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>>AliasDesign::DevilintheDetailsIII

AliasDesign::DevilintheDetailsIII
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DevilintheDetailsIII

PostedApril14,2009,12:31pmby,JoshuaMaruska

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IntroductionPartIII
ThelastpartinthisserieswillfocusonsomeofthedetailsofthePortableDigitalProjector.Thereareafewmore
surfacingmethodsIllshareandwellexploreanapproachtopatterningtheholesaroundthecurvaturecontinuous
cornersoftheprojectorcore.

Whendealingwithcurvaturecontinuoussurfaces,manyofthestandbymethodsfordetailingpartsneedtobeputto
thesideandmoresophisticatedwaysneedtobeemployedtogowiththesemoresophisticatedsurfaces.Thisparticular
modelisnotthemostextremeexample,butitshouldserveasagoodstartingpointtothinkingabouttheseissuesas
youadoptthemethodsintoyourworkflow.

BeforeIgetintodetailingaspectofthedemonstration,however,Iwanttobacktrackabittothelastlesson...

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AlternateBlendMethods

Inthepreviousinstallmentofthisseries,Ishowedamethodforcreatinggeometric,yetorganiccornerblends.We
startedbysketchingoutabasicEuclideangeometricformandworkedbackoveritwithBlendCurvestosmoothoutthe
resultanttangencylineblemishes.Ihadmentionedthatthereareprobablyahundredwaystoaccomplishthistaskin
Alias,butthecoreconceptswouldremainthesameandtheintentwasmoretoteachwhattolookforthantheone
waytodoit.

Thatbeingsaid,itoccurredtomethatwhiletheintendedresultwouldremainconstant,thewaytospeakaboutitmay
not.IntheaboveexampleIshowthreedifferentblendedcorners.ThefirstonthelowerleftistheBlendCurvecorner
fromlasttime.WeusedTangencyMagnitudetoadjusttheshapeoftheblend.Weusedavalueof0.8togetthat
particularlook.

IcandoaverysimilarblendusingtheFreeformBlendtool.However,itusesShapetocontrolthelookoftheblend.
Whiletheblendingsurfaceisattachingtotwoplanarsurfacesjustliketheonesinthefirstexample,theFreeformBlend
usesavalueof1.005togetaresultthatissimilartotheBlendCurveversion.

ThelastversionusestheSurfaceFilettool.IusedChordalsettingandthePeakRadiusoptionissetto0.75(anything
over0.75doesntchangethecurvaturecomb).Again,theplanarsurfaceshaventchanged,butthistimetheminimum
radiusisquitedifferentandthisisascloseasitgets.
MypointhereisthatthisunderscoresGrayHollandspiece.Thereisnocommonvernacularforspeakingabouthigher
ordersurfaces.Whichmeansthatasdesigners,wemustreallytakethetimetolookatwhatwedefineinoursoftware.
MaybesomedaytherewillsomesurfacingEsperantotoaddressthemathematicsbehindwhatwedoandinsome
unifiedwaystreamlinethecommunicationofourintent.

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MoreOffsetting

Abigchunkofwhatwediscussedlasttimewasinregardtooffsettingcurvaturecontinuouscurvesandthepitfallsthe
layaheadwhenattemptingtodoso.Welookedatavarietyoftoolstohelpus,butintheend,Ishowedthecleanest
wayofachievingtheoffsetwasjusttobuildnewcurves.

Oneofthepeculiaritiesofthisapproachwasthatifyouweretodrawalinefromtheendpointofonecurvetotheend
pointoftheoffset,youdnoticethatthelinepointstowardthetheoreticalcenterofthearcitmimics.Thislinecanbe
usedasaguidetohelpmeplacenewoffsetcurves.

Actually,thisissomethingthatoccurredtomeafterpart2waspublished.Iwentbackcheckedthroughsomeofmyold
modelsandsureenough,itprettyconsistentlyendsupthisway.ItsnothowIeverintendedthemethodtobeused,but
Idonow.:)

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AFullRound

Heresasightlydifferentproblem.Ifyourememberbacktotheveryfirstpartofthisserieswelookedatwayofsolving
forathemechanicalaspectofthisdesign.Theinteriorcoreoftheprojectorneededtorotateupandoutoftheringthat
surroundsit.Therotatingendhadafullradiusonit.

Ofcourse,justputtingaradiusontheendwouldleaveuswiththosetangencyblemishesthatwearetryingtoavoid.

Myapproachtothisproblemisslightlydifferentthanthecornerswevedone.Istartwithacircle(itstemplatedinthis
view)andtwolinesthatwillbetheoutwardfacesoftheproduct.IsketchinaBlendCurvefromtheendpointofoneline
totheother,butalongtheway,ImakeanotherBlendPointattachedtothebuttendofthecircle.Noticethatthestraight
linesthemselvesterminatejustshortoftheactualcenterlineofthecircle.Thisissimilartothescalingexercisewedidin
thelastpartoftheseriestoprovideabitofset=backfortheleadins.

