3 Dwbook

Self-Training Workbook
SOFTIMAGE|3D Self-Training Workbook

The SOFTIMAGE|3D Self-Training Workbook was written and revised by
François Giard, Jean-Philippe Lafontaine, and James Duff, edited by
Edna Kruger, and illustrated by Alison Graham. It was originally written,
illustrated, and revised by Ghislain Cyr, Josée Hamelin, Guido Hücking, Daniel
Potvin, Tim Stevenson, Jean-Jacques Tremblay, Keven Fedirko, and Ron Martin.
© 1996–1999 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
SOFTIMAGE and Avid are registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its
subsidiaries or divisions. mental ray and mental images are registered
trademarks of mental images GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S.A. and/or other
countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their
respective owners.
This document is protected under copyright law. The contents of this document
may not be copied or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part, without the
express written permission of Avid Technology, Inc. This document is supplied
as a guide for SOFTIMAGE|3D products. Reasonable care has been taken in
preparing the information it contains. However, this document may contain
omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc.
does not accept responsibility of any kind for customers’ losses due to the use of
this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.
Document No. 90434-0596
Printed in Canada.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
O V E R V I E W
Training Notes and Projects

The Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Scene Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Moving Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3D Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Jewel, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Jewel, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Mister Roboto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
M O D E L M O D U L E

Basic Modelling and Object Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Your Name in 3D, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Wine Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Zip-a-Neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Missile, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Sailboat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Ice Cream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Jojo the Fish, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Soft-drink Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Flower Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Gears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
TV Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Octopus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Torch, Part 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
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M O T I O N M O D U L E

Animation in SOFTIMAGE 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Bouncing Ball, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Bouncing Ball, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Your Name In 3D, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Missile, Part 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Jojo the Fish, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Keep Talking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Hang Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Lost at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Digestive System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Sparkles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Sliding Blob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
City 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
City 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Bla bla bla…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Expressing the Gears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Follow the Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Flex 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Flex 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Flex 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Alien Invasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
M A T T E R M O D U L E

Notes on Rendering a Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
What’s the Matter? 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
What’s the Matter? 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Missile, Part 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Copyright Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Torch, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Jojo the Fish, Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Your Name in 3D, Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Depth of Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
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Table of Contents
Soft Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Fish Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Bubble Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
The Asteroid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Cloud Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Shaders, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Shaders, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Shaders, Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Shaders, Part 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Shaders, Part 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Shader, Part 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Planets, Part 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
A C T O R M O D U L E

Animating with Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Happy Sweeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Starfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Piston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Walk Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Wind Chime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Cannon, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Cannon, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Cheers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Octopus, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
P A R T I C L E

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
The Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Torch, Part 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Missile, Part 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
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iv Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

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I N T R O D U C T I O N
SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 1

2 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Introduction
Introduction
About SOFTIMAGE 3D
SOFTIMAGE 3D allows you to create and animate virtual
objects in a three-dimensional world. Virtual cameras can
be used to record still or motion pictures. The resulting
images can be output to a variety of media, such as video,
film, or print.
About this Self-Training Workbook

The Self-Training Workbook is designed to provide an
introduction to SOFTIMAGE 3D. It is a collection of
Training Notes and Projects. Training Notes introduce the
basic tools and concepts in each module of the software.
The Projects are tutorial-style lessons, each self-contained
but progressively more challenging.
It is recommended that you first work through the lessons
in the Quick Start guide for SOFTIMAGE 3D to become
more familiar with the interface. You should also look at
the Working with SOFTIMAGE 3D User’s Guide which
explains where each item resides in the interface. Also
refer to any of the User’s Guides or the Reference Guide
for detailed descriptions of any tool or command used in
this training workbook.
You have been provided with all the flipbooks and
completed scenes for each tutorial in this workbook. We
recommend that you view each flipbook or scene before
doing the tutorial. This will provide you with a good frame
of reference. The scenes and flipbooks, as well as certain
picture files are located on the SOFTIMAGE 3D
Courseware CD.
If you have any problems with a particular example or
tutorial, you may want to exit out of SOFTIMAGE 3D and
begin the exercise again. This resets all the parameters to
their default values – a requirement for successfully
completing certain tutorials.
If you have any comments and/or suggestions about using
this workbook, we can be reached at this e-mail address:
editors@softimage.com


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O V E R V I E W


Overview
The Interface
Working in SOFTIMAGE 3D
■ To move between modules in SOFTIMAGE 3D, simply
click the module name in the title bar (always use the
left mouse button unless otherwise specified). There are
five modules in SOFTIMAGE 3D:
Model
■ This module contains the object creation and
transformation tools that allow you to model or sculpt
objects.
Motion
■ This module contains animation tools for keyframing,
editing function curves, capturing motion, constraining
objects, and creating special effects like Wave and
Flock.
Actor
■ This module contains powerful and flexible animation
tools such as inverse kinematics, dynamics simulation,
and Quick Stretch.
Matter
■ This module allows you to define the shading, texturing,
and lighting properties of your scene. You also use
Matter to render your final work.
Tools
■ This module is a collection of special utilities like the
flipbook and image converters to enhance your
production process.

The Scene Database

Using the Database
■ The most important files in the SOFTIMAGE 3D file
management system are:
${SI_DBDIR}/DatabaseDir.rsrc
${SI_LOCATION}/rsrc/DatabaseSys.rsrc
Note: The environment variable SI_DBDIR describes
Note the search path for the local database file, and the
SI_LOCATION environment variable stands for
the directory where SOFTIMAGE 3D has been
installed.
■ The DatabaseDir.rsrc file’s content describes the disk
environment where your SOFTIMAGE 3D files are
saved and read. It also lists all your local databases.
■ The DatabaseSys.rsrc file lists all global databases that
are available to every user.
■ It is a good idea to “jot” or “cat” these files before
starting the software. It tells you what is accessible once
you are in SOFTIMAGE 3D. For example, type:
cat ${SI_DBDIR}/DatabaseDir.rsrc
■ If you create a new database using the Database
Manager, the system automatically creates all the
necessary directories. Whenever you save a scene, all
the elements of your scene are stored in their
corresponding directories (called chapters in
SOFTIMAGE 3D).
■ The Database Manager also keeps track of versions. You
can set the number of versions that are kept in the
database. If you save a scene and the number of scenes
has already reached the versions limit, the oldest scene
and all elements that belong to this scene are removed.
■ If you want to protect a scene from being deleted, you
have to lock it.

Overview
■ There are several maintenance functions provided by

the
Database Manager:
-Creating databases.
-Copying or moving scenes and elements between
different databases.
-Deleting scenes and elements, (but you can’t delete
an element that is still used by a scene).
-Browsing through the database and locking files.
■ As always, refer to the SOFTIMAGE 3D User’s Guides
for more information on any of these topics. The
information about databases is in the Working with
SOFTIMAGE 3D User’s Guide.

Overview Project – Moving Around

This project is an introduction to basic manipulation of an object in
a 3D world. Since the 3D world is accessed from a 2D screen, many
tools are available to make the transition between these two worlds
easier. In this project, the goal is to use different methods to move
an object around and position it correctly in front of the camera.
Most of these options have Supra keys (keyboard equivalents).

Overview
Moving Around
Camera, Supra Keys
Create a sphere and use some of the Supra keys
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere using the default
values.
■ Hold down the Supra key z while using the left mouse
button to drag the camera in any of the windows.
■ Now use the middle and right mouse buttons in any of
the windows. You will notice the camera zooms in or
out depending on which mouse button is used.
Note: In the Perspective window, this causes the lens of
Note the camera (the camera cone or “field of view”)
Fig. 1
to change as it would on a real camera.
■ The Perspective window offers more camera controls.
Hold down the Supra key o while dragging with the left
mouse button in the Perspective window. This lets you
orbit the camera.
■ Hold down the Supra key p while dragging with any of
the mouse buttons. The Supra key p activates the dolly
mode and the mouse buttons determine the speed.
■ Hold down the Supra key f with the cursor in any of the
windows. When you press the f key, the window frames
the selected model or selected group of objects.
■ To reset the camera back to the original default setting,
choose Camera ➔ Reset.
■ Choose Delete ➔ All to clear your screen.

Overview Project – 3D Building Blocks

SOFTIMAGE 3D provides four windows in which you can
visualize the 3D world. The three default orthogonal windows
(Top, Front, and Right) give an undistorted view of the 3D scene.
This helps you understand an object and its relationship with other
objects. Any object that is exactly behind another object is not
visible†. Use the orthogonal windows (often called parallel
projection windows) to position and manipulate the object in
reference to each other.
The Perspective window is the window from which the final
pictures are usually rendered to disk. You need to position your
object and camera in this window to have the right composition and
framing of the scene or action before you start rendering. In this
project, you will be building a table with a primitive cube,
duplicating it, scaling it, and translating it to give it the proportions
of a table.
† The Ortho window (another window in SOFTIMAGE 3D) can be
used to orbit the camera as you do in the Perspective window, but
without having perspective distortion.
12 SOFTIMAGE 3D Workbook
Overview
3D Building Blocks
Primitives, Duplication, Transformation
Use several cubes to create a leg for a table
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube (length of 3 units).
■ Select the No hierarchy option in the Duplicate ➔ Setup
dialogue box.
■ Duplicate the cube using Duplicate ➔ Repetition. Create
three copies with a translation of -4 units along the
y-axis.
■ Hold down the Supra key z while you click the right
mouse button to zoom out to see all duplicates of the
Fig. 1 cube.
Copy the leg to create the other legs for the table
■ Switch to Multi selection mode (choose the Multi menu
cell). This allows you to select all cubes at once while
pressing the space bar and making a selection box
around the cubes.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate to create duplicates of
the group of cubes.
■ Choose the Translation menu cells or press the Supra
key v to move the cubes. Repeat the duplication process
to create four table legs.
Create a table top
■ Switch back to Single selection mode (Single menu cell)
and duplicate one cube for the table top.
■ Use the Scale menu cells or press the Supra key x to
scale the cube into a table top. Your table should look
similar to the one shown in Fig. 1.
Tip Use the UNI scaling mode to scale on all three

axes at the same time.
You can also scale an object numerically by
typing directly in the menu cells themselves, or
by selecting the small triangular tab of the Scale
menu cells and using the dialogue box that
appears.

Decorate your table with several objects

■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere, Cylinder, Cone, and
Torus to place several objects on the table.
■ Enlarge the Perspective window by clicking the icon in
the upper-right corner of the window and then select the
Shade view mode.
■ Press the Supra key o while dragging the mouse to orbit
the camera around your model.
■ Press the Supra key p while dragging the mouse to dolly
the camera in the Perspective window.
Save your scene
■ Choose Save ➔ Scene. In the Save Scene dialogue box,
type building_blocks in the Scene Name text box
and then click Save.
■ After the scene has been saved, choose Delete ➔ All to
clear the screen.

Overview

Overview Project – Jewel, Part 1

Every object can have motion and surface attributes. The basic
steps to accomplish this are covered in this lesson. The first step
for assigning any object’s surface value is to define its material.
Animating the object takes three steps:
1. Select the appropriate frame (position in time).
2. Manipulate or transform the object (position in space).
3. Create the appropriate keyframe – in this example it is
SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Rotation ➔ All.

Overview
Jewel, Part 1
Defining a Material Animation by Keyframes
Create a jewel-like object
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Dodecahedron (use the
default settings).
■ Go to the Matter module by clicking on the word Matter
in the title bar or by pressing the F4 Supra key.
■ Choose the Material menu cell to display the Material
Editor.
■ Change the colour of the material by clicking the Palette
button in the bottom left of the Material Editor. Select a
colour in the palette and click Ok to confirm your
Fig. 1 choice.
■ Set the Transparency value to approximately 0.5 and the
Refractive Index to approximately 1.4.
■ Click the Preview button to render the effect of the
material on the model. Middle-click in the Preview
window to close it and then click Ok to close the
Material Editor.
Create some atmosphere by adding a light
■ Add a light to the scene by choosing Light ➔ Define and
accept the default values. Position the light above and in
front of the dodecahedron (translate it). To see the result
of your modifications, choose Preview ➔ All. To exit
Preview mode, middle-click.
Animate the jewel
■ Go to the Motion module by pressing the F2 Supra key.
■ Make sure the time line is at frame 1 and that the
dodecahedron is selected. Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Rotation ➔ All to create the first keyframe.
■ Go to frame 100 by dragging the time line pointer.
■ Press the Supra key c to activate rotation. Rotate the
cube several times around any axis or combination of
axes.

■ Set another keyframe at frame 100 by choosing

SaveKey with the middle mouse button.
Tip The middle mouse button always repeats the

previous menu cell command chosen.
■ Preview your animation by clicking the forward play
arrow in the playback box at the right end of the time
line.

Overview

Overview Project – Jewel, Part 2

This project will help you go through the steps for rendering an
animation to your hard drive and recalling it with the flipbook tool.

Overview
Jewel, Part 2
Rendering and Previewing a Flipbook
Render the piece of animation you created in part 1
■ Go to the Matter module and choose the Render menu
cell.
■ Change the picture resolution to 200 along x and 169
along y. This reduces the overall size of your rendered
image, so it significantly reduces rendering time.
■ Type in the file name jewel for your sequence and
click the Render Sequence button to start the rendering
of your animation.
■ The screen turns black and the rendering window
Fig. 1 appears in the centre with a frame counter. You can stop
or pause the rendering at any time by clicking the
middle mouse button. Once the rendering is complete,
the interface is displayed again.
Use the flipbook to view the rendered images
■ To preview the rendered animation, go to the Tools
module and choose the FlipBook menu cell.
■ Select any one of the file names called jewel from the
list or type jewel as the Sequence Name.
■ Click Ok to load the images into the flipbook. Once the
images are loaded in memory, the first image appears on
the screen.
■ Click the forward arrow in the playback area to play the
flipbook. You can pause the preview at any time by
middle-clicking. Pressing all three mouse buttons
simultaneously stops the flipbook.
Tip Rendered images are always saved in the

RENDER_PICTURES directory of your
database. Choose the Picture menu cell in the
Tools module and use the Display button in the
View Pictures dialogue box to see individual
images.
Once a flipbook is displayed, pressing the
number keys 1, 2, 3, etc. scales the images up and

down (only when the playback is paused).

Tip You can also use the flipbook standalone to view
pieces of your animation. In an IRIX shell, go to
the RENDER_PICTURES directory. Type
flipbook followed by the arguments of the
scene you wish to view. For example:
flipbook jewel 1 100 1 30
(see Fig. 2). You can find more information about
the flipbook standalone by simply typing
flipbook in an IRIX shell or by referring to
the Using Tools User’s Guide.
Usage: flipbook <sequence> <first> <last> <step> <frames per sec>

[-z <x factor> <y factor>]
<sequence>: name of the sequence

<first>: index of the first frame
<last>: index of the last frame
<step>: index step value
<frames per second>: number of frames to be displayed per
second
Fig. 2
■ Save your scene by choosing Save ➔ Scene.

Overview

Overview Project – Planets, Part 1

This tutorial introduces you to two very important concepts:
hierarchies and centres. It is extremely important that you
understand these two concepts because they will be essential
components in almost every scene and animation you create. The
goal of this exercise is to develop your understanding of these two
very important concepts. This tutorial is about creating a small solar
system with a sun, the Earth with a moon, and a second planet
(Mars). As the Earth and Mars rotate around the sun, their centres
need to be translated to the sun’s centre. Likewise, the moon needs
its centre to be translated to the Earth’s centre. Remember to save
this scene so that you can use it in Part 2 of this project.

Overview
Planets
Selections, Hierarchies, and Centres
Create the sun and planets in your solar system
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere and click Ok to accept
the default settings. Choose Info ➔ Selection and in the
Polygon Info dialogue box, type sun in the Name text
box and click Ok.
■ Create the Earth, moon, and Mars by duplicating,
scaling and transforming the sun sphere. Remember to
name each sphere accordingly as was done for the sun.
Change the rotation pivots of the planets and the moon
Fig. 1
■ Select the moon. Change from OBJ to CTR
manipulation mode. Translate the centre of the moon to
Sun the Earth’s centre using the Supra key v. Now move the
Earth’s and Mars’ centres to the sun.
Place the objects in a hierarchy
Earth Mars
■ Open a Schematic window by middle-clicking on
“Right” in the Right window title bar – the objects
Moon
should appear one after the other in a horizontal line. To
Fig. 2 make the Earth the parent of the moon, select the Earth.
Choose the Parent menu cell and then click on the
moon. Using the same steps, make the sun the parent of
the Earth and Mars. Refer to the mouse line for
reference.
Your hierarchy should look similar to the one shown in

Fig. 2.
Tip To undo a parent-child relationship, select the

Fig. 3 child in the relationship you wish to undo and
choose the Cut menu cell.
■ Experiment with your hierarchy and select the different
branches and nodes by using each mouse button in the
Schematic window.
Animate the planets and the moon
■ Select the moon and then go to the Motion module.
Make sure the time line is at frame 1 and that you are in
Fig. 4 OBJ manipulation mode.

■ Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Rotation ➔ All to create

the first keyframe for the moon.
■ Move the time line pointer to frame 100. Click on the
RotY menu cell and rotate the moon around its y-axis by
360 degrees.
■ Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Rotation ➔ All again to
create the new keyframe (simply middle-click on the
SaveKey menu cell).
■ Repeat this procedure for the Earth and Mars.
Tip Set the animation of the moon first, then set

keyframes for the branch containing both the
Earth and the moon.
Apply various materials to the objects
■ Try assigning different materials to the spheres by going
into the Matter module and choosing Material. Use
different shading models and colours for the various
spheres.
Tip For the sun’s material, select the Constant

shading model and activate the Static Blur
option. This gives the sun a nice glow (see Fig.
4).
Render your scene and preview the results
■ In the Matter module, choose the Render menu cell.
Type an appropriate name in the Filename text box and
click Render Sequence to begin the rendering process.
■ Once the rendering is complete, go to the Tools module
and choose the FlipBook menu cell. Select any one of
the “planets” image files and click Ok.
■ Click the forward arrow in the playback area to view the
animation.
Save your scene
■ Go back to the Model module and choose Save ➔ Scene.
In the Save Scene dialogue box, type an appropriate
name in the Scene Name text box and then click Save.

Overview

Overview Project – Mister Roboto

This tutorial will help you better understand the concepts behind
the linking of elements and the hierarchical structure upon which
most models are based. You will link individual elements together
to form a robot that is easily manipulated and animated. A
hierarchy establishes links between elements as a means to create a
single cohesive model. The hierarchy is open to manipulation and
allows you to select a single node (element), a branch (every object
link under an element), or a tree (the whole hierarchy).
Before creating the hierarchy, you need to decide how you will
work with the model. The traditional example is a human character:
you need to be able to select any single node, branch, or tree within
your hierarchy. Use this project time to become more familiar with
the mouse button functions in selection mode (left – select a node;
middle – select a branch; right – select a tree).
Every 3D object has a reference, which is its centre. Rotation,
translation, and scaling use the centre for reference: this is why you
need to translate the centre to make objects rotate correctly for this
robot example. With the centre in an appropriate position, you can
animate your character more easily. You can then keyframe every
part of the character to animate it. By using a “branch” keyframe,
you are creating a keyframe for each part of the selected hierarchy
without having to keyframe each element individually.

Overview
Mister Roboto
Hierarchy, Centres, and Transformations
CTR of Head
Create a simple robot by combining primitive objects
CTR of U-Arm
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube with Length = 3.
* ■ Scale the cube along the y-axis by a factor of 2. This
* cube represents the torso of the robot.
CTR of L-Arm
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere with Radius = 2.

* * ■ Using the Supra key v, translate the sphere above the
torso to create the head.
* CTR of hand ■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder with Radius = 0.5.

CTR of Torso This cylinder represents the lower portion of your
robot’s left arm.
Fig. 1 Translate the lower arm’s centre pivot and then copy the
cylinder to finish the arms
■ Switch to CTR (Centre) manipulation mode (Supra key
Torso
F10) and translate the centre of the cylinder to its top
end (Fig. 1).
RightUpper LeftUpper Head
■ Switch back to OBJ (Object) mode (Supra key F8).
RightLower LeftLower Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate to create the upper and
lower arms of the robot. Scale, rotate, and translate the
RightHand LeftHand
cylinders so they appear similar to those shown in Fig.
1.
Fig. 2
Create some hands for your robot and place them in
a hierarchy
■ Add flattened cubes at the end of each arm to create
hands. Switch back to CTR mode and translate the
centres to the top of each cube. You need to position the
centres to the top of their respective objects to ensure
proper rotation.
■ Select each object individually and choose Info ➔
Selection to name them as shown in Fig. 2.

■ Open a Schematic window and select LeftLower.

Choose the Parent menu cell and pick LeftHand. Now
select LeftUpper and pick LeftLower. Deselect the Left
arm hierarchy using the space bar and the middle mouse
button and then repeat the same procedure for the Right
arm. Once you have created the branch hierarchies for
Fig. 3 the arms, select Torso and pick Head, RightUpper, and
LeftUpper. By placing the objects into such a hierarchy,
you allow each component of the mechanical arms to be
animated. Use the Schematic diagram in Fig. 2 as a
reference.
■ Press the space bar to select and deselect the various
components.
■ Experiment with the robot hierarchy by selecting the
entire tree, the branches, and individual nodes.
Animate the robot
■ Select one of the arms as a branch by pressing the
space bar while middle-clicking the upper arm cylinder.
■ Go to the Motion module and choose
SaveKey ➔ Branch ➔ Rotation at frame 1.
■ Move to frame 100 and reposition the arm. Use the third
illustration in Fig. 3 as a reference.
■ Select the arm as a branch again and choose
SaveKey ➔ Branch ➔ Rotation to create frame 100.
■ Play back your animation by clicking on the forward
arrow key in the playback box.

3D.book : model.doc 31 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
M O D E L M O D U L E


Model Module
Basic Modelling and Object Types

There are five types of objects that can be modelled in
SOFTIMAGE 3D. You must know the differences
Curve
between each model type because most modelling tools
only work on a specific object type.
Curve
A curve is not visible to the renderer. It is used as a motion
path, or as a base curve to be extruded, skinned, or
revolved. The five different types of curves are Linear,
Cardinal, Bezier, B-Spline, and NURBS.
Face
Face
A face is a two-dimensional object that can have holes as
part of its definition.
Polygon Mesh
A polygon mesh object is a three-dimensional collection
Polygon mesh of polygons. Vertices on a polygon mesh are always linked
together by a straight line.
Surface
Surfaces are also three-dimensional. They are always
made from a basic grid of smaller surfaces. The two
directions of a surface are referred to as U and V. Control
points on a surface can be linked linearly or by curves.
Surface There are two types of surface objects: patch and NURBS
(Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines). NURBS surface
objects allow more detailed manipulations, and can be
“trimmed” to create complex surfaces.
Meta-Clay Element
Meta-clay elements (meta-elements) create three-
dimensional surfaces by transforming their relative size
Meta-clay and zone of influence instead of transforming control
element points.

