3D Modeling Special Interest Group – February 2019

In this session, we covered using roof objects to create ceilings with various slopes and discussed creating textures for tile designs.

Topics Covered:

• 00:08   Many have been asking for my library file, so I have gathered my library, standards, hatches,  and other goodies all on one page of my website (https://archoncad.com/blog/category/library-files/).
• I’ve also taken my 3D modeling course, updated it for 2019 and put it on my knowledgebase website (https://archoncad.com/knowledge-base/introduction-to-3d-modeling/).
• 04:45    Someone was trying to model a ceiling that was flat in the middle but had 45-degree slopes on the sides. Instead of using a Floor object—which we might do for a flat ceiling—we approached constructing the ceiling by using a Roof object and editing the roof panels. We tried the process as well on more complicated roof shapes. We took things further by adding skylights to the roof. One way is to cut a hole in the roof, but another is to put a skylight window—for example, from the Vectorworks library—in the roof by using the Edit Roof Element dialogue box. If you have a roof and a separate ceiling, you can pop the skylight into the roof, but then you’ll still have to punch a hole in the ceiling. We demonstrated how to create splayed sides from a skylight to a hole in the floor below. We also experimented with going from a rectangular skylight to a round hole in the floor. In the end, the Loft Surface tool did a pretty good job! We really had to play around with the alignment setting. If you need to add thickness to a 3D surface use the Shell Solid tool.
• 34:45   Someone couldn’t find a tile pattern that they needed, so they wanted to create a tile texture from scratch. I built up the design in 2D, before turning the image into a texture. We covered creating the texture, as well as a bump image, for the tile design. Adding lighting to the bathroom space really brought out the color and reflectivity of the tiles. We discussed how to create an area light—and then demonstrated how to create a glow texture.  Textures have four main ingredients: color, transparency, reflectivity, and bump. Sometimes, you can create a great texture with only two of them, but other textures—like water—require all four.

3D Modeling February 2019

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