ThereasonIdothisissothattheBlendcurveinheritsthecurvatureofthecirclealongitsapex.Thislocksinthe
curvaturethroughthemajorityofthecurveandlimitstheleadintojusttheareathatconnectstothestraightlines.

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InteriorCoreBasicShape

ThisimageisjusttohelpprovidesomecontextIvebeenzoomedthusfar.
Iusedthedrafttooltoloftoutsomesurfacesinthezaxisusingthecurvesfromtwostepsagoandthendraftedanother
setofsurfacesalongthexaxisusingthehalfroundcurvesfromthepreviousstep.Aquickintersectionandtrimgives
methebasicshapeoftheinteriorcore.

AndAnotherOffset...

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IthinkthisisthelastoffsetIlltalkaboutforthisseries.IjustwantedtoshowhowIuseplacementlinestogetanoffset
forthehalfround.
Iquicklysnappedlinesfromtheendpointsofthestraightstothecenterofthecircle.Thishelpedmedeterminewherea
newsetofstraightlinesthatwilldefineapartinglinewouldneedtoend.

InteriorShapeintoParts

Usingthepreviousoffset,Idraftanothersetofsurfacesalongthexaxisandusethosetosplitthecoreintoanouter
shellandinteriorparts.
Asetofcylindricalsurfacescutoutaplaceholderlens.

ThisisasfarasIlltakethemainmodelforthisdemonstration.Soletsstartlookingatsomepatterning.Wellbe
focusingonthreesurfacesspecifically.Twothatareflatandonethatiscurved.Inthenextseriesofsteps,Illshowhow
wecanunrollthatcurvedsurfacetomakepatterningaseriesofholesacrossiteasier.

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WorkingInTheFlat

Youllnoticeinthephotosofthefinalproductthattheinteriorpartsofthecoreareperforatedforacousticsandventing.
Ifourcornerswerepureradii,patterningtheholesaroundthesecornerswouldbeassimpleasduplicatingandrotating
abunchofcylindersaroundthatradius.Eventhoughitsanapproximationofaradius,itsbesttolearnwaysofdealing
withthesenongeometricsurfaces.BeingabletoaccuratelydealwithnongeometricsurfacesisoneofthoseDevils...

Becausethisparticularcornerisruled,i.e.linearinonedirection,wecaneasilycreateaproxyofthissurfacebylaying
itoutflat.TherearetoolsinAliasthatallowyoutocreategeometryina2Dspaceandmapittoa3Dspace.

Todothisweneedtoknowabitaboutthesurfacewewanttomapto.Thetrimmedsurfaces(inmaroon)areeasyto
understandbecausetheyareflat.Butthecornerpatch(inred)iscurvedandwemustuseameasurementtooltofind
outitstruedimensions.
TheeasywaytodothisistousetheArcLengthLocator.Byclickingonthecurvededge,thereadoutwilltellyouhow
longthatsurfaceisalongthatcurve.Inthisexampleitis29.625942mm.

Acouplethingstonotethemappingtoolswewillusewillmaptotheentireuntrimmedsurfacesothatmustbetake
intoaccount.Inthisexample,theuntrimmedsurfaceis32mmtall.Also,themappingtoolsneedtoknowwheretostart,
soIvejustifiedoneofthecorners(totheuntrimmedcorner)tothe0,0XYlocation.

Withlengthknown,heightknownandstartingpointknown,wecandrawarectanglethatrepresentshowthiscurved
surfacelooks"intheflat."

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BuildingthePattern

Oncewehavethemainsurfacesoftheinteriorcorelaidoutintheflatwecanfocusoncreatingtheholepattern.
Workingin2Dspaceismucheasierthiswayandwecanplaywithdifferentspacingoptionsandsuch.

Ofparticularnote,Icaneasilyplacetheholesonthefarrightinsuchawaythatthepatternisevenlyspacedfromthe
sidesandend.Thiswillgivethepatternanice,tidytermination.

Thearejustlinesandcirclescurrently,andforthisparticularmappingmethod,Iwontbeevenusingthese.Inthe
upcomingstepwewillmakesomeguidesthatwillbetransferredtothecornersurface.Butbeingabletoseethewhole
holepatternishelpfulasadesignguide.

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PatternGuides

Thehexpatternisreallyjusttworowsofcirclesthatareoffsetandthenrepeateddownatauniforminterval.

Bydrawingalinefromoneofthecirclescenterstoanotherwecaninferalotaboutthispattern.Thetwolinesshown
connecttwooftheholes.Theseholesarethefirstsetofholeswhosecenterisfullyinsidetheboundsofthetarget
surface.

Ialsoknowthattherearetenholesalongthislength.Thelengthoftheguides,positionoftheguidesandthenumberof
holesalongtheguidesareallIneedtomakethisparticularpatternwork.

