FIRST STEPS IN 3D MODELLING USING ANIM8OR

By José Pablo Luna Sánchez. 2006.

We want to learn about how to use Anim8or.
We are going to make a cylinder and turn it into a plane

Before we start, we need to learn the basics about anim8or.
It takes at least two clicks to do whatever we want.

In the diagram, 1 are the main mode buttons, 2 are the tool (secondary mode) buttons and 3 is the area where you work.
When you work, normally you have to click in that order.

You probably may want to select and move an object in the drawing area, but it doesn't work that way.
You need to press the select tool and then click on the object to select it.
Then you need to press the Move button and drag the mouse on the drawing area to move it.

Once you get used to it, you will be able to handle it.

When your mouse pointer passes over a button its name appears at the bottom of the screen.
From now on, we will refer to the names of each button in this tutorial.

This tutorial includes a file named blueprint.jpg that you will need.

BUILDING A SIMPLE PLANE BY DEFORMING A SHAPE

• Select Build > Reference Image



• Press Load button
• Select file blueprints.jpg
• Press Object/Viewpoint button
• Press Frame View button
• Select View > Left
• Press Frame View button
• Press Object/Edit button
• Press Move button
• Keep pressed theright arrow key of your keyboard during some seconds to move the blueprints to the right of your screen.
  We are moving the blueprints to leave an empty room for our mesh.
  We don´t want our mesh to overlap with our blueprints.



• Select Build > Reference Image
• Press Load button
• Select file blueprints.jpg
• Press Object Viewpoint button
• Press Frame View button
• Select View > Top
• Press Frame View button
• Select Edit > Rotate > Rotate Z 90



• Press Object/Edit button
• Press Add cylinder
• Draw a cylinder between these 2 points.



• It should look like this.

• Double click on the cylinder
• Change Lat to 20.
  It stands for Latitude.
  It tells how many divisions the cylinder will have along the axis of the cylinder.



• Press Ok
• Select View > Right
• Press Move button
• Press the up key until the cylinder covers the side view of the plane.



• Select Build > Convert to mesh. Before, the cylinder was an object defined by parameters, not a collection of dots, so we wouldn't be able to deform it. Converting it to mesh allows us to deform the object. Once an object is converted to mesh, there is no turning back.
• Select View > Top
• Press Object/Point edit
• Press Drag select. This button allows us to make multiple selections.
• Draw a box as shown in the picture



• Press Non-Uniform Scale button. This button allows us to rezise simmetrically from a point called "pivot".
  We won't cover pivots here.
  It may go for a more advanced lesson.
• Press the left arrow until you see this



• Press View > Right
• Press the down key until you see this



• Select Edit>Merge points
• Press Ok
• Press the Move button
• Press the down arrow key until you see this



• Select View >Top
• Press Drag select button
• Draw a box like this to select the points



• Press Non Uniform scale
• Press the left arrow key until those points fit the shape of the plane.



• Select View > Right
• Press the down key. It should look like this.



• Press the Move button
• Press the down arrow key until it looks like this.



• If it doesn't fit the shape of the plane like this, you will have to use Non Uniform scale and Move buttons to make it fit.
• Press Drag Select button
• Draw a box like this



• Use the left key to move those points and align them with the dotted blue line of the blueprints.

• Use the Non Uniform Scale and Move buttons to make these dots to look like this.

• Press the Cut faces button
• Draw a line along the blue dotted line



• Use the Drag Select, Non Uniform Scale and Move buttons to make points to fit the shape of the plane like this.

Notice you will need to match those points with the blue dotted lines and with the wing corners.
Those lines are useful because they tell us where the shape should be adjusted.
In actual blueprints, you may have cross sections that are placed at a certain point of the craft.
So with these blue lines we are pretendinf that we have cross sections at different places of this plane.
Sometimes you may need to add points by using the Cut faces button.

• Notice we didn't put together or merge the points of the plane tail yet.

MAKING THE TAIL

• Press the Object/Viewpoint button
• Press the Move button
• Drag the mouse until the tail is centered on the screen



• Press the Zoom view button
• Drag the mouse until you see this.



• Now we have the tail and we can work on it.
• Select View > Top
• Use the Move and Zoom View buttons until you see this.



• Select View > Right
• Press Object/Point edit button
• Press Drag select
• Select these points. We selected 2 points, one in each side.



• Select View > Top
• Press Non Uniform scale button
• Use arrow keys until you see this.



• Select View > Right
• Press Move button
• Use arrow keys until you see this



• As you may realize, the red dots in the drawing were the ones we scaled and moved.
  We selected them in one view and moved them in another view.
  It is useful when we want to move points simmetrically.

• Press Select button
• Select this point



• Press the Move button
• Use arrow keys until you see this



• As you may notice, we moved this point.
  We used a single view to select and to move, for there was no need of simmetry here.

• Select these points using the left button and then select others using right button.

• Press the Non uniform scale button
• Use arrow keys until the points are together
• Select View > Top
• Use arrow keys until the points are together
• Select Edit > Merge points
• Press Arc Rotate
• Move your mouse inside the circle until we can see our tail in a 3D view.
• Press Arc Rotate to turn it off so we can use our tools.
• Select these points
  • 
• Select Edit > Merge points.
• Select top or right view to continue.
• Now try to move the rest of the vertices for wings, elevators and rudder.
  You won't need to merge points, because we did it only for the tail.
  You will need to move points simmetrically.
  You will need to use views, drag select, non uniform scale, and move buttons.
  We need it to look like this.

  

  
  Don't worry, it takes time to get used to views and to select the right points.
  It is very likely that the first time you end up with a messy shape.
  So practice and practice.

  The first time everyone ends up with a mess. Don't worry.
  But this is about playing with 3D shapes, so who cares, some day you will be able to make a nice mesh.
  There is no reason to feel frustrated.
  If a doctor makes a mistake, he kills the patient, but if you make a mistake in Anim8or, you just start over and nothing happened.

Why did I make such an exercise to push you to the limits?
Because you may like to model a real craft instead of a tin can, or a shape made only with primitives.
I could have made a very cartoonish plane, but you may end up having a cartoonish mesh.

You may have noticed how useful the blueprints were.
Learning to draw is very important if you want to model the craft you imagine.

Modelling planes and spacecraft requires drawings.
And even if you completed this exercise, you may find that modelling an F-16 or a P-51 pose extra challenges.
Even modelling a Space Shuttle external tank or SRBs is somehow challenging because you need pipelines and other details.

Modelling is a very challenging task.
With every new object you can imagine, you face new challenges.
You won´t be discouraged if you didn't make it in the first trial.
Don´t you?