EXAMPLES
EXTRUDE EXAMPLE / SPLINE EXAMPLE / PEN EXAMPLE
CAMERA EXAMPLE
LOFT EXAMPLE / CAMERA EXAMPLE
LOFT EXAMPLE 2
MAGNET EXAMPLE / RANDOMIZE EXAMPLE / OBJECTS EXAMPLE
PATH EXTRUDE EXAMPLE / PIPELINE EXAMPLE
EXAMPLES
Until a complete tutorial is available, these examples may help you to use PatchDance¹s features. Most do multiple duty, illustrating as many different tools and techniques as possible. Many of the methods used are not the best way to accomplish an action. The more obvious this becomes, the better you understand the program.
Many examples include tips and techniques that we have discovered / devised to do things faster and easier.
All Examples, unless stated otherwise, assume that PatchDance is running and a new, empty Project is open with all Preferences (except colors) set to the default value. If you have multiple undo disabled because of limited memory you can still use the examples, but you may have to backtrack when the instructions call for an undo. (Saving/Reverting is a good way to return to a specific point). If you must close a window to save memory, the Camera window saves the most and is only specifically used in one example. The west window is not often mentioned in the examples, but you should leave it open if possible.
While not specifically mentioned here, the Prompt Bar can be very helpful when learning the program.
EXTRUDE EXAMPLE / SPLINE EXAMPLE / PEN EXAMPLE
This demonstrates the use of the Extrude command as well as the various spline types you can create. Path Extrusion and Pipelining are covered separately.
1. Make something to extrude. Select the Pen (P) and draw 3 small squares in the Down view, from left to right and without overlapping. Click the pen to create points, don¹t drag it. (You are creating SEGMENTS). Hold down the command key to join the 4th side to the 1st point. Tap the spacebar TWICE between objects: this activates the previous tool and then brings the Pen back again, resetting it so as to start a new spline instead of continuing the last one. If you don¹t do this, you will join all 3 squares together. If you make a mistake, either undo it or press the delete key on your keyboard (delete selection) and try again.
2. Choose ExtrudeŠ from the Model menu. The Extrude dialog will appear. Drag it out of the way. Note that something MUST be selected or you won¹t be able to choose Extrude from the menu.
3. Look in the North View. You should see 3 short lines (your squares seen edge on). In the West view you should see only one line (and several points). Why? Make sure you completely understand this. Now, deselect everything. You can type Command-shift-A, or hold down shift and choose All from the Selection menu. Shift-clicking one point with the Object Arrow (C) will deselect an object, or you could even click each point with the Arrow (A).
4. Select the Object Arrow (C) and click any point on the first square to select it. This will be extruded first.
5. In the Extrude dialog, type -1 into the Up box. Ensure that Numeric (use the data fields) and Segments (the spline type to create) are selected in the 2 popup menus.
6. Click the Extrude button. Observe (in the North window) that your square is extruded into a rectangular solid, and that the 4 original points are now deselected. This is done so that you can Extrude again if desired (extruding in stages would create a box whose sides are several small patches rather than one long one, for example).
7. Deselect the box. Hold down the shift key and click any point with the Object Arrow (C). If you like, drag the box around with the Object Arrow and observe how it works. Put it back when you¹re done.
8. Repeat steps 4,5,6,7 for the other 2 squares. For the second, select Straight from the Splines popup in the Extrude dialog. For the third, try Smoothed.
9. All three boxes should look identical (depending on how well you drew them). There is a difference, however.
10.Deselect everything. Select the Marquee (M). In the North window, drag a box enclosing the box tops (your 3 ORIGINAL squares). Note how they become selected. If you haven¹t used the marquee before, try pressing the modifiers (option and shift) while you are dragging and see how the marquee color changes to indicate what will happen if the mouse button is released. Remember, do ALL your selecting in the NORTH window. When you¹re done, exactly HALF the points should be selected (the tops of the boxes).
11.Select the MOVER (D). Make sure Caps Lock is up. Slowly drag the Mover horizontally in the North window. The 1st box (made with segments) acts like rubber bands; the other two form curved shapes (with a single line like the side of the box, there is no difference between Straight and Smooth splines). This demonstrates the differences between the three type of Splines.
CAMERA EXAMPLE
This is a quick introduction to the use of the Camera View. It makes use of the model files included with the program: see Loft Example to learn how to build an object and create a Camera view from scratch.
1. Double-click ³Preview Tutorial Scene.² These files contain a complete model with a preset camera. The program always starts up in wireframe mode; Select Shaded from the popup menu at the bottom of the Camera Window (click Wireframe).
