LightWave 3D [8] 1001 Tips & Tricks phần 3 pps

mode, and click on the + next to 1 Vertex and 2 Vertices to select them all. Delete them, and save the model with a different name for export. Versions: 6.5-8 260 Robin Wood | Import/Export | Beginner to Intermediate Preparing Files for Export — Exporting UV Maps If you want to export a model to another format, such as .obj, with the UVs intact, simply use the map in at least one channel in each material, and export. The UVs will be retained. (You don’t even have to assign an image, just the UVs.) Versions: 6.5-8 261 Patrik Beck, Robin Wood | Import/Export | All Levels Loading DFX, OBJ… and 3DS Files? LightWave can load several different object formats, such as .dxf, .obj, and .3ds, even though the option is semi-hidden. Select Load Object as you normally would, navigate to the directory containing the non-LightWave object, and select the All Files option so that files with extensions other than .lwo will show up. This allows you to load public domain objects you find on the Internet or object collections that may not be in the native LightWave .lwo format. Versions: All ð Mac Note (Robin Wood): On the Mac, changing Show to All Documents enables the other formats so you can select them. (When LightWave objects are showing, you can see them, but they are dimmed.) It’s possible that the names will still appear to be dimmed. Go ahead and click anyway; they will open. 262 Brad Krause | Import/Export | Intermediate Export Orthographic Views You can export any of the three orthographic views or all three of them at once out of Modeler using the EPSF exporter. You can also export the object’s wireframe in a UV map view after you create a UV map. These exported views can be best used for placement into Adobe Illustrator or any other vector or bitmap program to create a quickie CAD-like drawing. Versions: 5-8 Ü Note: Only objects in a single foreground layer will be exported. 102 | Chapter 3 Import/Export Chapter 4 Modeling It can be argued that learning to model is the single greatest challenge facing new users. While primitives are fun and give you immediate gratification, there comes a point when the novelty of making balls, boxes, and cones wears off and the need to actually make something settles in. When this happens, most users hit a very steep wall. Certainly they expect some type of learning curve. But most aren’t prepared for the “insurmountable” wall that looms before them. As the weeks go by and they find themselves still climbing that wall, their enthusi - asm often wanes. You see, learning to model is not synonymous with learning Modeler. It is a skill that requires time and dedication and is no different than learning to paint, sculpt, or draw. Taken in this light, it’s easy to understand why modeling presents such a formidable challenge to new users. Still, for those who stick with it, modeling can be incredibly rewarding. The ability to realize your dreams in 3D is exhilarating. And the freedom that comes from knowing you can model anything you desire is simply intoxicating. Still, modeling can present challenges to even the most experienced artists. Experience often yields confidence; however, confidence should never be mis- taken for expertise. The skills needed to model photorealistic cars and planes are completely different from those needed to model realistic human beings. Having experience in one area does not make you adept in all areas, and even the most talented artist will struggle when working outside of his comfort zone. The bottom line is that we all need a little help now and then. And this chap - ter provides it in droves. For new users, these tips can make the wall look more like a curve. For experienced users, they can help get the job done faster. Whether you’re just beginning your climb up the wall or you’ve been modeling like a pro for years, the tips in this chapter will meet you where you’re at and provide a valuable resource for years to come. — Steve Warner General Tips 263 Steve Warner | General Tips | Beginner Point Info Window You can use Modeler’s Point Info window (“i” keyboard shortcut) to interac - tively adjust the position of selected points in your object. In this regard, the Point Info window functions like an interactive version of the Set Value tool. But it can be used for much more than setting global point positions. If you’ve 103 ever dealt with two or more points that overlap but are not welded, you know that moving one but not the other can be difficult. With the Point Info tool, how - ever, you can select just the point you want to move and adjust its x, y, and z coordinates. Versions: 6-8 264 Robin Wood | General Tips | All Levels Don’t Overlook Point Info Don’t overlook the Point Info panel. Just select the points you want to work with, and tap “i” on your keyboard to bring it up. From here, you can examine or edit anything you like about all of those points or any number of them, including their position in x, y, z space and the attributes they hold in any vertex map they are part of (color and alpha for color maps, U or V value for UV maps, etc.). You can also examine but not change other information, such as the number of polys that share that point. When you open the panel, each selected point will be labeled in the viewports, so it’s easy to see exactly which ones you are working with. There’s similar information for polys, too. Just select them and tap “i” to find out their type, how