- Launch Carrara and select File|New.
- Select Insert|Spline Object. Here we will build the base object for
Anything Grows, the backbone of the Machine. It will be a cylinder
with no ends.
- Use the Draw Oval tool to draw a 5" by 5" circle and then
select Sections|Center to center it.
- Now we'll remove the ends of the cylinder. Select Sections|Create to
add a new cross section at the end of the cylinder. Using the
Sections|Cross Section Options and the Sections|Go To commands to
select each cross section and turn off the Fill Cross Section option.
- The final step of the backbone is to stretch it out. Grab the
starting and end points of the extrusion path and move them to x = -20
and x = 20 respectively. When you are done, you should have something
that looks like Figure 1.
- Flip back to the Assemble room and with the spline object still
selected, turn off the Visible and Show Object in 3D View options on
the Properties palette. We don't need to see this object, just use it
as a base for Anything Grows.
- Now we will create the parts of the Machine. Select Insert|Spline
Object again and draw a rectangle that is 2" wide and .5"
high. Center it and stretch the end points to -4" and 4".
You should have a block that looks likes Figure 2.
Flip back to the Assemble room and again with this object turn off
Visible and Show Object in 3D View.
- To build the Machine, start by adding Anything Grows by selecting
Insert|Anything Grows. When the Anything Grows UI comes up set the
following options.
Segments = 1
Gravity = 0%
Wiggle = 0%
Base Object = Spline Object
Tip Object = Spline Object 1
Show Base = Unchecked
Show Strands = Unchecked
This creates an object that looks like Figure 3.
- With the Anything Grows object still selected, flip to the Texture
room and build your favorite metal shader. Figure 4
shows the shader I put together.
- The Machine is almost done, but currently all the parts are the same
size so to add some variety and interest we'll build a shader to mix
up the size of the tip objects. Select Edit|New Master Shader and
create a noisy shader with lots of contrast. Figure
5 shows a sample you can use if you have Shader
Ops. If you don't have Shader
Ops, you can use this
texture.
- Return back to the Model room so we can make use of the new shader.
Update the following properties on the Anything Grows object.
Tip Scale Shader = Shader 1
Strands = 555
- Flip back to the Assemble room and the Machine is done! Light your
model and render. In Figure 6, there are two spots one bright and
white at x, y, and z (13.40, -14.60, 14.00) the other dark and
blue at x, y, and z (9.98, 26.57, 14.00), both pointed at the Machine.
Inside the Machine are two spot lights with Light Cone turned on and
3D shadows. The background is a star map created by Universe.
Because of Carrara substandard anti-aliasing where light cones
intersect geometry, I recommend rendering large and sampling down in
your favorite 2D application.
|
Figure 1. The base object |
Figure 2. The machine parts |
Figure 3. The start of the Machine |
Figure 4. The Machine Shader |
Figure 5. The tip scale shader |
Figure 6. The final render |
|