Model Project – Your Name in 3D, Part 1

This tutorial allows you to create 3D text by applying a simple
extrusion to a curve. The polygon mesh object that is created by the
extrusion is ideally suited for this type of operation because it
allows you to bevel the top, bottom, and sides of an object.
You will notice in the Schematic window that each letter is created
with a null hierarchy. This type of structure allows for easier
manipulation.
Note: The OPEN/CLOSE option in the Schematic window
Note allows you to expand and collapse hierarchies within the
Schematic window. This option can be very useful when
you have several complex hierarchies within the same
scene. To collapse a hierarchy, select the OPEN/CLOSE
option and middle-click on the parent of any hierarchy or
sub-hierarchy. To expand the hierarchy simply left-click
on the parent.

Model Module
Your Name in 3D, Part 1

Text, Extrusion
Create some text
■ Choose Get ➔ Text and select a Font.
■ In the Text box, type your first name. Click Ok to
confirm the text entry.
■ In the Front window, open a Schematic window and
look at the hierarchy – it should look similar to the one
shown in Fig. 2.
Extrude the text to make it three-dimensional
Fig. 1 ■ Choose Surface ➔ Extrusion to extrude the text as a

polygon mesh object using the following parameters:
-Polygon
-Subdivision - 5
-Close - on
-Bevelling - Active
-Radius - 0.1
-No. Bevels - 2
-Top bevelling only
Fig. 2 See Fig. 3 for an illustration of how the values for
Bevelling and Radius affect the extrusion.
■ Hide the original faces by selecting them (in the
Bevel 1 Schematic window) and choosing Display ➔ Hide ➔
Toggle & Desel. Hidden. The faces are the larger group
of objects because each character has at least one null
Bevel 2
associated with it for object placement.
Bevel 3 ■ Select the Shade view mode in the Perspective window

Radius 1
and use the Supra key o to orbit the camera around your
object.
Note: If parts of your text have blended together as a
Note result of the extrusion, open a Schematic window,
1 SOFTIMAGE unit select the extruded objects (“extru” prefix) and
choose Delete ➔ Selection. Try extruding your
Fig. 3 text again with a smaller Radius value.
■ Choose Save ➔ Scene to save your scene for later use.

Model Project – Wine Glass

In this project, you will create a wine glass by “lathing” a curve
along the y-axis with the revolution tool. A NURBS curve is used to
draw one half of a cross-section of the glass in reference to the
origin of the 3D world. Although an object can be revolved
anywhere, it is always created in reference to the centre of the 3D
world (that is, the centre of a new object is at the origin).
Because the y-axis is used as the axis of rotation for the revolution,
the first and last point should normally be exactly on the axis: one
solution is using the grid lock on the x-axis when drawing or
moving those points; another is to use Info ➔ Selection on the
revolved object to close both capping options of the NURBS.
Again, like many operations in SOFTIMAGE 3D which involve
creating a new object, you still have access to the original curve for
further refinements.

Model Module
Wine Glass
Grid Lock, Drawing Curves, Revolution
Draw a profile curve of a glass
■ Enlarge the Front window to full size by clicking on the
sizing icon in its title bar.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS and draw the profile
of a wine glass using the origin of the global axis as
your starting point (See Fig. 1 for reference). Press Esc
to end Drawing mode.
Tip When drawing the profile curve, use the Supra

key z to zoom out in the Front window and obtain
a smaller grid.
Fig. 1
■ Choose Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relation.
Note: The Relational modelling relationship that exists
Note between the original curve and the final object
can be removed by either choosing Effect ➔
Freeze ➔ Modelling Relation or by simply
deleting the original curve.
■ In the title bar of the Front window, click the Layout
icon (the ruler in the shape of an L) and select Grid lock
for the x and y-axes. Make the grid smaller by changing
the Grid display values from 1 to 0.25.
■ Choose Show ➔ Point to display the control points on
the profile curve. Move the first and last points so that
they “snap” to the y-axis. Deactivate the Grid lock.
■ Choose Edit ➔ Move Point. Edit the points of the curve
until you obtain a nice profile curve (Fig. 1).
Fig. 2
Give the glass some volume
■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution and use the default values
of 360 degrees with 8 steps. Make the surface a Cubic
NURBS. The y-axis should be the default axis around
which the curve revolves.
Tip Revolutions can happen around any axis, but the

y-axis/ Front window combination is the
convention.

■ Choose Show ➔ Normal. If the normals are pointing

inwards (as in Fig. 3), open a Schematic window and
select the original curve. In the Model module, choose
Effect ➔ Inverse and select the glass again. The normals
should now be pointing outwards as in Fig. 4.
■ View the image in the Shade view mode. Change the
direction of the object’s normals from inwards to
outwards to see the difference.
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
■ Use the Supra key o to orbit the camera around the wine
glass.
Save your scene, then change the shape of your glass
■ Choose Save ➔ Scene so that you can use the glass in
other projects.
■ Try changing the shape of the wine glass by editing
points on the original curve. In the Schematic window,
select the original curve. Press Supra key m, click on the
Fig. 5 point you wish to move and drag the mouse in any
direction. The shape of your wine glass is automatically
updated with every move which is a result of modelling
relations.
■ With the original profile curve selected, choose Info ➔
Selection (NURBS Curve Info dialogue box) and lower
the step value from 10 to 3. Since the modelling relation
is in effect, the wine glass is automatically updated.
■ The step value sets the refinement of the curve between
the control points.
■ Turn off the modelling relation before the next exercise.
by choosing Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relation
again.
Tip Freeing the modelling relation allows you to

manipulate individual points as shown in the two
illustrations in Fig. 5.

Model Module

Model Project – Zip-a-Neck

This tutorial introduces the Zip Surfaces command, which allows
you to “merge” any two objects together seamlessly. You will use
this command to attach the head of a model to its neck.

Model Module
Zip-a-Neck
Drawing Curves and Zipping Surfaces
Create a simple head
Note: If it is available, use the head created in lesson 1
Note of the Quick Start Guide. If it is not, create a
simpler head with the following steps:
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere and make it a B-
Spline patch.
■ Switch to TAG manipulation mode. In the Right view,
use the Supra key t to tag the sphere’s left-most point.
Translate the point in the positive z direction to create a
Fig. 1
nose (see Fig. 1).
Create a simple neck
■ Select the Layout icon in the Front window and activate
the Grid lock option for both the x and y axes.
6 ■ Draw a profile for the neck by choosing Draw ➔ Curve
➔ B-Spline. Position the cursor over the lower area of
the Front window and left-click to create six points
going from bottom to top. Use Fig. 2 as a reference.
1
Note: The U and V direction as well as the vertex order
Note is important when zipping.
Fig. 2
Revolve the curve

■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution. In the Revolution
dialogue box, select the Patch and B-Spline options.
Prepare to zip the head and neck
■ Choose the Multi menu cell. Select both the head and
the neck.
Note: It is important that the object being zipped and
Note the support object are both selected. If they are in
the same hierarchy, select the branch. If they are
not, select both in Multi mode.
Start zipping the u direction
■ Select Draw ➔ Zip Surfaces.

■ In the Front window, pick the heads’ right-most point

three rows from the bottom (Fig. 3).
■ In the Zipper Direction dialogue box, click Ok to accept
the U direction. At this point, you can decide whether
the support object’s U or V direction is used as a target.
■ Pick the neck’s right-most point in the top row (Fig. 4).
■ In the Zipper Direction dialogue box, click Ok to accept
the U direction.
Fig. 3 ■ In the Zip Patches dialogue box, set the total Number of
points to 7. The values in both sliders (Number of points
Up and Number of points Down) should add up to 7,
although any combination can be used. Don’t click Ok
just yet.
Note: Any number of points in a given row can be
Note attached to the corresponding points in the target
object.
■ Still in the Zip Patches dialogue box, set the Rows down
to 2. This zips two more rows, connecting the head to
the neck. Now click Ok.
Fig. 4 Note: To get a seamless transition in a B-Spline or
Note Cardinal patch, a minimum of three rows should
be zipped.
■ Use the Shade view mode in any window to see the
result. Remember that you still have two objects. You
might want to group them in the same hierarchy to
simplify later movement.
Note: The Zip Surfaces also applies to NURBS surface
Note objects. Try this example again, but this time use
NURBS instead of a patch object.
Fig. 5

Model Module

Model Project – Missile, Part 1

This exercise will allow you to continue to build on your modelling
skills. You will create a basic missile by drawing curves and using
the Surface ➔ Revolution and Surface ➔ Extrusion commands. You
will also be introduced to the Spreadsheet.
This tutorial is part 1 of a four-part series. You will be animating
your missile in the Motion section of the workbook, applying
materials and textures to it in Matter, and creating exhaust and
smoke using the Particle system in the Particle section. Make sure
to save your scene when you have completed this part of the tutorial
so that you can continue with parts 2 through 4.

Model Module
Missile, Part 1
Revolution, Extrusion, Duplicate Repetition
Create the body of your missile
■ Maximize the Front window by clicking on the
Maximize/Minimize button in the Front window title
bar.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Linear and create a profile of
the body of your rocket. Use Fig. 1 as a reference.
■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution to turn your profile curve
into a 3D object. In the Revolution dialogue box, select
Patch B-spline and then click Ok to accept all other
default values.
Fig. 1
Hide the body of your missile
■ Open a Spreadsheet window as you would any other
window. The Spreadsheet appears with a list of the two
objects you have created so far.
(-2, 0, 0) ■ Go into the NVisibility/nvisib column. Click and drag so

that both text boxes are highlighted. You will notice that
both these elements are marked with an X, denoting that
they are both visible.
■ Middle-click in either text box to make both of the
elements invisible.
(-2, -3, 0) (-1, -3, 0) ■ Middle-click Spreadsheet in the window title bar to
return to the previous window type.
Fig. 2 Create the reactor of your missile
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Linear and create a profile of
the reactor. Use Fig. 2 as a reference.
■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution to turn the profile curve
into a 3D object. In the Surface Revolution dialogue
box, select Patch B-Spline and then click Ok to accept
all other default values.
■ Open the Spreadsheet window again. Hide the reactor
curve and show the missile’s body.

■ Position the reactor so that it fits over the tail end of the
missile’s body. To do so, use the Supra key v to activate
Translation mode and then use each mouse button as
described in the Status bar. Use Fig. 3 as a reference.
Create the wings of the missile
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Linear and create a profile
curve of the Missile’s wing (see Fig. 4).
■ Choose Draw ➔ Open/Close to close this curve. Then
choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face to give the wing face a
surface.
Fig. 3 ■ Choose Surface ➔ Extrusion to turn the face object into
a 3D object. In the Extrusion dialogue box, select
Polygon as the Object Type, activate Top and Bottom
bevelling, change the Depth to 0.5 and then click Ok to
accept all other default values.
■ Translate the wing so that it is attached to the side of the
missile. Use Fig. 5 as a reference.
■ Change to CTR (centre) manipulation mode and
translate the centre of the wing to the middle of the
missile. Use all four windows to position the centre
correctly. The centre of the original wing acts as a
reference point around which you place the other three
wings.
Fig. 4
■ Use the Duplicate ➔ Repetition command to create three
copies of the original wing. In the Duplicate Repetition
dialogue box, change the Occurrences to 3 and the Y
rotation value to 90 and then click Ok. You should now
have four wings around the missile 90 degrees apart
from one another (see Fig. 6).
Create a source from which particles are emitted
Fig. 5 ■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle. Select B-Spline as the

curve type and then click Ok.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face to give the circle a
surface.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and rename your face
“Part_source.” By naming each element in your scene,
you can more easily distinguish them as the scene
becomes more complex.
Fig. 6

Model Module
■ Translate Part_source to the base of the missile – make

it flush with the bottom of the wings. Make sure that the
face is right at the end of the base, so that when the
particles are emitted later on, they won’t pass right
Part_source through it. Use Fig. 7 as a reference for placement.
Create an enclosed environment for your missile
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Make it a Patch B-
Spline with a radius of 1000.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Inverse to inverse the direction of the
sphere’s surface normals. By inverting the normals, any
material or texture applied to the sphere is viewable
Fig. 7 only from within the sphere. This technique allows you
to easily create an environment for your missile. Choose
Show ➔ Normals to verify that the normals are pointing
inwards towards the centre of the sphere.
■ Save your scene for use in Part 2 of the series.

Model Project – Sailboat

This tutorial introduces you to the skinning tool. Skinning basically
creates a surface out of a series of curves that define the various
cross sections of the object. In this exercise, you will use the
skinning tool to create the body and sails of a sailboat.
The skinning tool works differently for Cardinal, Bezier, B-Spline,
and Linear curves than for NURBS curves. For these curve types, it
needs to find the same number of points in the selected curves to
create the 3D surface. The best way to ensure that the curves have
the same number of points is by using the Duplicate ➔ Repetition
command. NURBS curves, on the other hand, do not have such a
restriction.
Note: Capping an object causes overlapping end points to stay
Note together and act as if they were one point. If you deselect
the capping, each point remains independent of the others.

Model Module
Sailboat
Skin, Tag Points
Create the cross-sections of the boat using a series of arcs
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Arc with a radius of 3, Begin
at 180, and End at 360. Make it a B-Spline curve.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Open/Close to close the arc, then
choose Show ➔ Point to display the points on the curve.
Use the Supra Key m to move the two top points down
to flatten the top of the curve.
Fig. 1 ■ Make sure Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relation is
inactive (the default).
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Repetition and make five copies of
the arc with a Scaling factor of 0.5 along each axis and a
Translation of 5 units along the z-axis.
■ Select the original arc and repeat the duplication to
create three copies, but change the Scaling factor to 0.75
along each axis and the Translation to -3 units (negative)
along the z-axis.
■ Select the original arc (the largest) and use the Supra
key t to tag the point in the centre of the arc. Change to
TAG manipulation mode and move the tagged point
down along the y-axis by about 1 unit (fig. 1).
■ Tag the control points on either side of the centre point
Fig. 2
and scale these three tagged points along the x-axis to
create the keel of the sailboat (fig. 1).
Create a 3D object using the Skin tool
■ Choose Select ➔ Clear to deselect all objects.
■ Choose Surface ➔ Skin and select each cross-section in
sequential order starting from the smallest curve (use
the Right window for reference). Once each arc has
been selected, click the right mouse button. Select Patch
and B-Spline in the Skinning dialogue box and click Ok.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and activate Capping for the
Bottom of the U B-Spline. This closes the bow (the front
tip) of the boat.

■ Open a Schematic window. Hold down the space bar

and click on the various nodes to select the arc at the
back of the boat (the stern).
■ Choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face to make the curve into
a surface. Finish the sailboat by adding a mast (cylinder)
Fig. 3 and sails (skin between two curves again: one along the
mast and the other along the boom. Remember that the
Skin command only works for Bezier, B-Spline,
Cardinal, and Linear curves when both curves have the
same number of points).
Place all your objects into a hierarchy and save your
scene
■ In the Schematic window, rename the skinned object
“sailboat” and make it the parent of the mast, the boom,
and the two sails as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4
■ Select the sailboat node only and choose Show ➔
Normal. Make sure the surface normals are pointing
outwards (as in Fig. 4). If not, choose Effect ➔ Inverse
to reverse their direction.
■ Save your scene for use in a later lesson.

Model Module

Model Project – Ice Cream

In this project, duplicate repetition and skinning are used to create a
complex object. You will also use a lattice to complete the object by
manipulating the top section of the ice cream. A lattice is simply a
bounding box where every one of its points is associated with a
number of points on the object. By moving points on the Lattice
you can deform the object in many ways.

Model Module
Ice Cream
Duplicate Repetition, Skin
Modify a circle and create the cross-sections of the ice
cream
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle with a radius of 5
units. Make it a B-Spline Curve Type and increase the
Step value to 16 (the step value is simply the number of
control points along an object).
■ Choose Show ➔ Point to display the points along the
circumference of the circle.
Fig. 1 ■ Switch to TAG manipulation mode. In the Front
window, hold down the Supra key t and click alternating
points along the edge of the circle to tag (select) them.
You should tag eight points in total.
■ Activate the Scale menu cell and scale the tagged points
along both the x and y-axes to create a scalloped circle
(as shown in Fig. 1). Hold down the Supra key t and
middle-click to untag (deselect) the points when you are
done.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Repetition using the following
settings:
No. of occurrences: 9
Scaling: X = 0.7 Y = 0.7 Z=1
Rotation: X=0 Y=0 Z = 25
Translation: X=0 Y=0 Z=1
Create a 3D object using the Skin tool
■ To see all the new objects in the windows, press the
Supra key A (Shift-a) in any window. Choose Select ➔
Clear to deselect all objects. Switch back to OBJ
(Object) manipulation mode.
■ Choose Surface ➔ Skin and select each slice starting
from the largest to the smallest circle. Once every slice
has been selected, click the right mouse button. Select
Patch and B-Spline in the dialogue box.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and activate Top for the U
Capping.

■ Rotate the object -90 degrees around the x-axis.

■ Select the Shade view mode in the Perspective window
and use the Supra key o to orbit the camera around your
delicious creation!
Use a lattice to manipulate the tip of your ice cream swirl
■ Choose Lattice ➔ Node ➔ Create. Make it a curve lattice
and accept the other default values.
■ In TAG mode, tag the top two rows of the lattice. Rotate
the lattice so that the top portion of your ice cream is
slanted to one side. Use the illustrations in Fig. 2 as a
guide.
■ Untag the lower of the two rows, leaving the top row
selected. Then rotate and translate the tagged lattice
points further until the tip of your ice cream has a slight
curl.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Model Module

Model Project – Jojo the Fish, Part 1

You will model a fish from primitive objects and link them together
in a hierarchy. Use this time to become more familiar with the 3D
environment and with the parenting mode.
This project is a prerequisite to Part 2 of “Jojo the Fish.”
Note that the 3D world is an infinite world: scale your objects in
relation to each other.

Model Module
Jojo the Fish, Part 1

Modelling, Hierarchy
Create the body of the fish
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere using the default
values. Select Cubic NURBS in U and V.
■ Choose the Show menu cell and activate both Points and
Lines to display the control points and lines of the
sphere.
■ Rotate the sphere by 90 degrees on the x-axis.
■ Scale the sphere to approximately 0.1 on the x-axis.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Transformations (needed for
the next exercise).
Fig. 1 Note: The Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Transformations

Note command resets all the scaling, rotation, and
translation values back to their default settings
without affecting the size, position, or location of
your object. In other words, it sets the current
values as the default setting. This is an important
concept to understand because many
SOFTIMAGE 3D commands use the default
settings as their point of reference. If you do not
reset the values back to their default setting, you
may not get the results you want!
Fig. 2 Fig. 3
Scale tagged points to create a fish tail
■ Enlarge the Right window by clicking on the maximize
button in the window title bar and switch to TAG
manipulation mode.
■ Using the Supra key t, tag the second column of points
to the right of the centre (about -2 units on the z-axis).
Refer to Fig. 1.
■ Scale the tagged points along the y-axis to define the
body and tail sections of Jojo the fish (see Fig. 2). Untag
the points.
■ Tag the highest and lowest points on the tail section and
translate them along the z-axis to create the tail fins
(Fig. 3).

Create the eyes and mouth of the fish
Body ■ Add an eye and a pupil. After you have created and
correctly positioned the first eye, use the Effect ➔
Symmetry command on the yz plane to make the second
RightEye LeftEye Mouth eye. Make sure that both the pupil and the eye are
selected before you choose Effect ➔ Symmetry.
RightPupil LeftPupil
■ To create the mouth from a torus, choose Get ➔
Primitive ➔ Torus. Make it a Cubic NURBS with radius
Fig. 4 values of 0.25 and 0.5. In TAG mode, use the Supra key
t to tag all the points on the right side of the torus (use
the Right window to tag and rotate the points). Rotate
the tagged points in x until the top and bottom portions
touch. Untag the points and position the mouth.
Name all the objects and place them in a hierarchy
■ Select each object separately and choose Info ➔
Selection. Type in an appropriate name in the text box.
■ Open a Schematic window. Hold the space bar down
while selecting one of the eyes with the left mouse
button. Choose the Parent menu cell and pick the
corresponding pupil with the left mouse button. Click
the right mouse button to end the Parent mode. Repeat
the procedure for the other eye.
■ Select the body of the fish. Choose the Parent menu cell
Fig. 5 and pick the mouth and the eyes with the left mouse
button. Your hierarchy should look similar to the one
shown in Fig. 4.
Create the ocean floor and then save your scene
■ To create the ocean floor, choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid
using the default settings – make it a cubic NURBS
surface. Translate the grid under the fish.
■ To create a bumpy surface, choose Effect ➔ Randomize
and input these settings: X = 0.05, Y = 0.5, Z = 0.05.
Scale the grid on the y-axis to adjust the deformation
effect.
■ Finish your scene by adjusting the sizes of the models.
Your final image should look similar to that shown in
Fig. 5.
■ Save your scene for use in Part 2 of the series.

Model Module

Model Project – Logo

This project is an introduction to the deformation tool. The
Deformation ➔ by Surface command is used here on a text object to
deform it over a patch sphere. After the deformation, an object can
be translated (in LCL mode) along the 2D surface of the patch by
using the x and z-axes. Keyframes can be applied to record the
translation of the deformed object and the shape of the patch can
also be edited and keyframed.

Model Module
Logo
Deformation, Effects, Surface Fitting
Set up the scene by getting a few elements
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Make it a B-Spline
Patch with a Radius of 8 units.
■ Load the scene containing your extruded name (see
“Your Name in 3D”).
Place the objects into a hierarchy
■ Open a Schematic window and select the letter S.
Choose the Parent menu cell and pick the A and M as
children.
Tip Use your imagination if your name isn’t actually

Fig. 1 Sam: if it’s “Billy Stemhobilitchky”, then you’ve
got a lot of parenting ahead of yourself!
Prepare the text for the deformation
■ Choose Effect ➔ Subdivision to subdivide the logo into
a larger number of polygons. This allows the letter faces
of the text to be deformed along the surface of the
sphere. Use the following values for the Subdivision: X
= 5,
Y = 5, Z = 0 on each of the letters.
■ Rotate the logo 90 degrees on the x-axis and 180
degrees on the z-axis.
Tip The object must be frozen before you apply the

deformation.
Fig. 2 ■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Rotation on the logo. This is

required since deformations use a different global axis.
Deform the text along the sphere’s surface
■ Choose Deformation ➔ by Surface ➔ Branch ➔ Create
on the logo and pick the sphere as the deforming
surface.
■ In local mode (LCL), translate the text in x and z
directions to move the logo across the surface of the
sphere. Experiment with the scaling of the text.

Translating in local mode (LCL) allows you to

Tip
translate your name around the local centre of the
patch sphere and not the global centre of your
scene.
When you apply the deformation for the first
time, the transformation values have an offset.
Start the translation by resetting the values to 0.
A patch surface is made out of a grid and
therefore only has two dimensions, U and V.
Translation along x and z moves and deforms
your name according to the shape of the sphere.
Translation in y moves your name in a direction
perpendicular to the sphere
■ Try tagging and moving some points on the sphere.
Press the Supra key r to redraw the screen and see the
effect of the surface modification.

