Week 2 - Lab 2: Cardboard Modelling

1. Create a Polygon Cube and switch to the top panel.

2. Hold right click button and select the vertices in the middle column. Press r to for scale tool.

3. Set the Absolute Values display to Relative Transform. By scaling the vertices, enter 2.9 in the X Axis window.

4. Region-select the vertices in the center of the box width-wise. Scale the vertices by entering 2.92 in the Z-axis window.

5. Change to perspective view and hold right click and select Face. Choose the top face in the center of the box. Select Extrude Settings under the Edit Mesh option in the hotbox menu and reset settings. Apply and Close.

6. Move the manipulator down a little bit on the Z axis. Change the values of Local Translate Z to -29.5. The result is as shown below.

7. Select the face in the corner of each top section, depth and width. Press g to to repeat the extrude command. Move the manipulator up a little bit on the Z axis and set Local Translate Z to 0.2. Press q and change the Local Translate Z again to 17.

8. Select the center faces on the top of the end flaps.Press r for the scale tool. Scale the end flaps a short distance away from the side flaps. Hold right click and choose vertex.

9. Select the vertices on the top of one side flap.

10. Press down arrow to move the vertices down. Add the top vertices to the selection.

11. Press e for the rotate tool and press the insert key. Use the manipulator to move the pivot point near the lower selected vertices on the outside of the box.

12. Press the insert key again to return the manipulator to normal mode. Rotate the flaps out a little bit.

13. Hold right click and select Edge. Go to Edit Mesh and select Insert Edge Tool.

14. Slide the loop near one end of the box – about a quarter of the way along the length – and release the mouse. Continue to add divisions to the length, splitting the faces into 4 sections. They do not need to be evenly spaced.

15. Under Select on the hotbox menu, select Select Edge Ring Tool.

16. Choose the edges you want to bevel later on.

17. Under Edit Mesh in the hotbox menu, change Width and Segments to 1.

18. Hold right click and select Vertex. Select the vertices at an inner edge loop on the top of a side flap.

19. Double-click on the Move Tool icon on the Toolbox to bring up the Tool Settings dialog. Under Move Settings, choose the Set to Face button.

20. Click on the top face of the side flap where the vertices are selected. Move the vertices along the X axis a short distance to create a bend in the edge of the flap. Repeat the process on the opposite flap edge.

21. Go to Mesh in the hotbox menu and select Smooth Settings. Set division levels to 2 and Continuity to .2.

22. On the Status Line, switch the Menu Set to Animation. On the Menu Bar, choose Create Deformers > Nonlinear > Wave.

23. Press r to choose the Scale Tool. Scale the deformer along the X axis to fit the width of the box. In the Channel Box under INPUTS, set Amplitude to .01 and Wavelength to 2. Under wave1Handle set Rotate X and Y to 90.

24. On the Menu Bar, choose Create Deformers > Nonlinear > Wave. Scale the deformer along the X axis to fit the width of the box. In the Channel Box under INPUTS, set Amplitude to .01 and Wavelength to 2. Under wave1Handle set Rotate X and Z to 90.

25. On the Menu Bar, choose Window > Outliner. Hold down the MMB and drag wave1Handle over Box_open. Repeat the process to link wave2Handle to the box.

26. The cardboard box is done! ^_^

Reflection:

It took me about 3-4 days to finish this. I could have finished it in one day even though how difficult it is, but due to the homework load, it's very difficult to finish this cardboard modelling in one day. It's instructions are not clear and I had to ask my classmates about it. I hope teachers could reduce the workload! (thanks!) There's a part where i need to bevel the flaps and I got stuck at there and nearly gave up on this modeling. (but I did not!) I could not bevel the flaps because the arrows in  the pdf files were unclear. (eg, the small edges at the corner, there are so many! But the pdf file just shows arrow pointing at the corner.) I tried different ways of selecting the edges, but I just could not bevel; it remains the same. After so many tries and helps from my classmates, I managed to finish the beveling and moved on to complete my cardboard modeling.