Examine the scene carefully and see whether it ³looks 3D.² The patchwork effect results from perturbing the colors of the individual facets (the view works by dividing curved patches into 3 or 4 sided flat polygons.) This method was chosen over conventional shading because it is fast enough to allow real time updating for fairly complex models, and run in very limited memory.
2. Command-click any object in the Camera Window. This will center it in the window. There are several more options available here, which are covered in the section on the Camera window. This works by moving the Camera and Focus point (and is much easier than moving them yourself). It is also undoable (since it moves objects in the model), unlike most Camera window operations.
3. All the objects in the file should be deselected (vertex points are purple). Select any object by clicking any point on it with the Object Arrow (C). All its vertices will turn yellow, meaning that they are now selected: most operations affect only selected objects. Select PaletteŠ from the Textures menu. Click any color and watch the view update. If you click the small red ³X² (2nd row last color) the selected object will disappear: this is the Invisible color. Invisible objects can be useful because they take no time to draw. Note that this is NOT the same thing as Hiding objects: Hiding makes an object invisible so that modeling functions cannot affect it; the invisible color applies ONLY to the Camera View.
Most of the other options listed on the Palette are self explanatory and all are covered in the Manual. You can also use the ³Quick Colors² submenu under Textures, which works exactly the same way.
4. Click "No Realtime" at the bottom of the Camera Window and select Splines from the popup menu that appears. Now select the Mover (D) Tool and drag with it in the North modeling view. The selection will move as a ghosted wireframe in both the Camera and the 3 modeling views. This is real time updating: turn it off to save your computer some time and effort when you are editing large models and don¹t need the feedback.
5. Now try the Patches setting and see what that does.
Updating in shaded mode obviously takes much longer (is not as smooth). If the action is too jerky, try turning off updating in the 3 Modeling Windows (click the Pencils - make sure they have a red bar across them, meaning off). This will prevent ghosting in the two INACTIVE windows and reduce the load on your computer. You should notice a significant speed improvement in the Camera Window.
6. Try the Camera Roll and Zoom: click in the red-bordered rectangles at the bottom (the tipped-over camera or the zoom lens) and SLOWLY drag horizontally. The numeric roll and zoom values are updated, and you can also type numbers into these fields if you wish, or use the Thumbwheel feature.
7. Find the Camera symbol in a modeling window (a small circle). If you have trouble, go to the Locate & Center submenu (under the Windows menu) and select Camera. This will center the camera in all 3 views (and place the 3D Cursor on top of it). Click the Camera with the Arrow (A): notice that the cursor becomes a camera. Drag it SLOWLY around in the window and watch the results. You can do the same with the Focus (a small X, which determines where the camera points).
These specific actions are always updated in whatever mode is set on the Camera Window: the Pencils are ignored. You¹ll notice that this type of updating is much quicker (smoother) than before: this is because we¹re not updating the Modeling Windows at the same time.
8. Turn on shaded mode and the shaded Pencil. Click and drag on a point in one of the Modeling Windows. (Selection doesn¹t matter in this case.)
9. If you have the QuickDraw 3D software installed on your computer, try out the Mesh and NURBS modes. These provide high quality and realistic shading, at the cost of more memory and slower performance. Note that the Realtime control is ignored when using QuickDraw 3D: updating is ALWAYS in Patches mode.
LOFT EXAMPLE / CAMERA EXAMPLE
This demonstrates how to loft a simple object and display it in the Camera view.
First: open a new, empty Project. Go to the Camera Options menu item (under the Windows menu) and select Auto Create Camera (which should be checked). Turning this OFF (unchecking it) prevents PatchDance from creating a new Camera automatically as soon as you create a patch in your model; for this example, we¹ll be creating the Camera and Focus points manually.
1. With the Arrow (A) click near the bottom of the North window. This Sets the Cursor.
2. Select the Pen (P). In the Down window, draw a small closed shape (3-6 sides). Remember to hold down the Command key when closing the shape or you¹ll make an extra point instead of joining.
3. Tap the spacebar. This should restore the Arrow (A). Click in the middle of the North window to set the cursor.
4. Tap the spacebar (restore the Pen (P)) and draw another closed shape. You might want to make the shape more or less aligned with the first, but use a different number of points. Make the second shape somewhat larger, and try to avoid overlapping the points of the first.
5. Repeat 3,4. Place the cursor near the top of the North window, and make the third shape fairly small. Note carefully how we used two views and the 3D Cursor to draw multiple objects in 3D space.
6. Deselect All. If you drew the 3 objects in the same direction and started in the same place you could actually loft now, but that would ruin the lesson. We will reselect the objects in order.
7. TIP: Type the letters C,A. This selects the Object Arrow (C) and then the Arrow (A). The reason will be clear in a moment.