Model Module

Model Project – Rings

This tutorial introduces you to the Duplicate ➔ From Animation
command. You will use this command along with the Skin tool to
create a ring-like object. To do so, you will animate a square curve
along a circular path and then duplicate it along the circle using the
animation. You must select the duplicated squares in order when
using the skin tool to create the final extruded object.

Model Module
Rings
Duplicate from Animation
Get some primitive objects to set up the scene
■ Get a square with a length of 4.
■ Rotate the square 90 degrees around the x-axis.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Rotation. This sets the current
rotation values as the default setting allowing the
deformation tool to use these new settings as their point
of reference.
■ Get a B-Spline circle with a radius of 15 and 8 steps.
Deform the square along the circle’s path
■ Select the square and assign a deformation by curve
Fig. 1 using Deformation ➔ By Curve ➔ Node ➔ Create, and
picking the circle as the deformation path.
■ Reset the translation of the square by clicking in the
triangular tab in any Translation menu cell. Make sure
all values are defined as 0 and click Set.
Animate the square
■ To animate the square, set the length of the time line to
80 (enter 80 in the End frame box) and set the current
frame to 1.
■ Set a keyframe for the square by choosing SaveKey ➔
Object ➔ Node Curve Deformation ➔ All in the Motion
module.
■ Go to the last frame (80). In LCL mode, translate the
square in y until it reaches the starting position.
Tip Use the Ghost view mode to quickly verify the

location of the start key.
■ Rotate the square 360 degrees around the z-axis.
■ Keyframe all values again by middle-clicking the
SaveKey menu cell.

Change the function curves to linear interpolation

■ With the square selected, choose FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔
All. In the Fcurve window, select each curve and click
on the LIN option in the window title bar to make them
linear.
Note: You can either go into Multi selection mode and
Note apply linear interpolation to all the curves at once
or repeat the previous operation for each of the
curves in Single selection mode.
Use the animated square to create cross-sections for the
ring
■ Copy the square cross-section by choosing Duplicate ➔
From Animation on the square with a frame step of 10.
Open a Schematic window and hide the original square.
■ Choose Select ➔ Clear to deselect all objects.
Skin your object and then increase its resolution
■ Choose Surface ➔ Skin. Pick each square in order and
then right-click to skin the object. In the Skinning
Dialogue Box, select Patch B-Spline and activate the
Close option.
■ Select the skinned object and choose Info ➔ Selection.
Change the Step value in U to 10 and click Ok. You
should be able to see a difference in the resolution of the
object in Shade view mode.

Model Module

NURBS Modelling Project – Soft-drink Can

In this tutorial, you will create a soft drink can by using the NURBS
modelling and relational modelling tools. You have greater
flexibility with NURBS objects because they allow you to place
different weighting values at strategic points throughout the object
to create certain desired effects. You can also trim holes in NURBS
objects, which can be a very useful tool.
Play with the Draw ➔ Open/Close command later with a NURBS
curve to get used to the flexibility for joining the curve ends.

Model Module
Soft-drink Can
NURBS and Trimming
Draw the can’s profile curve and apply weights to some
points
■ In the Model module, choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS.
Draw the profile of the soft-drink can in the Front
window so it can be revolved around the y-axis (use the
same number of points as in Fig. 1).
■ Change the weight of points 2, 6, 7, and 11 from the
default weight of 1.0 to a value of 5.0. To do so, choose
Edit ➔ Coordinate and pick the first point (the point on
the y-axis at the top of the curve). In the Edit Coordinate
dialogue box, click the Next button until you reach point
no. 2. Change the value in the Weight (W) box to 5.0
and click Modify. Change the weights of points 6, 7, and
Fig. 1
11 in the same manner. Use the Next button to navigate
between the points. Refer to Fig. 2.
Note: When drawing NURBS curves, the first point
Note
starts at 0 and not 1. Therefore, make sure you
are assigning weights to the right points.
W=5 Tip You could also have modified the weighting of
points 2, 6, 7, and 11 by tagging the points using
the Supra key t and then choosing Edit ➔ NURBS
Weight ➔ Tagged Points. This allows you to
interactively change the weighting of several
points at the same time.
■ Activate the Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relations
command.
W=5
Create a 3D object by revolving a curve and change its
shape
■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution. Select the y-axis as the
Fig. 2 rotation axis (default), the Cubic option under NURBS
(create a NURBS instead of polygon object) and
activate the Close option.
■ Reshape the object with relational modelling. Select the
original NURBS curve and use the m key to edit the
position of the points. Refer to a shaded Perspective
window for interactive feedback.

■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Modelling Relation to remove

the modelling relationship between the original curve
and your 3D object, and then click Ok in the dialogue
box. Deactivate modelling relations by choosing
Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relations again.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and close the capping for both
ends of the V section.
Fig. 3
Trim a hole for the opening of the can
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS and draw a curve in
the Top window as shown in Fig. 3. Choose Draw ➔
Open/Close and accept the default options.
■ Select the can and choose Draw ➔ Trim NURBS
Surface. Pick the NURBS curve and specify the y-axis
as the Parallel projection method. Make sure that the
cyan (light blue) reference line cuts through the top and
bottom portion of your object. The reference line tells
you where the trimming occurs. Click Preview. Two
magenta holes should appear at the top and button of
your can and Trim #1 and Trim #2 should appear under
the Projected curves heading. Select the “Trim #” which
corresponds to the hole at the top of the can and click
Ok leaving the other values as they are.
Note: To delete a trim hole from your object, simply
Note select the NURBS object and choose Draw ➔
Fig. 4
Delete Trim Curves. Pick your NURBS object
and the Delete Trim Curves dialogue box
appears. Select the Trim # of the curve you want
to delete and click Ok.
■ Look at your can in a Shade view mode to see the results
of your work.
■ Experiment with applying different materials and
textures to your can.
■ Increase the Step value to increase the resolution of your
can.

Model Module

Model Project – Table

In this tutorial, you will create a simple scene consisting of a lamp
on a table. You will use the Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS and the
Surface ➔ Revolution commands to create all the different
components of the lamp as well as the legs of the table. You will
also get a chance to further understand the concept of weighting
which will be used to manipulate points on the NURBS curve. All
the components will be put into hierarchies.

Model Module
Table
NURBS, Weighting, Instances
Create the base and shade of the lamp
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS and draw the profile
of the base of your lamp in the Front window – use Fig.
1 as a reference.
■ Create the shade for your lamp by choosing Draw ➔
Curve ➔ NURBS – use Fig. 2 as a reference.
■ Choose Edit ➔ Coordinates and change the weighting
values in the Edit Coordinates dialogue box to those
shown in Fig. 2. You may have to manipulate some of
the points using the Supra key m to get the look you
Fig. 1 want.
Tip You may prefer to interactively weight the points

on your curve using the Edit ➔ NURBS Weight ➔
Tagged Points command.
W=10
■ Follow the same steps to create the profiles for your
light bulb and socket – use Fig. 3 as a reference.
W=10 ■ Select the four profiles in Multi mode and choose
Surface ➔ Revolution. Select Cubic NURBS as your
W=10 Object Type and make y the Axis of Revolution. Click
Ok.
■ Back in Single mode, select and translate each
component of your lamp so that they all fit together
Fig. 2 properly.
Name each object and place them into a hierarchy
Shade ■ Open a Schematic window, select each object separately

and use Info ➔ Selection to rename each revolution by
Bulb its proper name (base, socket, bulb, shade).
Socket ■ Create a hierarchy with the base of your lamp as the
parent. To do so, select the base of the lamp, choose
Base Parent and then click on the socket, bulb, and shade of
your lamp. Right-click to end parent mode.
Fig. 3

Create a table for the lamp

■ Create a table top with a cube scaled on its y-axis.
Translate it directly below the base of the lamp so that
the lamp is sitting on the table.
■ Create the table’s legs. Activate relational modelling by
choosing Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relation.
Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS and draw a profile
curve in the Front window. Use Fig. 4 as a reference.
Note: The relational modelling relationship that exists
Note between the original curve and the final object
can be removed by either choosing Effect ➔
Freeze ➔ Modelling Relation or by deleting the
original curve.
Fig. 4
■ Choose Surface ➔ Revolution. Select Cubic NURBS as
the object type and make y the axis of revolution. Click
Ok.
■ Duplicate the table’s leg by choosing Duplicate ➔
Instance Repetition. In the Repetitive Instantiation
dialogue box, change the number of occurrences to 3
and then click Ok. In the Schematic window, select each
leg and position it correctly under the table.
Note: The Duplicate ➔ Instance Repetition command
Note creates a specified number of exact duplicates of
Indicates that a modelling relation exists
between the curve and the revolution the master object, without repeating information
as is done with a typical duplication. This lets
Fig. 5 you create virtual replications of an object
without taking up much disk space.
■ Select the original curve and make any adjustments to
the legs of your table by using the Supra key m. You
will notice that as you change the original curve, all four
legs are automatically updated. This is as a result of both
relational modelling and instances.
Name your objects and then place them in a hierarchy
■ Open a Schematic window, select each object
separately, and use Info ➔ Selection to rename them.
Then, create a hierarchy with the table top as the parent.
■ Save your scene for use in other projects.
Tip You can use the Schematic window with Model

Fig. 6 mode activated to verify on which objects there

Model Module
exists Modelling Relation (See Fig. 5).

Model Project – Flower Power

Instance, Paint, Duplicate Repetition, and Info Distance are used in
this project to create a garden of similar flowers. Instances are
probably the most powerful tool when you want to create many
duplicates of one model.

Model Module
Flower Power
NURBS and Instances
Create a 2D flower object
■ Draw a flower face in the Front window by choosing
Draw ➔ Curve ➔ NURBS. Refer to Fig. 1.
■ Close the curve by choosing Draw ➔ Open/Close.
Use the default values.
■ Convert the closed curve into a face by choosing Draw
➔ Convert to Face.
■ Convert the face to a polygon mesh object. Select Effect

➔ Convert. Use the default values and click Ok.
■ Choose Show ➔ Normal. Make sure the normals of your

Fig. 1
object are facing toward the camera. If they are not, all
materials and textures are applied to the back side of
your object making them invisible to the camera. To
reverse the direction of the normals, choose Effect ➔
Inverse.
Apply a texture and paint your flower
■ Paint your flower by choosing Texture ➔ 2D Global in
the Matter module. Get any picture file by clicking on
the Select button next to the Picture Filename text box.
Use the browser to go to the /SI_Materials/PICTURES
Info Distance database. Once you have selected a picture file, click
Load. A sample of your texture appears in the Display
Fig. 2 Box.
■ Select the XY Mapping Method.
■ Click the Paint button to open the Paint dialogue box.
Click the Off button under the 3D Projection View area
in the top right of the Paint dialogue box and select the
Fast option.
■ Click the Active button in the UV editing text box and
select Change.
■ Click the flower object to view the polygon boundary
and then use any of the Paint tools to colour the flower
in the Display area. When finished, click Accept. Save
the new image map under a new name.

Find the width of the flower and create several rows

■ Find out how large the flower is by choosing Info ➔
Distance and picking two vertices on either edge (see
Fig. 2). Note the distance that appears in the status bar.
Right-click to end Distance mode.
■ Create instances of the flower by choosing Duplicate ➔
Instance Repetition. Enter No. of occurrences as 4 and
Fig. 3
multiply the distance found in the previous step by 2 in
the X Translation box. Four instances are created with a
null as their parent. Open a Schematic window and verify
that the instances have been created with a hierarchy
similar to the one shown in Fig. 3.
■ Duplicate the instances in this first row to create a series
of rows by choosing Duplicate ➔ Instance Repetition.
Create 3 occurrences and keep the same distance, but
this time translate the occurrences in negative Z (X = 0,
Z = - old X value). The result should look similar to that
shown in Fig. 4.
Animate the flowers
■ Go into the Motion module and select the original
flower. Go to frame 50 and choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Shape.
Fig. 4
■ Go to frame 1, select the original flower, and tag the
head points, as in Fig. 5. Rotate the head about -15o on
the z-axis. Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Shape again. Go
to frame 100 and rotate the tagged points about +15o.
Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Shape again.
■ Add a floor, a sky, and animate a light (with shadows)
over the scene that follows the flower’s head rotation.
Tip Swap the original flower object for a beer bottle,

using the Duplicate ➔ Swap command, and make
a case of 12 or 24!
Fig. 5

Model Module

Model Project – Gears

This lesson lets you build a simple gear mechanism by tagging and
scaling points on a circle, creating a face, and then extruding that
face. You will be using this gear mechanism in a later tutorial so
make sure to save the scene.

Model Module
Gears
Tagging, Holes, and Extrusions
Get a circle and create the outline for the gear
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle and make it Linear
with a radius of 15, and a step of 32.
■ Choose Show ➔ Point to display the points on the circle.
■ Switch to TAG manipulation mode and using the Supra
key t, tag every other set of two points starting at top of
the circle (points 1 and 2, 5 and 6, 9 and 10, and so on).
Use Fig. 1 as a reference.
■ Click on the triangular tab in the Scale menu cells and
Fig. 1
enter 0.75 for X and Y. Click Add.
Turn the gear into a face and cut a hole in the middle
■ Switch back to OBJ manipulation mode.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle. This time make it
B-Spline with a radius of 3 and a step of 8.
■ Select the gear outline. Choose Draw ➔ Attach Hole,
then click on the smaller circle. Your gear face should
look similar to the one in shown Fig. 2.
Turn your face into a polygon mesh object
■ With the face selected, choose Surface ➔ Extrusion.
Make it a polygon mesh object, and use the z-axis
Fig. 2
(default) with a step of 1 and a depth of 1. Select the
Close option if it isn’t already active.
■ Name the extruded object Gear1 in the Info ➔ Selection
dialogue box.
Hide the original face and create a second gear
■ Open a Schematic window and select the original face
of the gear. Choose Display ➔ Hide ➔ Toggle & Desel.
Hidden to hide the original face object.
■ Select Gear1 and choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate for
Gear1. The new gear is automatically named Gear2.

Position the second gear and save the scene

■ Translate Gear2 by 26.5 units on the x-axis.
Note: You need to rotate at least one of the gears on the
Note z-axis to position them in the same manner as
they are shown in Fig. 3.
■ Save the scene for use in the Motion section of lessons.
Fig. 3

Model Module

Model Project – TV Set

This project further develops your modelling skills by introducing
such topics as polygon duplication, bevelling, and image mapping
at the polygonal level.
Note: The image mapping used in this tutorial is a sequence of
Note images that will be mapped onto the TV screen to produce
the effect that something is actually showing on TV.

Model Module
TV Set
Top Perspective Polygon Modelling
Build the basic model of the TV using polygons
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube (default length is 10.0).
■ Select a polygon on the cube by choosing Polygon ➔
Select By Rectangle. Click and drag a rectangle around
the back polygon of the cube (for this tutorial only, the
Front Right
back is the right side in the Front window, as shown in
Fig. 1). Change from OBJ to POL manipulation mode,
then choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate.
■ Translate and scale the new polygon as shown in Fig. 2.
■ Build your TV model. Repeat the two steps of Duplicate
➔ Immediate and Scale/Translate for the remaining four
Fig. 1 polygons as shown in Fig. 3. Note that the polygon for
the screen (#5) is translated inside the cube to create the
Top Perspective TV screen.
Note: Be careful to have the proper polygon selected:
Note use the Perspective window in full screen mode
and orbit your camera around the TV. Also make
sure that only one polygon is selected at a time.
■ Deselect the polygon by choosing Polygon ➔ Select By
Front Right Rectangle and middle-clicking and dragging a rectangle
around the polygon.
Add some dimension and colour to the TV set
■ Bevel your model by choosing Effect ➔ Bevel. Accept
the default values (bevel 0.1).
■ Choose the Material menu cell in the Matter module.
Fig. 2 Enter 0.2 for Diffuse, 0.48 for Ambient RGB, 250 as the
Specular Decay, and 0.04 as the Reflection value.
4 1
5 Place one of your flipbooks onto the TV screen
2 ■ Back in the Model module, choose Polygon ➔ Select By

Rectangle and select the TV screen.
3
■ Return to the Matter module and choose Polygon ➔
Assign New Material. In the Material editor, select
Constant Shading and accept the default values.
Fig. 3

■ Copy an existing flipbook to a PICTURE file. To do so,

choose Get ➔ DB Exchange. Use the browser on the left
to go to the RENDER_PICTURES chapter of your
database and select the jewel.1 flipbook.
■ Use the browser on the right to go to the PICTURES
chapter of your database and then click >>Copy>>. The
jewel.1 flipbook has been copied to the PICTURES
chapter so it appears in the browser on the right. Click
Exit when you have completed the transfer.
■ Choose Texture ➔ 2D Local. Select the Sequence option
under the Animation heading. Click the Select button
beside the Picture Filename text box. In the Load
Picture dialogue box that appears, select the jewel.1
picture file you copied and click Load. Select the YZ
Mapping Method and click Ok.
■ Reposition the texture sequence. In TXT manipulation
mode, reduce the scale to make it fit correctly on the
“screen” polygon.
■ Use a grid for the floor and define a light. Render a
flipbook.

Model Module

Model Project – Octopus

This project illustrates another way of using polygon modelling as a
creation tool. By using the Duplicate ➔ Repetition keys on selected
polygons, you can turn an ordinary sphere into an octopus. Quick
Stretch will be added later (Actor project) to add expressive
movements.

Model Module
Octopus
Polygon Modelling
Create the octopus head
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere as a Polygon with
Radius 5, Longitude 16, and Latitude 16.
Create the legs from manipulating polygons on the head
■ In the Model module, choose Polygon ➔ Select by
Rectangle (or use the Supra key y). In the Front window,
draw a rectangle around the third row of polygons from
the bottom by clicking and dragging the cursor (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1
■ In the Top window, deselect every other polygon in this
row by middle-clicking and dragging around each of the
polygons (Fig. 2).
■ Switch to Polygon (POL) manipulation mode.
■ In the Top window, press the Supra key x to scale the
polygons uniformly (all three mouse buttons in XYZ
mode or any mouse button in UNI mode) until the
corners closest to the centre touch (Fig. 3).
■ Press the Supra key v to change the Translation mode to
Local (LCL). Use the Supra key c to do the same for
Rotation. These modifications are necessary so that
Fig. 2 when these polygons are duplicated to create the legs,
they duplicate (rotate, translate, and scale) around their
local centres and not the global centre. Try the Duplicate
➔ Repetition command in different modes to see what
kind of effect they have on the final result. Use the
History ➔ Undo command between each try.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Repetition to create five
occurrences with these settings: Scaling X, Y, Z = 0.75,
Rotating -15 on X, and Translating 4.0 on X and Y.
Create the eyes and place all the objects in a hierarchy
■ Switch back to OBJ manipulation mode and choose Get
➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Define it as a Patch, B-Spline,
Fig. 3 radius 1, and a step of 8 for Longitude and Latitude.

■ In the Info ➔ Selection dialogue box, name the sphere

Eye. Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate, scale it smaller to
make the pupil, and name the new sphere Pupil.
■ Pick the Pupil and choose the Parent menu cell. Parent it
to the eyeball using the middle mouse button.
Fig. 4 ■ Press the v Supra key to translate the eye to the proper
position.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Symmetry to duplicate the eye in the
YZ plane, and then parent both eyes to the body (see
Schematic diagram in Fig. 4).
■ Save your scene for use in the Actor section of the
lessons.
Fig. 5

Model Module

Model Project – Torch, Part 1

This tutorial allows you to integrate several of the modelling tools
you’ve already learned to create an ancient wall sconce torch. Make
sure to save this scene because you will be reusing it later in the
Matter and Particle sections of this workbook. Materials, textures,
and lights will be added to the scene to create a certain mood and
Particle will be used to create the effect of fire.

Model Module
Torch, Part 1
Modelling
Create the basic structure of the torch
■ In the Front window, click on the Layout icon in the title
bar and activate the Grid lock option for X, Y, and Z.
Change the Grid size and Grid display to 2.0. Click Ok
to accept these modifications. Maximize the Front
window.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Bezier and draw a curve
Fig. 1 similar to the one shown in Fig. 1. Press Esc to end
drawing mode.
■ Open the Layout dialogue box again and deactivate the
Grid lock option.
■ Choose Show ➔ Line to view the handles of the Bezier
curve.
■ Pressing the Supra key m, drag the handles of the Bezier
curve so that it looks similar to that shown in Fig. 2.
■ When you are satisfied with the curve, choose Surface ➔
Fig. 2 Revolution. Make the torch a Patch B-Spline. Select y
as the Axis of Revolution and click Ok.
■ Rotate the torch by 180 degrees on the y-axis.
Tip Choose Show ➔ Normal to make sure that the

normals are pointing outwards. The normals
indicate the visible side of the object.
Twist the handle of the torch
■ In the Right window, use the Supra key t to tag all the
Fig. 3 points on the first three lines at the bottom of the torch
(see Fig. 3). In TAG manipulation mode, rotate the
tagged points by 2 units on the x-axis.
■ Untag the third line of points and rotate the bottom two
rows an additional 2 units on the x-axis.
■ Untag the second row of points and rotate the bottom set
of points an additional 6 units on the x-axis. Untag all
remaining points. The final result should look similar to
the model shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4

Create a ring for the torch

■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder. In the Cylinder
dialogue box, enter the following values and then click
Ok:
-Radius: 3.0
-Height: 5.0
-Longitude Step: 8
-Latitude Step: 5
-Base: 2
■ In the Front or Right window, use the Supra key t to tag
Fig. 5 the second and fifth row of points. In TAG manipulation
mode, click on the triangular tab in the corner in any of
the ScaleXYZ menu cells. Change the X and Z values to
0.8 and click Set. This creates a ribbed effect on the
ring.
■ Untag the points and return to OBJ mode.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Bevel and enter a value of 0.4 in the
Bevel dialogue box. Click Ok.
Create a spiral hinge to attach the torch to its base
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Spiral. In the Create Spiral
dialogue box, make it a B-Spline and change the Ending
Angle value to 500. Click Ok to accept the other default
values.
■ Translate and rotate the spiral so that the end is touching
the torch ring. Use Fig. 5 as a reference.
■ Activate the modelling relation option by choosing
Preferences ➔ Create Modelling Relation.
Tip Relational modelling applies a direct relationship

between a generator and the object from which it
is generated. This means that you can modify an
original curve (the generator) while automatically
updating the object. Once you have extruded
your curve, reselect the original curve and adjust
the points to see how it affects your object.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle and make it a B-Spline
with a radius of 0.3. Click Ok.
■ Scale the circle by 2 units on the x-axis.

Model Module
■ Choose Surface ➔ Extrusion. Make it a Patch B-Spline,

with “On Curve” as the Axis of Extrusion. Click Ok and
pick the spiral.
Create the base of your torch
Tagged ■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid. Make it a Patch
points
B-Spline with an X Count of 7. Click Ok.
■ Rotate and translate the grid so that it lies directly
behind the spiral. Make sure to leave a small space
between the Grid and the Spiral. Use Fig. 5 as a
reference.
Fig. 6
■ Tag the centre points of the Grid using the Supra key t
(see Fig. 6). In TAG manipulation mode, translate them
in the Right window on the z-axis until they touch the
spiral.
■ Untag the points and return to OBJ mode.
Create the screws for your base
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder. Change the Radius
to 0.7, the Height to 0.5, and the Step to 6. Click Ok.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and change the name to
screw1.
Fig. 7
■ Rotate and translate the screw so that it fits in the top
right corner of the base.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate to create the other three
screws and position them as shown in Fig. 7.
Place all of your objects into a hierarchy
■ In Single mode, select the base (grid).
Fig. 8
■ Parent the screws to the grid by choosing the Parent
menu cell and then picking the four screws as children.
■ Choose Select ➔ Clear. Choose Parent again and then
pick the base, the spiral, the ring, and the torch. This
places all the objects in the same hierarchy with a null as
the parent. Your hierarchy should look similar to that
shown in Fig. 8.