Week 2 - Lab1: Gear Modelling

1. Create a Polygon Pipe, hold right click and choose the Face option.

2. In one column, choose the middle two faces. Do the same for alternate columns.

3. Under the Edit Mesh option in the hotbox menu, select the Extrude option and scale the Y axis arrow upwards . Scale the X axis arrow leftwards. Also, scale the Z axis arrow outwards to make the teeth for the gear.

4. The gear is made! ^_^

Reflection:
This gear modelling is quite easy and the only problem i faced is that, when I extrude, I tend to drag the cube beside the arrow instead of the arrow. And the result ended up remaining the same, which makes me wonder sometimes what the extrude option is for.

Week 2 - Lab 1: Blocks Modelling

1. Create a Polygon Cube.

2. Change the input values of the cube to 3.8, 7.6 and 15.2 respectively for the width, height and depth.

4. Set Translate Y to 3.8 to set the block on the grid and change the name of the rectangle to Block_rectangle.

5. Right click and select Edge. Under the Edit Mesh at the hotbox menu, select Bevel Settings options and set the with to 0.1.

6. A beveled block! :D

Reflection:
I don't find it difficult to this block as it requires only a few steps and beveling the edges of the rectangle. Over all, it was manageable! ^^

Week 1 - Lab 2 : Primitive Robot

Primmy was built by well-known child genius, Jimmy Neutron, to look after his five year-old younger brother, Jimmy Neutrino. When his brother, also a genius, modifies Primmy’s main circuit board, Primmy goes into a modified “Protect & Survive” mode. Primmy overrides all the house’s security systems, setting them  to kill anyone who tries to enter. Guarded by the locked security system now programmed to keep them”safe”  inside the house, Jimmy Neutron and his brother have only thirty minutes to disable Primmy before their parents arrive home and are fried to lazer-beam cinders!

1. Continuing from the previous exercise, I created a Polygon cone followed by a Polygon cylinder to make it look like a spear as a weapon for the robot. After that, I go to mesh > combine the parts of the spear together so that I can move them together. I then place the spear beside the hand of the robot.

2. Next, I created a Polygon cube as a shield for the robot. I then used the Rotate tool to slant the shield a bit, because a very straight shield looks weird. I then place the shield by the other hand.

3. I then created a long small Polygon cube for the eyebrow of the robot. With the eyebrows, it make it look furious and determined to go for a""war". I then use the 4 panel view to accurately place the eyebrow above the eye.

4. I duplicate the eyebrow and use the rotate tool to turn the eyebrow to the opposite side. I also slant both eyebrows to make the robot angry.

5. The robot is ready! ^_^ (with black colour!)

Reflection:

I just modified a bit of the robot. It's not that difficult though. I did not encountered any problems while doing this. Hence, for the reflection here is not that I can say ): But I managed to make an angry robot from a calm one! ^_^

Week 1 - Lab 2: Boolean Difference and Union

Boolean Difference

1. Create a Polygon cube and cylinder.

2. Rotate the Polygon cylinder into the cube.

3. Select the cube first before the cylinder. Under the Edit Mesh option in the hotbox menu, select Boolean followed by Difference. The result I see is that the part of the cylinder sticking out is missing, leaving a 'cylindrical' hole inside the cube.

4. But if you select the cylinder first before the cube, the result is very different. the result is you only see the part of the cylinder sticking out of the cube!

Boolean Union

1. Continuing from the above Boolean Union, select from the hotbox menu the Edit Mesh option followed by Union.

2. The result is different from Boolean Difference. Boolean Union unites polygons together as you can see in X-Ray mode from this screenshot. The other part of the cylinder has been united with the cube.

Reflection:

From this exercise, I can learn the great difference between Boolean Difference and Union. I think it is a very useful tool when you want to make things like toys for example. This exercise is not difficult at all as it only require only a few steps.