8. Working in the Down window and starting with the bottom shape (in the North window): Click (select) one point wherever you want your lofted object to be seamed. Then tap the spacebar (switch to the Object Arrow (C)) and click the NEXT point in the direction you want the skin to lap. This establishes the direction (by selecting the clicked point FIRST), and selects the rest of the object. Tap the spacebar again, and you will be ready to do the second shape.
The direction and first point are arbitrary. The seam should always be roughly aligned for all ribs or a distorted skin will result. Always pick the first point where you want the seam to be (the seam is normally invisible when rendered, but a careless choice might cause odd results with HIGHLY complex and irregular ribs. The second point MUST be adjacent to the first or the result is uncertain. As long as it is the same for all objects, the direction should also make no difference.
9. When the third shape is finished, all points should be selected. Choose LoftŠ from the Model menu and click the Standard Loft button.
10.The result may be hard to interpret in the modeling windows. Note, though, that splines (and patches) were created to skin your three shapes. Next, we¹ll look at the new object in the Camera view.
11.Type Option-A or double-click the Arrow (A) button. The Snap palette will appear. Select Center or Centroid from the upper Popup, and click the Snap (3D) button. The 3D Cursor will snap to the Center/Centroid of the selected points. Select Set Focus from the Render Menu. A small X should appear at the cursor position.
12.Before we make a Camera, zoom out the North Window (click the minus-magnifier button at the bottom of the window twice). This works well with the default camera settings.
13.Select the Hand (H) tool. Drag it down in the North window (or drag the vertical Ruler down) until your object is at the bottom. Switch to the Arrow (A) and click near the top to set the cursor.
14.Select Create Camera from the Render Menu. Hopefully your entire model will instantly appear in the Camera window. If not, see step 15.
15.If nothing (or very little) appears in the Camera window:
17.In the Down modeling window, click on the Camera and Focus symbols with the Arrow (A) and drag them around. Note how the cursor changes when dragging these special symbols. Watch the results in the Camera window. Adjusting the view in this way is an important skill to master; fortunately, most of our early testers found it to be a lot of fun as well.
LOFT EXAMPLE 2
This briefly demonstrates how to use lofting to create an oddly shaped mesh.
1. Draw a closed loop with the Pen (P). Use several points and splines; the shape doesn¹t matter but avoid letting any splines cross each other.
2. Double-Click the Arrow (A) to bring up the Snap palette. Select Centroid in the top popup menu and click Center (3D).
3. Double-Click the Scaler (S) to bring up the Scale Dialog. Type a value (0.7 is good for a first try) into all 3 editboxes.
4. Duplicate your closed loop: use Edit/Duplicate or command-D.
5. Click the Scale button (NOT inverse scale). Now you have two copies of your loop, one inside the other.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 a few more times. The object is to get several nested copies of your loop. You may need to adjust the scaling value if the copies are too similar or different in size. Make the last fairly small.
7. Before doing anything else, select everything and try Lofting it as you did in the previous example. If you get garbage (likely) just undo it and deselect everything. You¹ll have to reselect all the loops in order as you did in Loft Example steps 6-8 before lofting.
8. The result is a mesh surface with your desired shape, divided as finely as you wish. This process should also produce mainly 4 sided patches, depending on the complexity of your shape. You might also try using your shape to experiment with the Magnet Tool (T), as described in Magnet Example.
MAGNET EXAMPLE / RANDOMIZE EXAMPLE / OBJECTS EXAMPLE
These are discussed together since they create and use the same object (a spline mesh).
This example uses a spline mesh to demonstrate the effects of several tools. If your mesh becomes too messed up to use, just Select All and Delete. Then Paste the copy you¹ll make in step 6. You could also Undo whatever you¹ve done (as long as multiple undo is turned on, and it¹s no more than 32 steps). You might even Save the file just before making changes and then use Revert to restore it. This is overkill but PatchDance¹s file system is fast enough to make it practical.
1. Call up the Objects Dialog. (Type Option-O, or Option (or double) click the Object (O) button in the Tool Palette.
2. Select Square by Diagonal. If this isn¹t obvious from the pictures, find it! Read what each object is called while you look. Also check the Fill Base Checkbox and the Return Data Checkbox. In the Mode Section, ensure that the 2D button is selected.
3. Drag a square (rectangle) in the Down window. Hold down the shift key so that the object is square and aligned with the axes. Observe how the edit fields in the Object Dialog display the size of the object you are creating. This is the result of Return Data.
4. Just for fun, Select Undo Square from the Edit Menu. The object you just made will disappear. Now click in the Title Bar of the North window, and click Construct Numeric in the Object dialog. The values in the dialog will create a square exactly like the one you drew, in the North window (since it is now active). Press the delete key, and it¹s gone again.
