Railworks America

Today we move a little closer to actual modeling with the discussion of Primitives. Every time you look at a model, you're looking at the basic primitive shapes resized, altered, distorted and lots of them. Therefor a closer examination of Primitives is necessary. At the same time we want to keep moving forward so in our discussion of Prmitives we will also discuss the application of them into the viewing area. I've provided a picture of the 3D Canvas 7.1.2 interface but use the 3D Canvas 8 interface if you have it to explain the features highlighted in the picture below. Here again, you the students take the lead in presenting the material for class. Hopefully you newbies out there will not hesitate to ask questions of your fellow students (some obviously with quite a bit of experience how some of the not-so-explained things work.

In addition. Let's also start preparing for lesson 4 by selecting a picture of a model you would prefer to do. And let's keep the model simple. Show a picture of building you would like to model along with your explaination of the featured material. You might ask, why don't we all do the same model? We probably should but we'll give it a try first each person doing their preference and see how it goes.

The picture itself is divided into two basic groups of material to be discussed. First start with the class material raised via A thru E. After those are discussed then explain how the interface features like F through J play a role in the preparation of the Primitive.

You'll note that I have the same letters represented twice of the basic groups. Just an aide to help how to answer A thru E.



Try to be more exhaustive in your explanations. While you participants with experience with modeling may feel there's not much need to explain much in depth, there's a lot of onlookers reading your posts. So gear your explanations for them.

Rich

I'll get the ball rolling...

A. How to select a primitive and what uses do each do?

To select a primitive you click on it in the 3d window. These primitives are the "building blocks" for your objects, like Legos. You have a cube, cylander, sphere, "donut" (not actually called that), and a cone.

B. How to place the Primitives on the Grid.

Click and drag your primitive of choice to where you want it to be in the 3D window (scene) and drop it there, it will be "sitting" on the grid.

Q1. How do I know where I want to put the primitive?

Q2. How do I know which primitive I want. I am doing the tutorial on making a whale and it made me start with a cube. I'm like what??!! a cube, How can I make a whale out of a cube. A few hours later I had a whale made out of a cube. Amazing!!

I cant visualize a cube turning into a whale, I would have never thought it so.

artimrj wrote:Q1. How do I know where I want to put the primitive?

It can be anywhere you want, if you have a complex model, you put it in a place relative to your model.

artimrj wrote:Q2. How do I know which primitive I want. I am doing the tutorial on making a whale and it made me start with a cube. I'm like what??!! a cube, How can I make a whale out of a cube. A few hours later I had a whale made out of a cube. Amazing!!

It depends on what you're making. The Cube is the most used primitive for me and probably everyone else.

B Placing a Primitive:

All objects are placed relative to a point known as the origin ( 0,0,0 ). You can drop a primitive anywhere you want initially and then fine tune its location as needed using the mouse.

Lets say you drop a CUBE in your scene. It may end up at point X=3, Y=0.5 and Z=2. If you want to relocate this object... You can always "DRAG" it till it looks right, but chances are... you want to be precise.

F Right Clicking

Right clicking a primitive will bring up a list of contextual options for that primitive.

In version 7.12, you can "Right-Click" the PRIMITIVE (or shape) and select "Properties" from the list. (Note: this is slightly different in version 8, you need to HOLD down the CTRL key and double-click the object)

In the ATTRIBUTES area you have full manual control over the X,Y,Z placement of the primitive by entering the values you want.

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Chances are, you are thinking... OK, well that's a big block on the screen... but that's not the size I wanted... You may also notice that "this" screen is not where you can actually "change" the size... but notice that the OBJECT size IS shown to you at the top of the properties form. You can see that it is 1x1x1 in size. We'll see how to SIZE and object later since we can't do it here.

Oh, and by the way... I start nearly EVERY shape with a CUBE and if not a CUBE, a CYLINDER.

E Axis of Origin

Location 0,0,0 ---> Notice... there is a "wigety" thing there... showing you where ORIGIN is. It is not part of your model.

REMINDER: X,Y,Z nomenclature differs from 3D Studio MAX so keep that in mind when you refer to 3D Studio tutorials and references. (Y & Z are swapped)


This "item" is designed to "SHOW" you clearly where the origin point is. It is a placement reference.