many points they have, and their flatness, surface, and wireframe colors. These two panels are perfect places to check when you suspect that you have multiple points or polys and can’t select them individually (you can, once you’re in here) or when you need to change the values of a raft of points simultaneously or set values for several axes at once, or do other examinations and modifica- tions (especially now that the dynamics will read all the VMaps). This is the one place where you can easily find out which points are used in which maps and what their values are! Versions: 6.5-8 265 William “Proton” Vaughan, Wes “kurv” Beckwith | General Tips | All Levels Black Wireframe Shade If you would like to see your object with black wireframe shade, simply copy the object into another layer and put it in the background with your original object in the foreground. There you have it — black wireframe shade. Alternatively, LightWave 8 has added texture wireframe mode in which you can make your wireframes any color. To do this, simply change the sketch color in the Detail tab. Remember, if nothing is selected in LightWave that is the same as everything being selected. Having said that you can also select specific polys on which to change the wireframe colors. Versions: All 104 | Chapter 4 General Tips 266 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | General Tips | All Levels Easy on Your Wrist Using a Wacom or other digitizing tablet when you’re dragging points is much easier on the wrist than using a mouse — “tap-and-drag” vs. “click-hold-drag-release.” Versions: All Scanning and Setup 267 Jennifer Hachigian | Scanning and Setup | Beginner Cel-shaded Modeling When modeling a cel-shaded model, use an actual drawing as your model sheet instead of referencing a photograph or trying to model without reference. Scan the drawing, load it in as a backdrop image, and try to match the contours and proportions of the drawing with your model. Leave out the details that the drawing leaves out. For example, if the model sheet does not depict nostrils for the character, do not model nostrils. Otherwise, the character model will not match the drawing. LightWave’s Edges and Super Cel Shader cannot add or remove detail to a model; they can only trace existing polygonal edges and sim- plify the shading. This is why loading up a photorealistic humanoid model and slapping edges and a cel shader onto it does not often deliver the look of a genu- inely good drawing. Versions: 6-7.5 268 Wes “kurv” Beckwith | Scanning and Setup | All Levels Using Backdrops Be sure to save your work when creating backdrops. On the Display Options panel’s Backdrop tab, click on Presets and choose Save All Backdrops to create a file containing all of your current backdrop information. You can also choose Save Current Backdrop to save only the current backdrop you are working on, either the TL (Top Left), TR (Top Right), BL (Bottom Left), or BR (Bottom Right). Be careful not to choose Save Current Backdrop when you intend to save all backdrops. Versions: 5-8 Ü Note: This is important because when you save your file LightWave does not save the backdrops with it. If you are like me you may have done this once or twice and wanted to shoot someone… Modeling | 105 Scanning and Setup 269 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels Using Reference Images When modeling something with reference images, I have found that it helps to use the Sketch tool to trace the image. This way I end up with a 3D sketch that I can use in the Background layer and have it show up in the Perspective view. Versions: All 270 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels EPS Importer Don’t forget the power of the EPS importer for use with reference images. If you have clean black and white reference images, you can always use Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash — my favorite — to auto trace the image and save it out as an EPS or Illustrator file. These files are great for background tem - plates to model from. Versions: 6-8 271 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels Mapping an Image on a Polygon If you would like your reference image to show up in the Perspective win- dow, simply map the image to a flat polygon. In Texture view mode, the image will show up in the Perspective view. Versions: All 272 William “Proton” Vaughan | Scanning and Setup | All Levels Breasts and Butts At some point you’re probably going to want to model a woman. Here is a tip I wish I had known when creating my first few female models. When you want to model areas that need to be smooth and round, like a butt or breast, place a ball object in the background layer to use as a guide. This has saved me several times when creating character models, but is not limited to butts and breasts. (I just love to type those words whenever I can. :)) Versions: All Object Construction 273 Jonny Gorden | Object Construction | Beginner Model to Scale Where possible, make your objects to scale. This way when you are setting them up in scenes you don’t have to do any rescaling. Versions: 6-8 106 | Chapter 4 Object Construction 274 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | Object Construction | All Levels Work Smart, Not Hard If something is only going to be seen in silhouette, only model its silhouette. Versions: All 275 Wes “kurv” Beckwith, Robin Wood | Object Construction | All Levels Easy Undo I found this by accident. I was modeling a head and went to perform a Smooth Shift to start making the eyes. I thought I had pressed the Spacebar to drop the Smooth Shift tool and clicked in the gray area, and it undid my Smooth Shift. I have tried this on several tools and it works by resetting each tool to its original state, simulating an undo. So if you want to quickly undo the last modi - fication to your object, try clicking on the gray area instead of using Ctrl+z. Test it for yourself…. Versions: 5-8 Ü Note: This does not work with the Modify tools. 