5. Select the Arrow (A). Click near the bottom of the North window. Click in the center of the down window. Observe where the 3D Cursor is located. Then click the Construct Cursor Center. The Square will be created centered on the cursor rather than where it was before.
6. Select Subdivide from the Model/Patches menu and observe the result. If you failed to check Fill Base, then PatchDance did not create a patch, only a hollow square and Subdivide Surface won¹t work (it will beep). If this happens, select Make a Patch from the Model/Patches menu to fill in the square. Subdivide 3 or 4 times until you have a fairly fine mesh. Now, select Copy from the Edit menu.
7. Before we actually try the magnet, do this. Deselect everything. Select the Marquee (M) and drag a box around all the interior points of your mesh (in the Down window). to select them. Leave all the points around the perimeter deselected.
8. Call up the Magnet Dialog. You have a number of options: The popups control the affected objects and the nature of the magnet effect. Your best bet is to click and drag in the North window and see what happens with various settings. It is more useful to have a good idea what each setting does rather than to understand the mathematics behind it. Incidentally, this tool definitely does not model a real magnet: in particular, the selection moves only when the mouse moves rather than being attracted to the magnet at all times. If you MUST know more details, e-mail tech support and ask.
IMPORTANT: The current version of the magnet is very sensitive to how close an object is (the point NEAREST to the click point always moves at the same rate as the mouse; all other selected points/handles move at different rates, depending on the magnet settings and their relative distance). Try the magnet both close to and fairly far away from your mesh to see this in action. Remember to always check the position of the Cursor in all 3 windows before clicking! Depth matters!
9. Play with the magnet until you understand what it does. Also try with ALL the points in the mesh selected and see how that behaves.
10.When you¹re finished with the Magnet, restore a clean mesh as in step 7 and select Randomize from the Model menu. (Feel free to close any dialogs you¹re not using. Any options you have set are saved until you open the dialog again).
11.The easiest way to understand Randomize, like the Magnet, is to use it. A few suggestions: Use the Hand (H) to move the mesh vertically (in the North window) to the center. Start with a Randomize setting of 0.5 in the Up direction, 0 in all the others.
PATH EXTRUDE EXAMPLE / PIPELINE EXAMPLE
This gives a basic introduction to using the path extrusion functions. It would be helpful to read the Spline Paths topic as well.
1. Select the Pen (P). In the lower left corner of the West window, draw a small figure to extrude. (3 or 4 points is fine). It should take up no more than 1/4 the height of the window.
2. Tap the spacebar twice to reset the Pen. In the North Window, your object from step 1 should appear as a short line at the bottom of the window. Draw a curve, starting as close to the object as possible. We would recommend an S-shape, starting to the left.
3. IMPORTANT: for the best results, never exceed about 120° of curvature per spline in your extrusion paths (90° is better). Larger angles can lead to distortion. If you have made such a path (usually this happens with U-shaped curves, which amount to 180°), you can fix it easily. Select the Scissors (2) and click near the center of the offending curve. The spline will be divided into two pieces, cutting the angle in half as well, and making it easier for PatchDance to calculate the angle to rotate the extrusion object.
4. Select the Object Arrow (C) and shift-click any point on your path to deselect it. This isn¹t actually necessary, but it makes things easier to see. Now select the Arrow (A) and command click the first path point, the one nearest the (selected) extrusion object. This shows PatchDance where to begin. While you are not required to start an extrusion path close to the object to be extruded, it will likely give you much better results if you do.
5. Select Extrude... from the Model menu. Set the two popups to Path Extrude and Smoothed. Click Extrude. (Clicking Replicate will copy the extrude object in the same way, but will not draw any splines between objects).
6. Inspect your results. You may wish to use the Camera Window to examine your new object in perspective: see Loft Example for instructions on operating the camera. Observe that only the LAST copy of the extrude object is now selected (to facilitate extruding again).
7. When you¹re satisfied with this object, select Undo to get rid of it. Extrude again, this time set to Pipeline. If you used an S-shaped path the result will probably look messy, but you should be able to see the difference between pipelining and path extruding. You may also want to experiment with the various spline types that are available.
8. EXTRA CREDIT. Try manipulating a path extruded object. For starters, select the Mover (D) and drag to move the selected end about, observing how the splines behave. It is possible, using the Mover and the Rotator (R), to straighten out an S-shaped object into a straight tube. (It requires smoothed splines, as you will discover, and the overall length may get changed). Doing this amounts to a graduation exercise: you probably won¹t make it the first time. It IS a great way to impress anyone who is watching!