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While we are just at the point where we will start placing primitives in our scene's and messing with them till things look right, I'd like to share some advice.

It's a quick tip about your editing environment that has really helped me making models for any simulator. In the Tools-->Options-->Editing Tab you will see a form that lets you define your editing environment.

My Grid Settings are: X = -15 Y= 0 Z= -15 SIZE= 30 UNITS= Meters
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I have found, through trial and error, that I work best if 0,0,0 is in the center of my workspace. My scene is now centered and the object I'm drawing is now easily referenced. The workspace extends all around my working area. This means that some negative numbers get entered into the form... but 3D Canvas doesn't care.

How does this help?

Lets say I'm placing "couplers. (NOTE: I work in Metric) I know that the car I'm working on is 12 Meters long. It is centered on 0,0,0... so my first coupler would be placed at X= 0.0, Y= 0.89 and Z= 6.0. Logically then, my next coupler would be located at X= 0.0, Y= 0.89 and Z= (negative) -6.0. I was able to figure out all the values easily due to my 0,0,0 origin.

If you were using the default settings... you would be working on the edge of your "floor" aka workspace.

You can always expand your editing area as you need... but mine is currently setup for rolling stock. Honestly, this is more about making your work area look nice... but I think it's a good practice to always center your work on the origin.

F Right Click - (Continued)

Changing an objects "SIZE"

You may have noticed that one of the primitive contextual options with the "Right-Click" menu is SCALE. This is how you will SIZE your object.

Lets say you wanted to draw a fence post from that 1 Meter cube you dropped on the scene. This means that you want it to be adjusted to these values instead: X=0.1 Y=1.524 Z=0.1

(again... METRIC)


You would select the cube, Right-Click, and select SCALE-->TO SIZE.


You would then just enter the values shown above in the small form that pops up and then you end up with something resembling a small piece of lumber and no longer cube shaped.

So... SCALE is about individually changing the SIZE of our primitive in any of our 3 Axis values. So, in essence, you can change a primitives general shape using SCALE.

We we asked to pick something to model... and here is my real-world example:


So before I get started... I will write down some dimensional data.

Raw Lumber for posts is 4"x4"x8'
Raw Lumber for rails is 2"x3"x8'
Raw Lumber for pickets is 1"x3"x8' (Just for simplicity to maintain the real-world reference, assume we will cut these in half)

Now, as mentioned... I will convert these values metric since I am fond of a decimal system and find it much more convenient when modeling.

All I need to do is place 3 cube primitives on the scene (anywhere convenient for now) and the SCALE them to the size I need.

With these 3 parts I will explain the following:

1) Placement
2) Scaling
3) Hierarchy
4) Shifting position and View
5) A few of the OPERATIONS options.

So... On to lesson 4.

Okay class, can you all gather round in a circle for a moment? ......... thank you.

I'd like to introduce to you Pete. Pete is originally a MSTS modeler and one who is quite excellent in his modeling skills with his numerous contributions to MSTS. I don't know when Pete crossed over into Railworks but he's a welcomed member to RWA. I have asked Pete to take over the class as my own scheduling has gone full bore into getting my route complete. I've explained to Pete how this class is being conducted but Pete may use his own methods. So pay attention, no gum chewing in class and most certainly, no cell phones.

You can see from Pete's above posts that he's no stranger to 3DC. In fact I don't know of anybody else from the train world who is more proficient with 3dC than Pete. So you newbie's pay close attention. And folks, stay involved. Being able to create the models you want takes you to the next level of route building. Being able to build models isn't that difficult. It does take extra time to do models and a route but it's fun. I was having a blast building my steel mill models but even as I'm not finished, the pressure to get the route moving along became great enough I had to jump back into the editor. But that all the more makes me appreciate that when I place scenery down and it's my objects, it really is my effort that you all see than me rearranging differently the same objects used by everybody else.

Take advantage of this. And enjoy it. And for goodness sakes, have some fun along the way!

*watches paper plane sail across the room*

It's all yours Pete.

Rich

Welcome, Pete. I'm not a modeler, just a driver, but I do enjoy reading all this stuff.

Get to work, Rich, I'm waiting for that route!