276 Kevin Phillips | Object Construction | Beginner Work Flow — Colorful Wireframe Welding I was modeling a WWII aircraft in which I was joining the wings onto the fuselage of the model. What was difficult was that in wireframe mode, things got quite confusing — to say the least! The same color wireframe for both fuse- lage and wing, lines and points everywhere — surely there was an easier way. Luckily, I was able to make my life a little easier by selecting all the wing polygons, then selecting the Detail>Sketch Color option and setting my wing sketch color to be red, rather then the default gray. Once I had the different color applied, I switched the viewport to Color Wireframe. Now that I could see each part in a different color, it made selecting the right points a lot easier! Versions: 7.5-7.5c 277 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate Speed Screen Redraw If you don’t need to see your model in SubPatch mode, you can speed up screen redraw considerably by tapping the Tab key to return your model to Faces. If only part of the model is using SubPatches, you can assign all the polys you want to be SubPatched to a part using the Create Part button (in LightWave 7.x: Display>Selection>Grouping>Change Part Name…). That will let you select them easily (from the Polygon Statistics>Part: menu) when you are ready to toggle them back. (The only caveat is that you cannot assign polys to more than one part. So, if you’re using parts for something else, you may not want to do this.) Versions: 6.5-8 Modeling | 107 Object Construction 278 Steve Warner, Kevin Phillips | Object Construction | Beginner Work Flow — Hide Selected and Unselected If you are working on complex meshes where hunting for that elusive point, edge, or poly gets difficult, or Modeler starts to become sluggish, select all the non-necessary polys and press the – key to hide them and make your life a little easier! (Alternatively, pressing the = key will hide the non-selected polys.) Once you’re done, pressing the backslash key (\) will unhide the polys. This will also help you isolate the area you’re working on, which can be extremely helpful when working in the orthographic views in version 7.5 or ear - lier (as they lack LightWave 8.0’s new Hidden Line view mode). Holding down the Shift key while pressing the backslash will toggle between hidden and unhidden. Thanks to Robin Wood for making me aware of this keyboard tip! Versions: 6-8 279 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate Save Ephemera for Later Adjustment Sometimes while you’re working you’ll wish that you could go back and adjust a Boolean, lathe, extraction, etc., without losing the work you’ve done on the other parts of the model since. To make it easy to do that, save all those bits in a “working” file. Just open a new file, append “working” to the name, and copy and paste all Booleans, outlines, curves, and other ephemera into it. Save as soon as it’s pasted, so you won’t lose anything. Then, if you need them at any time (even weeks or months later), you’ll still have all those parts and won’t have to recre- ate them. Versions: 6.5-8 280 Robin Wood | Object Construction | Beginner to Intermediate The Measure Tools Are Your Friends Don’t be afraid to use the Measure tools and do a little arithmetic. They can save you tons of time. Measure, Angle, and PointCenter are found under Detail>Measure (or Con - struct>Utility in LightWave 7.x). (If you’re on a PC or using LW 8, you may have others as well, including Find Center and Bounding Box.) Measure and Angle give you a positionable blue line while showing the length or angle in the Info Display. PointCenter gives you the coordinates of the average of all selected points (or all visible points, if none are selected). Find Center puts a new point in the center of a selected poly, and Bounding Box gives you the coor - dinates of a bounding box that encloses everything on the layer (and also replaces it all with a simple box if you click OK, so be careful). 108 | Chapter 4 Object Construction Using them, you can determine the measurements for clones and arrays, the correct angles of a gemstone to get the best internal reflections for the refraction index, the exact spot to use for the center of a radial array, and many, many more things. Versions: 6.5-8 281 Robin Wood | Object Construction | All Levels A Little Math Can Save a Lot of Time A little bit of math can often save a lot of time. Not just simple arithmetic, like figuring out angles of rotation, etc., but actual equations. If you don’t know the equation for something, sometimes it’s faster to look it up on the web than to try to find the correct numbers through trial and error. For instance, use the Pythagorean equation (a 2 +b 2 =c 2 ) to find the cloning settings for a row of balls with a radius of1msothey’ll line up like unbroken pool balls (1 m on the x-axis, and 1.732 on the z). Use it again to find