You can hide or delete the original curves you

Tip
used to create your objects. If you delete them
however, you can not further manipulate your
generated object using modelling relations.
You can see which models have been created
with modelling relations by opening a Schematic
window and selecting Model mode.
Create a wall for the torce
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Square and change the length
to 250.
Fig. 9
■ Choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face. This is necessary so
that you can see the wall in the final image. Squares and
circles on their own have no geometry and are therefore
not visible in the rendered image.
■ Translate the square in negative z so that the base of the
Particle source
torch lies flat on its surface – see Fig. 9. Choose Info ➔
Selection to rename the square “wall.”
Create particle source references for a fire and electric
field
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle. Make it a B-Spline
with a radius of 3.0. Click Ok.
■ Choose Draw ➔ Convert to Face.
Fig. 10
■ Rotate and translate the circle so that it lies flat at the top
of the torch. Use Fig. 10 as a reference.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and rename the circle
“firesource.” You will be linking a particle source to this
circle in a later exercise.
■ Choose Show ➔ Normals to make sure that the normals
are pointing upwards. If they are not, choose Effect ➔
Inverse.
■ Choose Display ➔ Hide ➔ Toggle & Desel. Hidden so
that the face is not visible in the rendered image.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null and translate it to the
following position: x: 4, y: 40, z: 4.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and rename the null
“fieldsource.” You will be linking an electrical field to
this null in a later exercise.

Model Module
Animate the camera around the torch.

■ Change the Start frame to 61 and the End frame to 210
in the playback box at the end of the time line.
Camera interest
■ Select the camera interest and translate it to the top of
the torch. Refer to Fig. 11.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle and make it a B-Spline
with a radius of 100.0. This circle acts as the path for the
camera.
■ Rotate your circle by -90 degrees on the x-axis. Choose
Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Rotation. Freezing the rotation of the
Fig. 11 circle resets the current values to the default setting. By
doing so, the camera uses these new values as its point
of reference allowing you to animate the camera along
the circle.
■ Rotate your circle again by -12 degrees on the z-axis.
■ Translate the circle to the following coordinates: x: -7,
y: -8, z: -10. See Fig. 12.
■ Open a Schematic window and pick the camera. In the
Motion module, choose Path ➔ Pick Path and pick the
circle. In the Path Timing dialogue box, change the Start
frame to 61 and the End frame to 210. Click Ok.
Camera path ■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Camera ➔ Position ➔ Translation.

■ Select SETKEY in the Fcurve window title bar and
click on the first keyframe. You might need to move the
Fig. 12 Setkey dialogue box so that you can see the function
curve. In the dialogue box, change the value of the first
keyframe to 55. Click the Modify button and then the
Next button. Change the second and last keyframes to
70. Click Modify and then click Ok to accept these
changes. Your function curve should look similar to the
one shown in Fig. 13. These keyframes limit the
camera’s movement so that it only passes in front of the
torch over the 210 frames.
■ Hide the camera’s path (the circle) by choosing Display
➔ Hide ➔ Toggle & Desel. Hidden.
■ Play back the animation to see how the camera rotates

Fig. 13 around the torch.
■ Save your scene for use in a later section of this
workbook.


3D.book : motion.doc 99 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
M O T I O N M O D U L E


Motion Module
Animation in SOFTIMAGE 3D
The basic way to animate is by keyframing.
Keyframing means that you specify values for parameters
such as position, rotation, or colour of an object at a
specific frame. After you create two keyframes,
SOFTIMAGE 3D automatically calculates the
interpolation and generates the in-between frames.
A function curve is created when keyframing.
If a function curve is associated with a specific parameter
Fig. 1
of an object, it takes precedence over any temporary
modification you might do to that object.
For example, if a cube has an explicit translation function
curve, you have to modify its function curve (by saving a
new keyframe, for example) to change its current position.
Explicit vs. Non-explicit Translation

■ Explicit translation creates three different function
curves, one for each of the global axes (x, y, z). The
points along the function curves represent the position
of the object’s centre in 3D space. With explicit
translation, the object’s position can be keyframed along
one axis or all three axes.
Animating the rotation and scaling of an object works

very much the same as explicit translation. As such, the
objects rotation or scaling can be keyframed along one
axis or all three axes. Although scaling and rotation are
not called explicit, they are by default.
■ Translation creates one function curve with one path.
The function curve created represents movement as the
percentage (%) of distance travelled along a path.

Creating Keyframes
There are three basic ways to create animation in
SOFTIMAGE 3D:
■ Traditional methods, where you define your animation
using keyframes.
■ Procedural methods, in which SOFTIMAGE 3D defines
the animation for you.
■ Recording/Control (Input/Output) methods, where
animation data is imported from or exported to an
external device.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Bouncing Ball, Part 1

This is the traditional animation project. By creating three explicit
translation keyframes of a ball, it seems impossible to recreate the
realistic bouncing motion. However, as you become more familiar
with the function curve editor, you will see that many different tools
exist within it which you can use to simulate a realistic bounce. In
this example, explicit translation keyframes create one function
curve for each axis, and each axis of translation can be edited
directly in the function curve editor (the Fcurve window). When
editing the function curve directly, use the r Supra key to refresh the
scene.

Motion Module
Bouncing Ball, Part 1

Keyframing, Function Curves
Get some basic elements and set up the scene
1
50
■ Get a default grid and a B-Spline patch sphere with a
radius of 1 unit.
■ Activate the grid lock in the Front window using the
Layout icon in the window’s title bar (the little ruler
25
icon).
■ Change to CTR manipulation mode and translate the
centre of the sphere to its lower pole.
■ Set the End Frame to 50 in the playback box.
Fig. 1
Animate the ball to create a bouncing motion
■ In the Motion module, choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Original y-axis Explicit Translation ➔ All to record three key positions
of the ball at frames 1, 25, and 50 (refer to Fig. 1).
Corrected y-axis
■ Play back the animation. You will notice that the ball
seems to float. To give the ball some bounce, edit the
function curves representing the translation of the ball
(see steps below and use Fig. 2 as a reference).
No translation on z-axis
Position on x-axis Edit the function curves
■ Make sure the sphere is selected.
Fig. 2
■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔
All to display the function curve editor (the Fcurve
window) and the function curve (fcurve) attached to the
sphere.
■ Press the space bar and click on the y fcurve (green) to
select it. You can also click on the fcurve’s name
(sphere1.etrny) in the small scroll box to select it
without pressing the space bar. The curves turn white
when selected.
Note: The function curves, like the centres, are colour
Note coded in the following way: red = x, green = y,
blue = z (think RGB=XYZ).

■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Slope Management (or click on

SLOPE in the Fcurve window title bar) and middle-
click on the key point at frame 25 to break the slope.
This lets you move each handle of the slope
independently.
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Edit Key Point (or click EDITKEY
in the Fcurve window title bar) and use the left mouse
button to adjust the slope of the curve in and out of the
key point. Play back the animation to evaluate your
changes.
Make the ball squash when it hits the floor.
■ Set the scaling values of the ball before and after the
squash effect. To do so, go to frame 24. Choose
SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Scaling ➔ All. Now go to frame 35
and middle-click on SaveKey.
■ Go to frame 25 and scale down the ball on the y-axis
using Volumetric (VOL) scaling mode. Volumetric
scaling allows you to scale an object along any axis
while keeping the object’s volume intact. When the ball
is sufficiently squashed, middle-click on SaveKey.
■ Play back your animation.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Bouncing Ball, Part 2

In Part 2 of this tutorial, you will look at another way to make a
more realistic bouncing ball. You will use a lattice to create the
squash effect as a ball hits the ground. A lattice is a powerful tool
that can be used to easily create relatively complex animation. In
this exercise, you will use the lattice to deform (squash) the sphere
as it passes through its parent (a cube). This is very useful because
it restricts the deformation of your object only to any contact it may
have with its parent.

Motion Module
Bouncing Ball, Part 2

Lattice
Get a cube and a sphere
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube. Use the default length
and click the Ok button.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Make it a Patch B-
Spline sphere with a radius of 3 and click Ok (see Fig.
1).
Make the cube the parent of the sphere
■ Select the cube. Choose the Parent menu cell and pick
Fig. 1 the sphere. The cube is now the parent of the sphere.
Right-click to end the parenting mode.
Create a branch lattice
■ Make sure the entire hierarchy is selected by right-
clicking on the cube.
■ Choose Lattice ➔ Branch ➔ Create in the Model module.
In the Create Lattice dialogue box, set the subdivision to
x = 1, y = 2, and z = 1. Click Ok.
Deform the parent lattice
■ In TAG manipulation mode, use the Supra key t to tag
the cube’s bottom row of points – see Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 ■ Scale the tagged points in y up toward the lattice (in
yellow). As you move the points up, the ball should
begin to compress (Fig. 3).
■ Untag the points using Supra key t and the middle
mouse button.
■ Right-click to deselect everything.
■ Switch back to OBJ mode.
Animate the ball
■ Go to the Motion module (press F2).
■ Set the end frame to 105 and press the up arrow key to
move to the first frame.
Fig. 3 ■ Click on the LAYOUT icon in the Front window. In the

Layout dialogue box, activate the Ruler visible option.

■ Zoom out in the Front window using the Supra key z
and the right mouse button.
■ Enlarge the Front window to the full display by clicking
on the sizing icon in the right corner of the window’s
title bar.
■ Select the sphere and translate it up until the top is
approximately 19 units above the x-axis. Use the Supra
key a if you need to reframe the objects in the window.
■ Save a keyframe by choosing Savekey ➔ Object ➔
Explicit Translation ➔ All.
■ Advance to frame 15 and translate the sphere down so
that the top is about 1 unit from the origin. The sphere
should start to compress as soon as it touches the bottom
of the lattice.
■ Choose SaveKey with the middle mouse button to save
another keyframe.
■ At frame 30, translate the sphere until the top is 15 units
above the x-axis; save another keyframe.
■ At frame 45, translate the sphere down so that it is about
half compressed (the top is 3 units in y); save a
keyframe.
■ At frame 60, translate the sphere until the bottom is 2
units above the x-axis; save a keyframe.
■ At frame 75, translate the sphere down until the top is 5
units in y; save a keyframe.
■ At frame 90, translate the sphere until the bottom is 1
unit above the x-axis; save a keyframe.
■ At frame 105, translate the sphere down until the bottom
is on the x-axis; save a keyframe.
Note: You will notice that the sphere is only affected by
Note the lattice as it comes in contact with its parent
(the cube).
Compress time using the function curves
All. Select the y explicit translation curve

Motion Module
(sphere.etrny). Tag the frame 1 key point using the

Supra key t.
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Tag Key Points ➔ Inverse.

Previously untagged keys are now tagged, and vice
versa.
■ In the Fcurve window, click on the Layout icon. Set the
Grid size and Grid display to 5 units for the x direction.
Activate the Grid lock option and click Ok.
■ Scale down the tagged keys by choosing FcrvEdit ➔
Edit Tag Key Points. Middle-click and drag the last key
point (frame 105) until key 105 is moved over to frame
100. Each tagged key is scaled towards the first tagged
key.
Fig. 4
■ Repeat the following two steps until only one key point
is tagged:
- Untag the first tagged key point.
- Scale down all tagged key points so that the last
one is moved down by 5 frames. By the end of this
process, the last key point should be at frame 70
(Fig. 4).
■ Change the End frame to 85.
View the results
■ Orient the camera in the Perspective window using the
Supra key o to orbit and the Supra key z to track.
■ Click on the LAYOUT icon in the Perspective window
option. Activate the Fast playback option and click Ok.
■ Play back the animation with the (L) loop option on.
Experiment with a new lattice
■ Set the start and current frames to zero.
■ Select the sphere and translate it to 0, 0, 0 by clicking on
the triangular tab in any of the Translation menu cells.
In the Translation dialogue box, change the x, y, z
values to 0 and click Set.
■ Middle-click the SaveKey menu cell.
■ Select the entire hierarchy.

■ In the Model module, remove the existing lattice by

choosing Lattice ➔ Branch ➔ Remove.

Motion Module
■ Create a new lattice by choosing Lattice ➔ Branch ➔

Create. In the Lattice dialogue box, set the subdivision
to 4, 2, 4 for x, y, and z, respectively. This time, select
the Curve option as the interpolation method for each
axis.
■ Create a different surface for the ball to collide with by
manipulating the shape of the lattice. In TAG mode, tag
the central lattice point in the bottom row, and move it
up in y. Tag the surrounding points, and drag these up
slightly to make the lattice surface transition smoother.
Tag the bottom row, and translate it up to the centre line
as you did the first time (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5
■ Set the start frame to 1 and play back the new animation.
■ Try this same technique again, with a 4 x 4 x 4 lattice,
and tag and rotate each layer in the x and z axes, with
the bottom scaled to the global world x-axis.
■ Play back the new animation.
Tip Experiment with different shapes, and remember

that the parent lattice can also be animated. When
you render, hide the parent object. You can also
parent the cube to any other object.

Motion Project – Your Name In 3D, Part 2

In this flying logo project, you will create the animation by using a
translation keyframe as opposed to an explicit translation
keyframe. When translation keyframes are used, a path is created.
A path is a curve which defines the positions of the object in space.
This path can be edited like any other curve. Associated with the
path is a function curve that defines the percentage of distance
travelled along the path.

Motion Module
Your Name In 3D, Part 2

Keyframing, Rendering
Retrieve one of the scenes you created earlier
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and use the browser to find the
Your Name in 3D, Part 1 scene.
■ Choose Camera ➔ Reset and move your name to the
centre of the Perspective window.
Fig. 1
Place the letters into a hierarchy and animate them
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null and parent the letters
together as children of the null.
■ Set the end frame of the time line to frame 30 and move
the time line pointer to frame 30.
■ Save a first keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Translation in the Motion module.
■ Move the time line back to frame 1.
■ Move your name on the positive z-axis toward the
camera until it is off the screen in the Perspective
window.
■ Save a second keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object
➔ Translation or by middle-clicking on SaveKey.
■ Play back the animation.

Edit the translation path
■ The path can always be manipulated to change the
starting or ending position. The translation path is
displayed by default (or choose Path ➔ Show to display
the path) and use the Supra key m to move the points of
the path.
Render the scene
■ Choose the Render menu cell in the Matter module. In
the Render Setup dialogue box, set the resolution to 400
x 300, name your scene appropriately, and then click
Render Sequence to begin rendering.

Note: If the object is out of the camera’s sight, you will

Note see a message “No Visible Triangles”– don’t
worry about it, unless all your frames do that!
■ Once the rendering is complete, switch to the Tools
module and choose FlipBook. In the Flipbook dialogue
box, use the browser to go to the RENDER_PICTURES
Chapter of your database. Click on any one of the
frames of the appropriate scene and then click Ok.
■ Use the forward arrow in the Playback box to start the
flipbook.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Missile, Part 2

In Part 2 of this series, you will animate the missile by using the
Path ➔ Pick Path command. This method of animation is
accomplished by drawing a curve and then attaching the object you
want to animate to that curve. You will also use the Constraint ➔
Tangency command to ensure that the missile follows the path in an
appropriate position.

Motion Module
Missile, Part 2
Path Animation, Tangency Constraint
Load Missile, Part 1 and set a new time frame
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene to load Part 1 of the Missile scene
you created in the Model section.
■ Change the End frame in the playback area to 200 in
order to extend the playing time of your scene.
Draw a curve representing the path for the missile to
follow
■ Draw the curve by choosing Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Bezier.
Use Fig. 1 as a reference. To modify your points, use the
Fig. 1 Supra key m with the left mouse button.
Attach the missile to the curve
■ Go to the Motion module and select the missile. Choose
Path ➔ Pick Path and pick the curve. In the Path Timing
dialogue box, make sure that the Start and End frames
are 1 and 200 respectively. Click Ok.
■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔ Translation to view a
graphical representation of your path. Click on LIN in
the Fcurve window title bar to make the curve’s
interpolation linear. This makes the missile travel at a
constant speed throughout the entire animation. Your
Fig. 2 curve should look similar to that shown in Fig. 2.
Position the missile on the path
■ Select the base of the missile and choose Show ➔
Centre. The centre icon, represented by three coloured
arrows, should appear in each of your windows.
■ Change to CTR manipulation mode (Supra key F10)
and rotate the centre of the missile’s body so that the
x-axis (red arrow) is pointing toward the tip of the
missile. This step constrains the missile’s x-position so
that it remains tangent to the path at all times.

■ Change back to OBJ manipulation mode (F8) and

choose the Constraint ➔ Tangency command. Pick the
path. The missile should now be tangent to the curve
(see Fig. 3).
This command constrains the x-axis of an object to be

tangent to a curve or path; that is, the x-axis points in the
direction of the curve’s slope at all times.
■ Play back your animation. If you are satisfied with the
result, save your scene for use in Part 3 of the Missile
series.
Fig. 3

Motion Module

Motion Project – Jojo the Fish, Part 2

In this tutorial, you will animate Jojo the fish over the sea floor with
a curve deformation. First, you will draw a curve over the sea floor,
then you will rotate and freeze† the fish to make the y-axis parallel
to the body: the fish will be deformed along its y-axis. Proper
element orientation is required to achieve the desired curve
deformation effect.
You will then translate Jojo along the curve using the y-axis in LCL
mode. You will keyframe this translation to create the animation.
Note that the centre of the fish, after the deformation, is at the
curve’s centre position and doesn’t move when Jojo is translated.
†Frozen fish should always be thawed before cooking…

Motion Module

Curve Deformation, Keyframing
Load the scene containing Jojo the fish
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load Jojo the Fish, Part1.
■ Choose Display ➔ Hide ➔ Toggle & Desel. Hidden to
hide the sea floor.
Draw a path for Jojo to swim along
■ In the Top window, choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Cardinal
and draw a path for Jojo to swim along. Draw your
curve similar to that shown in Fig. 1.
■ With the middle mouse button, select the fish (this
Fig. 1
selects the whole fish hierarchy). Rotate the model by
-90 degrees on the x-axis and 180 degrees on the y-axis
(necessary in this case to have the deformation appear
correctly). Your fish should be pointing up as in Fig. 2.
Tip For curve deformation, always align the model

along the y-axis with the “nose” of the model
pointing up, and the object should be at the
origin. Then freeze all rotations before creating
the deformation. Freezing the scaling also
prevents the object from moving beside the path.
If Jojo is upside down after the deformation,
rotate her in local mode (LCL) on the z-axis.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Transformations.
Fig. 2
Place Jojo on the path
■ Choose Deformation ➔ by Curve ➔ Branch ➔ Create and
pick the path (without pressing the space bar). Jojo
should now be at the beginning of the curve (see Fig. 3).
■ To scale Jojo back to her original size, click on the
triangular tab in any of the Scale menu cells. Make sure
the values are all at 1 and click Set.
■ Translate Jojo on the y-axis to make her swim
gracefully. You will notice that the curve path has in
effect become the y-axis for the model.
Fig. 3

To make Jojo move more quickly along the path,

Tip
change to LCL mode and then middle-click on
while pressing the Supra key v. This allows you
to translate your object in y at a slow, medium, or
fast pace.
Animate Jojo along the path
■ To create an animation of Jojo swimming, make sure the
time line is at frame 1.
■ Bring Jojo back to the beginning of the path and save
the first keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Branch Curve Deformation ➔ Translation.
■ Move the time line to frame 100, translate Jojo to the
end of the path, and save a second keyframe by middle-
clicking on the SaveKey menu cell.
■ The path can always be edited by moving its control
points.
■ Save the scene for further work in the Matter Projects
(see Matter Project: Jojo the Fish, Part 3).

Motion Module

Motion Project – Keep Talking

This lesson deals with tagging points to achieve an animated shape
modification.
You will use two commands: Shape ➔ Select Key Shape and
SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Shape. These commands produce exactly the
same end results: the only difference is in the approach to the
animation process.
With key shapes, you manufacture the “models” first and then
choose Shape ➔ Select Key Shape; with keyframing, you create the
animation “on the fly” using SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Shape.
Also mentioned are interpolation and the Shape ➔ Shape List
command. The interpolation type changes the characteristic of the
animation between keyframes. The Shape List command lets you
have access to each shape key and modify its parameters further.

Motion Module
Keep Talking
Shape Animation
Create the objects used to shape the lips
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Torus and make it a B-Spline
patch.
■ Rotate the torus 90 degrees on the x-axis.
■ Duplicate the torus three times using Duplicate ➔
Repetition with a translation of 20 units along the x-
axis.
Manipulate the torus to make various shapes
■ Change to TAG manipulation mode (press F9). Use the
Supra key t to tag points and modify each torus into a
different mouth shape: an open mouth, a closed mouth,
a smiling mouth, and a sad mouth (refer to the four
illustrations in Fig. 1).
Animate the lips
■ Change back to Object (OBJ) mode and select the
closed mouth. Make sure that the time line is at frame 1
and save the first key shape by choosing SaveKey ➔
Object ➔ Shape.
■ Move the time line to frame 20 and save the second key
shape by choosing Shape ➔ Select Key Shape and
picking one of the three mouths. A key shape is
automatically saved.
■ In the same fashion, save a key shape using the other
two mouths at frames 40 and 60.
■ Go back to frame 1 and move the time line pointer to
frame 80 using the right mouse button – that way the
screen does not get refreshed so the shape stays the
same. Save one last keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔
Object ➔ Shape.
Fig. 1

To change the interpolation of the points between

Tip
keyframes, choose Shape ➔ Shape Interp.
To get a list of the different shapes or to delete a
shape, choose Shape ➔ Shape List.
If a rotation is done on one of the lips, make sure
to freeze the rotation – if it is not done, the
animation won’t work properly (all points are
referenced by the centre location).

Motion Module

Motion Project – Hang Ten

In this lesson, you create a default wave icon (circular) and apply it
to an object which deforms its points. As with all deformation tools,
the original geometry is not affected, so the wave effect can be
removed without changing the original model. If you like, waves
can modify the current geometry permanently, which makes them
creative modelling tools.

