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 Art of Illusion modeling tutorial - The Hourglass 1/16 
Art of Illusion modeling tutorial The Hourglass
 Version 1.1 For Art of Illusion version 2.4 Copyright 2001, Rick van der Meiden
Introduction
In this tutorial you'll be shown how to model a simple object with Art of Illusion (AoI), using as an examplethe hourglass in the picture above. This tutorial does not cover all the features found in the AoI modeler; there are simply too many. We do try to cover enough to get you started. You will propably figure out the rest by reading the manual, viewing other tutorials available online, or experimenting on your own. If you are already familiar with 3D modeling, you will propably not need to follow this tuturial step by step. You might leaf through it to get some idea of the program's capabilities, but please try it out yourself. For you new users: I'll get you going making your own 3D graphics in just a few minutes. For the sake of completeness, an AoI scene file called
"hourglass.aoi" 
 is distributed with this tutorial that you can simply open with the modeler. However, if you want to learn from this tutorial, you should try building the scene yourself.
Look around
Let's assume that you've downloaded AoI from the download page, you've got Java installed correctly, and got the program running. If not, refer to the Art of Illusion home page. When you start AOI, you are  presented with the main screen. On top of the window is you basic menu bar; take a look around, see what's in the pulldowns. If there's a lot up there that you don't understand, don't worry, you will, in time. To the left you see some icons. Clicking them selects a tool and a single line of help is displayed at the  bottom of the screen. The icons (perhaps with some variation if you're using the most current version) are:
 
 Art of Illusion modeling tutorial - The Hourglass 2/16 
move objectrotate objectresize objectcreate boxcreate spherecreate cylindecreate spline meshcreate polygoncreate cameracreate lightsourcecreate interpolated curvecreate approximated curvemove viewrotate viewThe bulk of the screen displays four views on the 3D model:
Front, Left, Top
 and
Camera1
. For each viewthe user can set a camera or standard viewpoint (front, left, top, ect), perspective or parallel viewing mode,and a zoom factor (default 100). These viewpoints can be changed using the two appropriate tools for movement and rotation (mouse shortcuts are also available - see the manual). You will often change the scale and position of these views but not the viewpoint. The standard views are quite sufficient for most modelling sessions. Only the lower right view,
Camera1
, will be changed often because it's very usefull for checking out the model. On the right is a (now empty) space for showing a list of objects (shapes) in your model. From this list you can select or deselect objects by clicking on their name. Also, double clicking will bring up the edit-object dialog. Before getting started, you need to know about one more thing: coordinates.The position and dimensions of objects is determined by a coordinate system with three axis, named X, Y and Z. The X axis is considered to be pointing to the right, that is: the greater the X coordinate of a point, the more to the right it is in the model. Likewise, the Y axis points upwards and the Z axis points out of the screen towards you. (In jargon this is called a right handed coordinate system)
Getting started
It's commonly considered good practice to start a 3D modeling session by first sketching your model on grid paper, to get some idea of its dimensions and shape. If you don't, then at least set up a grid in the modeler:select
Scene->Grids
 from the menuset
Grid Spacing
 to 0.5set
Snap-to Subdivisions
 to 10check Show grid and Snap to grid click OK This allows us to easily draw objects with an exact position and size and to align objects othogonally. You may change the grid parameters at any time to accomadate your needs for finer or coarser grids. Now let's start drawing. First, draw a box for the wooden top and bottom of the hourglass frame:select the
'create box' tool
draw a box of 1.5 units wide and 0.1 units height in the front view. That is, with a grid of 0.5
 
 Art of Illusion modeling tutorial - The Hourglass 3/16 
units and 10 subdivision, 3 gridlines wide and one subdivision high.select the
'resize object' tool
scale the object in the top view until it is square, 1.5 by 1.5 units.select the
'move object' tool
move the box so it is centered in the top view.move it in the front view so it is just below the second grid line from the center.check out the box's coordinates with the
Object->Object Layout
 from the menu. The box should  be sized 1.5 units on the x-axis, 0.1 units on the y-axis, and 1.5 again on the z-axis. It should be  positioned with its origin at coordinate 0, -1.05, 0>. From this dialog you can also change the  box's size, position and orientation (see figure below).  Notice that you can draw any object in either the front, left or top view. Since you can only draw two dimensions at once, you'll have to edit the third dimension afterwards. You may use the scale and move tools for changing the position and size of the box. But if you have a clear idea of what the dimensions should be, the Object Layout dialog is much quicker. The first box is the bottom of the model. The top looks exacly the same, so create a box for it by copying.select the first box,
Cube 1
 from the list on the rightselect
Edit->Copy
 from the menuselect
Edit->Paste
 from the menumove the copy upwards until the bottom of the box is at y=1. Do this by using either:the
'move object' tool
. Hold shift to move only orthogonal.the
Object->Layout Object
 option from the menu. Center it at y=1.05.the
Object->Transform Object
 option from the menu. Move it 2 units upwards on the Y axis.the
Object->Align Objects
 option from the menu. Align the bottom (y-axis) to 0. Now we have two boxes, symmetrical about the origin. Note that both boxes are both still named
Cube1
. You may change object names by selecting the
Object->Rename Object
 option from the menu. Proper names could be 'Top' and 'Bottom'. Now it is easier to keep them apart when selecting from the list. Using the techniques above we can also create the four poles between the top and bottom boards. Use the
'create cylinder' tool
 to create a cylinder of the following proportions: position: X = 0.6, Y = 0, Z = 0.6size: X = 0.1, Y = 2, Z = 0.1

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