the set - tings to stack those spheres like cannon balls (x=1, y=1.633, z=.5774, then delete the ones you don’t need). Use C=pD to find out how far a wheel with a diameter of 1 m should travel for each complete rotation (3.14159 m). And that’s just a few of the useful equations! Remember, calculators and the Numeric Requester are your friends. Versions: 6.5-8 Layers 282 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels Layer Names You set up layer names in Modeler, but they really help you in Layout. Maybe this is why many people forget to use them. When using a multilayered object you can name each layer easily in the Layer panel. Which do you like better when animating: 1. Robot: Layer1 (unnamed layer) 2. Robot: Left Arm (named layer) Simply double-click on the name (default name is Unnamed) in the Layer panel (Ctrl+F5). This really comes in handy when you are trying to find a partic - ular object in a scene and you can’t remember what layer the robot’s arm is in. In a simple scene this might not be so important, but in a complex scene full of objects this becomes very important. Also, while you have the Layer panel open to name your layer, you could parent the layer as well, which will save you time in Layout. Versions: All Modeling | 109 Layers 283 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels The Power of Layers When modeling, I find it very useful to copy my work into the next available layer every few minutes to save a backup of my work. By doing this I never run out of undos and I save my steps along the way. It’s also very useful to pull one of these steps (layers) for use with a new model that has similar geometry. For example, a head model pulled in an early stage can easily be modeled into a completely new model, thus saving hours of work in some cases. Versions: All 284 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | Layers | All Levels Swapping Layers If you’re working in a particular layer and want to put that layer into the background, and bring another, currently unselected layer into the foreground, the quickest way to do this is to put the layer you’d like to have as your fore - ground into the background, and then press the ’ (apostrophe) key, which will swap your foreground and background layers. Versions: All 285 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels Layer Merge Here’s a quick way to take a multilayered object and collapse it into one layer. With all layers in the foreground, cut (Ctrl+x) all layers. Select the first layer and paste (Ctrl+v) the objects in the layer. There you go. Versions: All Ü Note: Object Collapse in LightWave 8 does this in one step. 286 Steve Warner | Layers | Beginner Layers in LW 8 Modeler 8 includes some nice new layer tools (which can be found in the View tab), including the ability to merge layers or collapse them into a new object. But what if you want to redistribute parts of your object after you’ve col - lapsed it? Do yourself a favor and surf on over to http://cgi.f23.aaacafe.ne.jp/ ~fisjunk/plugin/plugin.php to pick up a copy of Fi’s CrackIt Pack. It includes three plug-ins: CrackIt, Merge High Layers, and Distribute (each of which is cross-platform compatible). The real gem in this plug-in set is the Distribute tool. It will take any polys that do not share points (in other words, distinct objects whose points are not welded together) and place them on separate layers. Let’s say you have a character. The hair, shoes, shirt, and pants are all separate objects from the body. By using the Distribute tool, you can place each of these objects on separate layers for easy editing. Then use either Merge High Layers or Modeler 8’s new layer tools to rejoin them. Versions: 6-8 110 | Chapter 4 Layers 287 William “Proton” Vaughan | Layers | All Levels Locking Layers Using the Layers panel allows you to lock layers (just click in the eyeball column). Locking layers appears to do nothing in Modeler but it will stop those layers from loading objects into Layout. I like to leave my Boolean objects (the cutting objects) in my model but lock them off so they won’t load into Layout. This can be very useful for storing unwanted geometry for Layout in the model. Versions: 6-8 Selection 288 Larry Shultz | Selection | Beginner Basic Selecting and Deselecting LightWave Modeler supports two types of basic primitives or elements — points and polygons. In order to be able to create a model, it is important to know how to select and deselect those elements. At the bottom left of the Mod- eler screen you will see a button labeled Point and another labeled Polygons. It is important to be in the proper “mode” to select points or polygons. In point mode you can select a single point by putting the cursor or mouse pointer over the point and clicking the left mouse button. This will select a point. If you keep the button depressed and don’t let go, you can move the cursor over other points and continue selecting more points. If for some reason you let go of the left mouse button, you can continue selecting by holding down the Shift key and using the left mouse button as usual. This works the same way for points or polygons. There are three ways to deselect. Simply let go of the left mouse button and click on a selected point or polygon and it will deselect it. Click the left mouse button anywhere in a blank spot in the gray border surrounding the active viewport or press the / (forward slash) key to deselect all the selected points and polys. Group select points or polygons by clicking the right mouse button and hold - ing it down, then draw a blue line around or lasso what is needed. Deselect the same way described above or lasso deselect with the right mouse button. Versions: 5-8 289 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee, Steve Warner, Wes “kurv” Beckwith | Selection | All Levels Selecting and Deselecting Modeler’s tools work only on the points/polys you have selected. You can isolate sections of your model by selecting them; tools such as Drag will ignore all but the selected points/polys/patches. Remember that if nothing is selected, Modeler often assumes everything is selected. Versions: All Modeling | 111 Selection [...]