Intro to 3D Modeling: The Complete Guide by Gabriel Mathews A Lifehacker Night School Lesson

Intro to 3D Modeling, Lesson 1: Getting to Know Your Software Gabriel Mathews Do you have a product idea you want to create, or even send to a 3D printer like Ponoko the Makerbot? Do you love concept design, character art, or just visualizing your ideas in 3D space? In this Lifehacker Nightschool Series we're going to take a look at how you can do all of that by learning the basics of 3D modeling. Be sure to watch the video above for the full lesson. Text reference is included below. In this series, we will explore the basics to get you off the ground and help you on your way to being able to 3D model just about anything all the while understanding the why as well as the how of what makes these tools work. Here are the topics we're going to cover: Software - What software to use, why, and how much it costs. Interface/Toolbars - Now that we have the software, let's look at the interface and start learning how to navigate through 3D space and understand how all the tool bars are set up. Viewports/Construction Planes - After understanding the camera, it is critical to understand how the viewports work, which views do what and what construction planes do and why they are important. Object Selection/Object Transposition - Once you have an object in your scene, one of the single most important abilities is selecting it. Without selecting your model, it is very hard to do

anything to it. After it is selected, you might want to move it around, scale it, rotate it, etc. so we will talk about transposing your object. Bringing It All Together - After all is said and done, I will talk over a sped up video of me modeling a simple scene using the tools we've learned and some we haven't and show you how easy it is to use the tools all together to create whatever you want.

Software Let's get started by talking about the software. There are a ton of 3D modeling software packages out there to choose from. The price range fluctuates between free and tens of thousands of dollars. What you want is something that is high quality, nimble, can be used to learn on and yet be able to offer room to grow. It should also be highly customizable and have a great community of support. Rhinoceros 3D made by McNeel and Associates, this software is affordable, accessable, and fast. Windows users can download a trial and Mac users can download a demo. The trial is limited to 25 saves however, it is fully functioning and doesn't expire. So have fun with it and don't be afraid to just keep it open as it is really light software for your computer to run.

Aside from being a really great way to start to learn 3D modeling, it is a great software to import all sorts of external file types. See the image below:

You can get all sorts of free models off the internet. I recommend going over to Google Sketchup and downloading some models and see how easy it is. The SketchUp model extension (.SKP) is fourth from bottom on the above list. The models are opened pretty quick and are a great resource if you want to hack something together. I use them all the time for internal presentations to save time. Not only is the application small to install, the native 3DM files are as well. You can model your heart out without worrying too much about HDD consumption. When I started learning how to 3D model, I began in AutoCAD and then worked over to Z-Brush. It was a long and arduous journey.

When I picked up Rhino in 2003, I immediately saw how quick it was to learn and decided to stick with it. It is what I use for nearly all of my modeling needs still to this day. There are plenty of alternate software options out there. If you find that Rhino isn't a good fit for you, I recommend either Sketchup or Blender to start. They are both free to download and will get you on your way. I use Rhinoceros as it is the most flexible and accessible software to use while offering the most room for growth. SketchUp is a great second choice, but doesn't offer as nearly robust surfacing tools that you need to make the more dynamic models.

Intro to 3D Modeling, Lesson 2: Using the Interface and Toolbars Gabriel Mathews Yesterday we introduced you to 3D modeling using an app called Rhino 3D. Today we're diving in to the interface and toolbars so you can get to know your new environment.

The Interface Many 3D programs are very intimidating to new users because of either too many buttons or almost no options initially visible. In Rhino, the interface almost as familiar as opening up a word document. You are greeted with the typical open, save, copy, paste, etc. tool bar as well as a few others. Most of the tools are built around the idea of what it looks like is what it probably does. Add this to the command line up top and you are left with a very easy initial introduction to the interface. The quickest way to learn in Rhino is through both exploration and testing. The command line features something similar to Google's predictive text technology. You start typing, and anything that begins with the letter "C" for instance will drop down and you can see all the commands that start with the letter "C". If the command line and the tool buttons aren't enough, you can always point your cursor up to the top menu bar and access any of the tools from the top and work that way. Whenever I install a fresh copy of Rhino, I like to open up a couple other windows. Layers and object properties. These two windows act

as both navigational aids and information windows about your model. With the Layers window, you can turn layers on and off, lock them, change line types, colors and a myriad of other options that will help you determine which layers are which. You can even rename the layers and create sublayers (these act like layer groups) to keep things more organized. The object properties window is your other really important window. When you select an object, it will tell you what sort of object it is, what it's comprised of, materials, etc. It is kind of like the project manager of Rhino that has all the information right when you need it.

Zooming, Panning, and Orbiting To start discussing navigation with the camera, you should really memorize these three simple hotkey combinations: Right Click + Drag = Orbit Right Click + Shift = Pan Right Click + Ctrl = Zoom

To navigate 3D space, you must understand the camera that you are looking through. The 3 hot key combinations above will allow you to navigate the 3D space so you can see your model from every angle. When you are moving the camera around, it might initially feel like you are moving around your model. You can download the model I use in the Navigation of 3D space here: http://polyplane.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ Navigationin3DSpace.zip If you've ever worked in an image editing software like Photoshop or Painter, you may be well aware of the importance that the zoom and pan tools offer. Likewise, the orbit tool enables you to fly around your model and see it from all sides. Now that we have the camera and interface out of the way for now, let's talk about the tool bars and what does what.