Motion Module
Hang Ten
Top of wave Wave Overview

Get a grid and draw a profile wave curve
(-1,1,0)
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid as a B-Spline Patch
using the default values.
(2,0,0)
■ In the Front window, select the Grid lock option and
(-2,0,0)
choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ B-Spline using these
coordinates as control points:
(1,-1,0)
#1 X = -2 Y= 0 Z=0
Crux of wave
#2 X = -1 Y= 1 Z=0
Fig. 1 #3 X= 1 Y = -1 Z=0
#4 X= 2 Y= 0 Z=0
That is, first control point at X = -2, Y = 0, Z = 0; second
control point at X = -1, Y = 1, Z = 0, etc. (see Fig. 1).
This curve represents the profile of the wave.
Apply a wave to the grid
■ Go into the Motion module and create a wave by
choosing Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Create. In the Define Wave
dialogue box, use all the default values and confirm by
clicking Ok. A wave icon appears automatically.
■ Apply the wave to the grid surface. Choose Effects ➔
Wave ➔ Attach ➔ Node and pick the primitive grid
(without pressing the space bar).
View the results and experiment with the various
parameters
■ Select the Shade view mode in the Perspective window
and play the animation.
■ Experiment by scaling, rotating, or translating the wave
icon to obtain different results.
■ Experiment with other types of waves: planar, circular,
and spherical.
■ Experiment with the Wave Periodicity and
Displacement Direction options. To change these
characteristics without creating a new wave, choose Info

➔ Selection and activate the options you want.

■ Experiment with other wave profiles. Draw a new curve
in the Front window. With the curve selected, choose
Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Change Profile and then select the
wave icon.
Tip You can modify point locations numerically with

Edit ➔ Coordinate in the Model module.
You can animate the wave icon.
You can have more than one wave attached to the
same object.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Lost at Sea

In this tutorial, you will use waves and two types of constraints in
conjunction with the model of your sailboat to create a scene of a
boat lost at sea.
You will incorporate the wave into a scene by placing an object (the
sailboat you created in an earlier lesson) on the water surface. For
the boat to follow the movement of the water, you will need to
create clusters on the water surface which will be constrained to the
boat, via a chain, using the Constraint ➔ Object to Cluster and
Constraint ➔ Up Vector commands. These clusters will act as
reference points so that the boat can follow the movement of the
waves.

Motion Module
Lost at Sea
Waves, Constraints
Create a water surface
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid. Make it Patch B-Spline
and accept the default values.
Draw a one-joint chain
■ Press F3 to go to the Actor Module by choosing
Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain. Position the root of the
chain at the origin and the effector at (-2, 0, 0), as in Fig.
1. Right-click to end the drawing mode.
Create various clusters on the water surface
Fig. 1
■ Go to the Motion module (press F2) and select the grid.
■ Using the Supra key t, tag a point on the grid 2 units in
negative X. Use the Top window to tag your points.
■ Set a cluster by choosing Shape ➔ Set Cluster and call
the cluster “effector”. Click on New to exit the Set
Cluster dialogue box.
■ Untag the first point and tag the point at the origin.
■ Set another cluster by choosing Shape ➔ Set Cluster.
This time call it “root” and click New.
■ Untag the point at the origin and tag a point above the
chain – as shown in Fig. 2.
■ Set another cluster using Shape ➔ Set Cluster and call it
Fig. 2
“upvector”. Click New and untag the point.
■ Choose Shape ➔ Cluster List. Select the “effector”
cluster and click Ok.
Constrain the position of the chain to the various clusters
■ Select the effector of the chain. Choose Constraint ➔
Object to Cluster and pick the grid. You might find it
easier to select objects in a Schematic window.
■ Constrain the position of the root to the “root” cluster.
With the grid selected, select the “root” cluster from the
Cluster List. Now select the root of the chain. Choose
Constraint ➔ Object to Cluster and pick the grid.

Constrain a null to the “upvector” cluster

■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null. With the grid selected,
select the “upvector” cluster from the Cluster List. Now
select the null, choose Constraint ➔ Object to Cluster,
and pick the grid.
■ Constrain the up and down motion (y direction) of the
joint to the null. Select only the joint, choose Constraint
➔ Up Vector, and pick the null.
Create a planar wave and attach it to the water surface

■ Draw the profile curve of the wave and then choose
Fig. 3 Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Create. Select the planar type and
click Ok.
■ Choose Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Attach ➔ Node and pick the
primitive grid.
■ Scale, rotate, and translate the wave so that it appears as
it does in Fig. 3. If you play back your scene, the chain
should follow the movement of the wave.
Now attach your sailboat model to the chain
■ Choose Get ➔ Element. From the MODELS chapter,
select your sailboat. The model of your boat should
appear in your new scene.
Fig. 4
■ Scale down the size of your boat according to the wave
amplitude and the size of your chain. Freeze the scaling
by choosing Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Scaling in the Model
module.
■ Rotate and position the boat over and above the chain.
■ Now attach the boat to the chain in such a way that the
boat inherits all of the characteristics of the chain. You
can do this by using the Skin ➔ Global Envelope
command in the Actor module. Select the boat, choose
Skin ➔ Global Envelope, pick the chain, and accept the
default settings in the Envelopes Initial Assignment
dialogue box. Make sure you are at frame 1 before you
apply the skin to your chain.

Motion Module
Note: You may need to reposition your boat on the

Note water. To do so, open a Schematic window and
select the chain. Choose Cut and the link between
the envelope and the chain breaks. Select the boat
and reposition it appropriately on the water. Put
the envelope back on the chain by choosing Skin
➔ Global Envelope and pick the chain.
Remember to return the time line to frame 1
before doing this.
To view all the constraints you have applied to
the various objects, open a Schematic window
and select the Model mode.
Render a flipbook
■ Go into the Matter module and choose the Render menu
cell. In the Render Setup dialogue box, name your scene
appropriately and then click Render Sequence to begin
rendering.
■ Once the rendering is complete, choose the FlipBook
menu cell in the Tools module. Select any one of the
flipbook frames in the RENDER_PICTURES chapter of
your database and click Ok.
■ Use the forward arrow in the playback box to start the
flipbook.
You may find that your flipbook is too fast. If so, try
loading it again, but this time use 15 or 20 frames per
second instead of the default value of 30.

Motion Project – Waves

In this lesson, you will discover another use for the wave tool. First,
you will create a digestive tract by extruding a circle along a curve.
Then, you will animate an object passing through the intestine by
applying a spherical wave to the extrusion. Finally, you will use the
FcrvSelect ➔ Wave ➔ Decay command to modify the default decay
curve of a wave.

Motion Module
The Digestive System

Waves
Draw the various profile curves needed to create the
intestine
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Circle. Make it B-Spline with
a radius of 1.
■ In the Front window, draw a B-Spline curve that looks
like an intestine and be sure to make lots of control
points (Use Fig. 1 as a reference).
■ Create a linear curve going from 2, 0, 0 to 0, 2, 0. Note
that the curve should be on the positive side of the y-
axis since the negative side is only for the “after-effect”
of a wave (see Fig. 2).
Extrude the various curves
Fig. 1 ■ Select the circle and choose Surface ➔ Extrusion. In the
Extrusion dialogue box, click on Patch B-Spline and
make the axis of extrusion On Curve. Deactivate the
Close option. Click Ok and pick the curve.
The On Curve option allows you to specify a target

curve as the path of extrusion as opposed to the
(0,2,0) traditional x, y, z axes.
Note: Scale and freeze the circle if necessary – it should
Note be about the size of the circle in Fig. 2.
(2,0,0)
Create a wave and attach it to your object
Linear ■ Go to the Motion module and select the linear curve (the
curve diagonal line). Choose Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Create. Select
the spherical type of wave and set the velocity to 0 so
that the wave disturbance doesn’t travel ahead of the
wave itself. Click Ok.
Fig. 2 ■ With the wave icon selected, choose Effects ➔ Wave ➔
Attach ➔ Node and click on the intestine.

■ Although the wave has been attached to the intestine, it

does not pass through the intestine from top to bottom
unless you make it do so. With the wave icon still
selected, choose Path ➔ Pick Path and click on the
original curve (the intestine profile). Click Ok in the
dialogue box.
Tip If you have trouble finding the original curve,

open a Schematic or Spreadsheet window and
select it there.
Fig. 3
Tweak the wave’s movement
■ With the wave icon selected, choose FcrvSelect ➔ Wave
➔ Decay. Make the fcurve flat at 1 on the y-axis (there
are three points by default) by removing the two zero
key points (refer to the two illustrations in Fig. 3). Select
EDITKEY in the Fcurve window title bar and right-
click to remove the key points. By removing the two key
points at zero, you have created a wave amplitude that is
constant throughout the animation (by default, the wave
amplitude starts at 0, rises sharply to 1, then decays back
to 0).
Tip Try to put two waves on the same object for some
serious indigestion!
Experiment with the scaling of your wave.
Keyframe any adjustments you make.
If you have the custom effect Draw ➔ Curve ➔
Resample, use it on the intestine profile curve
before extruding. Try increasing the number of
Samples to 100.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Sparkles

This lesson takes you through the basic steps to generate a flock
animation. When creating flock animation, three user-defined
objects are used: a source object, a destination object, and a particle
model. You will be using two spheres as the source and destination
objects as well as a cone for the particle model. You will also be
applying a material animation to the particles (changing their
colour from yellow to red over time) to simulate a sparkle effect.
One thing to remember with material animation is that it is linked to
the number of key shapes set, so a complex material animation can
only be propagated with a relatively high number of key shapes.

Motion Module
Sparkles
Flock Overview, Material Animation
Create a particle model, source, and destination object
■ Create a source object. Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔
Sphere and choose a Polygon with a Radius of 2.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and name the sphere Source.
■ Create a destination object by choosing Duplicate ➔
Immediate. Scale the duplicate sphere by a factor of 6
times on all three axes.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and name the sphere
Destination.
Fig. 1 ■ Create a particle model by hoosing Get ➔ Primitive ➔

Cone using the default values.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and name the cone Particle.
■ Scale the Cone to 0.2 units on all three axes.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Scaling in the Model module.
Assign a material to the particle and animate it
■ Make sure the time line is at frame 1. Choose Material
in the Matter module. The Material Editor dialogue box
appears.
■ Use Lambert shading and make the object yellow by
assigning a value of 1 to both Red and Green, and a
value of 0 for Blue. Save a material keyframe by
clicking the Key button.
■ Move the time line to frame 15. Make the object red and
fully transparent and save a second keyframe. Click Ok
to exit the dialogue box.
Animate the particles
■ Choose Effects ➔ Flock Animation in the Motion
module. In the Flock Animation dialogue box that
appears, edit only these parameters:

- Number of Particles: 50
This refers to the number of particles per flock. You
are repeating the flock eight times so you should
have a total of 400 particles throughout the
animation.
- Destination Seed: 45
This relates to the particle distribution pattern. If
the Source and Destination Seed values differ then
the particles start and finish at different points
along the spheres.
- Stop Frame: 15
This relates to the life or flight time of the particle.
- Repetition: 8
- Frame Offset: 2
This relates to the number of frames separating
each repetition.
- Seed Offset: 3
This allows you to change the particle distribution
pattern between repetitions.
- Hide Before Start: ON
This simply hides the inactive particles until they
begin their “life.”
- Interpolate Materials: ON
This activates any material animation.
■ Accept the setup by clicking Ok. Open a Schematic
window and pick the small sphere as the Source object,
the larger sphere as the Destination object, and the cone
as the Particle object. SOFTIMAGE 3D then generates
the number of repetitions specified.
■ Move your time line back to frame 1. Your image
should look similar to the one in Fig. 1.
■ Play back the animation and render a small flipbook of
about 30 frames.
Note: Before rendering, hide the two spheres using
Note Display ➔ Hide ➔ Toggle & Desel. Hidden.
Another way to create a similar sparkle effect

would be to use the Particle System. Particle is
covered later in the workbook. Once you have
learned the basics of using Particle, try creating a
sparkle effect with it and compare it with Flock.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Sliding Blob

This lesson deals with lattice animation and how you can use
lattice-deformed space to create complex animation.
It also shows how hiding an object doesn’t necessarily remove its
function from the scene.

Motion Module
Sliding Blob
Lattice Deformation, Keyframing
Get a cube and a sphere and place them into a hierarchy
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere and make it a B-
Spline Patch with a radius of 1 unit.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube and change the length
to 4.
■ Scale the cube up by a factor of 3 on the y-axis.
■ Select the cube, choose the Parent menu cell, and pick
the sphere.
Assign a branch lattice to the hierarchy
■ Choose Lattice ➔ Branch ➔ Create with a Curve
interpolation. Using a Curve interpolation gives a
smoother deformation when animating the lattice and
Fig. 1
the sphere.
Manipulate the shape of the lattice
■ Change to TAG manipulation mode and tag various
points on the lattice using the Supra key t. Modify the
shape of the lattice by translating, scaling, and rotating
the tagged points. This deforms both the sphere and the
cube. Use Fig. 1 as a basic reference for tagging,
scaling, translating, untagging, etc.
■ Press the space bar while selecting the cube, and make it
invisible by choosing Display ➔ Hide ➔ Toggle &
Desel. Hidden.
Animate the sphere
■ Select the sphere and animate its position along the y-
axis by saving keyframes at frames 1 and 100 with
SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔ All.
■ Play back your animation and render a small flipbook.

Animate the lattice

■ To add animation to the lattice itself, use Display ➔ Hide
➔ Unhide All to show the lattice.
■ Select the lattice as a branch by middle-clicking while

pressing the space bar.
■ You can then tag points on the lattice and create
keyframes by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Branch
Lattice.
■ Play back your animation and render a small flipbook.
Remember to hide your cube before rendering.
Tip When you animate the shape of a lattice, you can

indirectly apply the resulting animated
deformation to any object within the lattice. A
good example for using this is bubbles rising
from the sea floor. The bubbles would be
animated using keyframing (SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Explicit Translation ➔ All) and lattice animation
could be used to deform the shape of the bubbles
as they pass through water currents.

Motion Module

Motion Project – City 1

This lesson shows you how to apply path animation to the camera
and its interest. The Pick ➔ Path command is used instead of
interactively moving the camera and saving keyframes for position.
Various methods of showing and selecting the camera are also
covered. The method you decide to use will depend on scene
complexity and personal preference, which shows again that there
are many ways to skin a cat (101 somebody said …).

Motion Module
City 1
Camera, Path Animation
Create a cityscape using various cubes and a grid
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid and accept the default
settings.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube and then choose the
Duplicate ➔ Immediate command to create eight copies
of the original. Scale the cubes so that they are all
different sizes and place them on a simple grid. Use Fig.
1 as a reference.
Tip Choose Effect ➔ Alignment to make all the

buildings flush with the “ground,” or move the
Fig. 1 centre of the first cube to the bottom of the object
before duplication.
Create a path for the camera and its interest
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Cardinal and draw a curve path
that goes through the city.
Animate the camera along the path
■ Change the End frame of the time line to 300 frames.
■ To select the camera, you can do any one of the
following:
- Choose Camera ➔ Select Camera.
- Choose Camera ➔ Show Camera and select the
camera icon.
- Choose Display ➔ Hide ➔ Unhide All and select the
camera icon.
- Open a Schematic window and select the node
called Camera1.
■ Choose Path ➔ Pick Path in the Motion module. Pick the
curve path and click OK in the Path Timing dialogue
box to accept the default values.
■ Play back the animation. You will notice that the camera
is following the path, but the camera interest stays fixed.

Animate the camera’s point of interest on the same path

■ Select the node called cam_int1 in the Schematic
window.
■ Choose Path ➔ Pick Path and pick the curve path again.
This time, change the start and end frame values to -20
and 280.
■ Play back the animation. The camera interest is now
travelling along the path slightly ahead of the camera
itself.
■ Experiment with moving points on the path (Supra key
m) and with translating the path along the y-axis.
Tip To see more of the city scene while flying the

camera, choose Camera ➔ Settings and increase
the Camera Lens - Custom angle (Field of View)
setting of the lens, or interactively set this by
zooming in the Perspective window.

Motion Module

Motion Project – City 2

In this tutorial, you will use the cityscape you created in City 1. In
this example however, you will be using channels to manually
manipulate the animation of the camera and interest. Channels are
basically links between SOFTIMAGE 3D and external devices – in
this case your mouse. Channels are used to capture real-time
animation from live motion, voices, music, or other digital signals.
The basic commands in the Channel menu cell required to use
channels are Channel Setup, Connection Setup, and Channel Run.
You should understand how these commands work together before
getting into more complex uses of channels.

Motion Module
City 2
Channels
Use the city scene and camera path you created in City 1
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load the City 1 scene.
■ Make sure the camera and its interest are animated
along the path.
Use channels to animate the camera and the interest
■ Choose Channel ➔ Channel Setup to activate the
channel driver. There should be an active mouse driver
with two channels: one for the x-position and another
for the y-position. Click Ok to accept the settings.
Fig. 1 ■ Choose Camera ➔ Select Camera.
■ Now connect the mouse’s movement to the camera’s
movement along the path. Choose Channel ➔
Connection Setup and select the CAM Camera1.cmtrs
function curve and the CHN I mouse.xpos channel.
Click the -> Connect -> button to set the connection.
Enter 100 in the Scaling text box and then click Ok.
Note: With path animation, the Scaling value refers to
Note the distance that your object travels along that
path with every mouse movement from one side
of the screen to the other. With a value of 100, the
camera travels from the beginning of the path to
the end with one mouse movement from the left
to the right side of the screen.
Fig. 2
■ Open the Connection Setup dialogue box again to
connect the mouse to the camera interest. This time,
select the CAM Camera1.cmitrs function curve and the
CHN I mouse.xpos channel. Click the -> Connect ->
button to set the connection. Enter 100 in the Scaling
text box and 5 in the Offset text box. Click Ok to finish
the setup.
Note: The Offset value refers to the position at which
Note the object starts its animation. You offset the
camera interest by 5 units because you want it to
remain in front of the camera at all times.

■ Enlarge the Perspective window and choose Channel ➔

Channel Run ➔ Frame I/O. As you move the mouse
from left to right, the camera travels along the path.
Right-click to exit the Frame I/O mode.
Record the animation
■ From the Model module, choose the Multi menu cell
and then choose the Select ➔ All command.
■ You can also create an animation by capturing motion
through channels. Make sure the current frame is set to 1
and choose Channel ➔ Channel Run ➔ Sequence I/O.
■ Click the left mouse button to start the countdown. At
the end of the countdown, you can start moving the
camera along the path. A function curve is automatically
recorded as long as the time line pointer is moving.
Right-click to exit the Sequence I/O mode.
■ Play back the animation. You can view the function
curves by choosing FcrvSelect ➔ Camera ➔ Position ➔
Translation or FcrvSelect ➔ Camera ➔ Interest ➔
Translation.
Tip You could also experiment with the roll of the

camera by connecting the cmroll function curve
with the mouse.ypos channel. Since it can be
difficult to control both position and roll at the
same time, you should animate these two
parameters separately.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Bla bla bla…

This lesson lets you become more familiar with the many ways in
which channels can be used. In this tutorial, you use channels and
the mouse driver to control the mouth movement of a puppet-like
object.
The simple modelling tool plane clipping is used here to create the
bottom portion of the puppet.
Note: You will notice that in this example, the channel driver is
Note connected to a rotation axis fcurve, so the scaling values
refer to degrees in rotation (the channel driver was
connected to a translation fcurve in the previous example).
The scaling values ultimately affect the rotation of the
upper and lower portions of the puppet head.

Motion Module
Bla bla bla…

Channels
Centre
Create the bottom portion of the puppet
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere as a polygon mesh
using the default values.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Plane Clipping in the Model module.
This cuts the upper half of the polygon mesh sphere
above the x-axis.
■ In the Right window, click on the Layout icon to open
the Layout dialogue box. Select the Grid Lock option
and click Ok.
Fig. 1
■ In CTR manipulation mode, move the centre of the
hemisphere 5 units in negative z. The centre should now
be at the back of the hemisphere (see Fig. 1). Deselect
the Grid Lock option.
Create the top of the puppet
■ Switch back to OBJ manipulation mode and choose
Duplicate ➔ Repetition to duplicate and rotate the
hemisphere. Set the duplicate number to 1, and set the
Fig. 2 rotation to 180 degrees on the z-axis.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Freeze ➔ Rotation. This command
resets the object’s rotation values on all axes to 0
without affecting the object’s current rotation.
Create the eyes of the puppet and place all the objects into
a hierarchy
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere and Duplicate ➔
Immediate to create the puppet’s eyes. Using the various
windows, place both eyes on the top portion of your
puppet.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and rename your objects: top,
bottom, right_eye, and left_eye. Then in the Schematic
window, assemble a hierarchy where the upper
hemisphere is parent of both eyes.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null and make it the parent of
the top and bottom half of your character. Use Fig. 2 as a
reference.

Connect the puppet’s rotation to the mouse’s movement

■ Select the puppet’s upper hemisphere as a node and
choose Channel ➔ Connection Setup.
■ Connect the top.rotx function curve with the CHN I
mouse.xpos channel and set the Scaling to -30. The
Scaling value allows you to rotate the top portion of the
puppet to a maximum of 30 degrees.
■ Select the bottom hemisphere and choose Channel ➔
Connection Setup.
■ Connect the bottom.rotx function curve with the CHN I
mouse.xpos and set the Scaling to 30. In this case, the
Scaling value allows you to rotate the bottom portion of
the puppet to a maximum of 30 degrees in the opposite
direction.
Record the animation
■ Select the entire hierarchy as a tree by right-clicking it.
■ Choose Channel ➔ Channel Run➔ Frame I/O and move
the mouse horizontally to animate the character
interactively.
■ To record your animation, make sure the time line
pointer is at frame 1 and choose Channel ➔ Channel Run
➔ Sequence I/O.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Expressing the Gears

In this lesson, you will be animating the Gears you created in a
previous lesson with some simple expression parameters to make
an interactive animated model which would otherwise need a rigid
keyframe structure.
Expressions are mathematical expressions that can be used to
animate parameters (translation, scaling, rotation, material, etc.).
An expression is simply a string of characters that defines a
relationship between elements. Expressions are flexible and allow
you to animate to exact specifications. Although they are
mathematical in nature, even with a limited knowledge of math
functions, you can perform some basic expressions like the ones
presented in this tutorial.
Note: You should know the following basics before you start the
Note “Expressing the Gears” tutorial. Expressions are
comprised of three parts:
- The element’s function curve being affected by the
expression.
- An operator which applies the result of the expression to
the element’s function curve.
- The expression itself.
In the following example, cube.etrnx = sphere.etrnx + 5
“cube” is the element affected with a specific function
curve of it defined (etrnx)
“=” is the operator
“sphere.etrnx + 5” is the expression

Motion Module
Expressing the Gears

Expressions
Get the Gears scene from the Model section
■ Your gears should be lined up as they are in Fig. 1.
Select the object called Gear2 and go to the Motion
module.
Animate the rotation of the gears using expressions
■ Choose Expressions ➔ Edit.
Fig. 1
■ In the Expression Editor, the name of the Affected
Element appears followed by a period (.).
■ Click the Fcurves button to access the fcurves to be
affected. Click on rotz, then click Ok.
■ Click in the Expression text box.
■ Click on the Scn Elements button and select Gear1 from
the list.
■ Using the Fcurves button again, assign the rotz
expression.
■ Click at the beginning of the line and type a dash (-)
Fig. 2 followed by a space. This inverses the value or direction
of the affected element.
■ Click Validate, then Ok.
■ Select Gear1 and rotate it on the z-axis.
■ To offset Gear2, select it and choose Expressions ➔ Edit.
■ At the end of the Expression line, type -34. Your
expression should look exactly the same as the one in
Fig. 2. Click Validate, and then Ok. The number 34 at
the end of the expression offsets Gear2 by 34 units so
that the gears’ sprockets are aligned correctly.
Note: This expression basically states that as Gear1 is
Note rotated on the z-axis, Gear2 rotates in the
opposite direction on the z-axis.
■ Reselect Gear1 and rotate it on the z-axis.

