • From the Tools Palette choose the Element Selector (single arrow) and move to the Front View window to select the cross section contours. • Click in the window away from the elements you’ve drawn to clear the selection of the last element. Hold down the shift key and click on each of the elements in turn from the bottom of the window to the top. The elements will loft in the order you select them. • Choose Loft from the Tools Menu. If you are in the novice mode this will be your last step. • In Expert Mode (in the Options Menu), choose Smooth or Hinged (straight) Connections, then click the Next Pair button on the Tool Info Bar to view the cross section connections. • When you’ve viewed all of the cross section pairs, click the Finished/Surface button to complete the operation and have a surface applied across the selected cross sections. ...................................................................................................................................... Creating a Logo using Outline Fonts • Under the file menu, select Open. • Open the file, “Imported Text”. Note: The sample text file “Imported Text” is included to enable you to complete this tutorial. Please use it for now. If you order the complete Presenter Professional Introductory package available from VIDI for $95.00, you will be able to import Postscript font characters from any Postscript font you have on your system. • Notice that the letter appears upright in the Front view, but only as thin lines in the Top and Right views. At this point the letter has no depth, which causes it to look a little thin when viewed on edge. • Select the Element Selector tool from the Tools Palette at the left of the screen. It is the top most tool on the palette (single arrow). Note: Tool Palette icons will change color to red when selected. • Choose Select All from the Edit Menu, or type command-A. • Select Auto Surface from the Tools Menu. A surface will be applied to your letter, which may look strange at first, but is necessary for rendering the letter later on. • Click on empty space in the front window and then click on the surface inside the letter. This will select the surface mesh instead of the original contour. • From the Tools Menu select Extrude. (Alternatively, you could select Bevel Extrude or Path Extrude.) An extrude control line will appear in the top and right views. You can use it to change the depth and angle of extrusion. For now, leave it alone. Double click in any window. • Under the Windows Menu, click and hold on the Palettes selection to display the Palettes pop-out menu. From the Palette’s pop-out select Group Info. • In the upper right corner of the screen a Group Palette should now appear. Click in the “D” column next to the imported text group three times. The display indicator should go from black to white to light gray to dark gray. Keep it set at dark gray. This will speed up the display by displaying the original spline contour without displaying the surfaces. (Choose Redisplay under the Options Menu.) • Once the Extrude operation is complete, you should notice that the letter has depth showing in the top and right windows. An angled view should be displayed in the perspective view (upper right window). • In the perspective window, click on the vertical and then the horizontal scroll bars (or arrows) to rotate your model around and view it from different angles. If you want to see your model rotate automatically select Spin Design under the Windows Menu. • Click and hold on the 3D primitives tool (second from the bottom - above the color tool) in the Tools Menu until the pop-out options appear. Select the Torus primitive (looks like a donut). • In the front view window, click and hold and drag to draw a torus around the letter. (It may be convenient before drawing the torus to zoom out in the front view window to make the text appear smaller.) • Click on the Element Selector tool at the top of the tool palette to select it (it should turn red). In the top view click to select the torus. Control handles (little cubes which appear in the flat view drawing windows as little squares) will appear at the corners of the text. • In the top view, click and drag on the control handles to resize the torus. You should be able to line up the front and back sides of the torus with the front and back sides of the text, as shown. Note: You will notice at this point that we have not autosurfaced the torus primitive. 3D primitives are a special data type and do not have to be surfaced to render correctly. • Using the Element Selector tool, click on the torus to select it. • Note: While it’s not necessary for this step, holding the shift key down will allow you to select multiple elements. • Click and hold on the Color tool (at the bottom of the Tools Palette), then move the cursor to whichever color in the pop-out palette you wish to select. • Select Save As under the File menu. Type in “Flying Text” for the file name. Hit Return to save the file. ...................................................................................................................................... Squeeze Bottle Design 1) Drawing the Cross Sections... • Launch the modeler application and select Expert Mode from the Options Menu. • Ellipse (Circle) Tool from the Tools Palette (6th from the bottom). • Draw a 2" diameter circle in the Top View window with its center at (0x, 0y). • Set the drawing depth by placing the cursor at .5" in the Front View & hitting the Space Bar. • Draw another 2" diameter circle in the Top View exactly the same as the first. • With the second circle selected, choose Elements to Splines from the Tools Menu. • Select Reshape from the Edit Menu. • In the Top View window, click and hold on the topmost vertex of the circle and drag it down halfway toward center. • Click in any window away from your cross sections to end reshape mode. Hold the shift key down and click select both cross sections. Choose "Linear" from the Duplicate pop out under the Edit Menu. • Type 3 into Total # of Copies text edit. • Type -1 into Y Translate text edit, then OK. • Click on the fit to window icons (open squares at the bottom left of the windows) in the front & right view windows to see what you've done. Click on the vertical scroll bar or arrows in the front view window to move the bottom contour up to the middle of the window. Select the Elipse Tool from the Tools Menu. • In the Front View window, position the cursor .5” below the bottom contour & hit the Space Bar to set a drawing depth. • Draw another 2" diameter circle in the top view. • Select Clone from the Edit Menu to clone the circle. • Choose the Element Selector Tool and click & hold on the newest circle in the Front View window and drag it down .2". • With the same (bottom) circle selected, choose Reshape from the Edit Menu. • In the Top View, use the single Reshape control handle at the bottom of the circle to decrease the radius of the circle .2 inches. • In the Front View window scroll up to view the top cross section, place the cursor .5" above it and hit the space bar to set a depth. • Draw another 2" diameter circle in the Top View. Select Clone from the Edit Menu then select the Element Selector Tool and move the circle up .5" in the Front View. Clone again and move it up .2" in the Front View. • Select Reshape from the Edit Menu and reshape the top circle to the same radius as the bottom most circle. Click in any window away from the cross sections to exit Reshape mode. • Connecting the Cross Sections. • Choose Add Object from the Group Menu. • When prompted, enter "Body" as a new group name. • Choose the Element Selector, hold the shift key down and click select (in the Front or Right Views) each cross section from top to bottom. • Select the Loft command from the Tools Menu. • Hit Next Pair button until all connections have been previewed or choose Auto Complete. • Click on the Finished/Surface button. • Turn off the Cross Sections Group by clicking next to it in the D (display) column of the Group Palette at the top right of the screen. • Select the Body group by clicking on its name in the Group Palette. • Choose Manipulate Data from the Group Menu. • In the set of checkboxes under Purge, select Surfaces as the element type to purge. • Click OK. 2) "Digital Clay" 3D Sculpting... • Click on the Element Selector arrow at the top of the Tool palette, then click on the bottle wireframe to select it. • In the Palettes pop up under the Windows Menu, choose Statistics. • Click in the Close Box of the Title Bar of the Statistics Palette to put it away. • Choose Reshape from the Edit Menu. • In the Right View window, click and drag on the left-most point opposite the top finger grip to form a thumb grip. • Click away from the bottle wireframe to exit the Reshape mode. • Click again on the bottle wireframe to select it. • Select Auto-surface from the tools menu to re-surface the sculpted mesh. 3) Topping it Off... • Select Add Object from the Group Menu. • At the prompting of the dialog, type "Lid" as the group name. Hit OK. • Select a new color from the Color Palette pop-out of the Color Tool in the Tools Palette. • In the Top View, place the cursor at a Z depth of 0 and hit the Space Bar to set a drawing depth. • Click the Zoom Box to the right of the Front View Window title bar to bring the Front View Window to full screen. Click on the Fit to Window Box. • Click and hold on the Vertical Ruler Bar, then drag a guide out to -.9". Drag another guide to -.7". • From the Horizontal Ruler Bar, drag guides to 1.9" and 2.1". • Select the Line Tool from the Tools Palette (5th from the top). Draw a line along the -.9" vertical guide from the top of the bottle to the 1.9" horizontal guide. • Select the Arc Tool from the Elipse Tool pop-out in the Tools Palette. • Draw a simple arc from the upper endpoint of the line you just drew to the intersection of the -.7" vertical guide and the 2.1" horizontal guide. • Select the Line Tool again. Place a horizontal line along the 2.1" Horizontal guide from the upper endpoint of the arc to the center line Y axis. • Select the Element Selector tool, hold the shift key down and click select the arc and two lines. • Choose Join Elements from the Tools Menu to create a single element from the three. • Click select the joined elements and choose Lathe from the Tools Menu. • In the Tool Status Palette above the work windows, type 20 into the segments: text box. • Position the Lathe tool on the Y axis line at 0 and double click. • When the lathe operation is complete, click on the Zoom Box at the upper right of the window. Turn off the Body group by clicking once in the D column of the Group Palette. • Select the Lid group by clicking on its name once. Choose Manipulate Data from the Group Menu. • Select Surfaces under the Purge column if it is not already checked. Click OK. • Click in the Zoom box on the Title Bar of the Top View Window. • In the lower left of the window, click on the Fit To Window icon (it looks like an open square). • Choose Drawing Options from the Options Menu. • In the X text box next to Visible Grid type .5. • In the X text box next to Locking Grid type .05. • Click OK. 4) Getting a Grip on the Lid... • Choose the Element Selector Tool and select the wireframe of the lid. Choose Reshape from the Edit Menu. • From above, the lid shows three concentric circles. Hold the shift key down and click select every other point in the second circle. • Click on the Reshape Scale Tool. • Click and hold in center of the lid at the origin. • Hold the Shift key and drag slightly down and to the left of the origin. • You should see the points you selected bending in toward the center. • When the selected points bend in almost enough to touch the inner circle, release the mouse button. • Click on the Reshape Selector tool, then click away from the wireframe lid. • Choose the Element Selector tool from the Tool Palette, then click on the lid to select it. • From the Tools Menu, select Auto Surface. • Turn the Body group back on by clicking three times in the D column in the Group Palette next to the group name. • Click in the Zoom Box at the upper right of the window. Save Your Work • Choose Save from the File Menu. • Name your model "Squeeze Bottle" and click on Save. Workgroup Sharing with Libraries... • Select Open Library from the Library Menu. • Open the Library file named "Tube 'n Cap". • When the small Library Palette appears, click on the picture icon of the Tube 'n Cap library part. • In the Front View Window, place the cursor at the top of the lid and hit the Space Bar to set a drawing depth. • In the Top View Window, place the cursor in the center of the lid and click to place the library part. Click on the Close Box of the Library Palette. Note: With the introductory version of Presenter Professional' modeler (limited to 100K byte models) you will not be able to save this addition to your model. •••••••••••••••REVIEW••••••••••••••• By completing the tutorials, you have covered the basics of digital clay sculpting with Presenter Professional. You should now be able to use the basic tools and menu options and have some understanding of grouping, reshaping splines, and forming surfaces. We suggest that you load the Newton model and observe the use of freeform curves, the group structure, and color in the design of this model. To render and animate your designs and to get the complete documentation, we recommend you obtain the Introductory Version of Presenter Professional mentioned in the beginning of this document.