The Toolbars The main two toolbars, conveniently titled "Main1" and "Main2" are broken down essentially into objects and object modifiers. With these two tool bars, you can perform just about all of the critical operations you need to perform without much searching. The icons do what they look like they do, e.g., the button icon of circle makes a circle. Some of the tools have a little arrow in their bottom right corner. If you click and hold on this, it will expand that tool to show some additional options. For example, by clicking and holding on the circle button the image below will appear.

These tools all enable you to draw the circle in various ways. Likewise, all of the other icons that have expandable menus such as this, offer additional ways to create shapes. This is very useful because sometimes you'll need to draw a shape in a way other than the default (typically the default prompts you to pick a point, then drag out to another point to create your shape.)

Remember, when I mentioned the command line? If you get stuck, just type it out what you think the command you might be thinking of is called, and Rhino will drop down the possilble commands that it could be (assuming you're calling it by the correct starting letter.) If that doens't help, you can always press F1 or go to the menu bar and click on "help" to find addtional answers.

Intro to 3D Modeling, Lesson 3: Viewports and Construction Planes Gabriel Mathews This week we've been learning 3D modeling with Rhino 3D and have spent the first two days getting acquainted with the software. Today we're taking a look at viewports and construction planes. Halfway point! Congratulations on making it to day three. Let's keep truckin' and learn about the viewports and construction planes. These two elements help us further understand what we are looking at and help us understand the units we are working in and how they affect our geometry.

Viewports When working in Photoshop or MS Paint, the photo or illustration you are creating is visible from one available view. The front. This makes sense because it is a two dimensional image. In 3D software, you need to be able to see what you are doing from any number of views. This is critical to be able to see what you are doing and what you are manipulating from all sides. For our purposes, there are two types of viewports: elevation (top, right, front) and perspective. Looking through an elevation viewport is like looking at a drafted drawing of whatever your model is. The view type is called "projection" or "parallel". Perspective is not displayed so that you can see how everything lines up. Through the perspective viewport, it is a much more familiar setting. Like looking through a normal camera that you

can orbit around and see your object from all sides. By default, your viewports, or those four rectangular windows, that open on your screen are set to (going from top left, clockwise) Top, Perspective, Right, and Front. This is a standard setup in most 3D programs. If you want to add more viewports, you can click and hold on the viewport window tool on the top tool bar and this will come up (see image below).

You can then customize your layout of viewports to your heart's content. The top left button is what you'll see by default. If you ever need to reset these, just click that one and your viewports will reset to the original configuration. If you click and drag on a viewport name in the upper left hand corner of the viewport window, you can drag the viewport around. Likewise, you can click and drag on the seam between windows and resize to your needs. By right-clicking on the name of the viewport, you get immediate access to a really awesome sub-menu (see image below).

With this menu, you can change the display from wireframe, to shaded preview. You can change lens length, save views, insert background images, and really customize every viewport to your needs. You can even turn off "Parallel" view and change it to perspective if you need a more dynamic view of your model from one odf its side views. Now that we understand the viewports are are looking through, let's take a look at what is through the viewports.

Construction Planes The easiest way that I can describe construction planes is like this: When you are building with legos at your dining room table, your table is your construction plane. It is the plane which everything is being built upon. From the Rhinoceros help page: The construction plane is infinite. The array of lines lying on a specified portion of the construction plane in the viewport is the grid. The grid is a visual reference only. Construction planes are what plane you are building your model off of. These grids show you both where in space you are working and how big you are working. When you create a new document in Rhino, you can indicate the unt scale of the grid by selecting the a temlate. The numbers you input are then linked to that scale unless you indicate otherwise. For example, if I set up my document in "inches" and I make a circle with a diameter of "1", Rhino will create a 1" diameter circle. Then if I create another circle with a diameter of "2 centimeters" it will create a circle with a diameter of 2 centimeters

within the same document because I specified the unit within the command. When needing to build off of a surface, you can orient the constuction plane off of said surface with the "Cplane" command and selecting object from the menu. You can then select an object and build off of that object. Whatever viewport window you're working in, the green line on the grid always means "Y" and the red line on the grid always means "X". Likewise the "Z" axis is always coming at you. The easiest way to remember this is to use the hand gesture (pictured below).

If you might (or might not) remember from high school geometry,

these axii help you understand where in space you are. By using multiple construction planes you can understand where your model is in space. If you'd like to know more about axii and coordinates, check out the video "0,0,0" on PolyPlane.

Intro to 3D Modeling, Lesson 4: Object Selection and Transposition Gabriel Mathews This week we've been learning 3D modeling with Rhino 3D. Today we're taking a look at object selection and transposition. Almost there! If you've been following along this week, you have an understanding of the software we are using, including the interface, toolbars, viewports, and construction planes. Now we need to understand how to grab an object and then move it around. Open up Rhino and let's get started.