Motion Project - Follow the Leader

This example shows another one of the many uses for expressions.
In this lesson, you use the Condition function in the Expressions
editor to create a “follow the leader” scenario. You will also learn
about Local Variables and how they can make reading and writing
expressions much simpler.

Motion Module
Follow the Leader

Expressions
Get four cones to create two borders, a lead, and a sheep
lead
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cone and then choose
Duplicate ➔ Repetition to create three other copies.
■ Translate one cone to 0, 0, 0, and the other to 10, 0, 0.
sheep Call these two cones “border1” and “border2.” Place the
border1 border2
third one at 5, 0, 0, and name it “sheep.” Rotate the
fourth one by 180 degrees in the z direction, move it to
5, 10, 0, and name it “lead.”
Tip Make sure to name the cones correctly because

Fig. 1 expressions are case sensitive.
Use expressions to define the movement of “sheep”
■ Select the cone named “sheep” and then choose
Expressions ➔ Edit in the Motion module. In the
Affected Element text box, you will see the name
followed by a period (.).
■ Now click the Fcurves button and select the etrnx
fcurve. This tells SOFTIMAGE 3D that you want the
expression to modify the movement of the sheep on its
explicit translation for the x-axis.
Define local variables
■ In the Local Variables section, there are four text boxes.
You will be using three of them:
Fig. 2 - In the A text box, type border1.etrnx
- In the B text box, type border2.etrnx
- In the C text box, type lead.etrnx
Tip When writing complicated expressions, it may

help to define some of your elements as local
variables. By exchanging your elements with the
local variables (A, B, C, or D), reading and
writing complicated expressions becomes much
faster and easier.

■ In the Expression text box, type the following:

cond( C>A && C < B, C, cond(C<A,A,B))
This command line can be read as a standard
“IF THEN ELSE” statement. It states that “sheep”
follows the “lead” (C) along the x-axis, as long as it falls
somewhere between “border1” (A) and “border2” (B).
■ Click the Validate button. If the expression is valid,
click Ok.
Animate the lead
■ Select the “lead” and translate it along the x-axis. The
“sheep” should follow the “lead” as long as it falls
between the two borders.
■ Try moving the borders around to see how your “sheep”
reacts.

Motion Module

Motion Project - Flex 1

In this first of three Flex tutorials, you will use the Skeleton ➔ Draw
2D Chain and the Surface ➔Revolution tools to create a basic arm.
In parts 2 and 3, you will animate the shape and colour of the arm’s
muscle using lattice animation and expressions.

Motion Module
Flex 1
Revolution and Chains
Create two objects: a muscle and a bone structure. The
muscle is a basic patch deformed by a lattice, and the bone
structure is, of course, a skeleton.
■ To create the muscle, choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ B-Spline.
Fig. 1
In the Front window, draw a curve similar to the one
shown in Fig. 1.
■ To give your muscle volume, choose Surface ➔
Revolution. Make it a Patch B-Spline and use x as the
axis of revolution.The muscle should be about 7 units
long and have a radius of 0.5 units (see Fig. 2). Rename
the revolution in the Info ➔ Selection dialogue box to
“muscle.”
■ The centre of the muscle should be at an extremity.
Fig. 2 Switch to CTR manipulation mode and translate the
centre of your muscle to one of the extremities (see Fig.
3).
Centre
■ For the bone, create a three-joint skeleton that relates to
your muscle. Go to the Actor module and choose
Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain and create a three-joint
chain similar to the one in Fig. 4. Right-click to end the
chain drawing mode.
■ Save your scene for use in the Flex2 tutorial.
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Motion Project – Flex 2

In part 2 of this lesson, you will define the various shapes of your
muscle by manipulating points on a lattice. Using lattice animation,
you will create three different shapes and keyframe to simulate the
movement of a muscle as an arm is bending.

Motion Module
Flex 2
Lattices, Keyframing
Use a lattice to deform the shape of the muscle
■ With the muscle selected from the previous lesson,
choose Lattice ➔ Node ➔ Create in the Model module.
Accept the default settings.
■ Make sure you are at frame 1 and switch to TAG
manipulation mode. With the Supra key t, tag the middle
three columns of points on the bottom two rows of the
Fig. 1 lattice as in Fig. 1. Translate these points until the
muscle looks similar to the one in Fig. 2.
Record the animation by saving keyframes
■ Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Node Lattice to record
your first key shape.
■ Repeat the second and third steps to record keyframes at
frames 50 and 100. Use the diagrams in Figs. 3 and 4 as
a reference.
(Frame 1)
Fig. 2 As you can see, each shape has been assigned to a

particular frame number. These frame assignments are
totally arbitrary for this lesson. All you need are three
different shapes recorded at three different frames.
(Frame 50)
Fig. 3
(Frame 100)
Fig. 4

Motion Project – Flex 3

In this final stage of the lesson, you will use expressions to
constrain the muscle’s shape and colour to the skeleton. Be careful
to type each expression correctly!

Motion Module
Flex 3
Expressions
Position the muscle and place the two objects in a
hierarchy
■ Place the muscle between the first and second joints
using Fig. 1 as a reference. You may need to rotate the
muscle a bit.
Fig. 1
■ Select the joint (jnt1_1), choose the Parent menu cell
and pick the muscle. The muscle should now be the
child of the joint.
Define the movement and colour of the muscle
■ Select the muscle object and choose Expressions ➔ Edit.
Enter the following expressions, use the Validate,
Fcurve, and Scn Element buttons to speed up your
process and reduce the number of typing errors.
Fig. 2
To enter several expressions for the same object, you
need to use the Next button.
ELEMENT EXPRESSION
Muscle.rotz jnt1_2.rotz / 2
This expression links the muscle’s rotation on the z-axis
to jnt1_2’s rotation on the z-axis. The relationship
between the muscle and the joint is not 1:1 because of a
divide (/) operator which reduces the muscle’s rotation
by a factor of 2.
ELEMENT EXPRESSION
Muscle.scalx 1 - ( abs( jnt1_2.rotz ) / 180 )
This expression links the muscle’s scaling in x to
jnt1_2’s rotation in z. A divider is used to reduce the
effect of the scaling by a factor of 180. The abs
(absolute) function is used to prevent the muscle’s
scaling from becoming negative and the “1 -” sets the
initial size of the muscle to its current setting.
ELEMENT EXPRESSION
Muscle.ltnode jnt1_2.rotz / 70

This expression links the three keyframed positions of

the lattice to the joints rotation in z. The divider (/) is
used again to smooth out the transition from one
keyframe to another.
Tip Refer to the Schematic window to verify the joint

names.
■ Now assign an expression for the colour of the muscle.
To do so, give the object a colour… a nice pale blue will
do. Go to the Matter module, enter the following values,
and then click Ok.
Diffuse R: 0.7
Diffuse G: 0.83
Diffuse B: 0.83
Fig. 3
■ Once the material has been assigned, open a Schematic
window and change from Plain mode to Matter mode
(in the window title bar). A blue parallelogram should
appear as a child of your muscle – see Fig. 3. Select it
and choose Expressions ➔ Edit. Enter the following set
of expressions:
ELEMENTS EXPRESSIONS
Mat1.mtdifg 1.0 - jnt1_2.rotz / 180

Mat1.mtdifb 1.0 - jnt1_2.rotz / 180
These expressions link the mtdifg (material diffuse
green) and the mtdifb (material diffuse blue) values to
the joint’s rotation in z. The divide operator (/) smooths
the transition between colours and the “1 -” sets the
initial colour of the muscle to its current setting.
■ Use the Copy and Paste buttons to copy the expression
from one material element to the other.
■ Select the effector of your chain and move it back and
forth to see how the muscle reacts. Also change to
Shade view mode to see how the colour of the muscle
changes as the effector is moved.

Motion Module

Motion Project – Alien Invasion

In this lesson, you will use the Surface ➔ Revolution and the
Duplicate ➔ Repetition commands to create a scene similar to the
one shown in Fig. 1. You are also introduced to the Constraint ➔
Direction command. This command allows you to constrain the
movement of one object to another – in this case, the antennas to
the UFO. You will see that this tool lets you easily create a piece of
animation that can be automatically updated.
The parabolic antennas

x constrained to a UFO
is an example of a
Direction constraint.
x

Motion Module
Alien Invasion
Direction Constraint
Create one inter-stellar T-20Z twin turbo UFO and four
HJX-106 parabolic antennas! (but some extruded curves
will do!)
■ In the Front window, create the profile of a UFO by
choosing Draw ➔ Curve ➔ B-Spline (use fig. 1 as a
reference) and then choose the Surface ➔ Revolution
command to make the object three dimensional. Make it
a Patch B-Spline and select y as the axis of revolution.
■ In the Front window, create the profile of a parabolic
dish by choosing Draw ➔ Curve ➔ B-Spline (use Fig. 1
as a reference) and then choose Surface ➔ Revolution to
make it three-dimensional. Accept the default values by
clicking Ok.
Finish the antenna and place the objects in a hierarchy
Fig. 1
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder to create the pole of
the antenna. Scale your cylinder and translate it under
the parabolic dish.
■ Create a logical hierarchy so the pole is the parent of the
receiving antenna.
■ In CTR manipulation mode, rotate the centre of the dish
90 degrees on the z-axis so that the x-axis (red) becomes
parallel to the receiving antenna (if you look in the Front
window, the red arrow should be pointing up). Make
sure the centre of your antenna is at the bottom of the
parabolic dish. The centre must be at the bottom for the
dish to stay attached to the pole when it rotates.
Tip The Constraint ➔ Direction command always

constrains an object using its x-axis, so the centre
of the object needs to be oriented properly.
Create two copies of the antenna
■ Select the Antenna as a branch using the middle mouse
button.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Repetition and make two copies
with a Translation of approximately -25 units on the
z-axis.

Constrain the direction of the dish to the UFO

■ Select the dish of one of the parabolic antennas.
■ Choose Constraint ➔ Direction in the Motion module,
and pick the UFO. The dish should now be pointing
toward the UFO. Right-click to end the Direction
constraint mode.
■ Repeat the same operations on the other two antennas.
■ Move the UFO in space and see how the antennas react.

3D.book : matter.doc 179 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
M A T T E R M O D U L E


Matter Module
Notes on Rendering a Scene

Shading Model
R
■ SOFTIMAGE 3D uses an Additive Colour model
G (colouring with lights as opposed to paint).
B
■ The basic colour space is Red, Green, Blue (RGB).
A
■ Colour values range between 0 and 1 in the Material
Editor and between 0 and 255 in the Palette editor.
■ If RGB is 1, 0, 0, it means that Red is at its maximum
and Blue and Green are not present. The result is pure
red.
■ Pure blue is RGB=0, 0, 1, and pure green is RGB=0, 1,
0.
■ The basic shading model in 3D animation is Phong
Shading. Phong Shading has a few variables:
- Global Ambient Light
- Light (or lights)
- An object’s own Ambient, Diffuse, and Specular
colour.
Rendering Picture Files

■ By default, rendering creates picture files with a .pic file
extension. Various other file formats are available (.rgb,
.lin, etc.) with the other rendering types.
■ Picture files are binary files. Instead of containing text,
they contain definitions of pixel colours. The colour
values are defined as RGB. Each pixel colour also has a
transparency value, which is referred to as the alpha
channel. Each pixel therefore has four channels: RGBA
■ You also have the option of having a fifth and sixth
channel: the Z and Tag channels. The Z channel is a
definition of the pixel’s distance relative to the camera.
The Tag channel defines whether a particular object is
present or not in a given pixel. For convenience sake,
the Z and Tag channels are placed outside of the picture
file. They have their own file/format.
■ The mental ray renderer can provide many types of
image files (in addition to the typical 8-bit RGBA)

including 16-bit image files for very high quality output,

typically used in film work.

Matter Module

Matter Project – What’s the Matter? 1

In this lesson, you will get elements already created in previous
tutorials to which you will apply various material parameters such
as Blinn, Phong, and Constant shading models, and Reflectivity,
Transparency, and Refractivity. A light will be added to the scene
using Raytraced shadows, which is an optional light parameter. See
the Material menu cell in the SOFTIMAGE 3D Reference Guide for
the differences between each shading model.
Note: Raytracing basically involves the calculation of the
Note light rays that are reflected, refracted, and obstructed
by surfaces. Raytracing is needed for reflectivity and
refractivity, but not simple transparency.

Matter Module
What’s the Matter? 1

Matter Overview
Get the Table scene and create some new objects
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and use the browser to find the
Table scene you created in an earlier project.
■ Complete the scene by placing several objects on the
table, such as the wine glass created in one of the Model
projects (refer to Fig. 1). To do so, choose the Get ➔
Element command. The glass and any other elements
are in the MODELS chapter. Scale and translate the
objects you retrieved so that they all fit properly on top
of the table (use Fig. 1 as a reference).
Add a light to the scene
Fig. 1 ■ Place a light inside the lamp shade by choosing Light ➔
Define and specifying a Point light type with Raytraced
shadows. Enter the following RGB values: R=1, G=1,
B=0.9. Click Ok.
■ Translate the point light above the light bulb model
(see Fig. 2).
■ Dolly (and/or Roll) the camera using the Camera ➔
Dolly (and/or Roll) commands to frame all of your
objects in the Perspective window.
■ Preview the scene by choosing Preview ➔ All in the
Matter module. Middle-click to exit the Preview mode.
Assign materials to the various objects in your scene
■ Select the base of your lamp and choose the Material
menu cell to open the Material Editor. Change the
Shading Model to Blinn and the Diffuse colour values to
Fig. 2 Red = 0, Green = 0, and Blue = 0.2. Select the Ambient
colour option and change all colour values to 0.2.
Increase Reflectivity to 0.8 and click Ok to confirm all
the settings and exit the Material Editor.
■ Preview the scene by using Preview ➔ All. You will see
that the lamp now has a chrome base.

■ Select the lamp shade and open the Material Editor.

Change the Shading Model to Lambert, the Diffuse
colour values to Red = 0.2, Green = 0.2, and Blue = 1.0,
and the Ambient colour values to Red = 0.1, Green =
1.0, and Blue = 0.9. Set the Transparency to 0.1 and
click Ok to confirm all the settings and exit the Material
Editor.
■ Select the wine glass and change its material to Phong
with a black Diffuse colour. Set the Reflectivity to 0.5,
the Transparency to 0.8, and the Refractivity to 1.2.
Click Ok to exit the Material Editor.
■ Middle-click on the Preview menu cell to preview your
scene again.
■ Experiment with the Reflectivity, Transparency and
Refractivity values to see how the different values affect
the objects in your scene.
■ With the help of the Material Editor, define new
materials for other objects in the scene. Preview the
scene by choosing Preview ➔ All.
■ Save the scene for use in other projects.

Matter Module

Matter Project – What’s the Matter? 2

In this part of this tutorial, you will build on the scene you created
in part 1 by defining spot lights and HLS colour space modification.
You will also be introduced to the concept of Shadow objects.
Shadow objects are not visible to the camera, but their shadows are.
As a result, you have extra freedom in placing your camera.
Note: There are four different types of light to choose from
Note within SOFTIMAGE 3D: Infinite, Point, Spot, and Sun.
Infinite lighting sets a light source that is infinitely far
from objects in the scene. There is no position associated
with the light, only a direction.
Point lighting sets an omnidirectional light. Light rays
travel in all directions from the position of the light.
Spot lighting sets a unidirectional light. Light rays travel in
a cone from the position of the light toward the spotlight
interest.
Sun lighting is an infinite light whose direction vector is
derived from a physical simulation based on the latitude
and longitude of the scene location and the specified time,
day, date, month, and year.

Matter Module
What’s the Matter? 2

Rendering Techniques
Create a ceiling fan
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder. Change the radius
to 1.0, the Height to 0.5, and the Longitude step to 16.
Fig. 1 Click Ok.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube. Scale the cube down to
create the blade of the fan. It should be the same width
and depth, but 2.5 times the length of the cylinder. Refer
to Fig. 1.
■ Change to TAG mode. Using the Supra key t, tag the
four points on the right side of the cube and scale them
down on the z-axis. Use Fig. 2 as a reference.
■ Change back to OBJ mode and translate the blade so
that the small end is touching the cylinder – see Fig. 3.
Fig. 2 ■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate to create the three other
blades of the fan. Position them accordingly as in Fig. 4.
■ Place the elements in a hierarchy with the cylinder as
the parent. To do so, select the cylinder, choose the
Parent menu cell, and pick the four blades.
Load previous scene What’s the Matter? 1
■ Choose the Get ➔ Scene command to retrieve the scene
used in Part 1 of this project.
Fig. 3 ■ Add a Spot light by choosing Light ➔ Define. Activate

Raytraced shadows and enter the following HLS values:
0.5, 0.5, and 0.3 – click the RGB button to switch to
HLS mode. For now, keep the Umbra Intensity value at
its default setting. You may want to go back later and
play with the values to get just the right effect.
Note: Hue, Luminance, and Saturation are three
Note components of the HLS colour model. Hue refers
to the tone or tint of a colour, luminance refers to
the overall brightness of a colour, more
specifically the amount of white in a colour, and
saturation refers to the purity of a colour, more
specifically the amount of grey in a colour.
Fig. 4

■ To see the projected cone of light, choose Show ➔ Cone.

Position the camera, the fan, and the spot light
■ Choose Camera ➔ Show Camera. Then choose Camera
➔ Select Interest and position the camera interest in the
middle of the table. Zoom and dolly the camera to
correctly frame your elements in the Perspective
window.
■ Open a Schematic window, select the spot light interest,
and translate it to the middle of the table. Now select the
light and move it directly above the table.
■ Translate the fan hierarchy so that it falls exactly
between the light and the table. Make sure that the cone
of light is greater than the spread of the fan’s blades (use
Fig. 5 as a reference). Choose Show ➔ Cone
(Unselected) to have the cone visible at all times. If your
fan is too large, scale it down in UNI scaling mode.
Assign materials to the objects in the scene
■ To prevent the fan from obscuring part of the scene,
Fig. 5 choose Material in the Matter module and change the
Shading Model to Shadow Object. This allows the
object to be invisible, but still cast a shadow.
■ Preview the scene by choosing Preview ➔ All.
■ To create a simple environment for your table top
masterpiece, choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube with a
length of 60 units and use Effect ➔ Inverse in the Model
module to reverse the surface normals of the cube
towards the interior. Position the cube so that the legs of
the table are touching the floor. Make sure all your other
elements are within the cube as well!
■ Choose the Material menu cell to change the Shading
Model to Lambert and assign a colour to the cube.
Render and view the final result
■ To render a final image, choose the Render menu cell
and click the Render Sequence button.

Matter Module
■ When the rendering is complete, you can view the

image by choosing Picture in the Tools module, and
selecting the name of the file in the
RENDER_PICTURES chapter. Click the Display
button to show the selected image and click on EXIT to
leave the View Pictures dialogue box.
Note: Try animating the fan by saving two keyframes:
Note one at frame 1 with a Rotation value of (0,0,0)
and one at frame 100 with a Rotation value of (0,
-360, 0). Change the End frame to 200, choose
FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔ Rotation ➔ Y, and select
the roty fcurve. Create a continuous cycle by
choosing the FcrvEdit ➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle
command. Make the interpolation linear by
clicking the LIN option in the Fcurve window
title bar so that the fan’s movement looks more
realistic. Render the sequence and view the final
result by choosing FlipBook in the Tools module.
Tip You may want to leave the rendering of this part

of the scene until the end of the day. Rendering it
overnight is a better use of your time.

Matter Project – Missile, Part 3

This exercise allows you to continue to develop your understanding
of the various types of materials and textures. You will apply basic
materials to complete the missile you created earlier and apply a 3D
texture to the inside of the large sphere to create an environment for
your missile.

Matter Module
Missile, Part 3
Materials, 3D Global Textures
Load the Missile scene you created earlier
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and use the browser to load the
Missile scene you created in the Model section of this
workbook.
Apply materials to the various parts of the missile
■ Select the main body of your missile and choose the
Material menu cell. In the Material Editor dialogue box,
assign a colour to your missile by manipulating the
Fig. 1
RGB values for the Diffuse, Ambient, and Specular
areas of illumination. When you are satisfied with the
colour, click Ok.
■ Select the reactor of the missile and assign it a different
colour. Choose the Material menu cell and manipulate
the RGB values of the three areas of illumination
appropriately. Since the wings are children of the
reactor, they automatically inherit the material of their
parent.
■ Select the component you called “part_source” and
choose the Material menu cell. In the Material Editor
dialogue box, change the Shading Model to Constant
and the colour to black.
Create the sky by assigning a 3D texture to the sphere
■ Select the sphere and choose Material. Select Constant
as the Shading Model and click Ok.
■ Choose Texture ➔ 3D Global and click the Select button
beside the 3D Texture dialogue box. Use the browser to
go to the /SI_Materials/Clouds directory. A list of
several different cloud image files should appear. To
view a sample of each image file (as shown in Fig. 1),
click on Options and select Use Icons in the List
Options dialogue box. Select the texture you would like
to have as your sky and click Load.
■ Adjust the pattern of your cloud texture by changing the
scaling values on all three axes. The default scaling
value is much too large in this case because of the

sphere’s size. Try using a value between 0.01 and 0.005

for all three axes. Use the Preview button at the bottom
of the dialogue box to preview your texture. When you
are satisfied with the result, click Ok.
Tip 3D Textures are extremely costly in terms of

rendering time. If your sky and camera are not
moving, it may be a good idea to render one
frame of your sky and composite the missile over
the sky background. Refer to the “Copyright
Logo” tutorial later in this section for an
introduction to the Composite command or refer
to the SOFTIMAGE 3D Reference Guide for
more detailed information on using this
command.
Preview your scene and render the animated sequence
■ Choose Preview to view the missile within its
environment. Middle-click to end Preview mode.
■ If you are satisfied, choose the Render menu cell. In the
Render Setup dialogue box, make sure the End frame is
at 200. Click Options and activate the Z pic option so
that you can incorporate particle emissions in a later
tutorial. Name your rendered images appropriately and
click Render Sequence to start rendering.
■ Choose the FlipBook menu cell in the Tools module to
view your rendered sequence.
■ Save your scene for use in a later tutorial.

Matter Module

Matter Project – Copyright Logo

This tutorial introduces you to the Composite command in
SOFTIMAGE 3D. You will create a logo and render it using
Subregion rendering. Subregion rendering allows you to render a
specific area of the screen. You will then composite this logo over a
scene your created in an earlier lesson.
Note: Refer to the Using Tools User’s Guide for more
Note information on the composite program. Also refer to the
sample composite files available in the /usr/softimage/
gifts/scripts directory.

