You can have the most interestingly sculpted shape in the world – if your reflections sabotage its virtues, your sculpting efforts have been in vain. Reversely, if you have a boring object, you can give it a surprisingly exciting, visually sculptural quality by employing surface modeling in clever ways – without really changing its volume a lot (in short, there are ways to put a few dents into a boring box which make the box look pretty good as soon as it has its clearcoat on).
Just to clarify a few terms:
• Shadow Lines are the boundaries of any shadows cast anywhere on your model. Good designers are able to refine the model’s shape so well that it will have attractive shadow lines cast no matter where your light is coming from. Never is this left to chance.
• Highlights are the brightest reflections on your model, and you must sculpt your object in such a way that they appear just where you want them to be – e.g., along an especially important edge which serves to define your model’s sculptural qualities when no shadow lines will be there to do the job.
• Reflections occur on any shiny surface, and can be used to make your object look smaller, larger, sleeker, brighter, darker, or more elegant than it really is. In order to do this, you must develop a feeling for the environment your object will be in, and decide what in that environment you will allow to reflect in the surface of your model, and what you’d rather hide. E.g., if you are designing something for outdoor use which will have to be large, but you want it to look compact, try curving its side walls in such a way that the sky starts reflecting on its sides at a low height, getting ever brighter toward the top, so that the eye can barely distinguish where the object ends and the sky begins – this will take away the hugeness of it to any onlooker.
• Volumes are the different shapes of which your model consists. In good sculptural tradition, they should interact with one another in exciting ways.
When you build a computer model, you are in complete control over the way shadow lines, reflections and high lights will eventually flow over the object you are building. This is the bit we will focus on today. Building interesting bodies and sculpting them is a different matter, and one you probably understand already.
How do I create a perfect surface then? Really designer-worthy?
It’s surprisingly easy. But you must learn to handle Control Point Curves. It is true that you can build good-looking surfaces from any curve. But beware of the difference between just any old curve and control point curves (or Graded Curves, as they are sometimes called, as in “Third-Degree Curve, Fifth-Degree Curve”, etc.).
A control point curve lets you tweak it in any way you like, and allows you to create climax points or parabolic-style direction changes. Any surface built on that will provide you with much more interesting qualities than surfaces built in simpler ways.
This is the difference between 3D-modeling and creating design with 3D modeling! Anyone can throw together a few curves and skin them, but only a designer will understand how to make reflections flow delightfully, and purposefully, over a surface!
Good looks are no coincidence. They are constructed.
Here are the rules:
• Develop a plan how to build your model out of as few surfaces as possible. The fewer surfaces you build, the cleaner your model will be, and the more attractive it will look.
• Never piece and patch things together in 3D modeling with little bits and ends, as if you were handling paper-machee. Your model will look like something that has been in a bad accident. If you don’t like an aspect of your model, select it, delete it, and rebuild it in large, generous, swooping forms.
• Use as few points as you can to build your curves. 3 to 7 is best. More is a deadly sin. Then, play with the control points until the curve looks great and has no weird kinks or bumps anymore.
• If you want to build another volume, use a new curve. Build separate objects. If you want one volume to visually flow into another, use the appropriate functions for it, such as building a bridging piece whose curves are made to flow seamlessly into the adjoining surfaces’ curves.
What About Control Points for Solids?
There is a way to make structural changes to solids. You simply activate the control points of a solid, and pull one or more of them in certain directions. While this can be of great help when you are building simple shapes, do not expect any acceptable results for more complex things!
If you try to negotiate a complex model entirely with the help of modified solids, you may end up with a space potato, but it won’t be something anyone would need to pay a designer for.
Remind yourself what convenient, clean work 3D-modeling is; there is no need to start building things in goofy ways, as you can so easily build and re-build anything as many times as you want.
And the Revolve Command?
That tool makes some stunning shapes. But its use is probably best limited to things like wheels, musical instruments, hubcaps, pottery, or cooking ware. Nevertheless, it’s great for that. You create one curve, set a revolving point, and you get an amazing result.
Beware: If it can be done on your computer, that may not necessarily mean that it can be made in a factory! To establish that, better do some research on whatever production methods are used to make whatever it is you are designing first.
Your object will be as beautiful as the curve you’ll have based it on. Take your time when you use it. If it is to be part of another object, use radii that can be found on it. That way, it won’t look like it doesn’t belong there.
To summarize: Our best friends for creating perfect surfaces on a computer are:
• Control Point Curves – the King of Curves.
• Control Points for Solids – for simple objects. Use sparingly! Space Potato looms.
• Revolve Command – for UFOs and other household contraptions.
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