Object Selection Selecting an object in 3D space sounds like a pretty straight forward operation, and it is, but there are a few subtle nuances to how you do it that will greatly help your speed and precision while creating your model.

When selectiing an object, or in a lot of cases, many objects, the selection method tends to follow two basic motion paths with your mouse: left to right and right to left. This is typical for most if not all

3D modeling software. When performing left to right selections, you are clicking and dragging to the right to completely cover what you are trying to select will select your selection, however it is important to keep in mind that it will also grab anything else that is completely surrounded by your selection window.

My favorite is the right to left option. You click and drag with your mouse to the left, and anything your selection path touches will become selectied. This is very useful for quickly selecting multiple objects or groups with more nimbleness. This idea also works with groups of objects. By being able to rapidly select and deselect objects, you'll be well on your way to speeding up your modeling. If you are wanting to select multiple objects in a tight cluster, holding the "SHIFT" key and clicking on objects as you need them will get you multiple selections. Rhino is pretty good about figuring out what you are trying to select, but if it isn't sure, a small prompt will come up that will allow you to select what you are intending to select. If you need to deselect something, you can hold "CTRL" and the left to right/right to left selection method will become a deselection method. This is a very useful technique when you are trying to group objects together. If you want to select everthing in the scene, you can use the hot key combination of "CTRL + A" or if you want to deselect everything, you c an simply type "Selnone" or just hit the "ESC" key.

Object Transposition Object transposition is just a fancy way of saying moving an object around while reorienting it in space.There are four main types of object transposition that we need to discuss. These include move, rotate, scale and mirror. Move - With the move tool, you aren't changing any numerical values of the geometry outside of its position in space. The comand for move is "Move".

Rotate - The rotate tool is very similar to the move tool in the respect that you aren't changing any numerical values of the geometry aside from its position in space. However you are changing its orientation to one or more constructon planes. The command for rotate is "Rotate".

Scale - The scale tool is broken down into three commands "Scale1D, Scale2D, Scale". Scale1D will scale your object on only one axis leaving the other two alone. The Scale2D command will scale your model on two axis while maintaining the scale in the third. The "Scale" command will scale your model in all three dimensions. It is worth noting that the tool works specific to whatever viewport you happen to have active. For instance, if I have a cube, and I type "Scale2D" from the top view, it will scale on the X and Y axis in the top view but leave the Z axis alone. You can see this modification happening in the other three viewports simultaneously.

Mirror - The mirror (or reflect in some programs) tool modifies your geometry in an indirect way. It makes a copy of whatever your mirroring but flips the numerical values in reverse...just like a mirror.You define the line of the mirror and it will mirror the copy exactly at the opposite angle and even distance from the mirror line. Mirror is activated by typing "Mirror".

With these 4 main tools and your new ability to select objects, you should now have a great grasp on how to move about in the Rhino workspace and be able to start manipulating objects around and build up some basic forms. Before diving too far in, I recommend checking out the Heiarchy of Geometry video.

Intro to 3D Modeling, Lesson 5: Bringing It All Together Gabriel Mathews This week we've been learning 3D modeling with Rhino 3D. If you've been following along, congratulations! You've made it to the end of the series and are now well on your way to being able to model up just about anything. Today we're looking at how to bring everything you learned together and additional resources you can use to learn more. In the video above I go over some of the basic principles that I've talked about over the last week and put it all together to create a simple scene. I've taken a photo in my studio to use as a reference image for what I'm creating (pictured to the right). I cannot emphasize this point enough: use references. It isn't cheating. It's like any other art form. The best way to get the best results is to refer back to things that exist in reality and then riff off of them. Not only does this create a more believable model, but it will assist you in solving problems. By referring back to your original, you can see all the subtle information about the way a surface looks and flows. The three biggest points I want to drive home are: Take your time - Rome wasn't built in a day (although if you're awesome, you could probably model it in a day). By pacing yourself, you give your brain time to learn. Plan ahead - By creating a road map of what you want to accomplish with your model, you'll be 110% ahead of the game.

Sure you can go into a modeling program and just play around, but to create really effective models, it is always a bright idea to think before acting. Realize your potential - The cool thing about modeling is that anyone can do it. You just have to practice at it. It gets easier with time, like anything. Before you know it, all those hot-keys will become second nature and you can stop worrying about the software and start creating! There are a ton of "how-to" sites out there that will help you model this and that, but if you really want to learn and understand the why of 3D modeling, I invite you to come over to PolyPlane.com and start watching all the other videos on the site. They come out weekly and are 100% free. I recommend going to the first page of videos and starting from the beginning and working forward. Each video is about four to five minutes long. Each explores and discusses a particular topic while creating relevant analogies to help you learn to model fast. If you want to explore a particular topic in more depth, I offer a few premium videos in the PolyPlane store. I'll be adding more premium videos as time goes on and as suggestions pour in.