Matter Module
Copyright Logo
Subregion Rendering and Compositing
Perspective Render one of your existing scenes in NTSC format
■ Get one of your existing scenes by choosing Get ➔
Scene. Once the scene is loaded, choose Camera ➔
Picture Format and activate the NTSC format. Click Ok.
■ Render one frame of the scene by choosing the Render
menu cell. In the Render Setup dialogue box, make sure
that both the Start and End frames are at 1 and NTSC is
Before the active format. Click Render sequence.
Perspective ■ Delete your scene by choosing Delete ➔ All.
Set a flat-field camera
■ In the Model module, choose Camera ➔ Settings. In the
Camera Settings dialogue box, change the camera’s x
and y positions to 0. Activate the Automatic Depth-of-
Field Simulation and change the Focal length to 20 mm.
Click Ok to close the dialogue box. Refer to the two
After illustrations in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Note: These settings help alleviate perspective

Note distortion because the camera is positioned
perpendicular to the XY plane, and the field of
view is narrowed to ensure that objects farther
from the centre are still viewed with minimum
distortion.
Define the picture format
■ Choose Camera ➔ Picture Format and select an
appropriate picture format such as NTSC or 35mm
slide, etc. Click Accept to close the dialogue box.
Create and align the logo
■ Display the Field guide by activating the Field Guide
option in the Perspective window’s Layout dialogue
box.
■ Choose Get ➔ Text and create a logo, or load a
previously saved company logo using the Get ➔
Element command.

Note: The copyright symbol used in the example can be

Note accessed by selecting the Futura_M font and by
typing the special character: \5371
Refer to the Sample Character Set section of the
SOFTIMAGE 3D Reference Guide for more
information on special characters.
■ Using the Translation and Scaling menu cells, position
the object(s) within the safe action area (Fig. 2). This
ensures that the object(s) remains perpendicular to the
camera.
Note: To keep scaling proportional, use either UNI
Note scaling mode or the Scaling dialogue box to enter
Fig. 2
precise values.
■ Go to the Matter module and select your object(s) if it is
not already selected. Choose Material and set the
Shading Model to Constant. Add some colour to your
logo and Click Ok. Constant shading is preferable to the
Phong default setting because highlights and surface
shading do not normally appear on flat copy.
Render 1 frame with subregion rendering
Fig. 3 ■ In the Matter module, choose the Render menu cell.
Activate the Subregion Rendering type (see Fig. 3) and
set the End frame to 1. Set other appropriate options,
then click Render Sequence.
Resized red crop box
■ Click and drag the mouse to resize the red crop box until
it frames only the logo (Fig. 4). Middle-click to accept
the subregion and commence rendering!
Tip Text should be rendered using Adaptive

Fig. 4 supersampling as opposed to Bartlett window
filtering because supersampling retains better
edge sharpness, especially at high filter values.
To modify the filtering parameters in the Render
Setup dialogue box, click the button next to the
Antialiasing setting.
Composite the logo
■ In the Tools module, choose the Composite menu cell.
The offsets for the subregion are defined automatically,
whether you are using the Composite menu cell or the
composite standalone (command line) program.

Matter Module
Note: If any image processing or external manipulation

Note has been performed, the offsets need to be
defined manually.
■ In the Composite dialogue box, give a name to your
composited scene.
■ Click on New Layer to add the background layer. Layer
0 should be the scene you rendered in NTSC format at
the beginning of this tutorial. Use the Select button to
browse through your databases to get that rendered
image.
■ Once you have selected your scene, activate the option
this layer is opaque in the Layer 0 dialogue box. By
selecting this option, your have assigned a transparency
value of 0 to your background image. Click Ok to exit
the Layer 0 dialogue box.
■ Click on New Layer again. This time get the rendered
image of your logo. Make sure the option Use this
layer’s alpha channel to composite it is selected. This
option allows you to composite only the logo on top of
your background image – everything else in your image
is transparent. Click Ok to exit the Layer 1 dialogue
box.
■ To begin your composite, click Ok in the Compositor
dialogue box.
View the final product
■ In the Tools module, choose the Picture menu cell.
Using the browser, scan through your databases to find
your composited image. The composited picture is
automatically saved in the directory from which
SOFTIMAGE 3D was initially opened. You may want
to choose the Get ➔ DB Exchange command to move
your composited image into a more appropriate
directory. Select the image and click Display. Click any
of the mouse buttons to exit Display mode.
■ Offset information can also be viewed by choosing the
Picture menu cell and activating the Information option,
running the infopic standalone, or by opening the 2D
Texture Editor.
Note: When rendering images 2K or larger, it may be
Note
necessary to increase the step values on face
objects to ensure smooth characters. Choose Info

➔ Selection to alter the step values for each face.

Matter Module

Matter Project – Torch, Part 2

In this part of this tutorial, you will apply various materials and
textures to the objects in the torch scene. You will also introduce
light sources to create mood and special effects. By animating one
of these light sources, a flickering effect results which will be used
in conjunction with the Particle system to create the overall effect
of fire.

Matter Module
Torch, Part 2
Light
Materials, Textures, Animating Light Sources
Load the Torch, Part 1 scene
Light ■ Choose Get ➔ Scene to load the Torch, Part 1 scene you
created earlier.
Introduce a light source to your scene
■ Choose Light ➔ Define and select a point light. Change
the RGB values to R: 0.309, G: 0.237, B: 0.139. Click
Light
Ok to accept all other default values.
Light
■ Translate the light up in y to the top of the torch and then
Fig. 1
in negative Z, so that it lies between the wall and the
torch. Use Fig. 1 as a reference.
Create a flickering light source
■ Choose Light ➔ Define. In the Create Light dialogue
box, select a spot light with RGB values of 0.35, 0.27,
0.15. Make the spot light’s Cone Angle 3.0 with a
Interest
Interest
Spread of 60.0. Click Ok.
■ Translate the spot light and its interest to the positions
shown in Fig. 2. Make sure that in all four windows the
cone of your spot light hits the wall right behind the
torch. If it doesn’t, the flickering effect won’t be as
Interest Interest effective.
■ Animate the position of the light’s interest by saving
Fig. 2 keyframes at frames 60, 62, 65, and 67. Choose
SaveKey ➔ Light ➔ Interest ➔ Translation in the Motion
module, to create a translation path in the shape of an N
62 67 (move the interest about 1 SOFTIMAGE unit in the x
and y directions only). Use Fig. 3 as a reference.
60 65
■ Once you have created the translation path, choose
FcrvSelect ➔ Light ➔ Interest ➔ Translation to view the
interest’s function curve (fcurve). Edit the fcurve by
clicking on EDITKEY in the window title bar. With the
right mouse button, delete the two middle points on the
fcurve.
Fig. 3

■ Insert a new key point at frame 73. Click EDITKEY in

the window title bar and then middle-click on the fcurve
at frame 73. Click SETKEY and then click on the new
key point you just added. In the Edit Fcurve dialogue
box that appears, make sure you are at frame 73 and
enter 0 in the Value text box. Click Ok.
■ Create an fcurve cycle by choosing FcrvEdit ➔
ExtrapMode ➔ Cycle. Your fcurve should look similar
Fig. 4 to the one shown in Fig. 4.
Animate the HLS values of the light
■ Go to frame 61, choose Light ➔ Edit, and switch to HLS
mode. Save a starting keyframe by clicking on the Key
button of the Edit Light dialogue box. Move ahead four
frames. Change each HLS value by no more than + or
R
- 0.1 and save another keyframe. Repeat these steps
G until you reach frame 210. This gives the light a varying
intensity.
B
Tip It’s a good idea to change the number of frames
between keyframes (between 2 and 5 frames) to
Fig. 5 make the light’s intensity appear more random.
■ View the results of the HLS manipulation by choosing
FcrvSelect ➔ Light ➔ Colour. Your fcurves should look
similar to the ones in Fig. 5. To move the key points on
your fcurve, use the Supra key m and the left mouse
button.
Assign materials and textures to the objects in your scene
■ With the base of the torch selected, go to the Matter
module and choose Material. In the Material Editor
dialogue box, assign a bronze material to your object by
using the following values:
-Diffuse: R: 0.211, G: 0.139, B: 0.025
-Ambient: R: 0.056, G: 0.028, B: 0.0
-Reflectivity: 0.2181

Matter Module
■ Assign the same material to the spiral and the ring of

your torch. To do so, select the Matter Mode in the
Schematic window. This shows all materials and
textures that have been assigned to the objects. Choose
the Multi menu cell and select both objects. Choose
Mat_Oper ➔ Associate and pick the base’s material. The
base, the screws, the spiral and the ring now all have the
same material.
Note: There is no need to associate the base’s material
Note to the screws because they are the children of the
base. By default, children are assigned the
material of their parent.
■ Select the base of the torch again and assign it a texture
by choosing Texture ➔ 2D Local. In the 2D Texture File
dialogue box, click the Select button beside the Picture
Filename text box. Select the “argent” texture and click
Load. A sample picture file should appear in the display
box. Change the Mapping Method to Non-Raytraced
Reflection Mapping. This allows you to keep the
reflective properties of the object, while disabling the
raytracing so that surrounding objects are not reflected.
Click Ok to accept the 2D texture.
Tip To quickly view the results of any changes made

to the material or texture parameters, use the
Preview button in the 2D Texture File and
Material Editor dialogue boxes.
■ Copy the 2D texture to both the spiral and the ring. To
do so, select both objects using the Multi menu cell,
choose Txt_Oper ➔ Copy All, and pick the base’s
texture. The spiral and the ring now have the same
texture as the base and its screws.
■ Assign a different material to the torch by choosing the
Material menu cell. In the Material Editor dialogue box,
assign the torch a simple Lambert-shaded material with
a Specular Decay value of 0.0. A dark brown colour for
both the Diffuse and Ambient areas of illumination
works well.

■ Assign a texture to the torch by choosing Texture ➔ 2D

Local. In the 2D Texture File dialogue box, click the
Select button beside the Picture Filename text box.
Select the “rockwall05” texture and click Load. A
sample picture file should appear in the display box. Use
the left mouse button to scale down the crop box so that
only a small portion of the lighter grey area of the rock
falls within the boundaries (see Fig. 6). Change the
Repeats value to 2 x1 and the Mapping method to
Fig. 6 Cylindrical Coordinates. This method projects the
texture map as if it was a cylinder wrapped around the
object. Manipulate the Overall Blending, Ambient, and
Roughness values to create a realistic effect.
■ With the back wall selected, choose Material. In the
Material Editor dialogue box, assign a standard Lambert
material to the wall using a low Reflectivity value –
about 0.1. Click Ok to accept these parameters.
■ Now assign a texture to the wall by choosing Texture ➔
2D Local. Click the Select button beside the Picture
Filename text box. Select the “rock_wall05” texture and
click Load. A sample of the “rock_wall05” texture
should be displayed in the display box.
■ Manipulate the values within the 2D Texture File
dialogue box to create the effect you are trying to
achieve. Try changing the Repeats value to 6 x 6 to
create an appropriate pattern across the wall. The
Roughness value could also be increased to about 5 to
create the effect of a bumpy stone wall. You may also
want to play with the Ambient value to give your scene
some additional ambience!
■ Assign an additional texture map to your wall to create a
slight reflection of the burning torch. To do so, choose
Texture ➔ 2D Local. Click the Next button above the
display box and then click the Select button beside the
Picture Filename text box to add the second texture.
This time, select the “feu2” flipbook as your texture and
click Load.

Matter Module
Note: For the purposes of this tutorial, a flipbook of the

Note fire is provided. Under normal circumstances,
however, you would have to create the Particle
animation, render a flipbook, and then use that as
your texture map. In the Particle section of this
workbook, you will create the fire and render the
integrated 3D/Particle scene.
■ Using the left mouse button, resize the white crop box
around the picture file so that only the flame appears
Fig. 7 within its boundaries (see Fig. 7). Change the Blending
type to Alpha Channel Mask and manipulate the Overall
Blending and Ambient values to create a realistic
casting of the flames on the wall. Use a low value
(between 0.1 and 0.3) for both the Overall Blending and
Ambient parameters. The Alpha Channel Mask option
simply uses the alpha channel or transparency of the
picture file as a blending factor.
Note: When assigning more than one texture to the
Note same object, you must use the Next and Previous
buttons, located above the display box in the 2D
Texture File dialogue box. If you do not do this,
your existing texture is overwritten.
Scale and translate the “feu2” texture
Fig. 8
■ With the back wall selected, change to TXT
manipulation mode. A 6 x 6 red grid should now
be displayed on the wall, which represents the first
texture you applied to the wall (“rockwall05”). Choose
Txt_Edit ➔ Next to view the “feu2” texture. The whole
wall should now be outlined in red. Scale the texture
down and translate it just above the torch. Refer to Figs.
8 and 9.
Fig. 9

Preview the results and render

■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the results of your work.
Use the middle mouse button to exit Preview mode.
■ If you are satisfied, render your scene by choosing the
Render menu cell. In the Render Setup dialogue box,
click the Options button and activate the Z pic option.
Click Accept to return to the Render Setup dialogue
box. Change the Start frame to 61, the End frame to 210,
and the Step to 2. Make sure you are rendering in the
correct database and enter a file name in the appropriate
text box. Click Render Sequence to begin rendering.
View your flipbook and then save your scene
■ Go into the Tools module and choose the FlipBook
menu cell. Use the file browser to find your sequence of
rendered images. Select any frame of the sequence and
then change the Start and End frames to match those of
your rendered sequence. Change the Step value to 2 and
then click Ok to view the flipbook.
■ Use the forward arrow in the playback box to play the
flipbook and the middle mouse button to pause it. Click
on all three mouse buttons simultaneously to end
flipbook viewing mode.
■ Save your scene for use in the Particle section of this
workbook.

Matter Module

Matter Project – Jojo the Fish, Part 3

In this final segment of the Jojo the Fish trilogy, you will add some
details to both Jojo and her surroundings to make the scene appear
more realistic. You will use the Atmosphere ➔ Depth Fading
command to achieve the effect of underwater depth perception.
Textures and the Paint tool will also be used to add some interesting
features to Jojo.

Matter Module

Atmospheric Effects, 2D Textures, Paint
Retrieve the Jojo the Fish, Part 2 scene and assign
materials
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and use the file browser to find
Jojo the Fish, Part 2.
spread angle ■ Choose the Material menu cell and assign different
surface materials to the sea floor and to each component
of the Jojo.
cone angle
■ Choose Light ➔ Define. Make the light a Spot light with
Soft shadows, colour values of 0.5, 1, 1, a Cone Angle
of 50 degrees, and a Spread Angle of 15 degrees.
Translate the light to 10, 50, 10.
Fig. 1
Note: The cone angle sets the angle in degrees of the
Note cone of light that is emitted from the source.
The spread angle defines the degree to which the
light decreases in intensity as it moves away from
the boundaries of the cone. Experiment with
different cone and spread values with just a spot
light shining on a sphere. This very basic
example clearly demonstrates how the cone and
spread values can affect the light. See Fig. 1 for a
graphical representation of the cone and spread
angles.
Create the effect of murky waters using depth-fading
■ Choose Camera ➔ Show Camera to display the camera.
■ Choose Info ➔ Distance and middle-click in the Top
window, near the camera and then near Jojo. The status
line displays the distance between the two points. You
should obtain a distance of about 50 units. You want the
depth-fading effect to start between the camera and Jojo,
and to end between Jojo and the far edge of the sea floor.

■ Choose Atmosphere ➔ Depth-Fading in the Matter

Ending distance Starting
distance module to open the dialogue box and select the Depth-
fading option. Set the Starting Distance and the Ending
Distance using the distance values found in the previous
step (a starting distance value between 5 and 20 should
work well in most cases). Change the colour values to 0,
0.5, 0.4, and click Ok to confirm your settings. See Fig.
2 for a further explanation of how the starting and
ending distances affect the depth-fading in your scene.
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to see the depth-fading effect
(click the middle button to exit the preview).
■ To enhance the underwater effect, choose Atmosphere ➔
Ambience and set the ambient light to dark blue.
Camera to object distance Total depth
fading distance Apply a texture to Jojo’s body
■ Use the default material on Jojo’s body, and then assign
Fig. 2 a 2D global texture of bump-medium by choosing
Texture ➔ 2D Global. Click the Select button beside the
2D Texture text box to get both the picture file and its
set parameters. Select “bump-medium” from the
SI_MATERIALS database and click Load. Change the
Repeats values to 1 x 1 instead of the 2 x 2 saved with
the texture. Set the Mapping Method to UV
Coordinates.
Note: The Repeats values allow you to repeat the
Note picture file in the texture map to create a
wallpaper-like pattern. Try different the Repeats
values and the Tiling methods to see how you can
apply the texture to your object.
■ Click the Paint button to open the Paint dialogue box.
Then Smear the texture using an appropriately large
brush size. When you’re happy with the image, click
Accept and save the new map. Leave out the prefix and
simply call the map “jojo.” It is saved in the default
database in the PICTURES chapter. Click Ok to exit the
2D Texture dialogue box.
■ Change from OBJ mode to TXT mode and translate the
texture (TransX menu cell) so that the red seam is at the
top or bottom of the fish.

Matter Module
Render a flipbook
■ Choose the Render menu cell, name your scene
appropriately and click Render sequence.
■ Play it back by choosing FlipBook in the Tools module.
Your flipbook is in the RENDER_PICTURES
directory. Select one frame of your flipbook and click
Ok. Use the forward arrow in the playback box to view
your flipbook and press all three mouse buttons
simultaneously to exit flipbook viewing mode.

Matter Project – Your Name in 3D, Part 3

In this tutorial, you will define a bump (roughness) map and apply it
to a sphere to give the illusion of modelled depth using a simple
texture map based solely on its luminance value. Then you will
apply a real deformation on your geometric shape using mental ray
- displacement to see how the two tools differ.
This is the beginning of a few lessons on the basic features of
mental ray. The mental ray renderer is a high-quality, photo-
realistic renderer in SOFTIMAGE 3D. It allows you to perform
many special effects as part of the rendering process instead of
having to create these effects in the scene itself, which keeps your
scenes as small as possible. More specifically, it allows you to
tweak the resolution sampling, the antialiasing, and the rendering
algorithm at both the object and overall scene level. The mental ray
renderer has many features, but only a few will be covered in these
tutorials. Please refer to the Rendering User’s Guide for more
information on mental ray.

Matter Module
Your Name in 3D, Part 3

Bump Mapping, Displacement Mapping (mr)
Create your name and render the image
■ Load the scene from Your Name in 3D, Part 1.
■ Choose Camera ➔ Reset to realign the camera. Move
your name to the centre of the Perspective window.
■ Choose Material in the Matter module, and change the
Shading Model to Constant and the colour to pure white.
■ Render an image of the scene with a resolution of 300 x
300 pixels. You will use the rendered image as a texture
map.
Apply the rendered image onto a sphere
Fig. 1
■ To use a picture file as a map, the file must first be
moved from the RENDERED_PICTURES directory to
the PICTURES directory. Use Get ➔ DB Exchange to
copy or move your image.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere as a B-Spline patch.
■ Choose Material and change the colour of the sphere.
Choose Texture ➔ 2D Global and click the Select button
beside the Picture Filename text box. In the Database
dialogue box, select your picture file and click Load.
The picture is displayed in the display box.
■ Click the Preview button to see the texture map applied
to the sphere. The picture is now applied as a colour
map, which changes the surface colour of the sphere.
Create a bump map and add a light to the scene
■ To use the picture as a bump map instead, change the
Overall Blending to 0 and increase the Roughness value
to 1.
■ Click Preview and you will see your name embossed on
the sphere. Experiment with different values of
Roughness. Your image should look similar to that
shown in Fig. 1.
■ Click Ok to confirm the texture map settings.
■ Choose Light ➔ Define and select the Ray Traced

shadows option.
Create a short animation and then render and view the
scene
■ Set your keyframes by choosing the SaveKey ➔ Object
➔ Rotation ➔ All command in the Motion module.
■ Once you have set all the keyframes, choose the Render
menu cell in the Matter module, name your scene
appropriately and click Render Sequence.
■ View the final results by choosing the FlipBook menu
cell in the Tools module.
Fig. 2
Note: You will notice that the embossing effect of bump
Note mapping is a rendering trick only: it does not
modify the actual surface of the underlying
object’s geometry.
Render the scene using the mental ray displacement
option
■ Activate the Displacement (mr) option in the 2D texture
dialogue box. This option, unlike the bump mapping
method, allows you to change the actual geometry of the
object.
■ Select UV as the Mapping Method and click Ok.
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection, click on the Render Setup
button and activate Spatial as the Surface
Approximation method. Reduce the value to 2 to
increase your picture resolution and select Pixel length
as the units definition. Click Ok twice to exit both
dialogue boxes and to accept the values entered.
Tip When using displacement mapping, select the

Spatial method of Surface Approximation so that
enough triangles are used during the rendering
process to accommodate the details of the texture
map.
■ Render the flipbook again using mental ray and compare
and contrast the two methods. The final mental ray
image should look similar to that shown in Fig. 2.

Matter Module

Matter Project – Depth of Field

This lesson defines some simple parameters to simulate traditional
camera lens depth of field.
The Focal length, F-Stop, and Distance options combined together
allow enough flexibility to achieve nice results.
Note: The mental ray renderer can distribute the rendering
Note process over a network or on a multiprocessor machine.
You can easily add a host to your rendering list by editing
the .rayhosts file in your home directory. SOFTIMAGE
3D reads the .rayhosts file only upon startup, so you must
modify this file before starting SOFTIMAGE 3D.

Matter Module
Depth of Field
mental ray, Depth of Field, .rayhosts
The F-Stop values of the camera in SOFTIMAGE 3D
don’t correspond exactly to a real 35mm camera.
However, the three automatic camera values are all
combined to determine the depth of field “look.”
As with real lenses, the shorter the focal length, the greater
the depth of field, and vice versa. Smaller F-Stop values
yield a more pronounced out-of-focus effect. The default
of 5.6 would be fine for a real lens, but for our purposes,
start with 1.0 or 0.5 instead.
Fig. 1
The mental ray rendered result is based on a traditional
pinhole camera, as opposed to the SOFTIMAGE renderer
which uses a post-processing type of effect.
■ Create a simple scene with two objects at different
distances from the camera. Animate the objects so that
one is approaching the camera and the other is moving
further away. If you like, you can use a previous scene
that seems appropriate such as Jojo the Fish, Part 3
(create a friend for Jojo if you use this scene!).
Apply the depth of field option to the scene
■ Select the camera and choose Camera ➔ Settings. In the
dialogue box, activate the Automatic Depth of Field
Simulation. Set the Focal length to 400 and the F-Stop
to 0.25.
Note: The Focal length and F-stop values can also
Note affect your depth of field. The focal length is
simply the length of your camera lens. As the
length of your camera increases, depth of field
decreases. The
F-stop refers to the size of the aperture opening.
A smaller value results in a larger opening which
in turn decreases depth of field.
The custom values for the camera lens should be
used only for the SOFTIMAGE renderer. The
mental ray renderer only uses the automatic
parameters.

