3D Modeling Special Interest Group – July 2016 (am)

In this session we looked at importing a chair from the Internet and simplifying it using 3D Modeling tools and commands.

Topics Covered:

• ​00:20 selecting the chair to import.
• 00:49 importing the sketchup file and looking at the import options.
• 02:23 when the chair is rendered in wireframe it shows how many 3D polygons make up the chair, but when the view is rendered, the chair looks good. There are no layers or classes that can be used to simplify the model, so native Vectorworks objects will have to be created, and the imported polygons deleted. The legs have been created using Extrude Along Path.
• 03:34 replacing the polygon legs with Extrude Along Path. Set Working Plane was used to create a working plane on the front of the legs, which was then used to draw the path to match the existing.
• 11:20 the new 3D model of the front legs can be copied to make the back legs, using the Split tool to cut the legs to the required length.
• 12:36 using Extrude Along Path (using screen plane) to create the back support. Using screen plane places the Extrude Along Path on the ground and it has to be moved and rotated to suit the chair design.
• 18:42 using a subdivision surface to create the seat bottom. The subdivision has to be split and edited to approximate the true seat bottom.
• 26:31 creating a thickness to the seat bottom, using the Shell Solid tool reports errors for some parts of the chair bottom, but changing the wheel to outside (rather than inside) creates the required result. The using Add Solid, Split, and Mirror to make a symmetrical object.
• 40:38 the imported sketchup file started out at 15mb. The current file (with the complex back is 7.2mb. Deleting the chair back brings the file size down to 4.5mb.
• 43:38 modeling a new chair from the beginning without importing any starting files, starting with the arms and using Extrude Along Path.
• 44:48 creating the seat of the chair using the subdivision surface, starting with the cube so that we do not have to shell the seat. We used the split mode, extrude face mode, and crease mode to create the seat.
• 54:28 adding textures to the chair, the arms are wood and the seat is leather.

3D Modeling July 2016 am
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