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MappingtheGuides

IntheSurfaceEditpalettetab,thereisatoolinthecollectionofcurveprojecttoolscalledGeometryMapping.The
optionsforthistoolcanbeintimidating,butmakesenseonceyouveuseditafewtimes.

AtthetopiswhereyouassigntowhichaxistheUdirectionofthesurfacewillmapto.Nextiswhichaxiswillmaptothe
Vdirection.
TheMappingTypedetermineshowthetoolbreaksdownthe2Dartintosegmentstobeprojected.Forthisexampleit
haslittleeffect,butamorecontortedtragetsurfacemaybenefitfromtheArcLengthoption.

Lastlyareabunchofnumbersthatessentiallydefinetherectanglethatcontaintheartworktobemapped.My
examplestartsatthe0,0XYposition,thenheadsup29.6259mmintheXaxisand32mmintheYaxis.Thesearethe
samevaluesweusedsomestepsagotodefineoursurfaceintheflatinfirstplace.

Usingthetoolisassimpleasselectingthesurfaceandthenthecurvesyouwantmappedontoit.Anythingthatfalls
withtheboundsofthedefinedrectanglewillappearonthesurface.Itsallinthesetup.

CreatingaRowofHoles

Illuseacylindertocreatethesidewallsoftheholesinthepattern.

BydrawingaCylinderprimitiveatthe0,0,0location,wecanusetheDuplicatePlacetooltocreateabunchofduplicates
alongourGeometryMappedguidepath.EachonewillbeNormaltothesurface.

TheDuplicatePlacetoolwillcenterthefirstCylinderatoneendoftheguideandthelastattheotherend.Thenumber
ofduplicatesiscontrolledintheDuplicatePlaceOptionsdialog.Isetitto10thenumberofholeswedeterminedearlier
thatwouldfitalongthisguidecurve.

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AnotherSetofHoles

Thesamecanbedoneforthesecondguidecurve.Wenowhaveenoughcylinderstocontinuethepattern.

ALotofHoles

WecantakethetworowsfromtheDuplicatePlaceandrepeatthemdowntheheightofthecornersurface.Thenext
stepistointersectitwiththecornersurfaceandtrim.

Illbehonestthisisalotofcylinderstotrimso,Icheatattimeslikethis.AfterIrepeatallthecylindersandintersect

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themwiththemainsurface,itsfastertothentrimonlythemainsurfaceanddeleteallbuttworowsofthecylinders.
Trimtheremainingcylinders,andthenrepeatthemdowntheheightofthecornersurfaceagain.Youloosethe
constructionhistory,butyousaveatonofmouseclicks...

DetailComplete

Theremainingtaskistodothesamewiththeholesthatliveontheflatsurfaces.Itsnotnecessarytodothewhole
GeometryMappingandDuplicatePlaceonthesecylindersthough.Itseasyenoughtojustdotheseintheflatandthe
positionthemaccordingly.
Trimtheremainingcylindersintoholesandthedetailiscomplete.

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PuttingitTogether

Hereisthemodelthusfar,orasfaraswelltakeitforthisseriesanyway.Weexploredwaystoquicklyprototype
complexmechanismsusinganimation,howtocreateageometricaestheticthatfeelsmorecraftedandorganic,and
lastly,howtodealwiththoseorganicsurfacesfordownstreamdetailing.

IdliketothankTeague(andDavidWykeswhowastheDesignLeadonthisproject)fortheabilitytousethePortable
DigitalProjectorasaplatformforexploringtheseconceptsasImentionedintheveryfirstpartoftheseries,Ifeelthe
bestexamplesforlearningcomefromthingsthatactuallytakeplaceintheworkplace.Ofcourse,thatbeingsaid,tools
likeDuplicatePlacewerentavailableatthetimethisprojectwasoriginallydonemoreprimitivetoolswereusedfor
thosedetails(Ithinkwemadeconstructionplanesforeachcylinder.Ugh!)butthatsprogress.

Lastly,IdliketogiveashoutouttothenewlyreleasedMacOSXversionofAlias.Itjustcameoutaweekorsoagoand
thiswasmyfirstopportunitytousethereleasecandidate.Foranyonewhohasfollowedmyblog,youllknowthatIve
beenrunningAliasonmyMacsviaBootCampforawhiletorunitnativelyisadreamcometrue.Ivebeenreally
enjoyinghavingaseriousIndustrialDesignCADpackagerunningrightalongsideallmyotherMacapps.Thanks,
Autodesk!YoullbeseeingmorefrommeandmyMacsinthefuture...

http://joshua.maruskadesign.com
http://www.teague.com

FindoutmoreinPartIandPartIIofDevilintheDetails!

AliasDesign::DevilintheDetailsII | WhyGreatIdeasCanFail

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http://aliasdesign.autodesk.com/learning/tutorials/detail...

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