#Cheetah 3d modeling how to#

These are left behind whenever geometry is removed, and itвЂ™s a good idea to clean them up from time to time. YouвЂ™ll see dozens of stray vertices in the 3D view. Switch to Left view, highlight these polys and delete them. Version 7: In Object mode, highlight Main and Joint1 in the browser and select Tools > Merge. Its shape should remain, copied into the Main object. Select the Main object, and then Tools > Import Children.Drag and drop Joint1 on top of the Main object in the browser, so it is nested beneath it.The tool you use for this varies, depending on which version of Cheetah you are using. Now weвЂ™ll combine Main and Joint1 into a single object. With the Transform tool selected, set Snapping to Raster and the raster width to 0.5. Rotate Joint2 forward by setting its pitch value to 90. Rotate Joint1 to the left by setting its bank value to 90 in the Rotation section of the Properties panel. Switch to Object mode, select Joint1, then copy and paste to duplicate it. Select Ring Cut and add five additional edges. WeвЂ™ll add them now to save a few clicks later. Additional edges will be needed later when the mesh is subdivided. Use the Transform tool to extrude it slightly down into the cylinder. Highlight the edge again and select Cover. While holding the left mouse button down, drag to the left to extrude the edge inward. Click the small sphere at the toolвЂ™s origin.Tap one of the box-shaped scale widgets on the Transform tool (it doesnвЂ™t matter which one).There are a few ways to do this, but this may be the quickest:

WeвЂ™ll extrude this inward to create a lip on the cylinder. In Edge mode, use Loop Select to highlight the top, circular edge. Make it editable and, in the Object Browser, name it Joint1. If snapping is still enabled, the edge will snap right to the Z (blue) axis.Д¬reate a second cylinder 1 unit high, with 16 longitudinal sections, 1 height section, a radius of 0.75, and no covers. Highlight the right vertical edge and select Cover, then use the Transform tool to drag it to the right. WeвЂ™ll start with a single corner and then use Mirror to build it back out, greatly reducing the amount of work we have to do. WeвЂ™re going to take advantage of the fact that this object is more or less symmetrical in all three dimensions. Switch to the Left view, highlight the polys on the left and bottom halves and delete those, too. Switch to the Front view and, in Polygon mode, use Area Select to highlight the polygons on the right side of the mesh. In the browser, rename the resulting mesh вЂњMain.вЂќ With the cylinder selected, select Objects > Make Editable, or simply double click the cylinder icon in the Object Browser. (This will snap any movements to the grid in one-unit increments.) Move the cylinder two units in the negative X direction. Select Transform, with Snapping set to Raster with a raster width of 1.0. Create a cylinder 2 units high, with 20 longitudinal sections, 6 height sections, a radius of 1, and no covers.

Start a new file and save it as tJunction.jas (or whatever name you prefer). A top priority will be to end up with a mesh consisting entirely of quads вЂ“ four-sided polygons вЂ“ because they subdivide more evenly than other types of polygons.

They can be found in the main Tools menu, and also in the context menu that appears when you right click anywhere in the 3D view. WeвЂ™ll use the Transform toolвЂ™s Snapping settings so we can work quickly and accurately, so take a couple of minutes to review how those work if you havenвЂ™t used them before.

#Cheetah 3d modeling how to#

But weвЂ™ll try to make the rest of it as accurate as possible.ДЇor this tutorial youвЂ™ll need a basic familiarity with Cheetah 3D: How to create objects, use the Object Browser, navigate around the 3D view, and use the Transform tool. In our scene, it will be connected to conduits, so weвЂ™ll be leaving out the inner threads on the joints. Here is what a T style electrical conduit looks like. A fine Malleable Iron T Style Conduit Body, featured on the Garvin Industries website. It will provide a decent modeling challenge that involves creating and combining several meshes and working with many of CheetahвЂ™s modeling tools. Every artifact is designed by someone, and many day-to-day items that we take for granted can rise to the level of art when you look at them closely.ДЄ T-junction may not fall into this category, but itвЂ™s still a workmanlike bit of design that gets the job done. To make a believable model you must have good reference material вЂ“ but also curiosity and an appreciation of how things are put together. One aspect of modeling that I didnвЂ™t anticipate is that it will turn you into a keen observer.