... to the curve) in the foreground layer Select Multiply>Extend>Rail Bevel (It’s a little touchy, but with about 30 seconds of practice, you’ll get the gist of its requirements See Essential LightWave 3D 8 for more information.) Versions: 6-8 132 | Chapter 4 Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken 33 3 William “Proton” Vaughan | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | All Levels Extrude to Thicken An easy way... product visualization work in LightWave, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without these tools Oh, and did I mention they’re free? Copies of these tools are included on the CD that comes with this book, but can also be downloaded at http://www.3dfightclub.com/~jettocrack/ (JettoBevel and JettoFillet will work on both the Mac and PC JettoLocal is for the PC only.) Versions: 6-8 33 0 Steve Warner | Multiply,... process a no-brainer Versions: 6-8 134 | Chapter 4 Array, Duplicate 33 7 Steve Warner | Rail Extrude | Beginner Problems with Rail Extrude If you run into troubles using the Rail Extrude tool, check your spline for points that overlap or are positioned too close to each other Nine times out of ten this will be the source of the problem Versions: 6-8 Array, Duplicate 33 8 Robin Wood | Array, Duplicate |... One-point Polygons LightWave gives the user many ways to go about creating an object or effect You can use the Spray Point’s tool to create a cluster of one-point polygons, but if you would like to limit the cluster to an exact polygon count, follow these steps: 1 Create a ball 2 Remove Polygons (“k”) 3 Use the Jitter tool to randomize the points 4 Points to polys Versions: All 31 3 Emanuele Salvucci... flip the polys the other direction Smooth Shift the object slightly to create an edge around it Now paste in the original object and hit the “m” key (Point Merge) Versions: 5-8 Modeling | 133 Rail Extrude Rail Extrude 33 5 Larry Shultz | Rail Extrude | Beginner Rail Extrude To get a good rail extrude I make sure that the template poly is lined up with the head of the spline I also make sure the normal of... Versions: 6-8 33 1 Steve Warner | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | Beginner Take Your Model from Average to Great! Beveled edges often determine the difference between an average model and a great one Thankfully, LightWave 8 includes new tools to solve the most common beveling problems For those not upgrading, however, here’s a straightforward technique for creating these rounded corners  130 | Chapter... hard-angled edges Now, go back and select the points of your poly in a clockwise fashion Hit the “p” key to create a new polygon Modeling | 131 Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken You can extrude this object to get smooth, rounded edges, as shown below Versions: All 33 2 Timothy “Amadhi” Albee | Modeler | Multiply, Extend, Beveling, Thicken | All Levels Rail Bevel Rail Bevel is a powerful tool for creating... cloth dynamics to it and pick the frame you think looks best for your model Use Save Transformed and the deformed object will be saved out ready to use Easy as 1, 2, 3: 1 Model base object 2 Apply dynamics 3 Save Transformed Versions: 7-8 32 7 Jennifer Hachigian | Modify, Translate, Rotate | Intermediate Save Transformed If you use Save Transformed on a SubPatched object in Layout, make sure the Display... away from the base geometry 3 Select the new geometry and move it back on top of the base 4 With the geometry still selected, use Smooth Scale to shift the geometry in/out away from the base And there you have it — thickness as promised Versions: 6-8 Ü Note: Ü Note: This method works best with organic objects Third-party tools like Thicken and Pump_it do the same thing 33 4 Larry Shultz | Multiply,... those polygons from the Polygon Statistics panel in the Color section In LightWave 8, the button for the Info panel is found at the bottom of the Modeler interface Versions: 7-7.5 30 1 Steve Warner | Selection | Beginner Volume Select The Volume Select tool is the ugly duckling of Modeler’s selection toolset But it shouldn’t be This is LightWave s equivalent to the Lasso and Rectangular Marquee tools in . | Import/Export | All Levels Loading DFX, OBJ… and 3DS Files? LightWave can load several different object formats, such as .dxf, .obj, and .3ds, even though the option is semi-hidden. Select. the Create Part button (in LightWave 7.x: Display>Selection>Grouping>Change Part Name…). That will let you select them easily (from the Polygon Statistics>Part: menu) when you are. (Create>Polygons>Make Polygon) on the currently selected points: 1. Select the Points tool (Create>Points>Points). 2. Right-click on a view to create as many points as you want. 3. If