■ Make sure the camera is visible and choose Info ➔

Distance. Middle-click on the camera and then middle-
click on the object closest to the camera. Take note of
the value in the status bar.
■ Enter this value in the Distance text box of the Camera
➔ Settings dialogue box.
Note: The value that is entered into the Distance text

Note box defines the distance from the camera at
which objects are at their sharpest focus. Objects
located in front of and behind this value become
out of focus.
Render the scene
■ Choose the Render menu cell. In the Render Setup
dialogue box, select mental ray as the Rendering type.
■ Render a few frames from the sequence to see the effect
at different “depths.”
Tip If you find that there is a great deal of aliasing in

your rendered image, you may want to change
the Antialiasing values (manipulate the Max and
Min Samples).
Antialiasing is a method of smoothing out the
lines and edges of a graphical image. mental ray’s
antialiasing uses a Min and Max Sample number
to define the sample rate or the number of points
to be calculated and averaged to set each pixel’s
colour. The higher the values, the better the
quality of your picture.
Although the quality of your image improves as
the sample values are increased, the rendering
time also increases at an exponential rate. Weigh
the costs versus the benefits of increasing the
sample values before you do so.
Set up a .rayhosts file
■ Save your file and exit SOFTIMAGE 3D.
■ Create a .rayhosts file in your home directory and “jot”
the file. Add the names of the various machines/CPUs
that you want to use for the rendering process. Type one
machine name per line and then save the file.

Matter Module
■ Start SOFTIMAGE 3D and load the Depth of Field

scene.
■ Choose the Render menu cell and click the Options
button. Select the Verbose option in the Image Options
section of the dialogue box and click Ok. Click Render
Sequence to begin the rendering process. The rendering
should now be shared between the various machines.
■ To verify that the .rayhosts file is working properly,
click Mode in the status bar after you have finished
rendering. A dialogue box appears with a list of
messages. Each of the machines used in the rendering
process should appear in the list accompanied by a
percentage representing the amount of rendering
completed by each machine.
■ Increase the Max Samples value when you have a
pleasing distance and F-Stop values and render the
scene again.
Tip Filtering: The system automatically sets the Min

Sample to a value of at least a difference of 2
with respect to the Max Sample, so the minimum
Min Sample value in this case would be -1(Max
at 1). The command line reflects that fact.

Matter Project – Motion Blur

This lesson sets up basic parameters to activate the motion blur
effect on a per-object basis. Two Render Setup dialogue boxes need
to be modified: the first by choosing Info ➔ Selection and the other
by choosing the Render menu cell.

Matter Module
Motion Blur
mental ray Motion Blur, Boolean
You need to make a few modifications to any model on
which you want to have motion blur. Each 3D object has a
motion blur option that is set in the Info ➔ Selection
dialogue box. Inside that dialogue box, click the Render
Setup button select the Linear or Exact option instead of
None.
Create an object using the Boolean command
■ Get two primitive objects: a default Dodecahedron and
an Icosahedron.
■ Select the Dodecahedron and choose Boolean ➔ Static.
Click Ok in the dialogue box to confirm the default
parameters. Pick the icosahedron to create a union
between these two objects.
■ The Boolean ➔ Static command creates a completely
new object, so you must hide the original objects by
choosing Display ➔ Hide ➔ Unselected.
Fig. 1 Assign a material to the object
■ Choose Polygon ➔ Automatic Colourize in the Matter
module. In Shade view mode, you will notice that each
polygon on your object has been assigned a colour.
■ Modify the individual material values to your liking – at
least change each color to Lambert shading instead of
Phong.
Activate the motion blur option
■ Select the Boolean “jewel: and choose the Info ➔
Selection command to open the Polygon Info dialogue
box. Change the Automatic Discontinuity value to 44,
then click the Render Setup button. In the dialogue box
that appears, change the Motion Blur option to Exact.
Click Ok to accept the set parameters in the mental ray
Render Setup dialogue box and click Ok again to exit
the Polygon Info dialogue box.


dialogue box, select the Motion Blur option. In the
Motion Blur dialogue box, select Active, and set the
Shutter Speed value to 1 (zero deactivates the blur
effect). Mid-range values might be desired if the blur is
too dramatic. Click Accept.
Note: The shutter speed is always 1/frame rate, or by
Note default 1/30th of a second when the shutter value
is set to 1.
■ Change the Start frame to 0 (zero), and the End frame to
30. Click Accept.
Spin the object
■ Save a Rotation keyframe at frame 0 using SaveKey ➔
Object ➔ Rotation ➔ All. Then go to frame 30, rotate the
object to 0, 720, 180 degrees in x, y, and z and save
another keyframe.
Render the sequence and view the final result
■ Choose the Render menu cell and change the resolution
to at least 200 pixels in x.
■ Set the Antialiasing Max Samples to at least 3. Values of
2 or even 1 work, but the result is quite coarse and
probably won’t look very realistic. Click Render
Sequence to begin rendering.
■ Choose the FlipBook menu cell in the Tools module
when the rendering has finished to view the results.
The SOFTIMAGE renderer’s motion blur uses a
Note geometry replication and transparency method
which doesn’t always give desirable results.

Matter Module

Matter Project – Soft Shadows

In this lesson, you will learn how to use aspects of mental ray to
create the effect of soft edge shadows. Area light sources are the
key in this lesson because they let you create more realistic light
effects by modelling light sources as pieces of geometry (a
rectangle, sphere, or disk) as opposed to single point light sources.
The sampling method used by area light sources results in a smooth
disintegration of the shadow. You will also use several of the
antialiasing filtering methods which determine how sampling is
performed.

Matter Module
Soft Shadows
mental ray Area Lights
Create some primitive objects to set up the scene
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube and place it on the grid.
Create two other cubes by choosing Duplicate ➔
Immediate. Scale and position the cubes so they appear
similar to the ones shown in Fig. 1 on the left.
Add a point and spot light to the scene
Fig. 1
■ Choose Light ➔ Define. Make it a regular point light and
accept all other the defaults (no shadows).
■ Choose Light ➔ Define again, but make this one a spot
light. Select the Area Light option, Raytraced as the
Camera interest Shadows Type, and then set a low Umbra Intensity
value such as 0.1.
Note: The Umbra Intensity value applies a transparency
Note factor on the “main” shadow that is cast by the
object. A value of 1 would create no shadow
because the Transparency factor would be at
Spot interest 100%. A value of 0, on the other hand, would
create a completely black shadow. In this
example, use a value of 0.1 to create a dark
shadow.
Fig. 2
■ For the first few tests, you can leave the Area Sampling
at the default of 3. If you’re feeling a bit impatient, drop
that down to 1 or 2 and/or decrease the preview size.
■ Move the spot interest to the location shown in Fig. 2,
but try to have an oblique angle to exemplify the effect
of the soft edges.
■ Orient the regular point light off to the left – opposite
the spot light to give some ambient light to the rest of
the scene.
Area light sources use separate sampling values, so the
sampling level of the whole scene doesn’t need to be as
high for high-quality renders. The example image only has
a Max filter of 2, but has 6 for the light.

Try rendering the same scene with the various

Tip
filter effects (box/triangle/Gaussian) which are
available in the mental ray Antialiasing dialogue
box and compare the results.
A low filter light sampling value might be
desirable even for final rendering, which creates
an interesting stippled look.
Render the scene with mental ray, then with the
SOFTIMAGE renderer and compare the results
for fun!

Matter Module

Matter Project – Fish-eye

In this lesson, you will see how mental ray lens shaders defined for
the camera can create interesting effects.
This isn’t an effect you would use every day, but fun to experiment
with.

Matter Module
Fish Eye
mental ray Lens Shader
Get a previously defined scene
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load a scene such as Jojo the
Fish, Part 3.
Apply the fish-eye lens
■ Choose Camera ➔ Settings. In the dialogue box, click
the Select button in the Lens Shader area.
■ Use the browser to go to the CAMERA_SHADERS/
Example_Src/ directory, and then pick the fish-eye
shader. The fish-eye shader should appear in the list and
be active.
Preview the scene using mental ray
■ Choose Preview ➔ Setup and select mental ray as the
Preview Renderer. Click Exit.
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the fish-eye effect.
Fig. 1
Tip Create a landscape horizon line and have objects
move toward the camera, or across the field of
view (above and below the horizon) to see the
distortion effects.
The Factor number for this shader (click the Info
button) acts like a zoom or magnification to the
fish-eye effect. Leave it at the default value of 1.0
for now.

Matter Project – Bubble Wrap

This project lets you set the Roughness (Displacement) value and
the desired Info ➔ Selection parameters to achieve real model
geometry displacement based upon image map luminance.
The original idea behind displacement mapping was to “easily”
create topographical information in 3D. Since we don’t have a cool
topographical map to show you, how about some bubble wrap?

Matter Module
Bubble Wrap
mental ray Displacement Mapping
Create a basic grid
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid and make it a NURBS
or patch grid.
Apply a basic material and texture to the grid
■ Choose the Material menu cell. In the Material Editor
dialogue box, select Lambert as the Shading Model and
Fig. 1
click Ok.
■ Assign a global 2D texture called “bump1” to your
sphere. Choose Texture ➔ 2D Global and click the
Select button beside the Picture Filename text box. In
the SI_MATERIALS/PICTURES/BUMPS/ directory,
select “bump1” and click Load.
■ Set Alpha Channel Mask as the Blending choice.
■ Use zero for both the Ambient and Diffuse values so
that only the alpha information is derived from the
current map.
■ Select UV Coordinates as the Mapping Method.
■ Set the Roughness slider value to approximately 1 and
Fig. 2 select the Displacement (mr) option immediately above
it. In mental ray, this value is how many “units” the
object is displaced.
Note: The difference between the mental ray
Note displacement and roughness is that displacement
actually modifies the object’s geometry.
Roughness simply uses what is called “bump
mapping” which only affects the object’s shading
to create the illusion of roughness.
■ Increase the map repetitions by changing the Repeats
values to 5 by 5.
Preview the results and refine the image
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the effect.

■ This may look a bit too crude, so change the values for
the object by choosing Info ➔ Selection. Inside the
Render Setup dialogue box, select Adaptive - Spatial as
the Surface Approximation method. Change the
Adaptive setting from the default value of 5 to 2, and
select Pixel length as the units to be used.
The Surface Approximation options determine how

surfaces are divided into triangles for rendering. Using
the values you enter, the Adaptive method specifies the
distance between the triangle and the object’s actual
surface. This, in turn, determines the number of
triangles that are created. The lower the Adaptive value,
the greater the number of triangles and the more refined
the rendered image.
■ Choose Preview ➔ All again to see how you affected the
scene by reducing the Adaptive value.
Add a light and then render the scene
■ Choose Light ➔ Define. Make it a point light with
Raytraced as the Shadows Type. Position the light off to
one side so that the bumps cast shadows.
■ Choose the Render menu cell to see that the geometry
really has been modified.
■ Increase the Displacement value quite a bit higher to 5
or 10, and watch the craziness!
Tip Depending on the quality level you want, mental

ray provides numerous ways to determine surface
resolution on most objects.

Matter Module

Matter Project – The Asteroid

This lesson lets you explore another of the many possible uses of
displacement mapping and mental ray. You will create an asteroid
(or just a bumpy rock, depending on how cosmic you’re feeling) by
simply applying a texture map to a patch sphere.

Matter Module
The Asteroid
mental ray Displacement Mapping
Create a sphere
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Make it a patch B-
Spline sphere and make it 4 steps by 4 steps.
■ In the Info ➔ Selection dialogue box, click the Render
Setup button. Change the Surface Approximation to
Spatial, keep the default value of 5, and select Pixel
length to define the units. Click Ok in both dialogue
boxes.
Assign a material and texture to the sphere
■ Choose the Material menu cell. Select Lambert as the
Shading model and click Ok.
■ Choose Texture ➔ 2D Global. In the 2D texture global
Filename text box. In the SI_MATERIALS/
PICTURES/SURFACES directory, select the “moon”
picture file and click Load.
■ Make the Mapping Method UV instead of XY
Coordinates.
■ Select the Displacement (mr) option above the
Roughness slider. Adjust the Roughness to 0.5, and
accept the texture.
Render one frame of the scene and view the results
dialogue box, select mental ray as the Rendering Type,
change the End frame to 1, and click the Render
Sequence button to start rendering.
view the final result.
Tip Increase the Roughness value to get a wide range

of results.
Add an area light.

Matter Project – Cloud Layers

This tutorial introduces you to 3D textures and material animation.
You will use a couple of squares and a 3D texture to create the
effect of flying through the clouds. The effect is basically created
by animating the squares to approach and recess from the camera at
different intervals and then by animating the texture applied to
these squares. You will tweak function curves and textures to make
the effect as realistic as possible.

Matter Module
Cloud Layers
3D Textures, Material Keyframing
Create basic elements
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Square. Scale the square in
the x direction to achieve the required picture format
ratio such as 1.3333 for NTSC/PAL.
■ Convert this square to a face by choosing Draw ➔
Convert to Face in the Model module.
■ Duplicate the new face using the Duplicate ➔ Immediate
command and translate the second face approximately
Fig. 1 16 units in negative z (0, 0, -16). Refer to Fig. 1.
Manipulate the camera settings
■ Set the camera perpendicular to the two planes by
choosing Camera ➔ Settings. In the Camera Settings
dialogue box, change the y camera Position to 0 (see
Fig. 2).
■ Set the desired picture format by choosing Camera ➔
Picture Format. Select the NTSC option in the Video
section and click Accept.
■ Select both faces using the Multi menu cell and scale
them larger than the viewport using UNI scaling mode.
Scale the faces until the second square is no longer
Fig. 2 visible in the Perspective window.
Tip To ensure that the planes completely cover the

camera’s field of view, do the following:
- Choose Display ➔ Hide ➔ Unhide All.
- Activate Show ➔ Cone and use the Supra key a
to frame your objects in the Top window. Make
sure that the camera’s cone covers the back face
area. Use Fig. 3 as a reference.
This ensures that the “edges” of the clouds are
not seen.
■ Choose the Single menu cell.
Fig. 3

Animate the fog depth planes using explicit translation

■ Select the first square face and make sure that you are at
the frame1 . This face should be at the origin of the
scene (0, 0, 0).
■ Save a keyframe at frame 1 by going into the Motion
module and choosing Savekey ➔ Object ➔ Explicit
Translation ➔ All.
Fig. 4 ■ Advance to frame 32. Translate the face closer to the
camera by 16 units in positive z (0, 0, 16) and save
another keyframe by middle-clicking on the SaveKey
menu cell.
Tip Activate the Grid lock option in the Top window,

to ensure integer unit placement when
interactively positioning objects.
■ Press the right arrow key to move ahead one frame to
frame 33.
■ Translate the face 32 units away from the camera and
save another keyframe (0, 0, -16).
■ Advance to frame 65 and translate the face back to its
original position (0, 0, 0). Save another keyframe.
Create a cycle out of this explicit motion
All to open the Fcurve window.
■ Select the blue fcurve (face1.etrnz) and choose FcrvEdit
➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle.
■ Click on the LIN option in the Fcurve window’s title bar

to change the fcurve’s interpolation to linear. This
makes the cloud’s motion constant (see Fig. 4).
■ Animate the second face by setting explicit translation
keyframes at frames 1 (0, 0, -16), 64 (0, 0, 16), and 65
(0, 0, -16).
Tip Select the second face and key on frame 65 (you

should still be on this keyframe), press the up
arrow key again on frame 1, then modify the
transparency and key frame 64.

Matter Module
■ Create the same cycle out of this explicit motion, as

done previously, but for this time for the “face2” object.
Remember to make the fcurve’s interpolation linear.
■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Clear Mode to deactivate the Clear
Mode option so that you can view both fcurves at the
same time. Select both faces in Multi mode and then
choose FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔
All. The fcurves for both objects appear in the Fcurve
Fig. 5 window as in Fig. 5.
■ Change the end frame to 128 and play back the
animation.
Apply a constant shaded material to “face1”
■ Go to the Matter module and select “face1.”
■ Choose the Material menu cell and select Constant as
the Shading Model. Click Ok to accept the material.
Apply a 3D solid texture to “face1”
■ Choose Texture ➔ 3D Global and select Cloud as the
Texture Type. Click Ok to accept the texture.
Animate the material by saving keyframes
■ At frame 1, choose the Material menu cell again. Save a
material keyframe by clicking on the Key button in the
Material dialogue box. Frame 1 should already be
opaque by default (Transparency is set to 0.0)
■ Click on the K button in the playback box and click the
forward arrow to advance to frame 33.
Tip You can jump to any saved keyframe by using the

K button and the forward and backward arrows in
the playback box.
■ Save another keyframe by clicking the Key button.
■ Advance to frame 65 and set another keyframe.
■ Return to frame 32 and change the Transparency value
to 1 and save another keyframe. Click Ok to exit the
Material Editor dialogue box.

■ View the material animation fcurve by choosing

FcrvSelect ➔ Material ➔ Transparency.
■ Create a material animation cycle by choosing FcrvEdit
➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle.
■ Change the fcurve’s interpolation to linear by clicking

on the LIN option in the Fcurve window title bar.
Copy the material from “face1” to “face2”
Fig. 6
■ Open a Schematic window and select Matter as the
mode.
■ Select the “face2” object. In the Matter module, choose
Mat_Oper ➔ Copy Mat and pick the “face1” object.
Right-click to end the Copy Material mode. The
Schematic window should look like that shown in Fig.
6.
Copy the 3D texture from “face1” to “face2”
■ With the 'face2' object still selected, choose Txt_Oper ➔
Fig. 7 Copy All and pick the “face1” object. Right-click to end
the copy mode. The Schematic window should look
similar to that shown in Fig. 7.
Offset the “face2” material animation by 32 frames
■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Material ➔ Transparency to view
the material transparency fcurve for “face2.”
■ Click the Layout icon in the Fcurve window title bar.
Activate the Grid lock option in X and set the Grid
Display to 1.
Fig. 8
■ Choose the TransX menu cell and drag the fcurve to the
right until the first keyframe sits on frame 33 instead of
frame 1 (see Fig. 8). The material animation now has
keyframes positioned at frames 33, 64, 65, and 97. This
timing fades out the closest texture plane completely
before it touches the camera and regains its opacity as
soon as the texture plain returns to the back.
■ Render a small 128-frame flipbook (60 x 45 resolution
in NTSC format) without filtering. Play it back using the
FlipBook menu cell in the Tools module. Use a 3 x 3
Zoom factor and see how the static clouds move.

Matter Module
Apply an appropriate 3D solid texture

■ With “face1” selected at frame 1, change to the Matter
module and choose Texture ➔ 3D Global. Click the
Select button next to the 3D Texture text box to open the
3D texture file browser. Go to the SI_Material_lib
database and open the CLOUDS directory. Select the
CLOUD-light 1.0 texture and then click Load. Click Ok
to accept the 3D texture.
Copy the 3D texture from “face1” to “face2” and modify
it
■ Select “face2” and choose Txt_Oper ➔ Copy All. Pick
the “face1” object and right-click to exit the copy mode.
■ With “face2” still selected, choose Texture ➔ 3D Global
and edit the Translation values in the Transformation
area of the 3D Texture (global) dialogue box to 10 and
10 for x and y. Moving the texture of “face2” in the x
and y directions makes the final images look less
repetitive. Click Ok to accept these modifications.
Render another test
■ Render the scene and view the flipbook.
■ The final product can also be rendered without filtering
at whatever size is required and then used as a 2D
texture sequence, if you like. Filtering can dramatically
change the appearance of the 3D solid textures,
especially when high frequency information is present.
Tip Since you do not see the edges of the clouds,

filtering is not necessary and would only prolong
the rendering process.
Depending on the resolution and application,
dithering and/or noise could also be turned on to
limit Mach banding – the eye’s propensity to
increase a colour’s intensity near the division
between the light and dark areas of an object.

Matter Project – Shaders, Part 1

This is the first in a series of seven tutorials that use mental ray
shaders to create many different types of effects. The main reason
for using shaders is the flexibility and openness for creating and
manipulating surface attributes to meet your specific needs. The
mental ray renderer comes with a series of shader libraries,
accessible from different areas in the SOFTIMAGE 3D interface:
the lens shaders in the Camera Settings dialogue box, material,
volume, and shadow shaders in the Material Editor, 2D and 3D
texture shaders in the 2D/3D Texture dialogue boxes, volume
shaders in the Atmosphere dialogue box, and output shaders in the
Render Setup Options dialogue box.
This tutorial concentrates on a material glass shader. This simple
shader allows you to manipulate the transparency/opacity values to
better define certain areas of the glass. Make sure to save the
parameters of your shader so that you can use it later.
In the other six tutorials, you will apply the atmospheric, volume,
2D/3D texture, light, and output shaders to the various objects in
the Table and Planets scenes you created in an earlier section of this
workbook. Before starting each new tutorial, delete the current
scene and start with a fresh version of the scene on which you are
working. This will let you concentrate on the intricacies of each
shader. It also speeds up rendering time allowing you to experiment
with the various parameters. After finishing all seven tutorials,
incorporate all the shaders into one scene for a shader finale!

Matter Module
Shaders, Part 1
Material Shader (Glass)
Before starting this series of tutorials, make sure that your
Preview renderer is set to mental ray, otherwise you won’t
be able to see the shader effects. To change the preview
setup, choose Preview ➔ Setup and in the dialogue box,
select mental ray as the Preview Renderer. Click Exit.
Load a completed scene and element you created earlier
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene. In the browser, select the Table
scene created in the Model section of this workbook and
click Load.
■ Choose Get ➔ Element. Double-click the MODELS
chapter in the Load dialogue box and then select the
wine glass you created in the Model section of the
workbook or any other object with glass material.
■ Scale the model down in UNI scale mode until it fits
nicely on the table.
Assign a material to your glass object
■ Even though you will apply a shader to the glass object,
you still need to define its overall physical properties.
To do so, click the Select button next to the Material
text box. Use the browser to go to the
/SI_Materials_lib/GLASS/ directory. Select one of
the glass materials such as glass2 1.0 and click Load.
Tip To view a sample of each of the materials or

shaders, click Options in the Load dialogue box
and select the Use icons option.
Apply a glass shader to your glass object
■ Select the glass object and choose the Material menu
cell in the Matter module. In the Material Editor
dialogue box, activate the Material Shader option. Use
the browser that appears to go to the Shader_Lib/
Example_Src/ directory. Select the “glass” shader and
then click Load.
Note: All the Shaders used in these tutorials can be
Note found in the following directory: /usr/softimage/
mental_ray/MR_Shaders/...

■ Click in the Material Shader text box and then click

Edit. In the Glass simulation shader dialogue box,
change the Directional Opacity factor to 0.5 and the
Specular Opacity factor to 0.7 (see Fig. 1). This shader
allows you to control the opacity of the highlighted
(specular) area as well as the directional opacity which
modulates the glass’s opacity as the angle of view
changes.
Fig. 1
■ Save the glass shader’s parameters by clicking Save. In
the Save Material Shaders dialogue box, make sure you
are in the correct database and then name your shader
appropriately. Click Save and then click Ok to exit the
Glass simulation shader dialogue box.
Each of the Shader dialogue boxes has an Info,
Tip
Help, or About button which gives a brief
description of the various parameters as well as
the shader’s overall effect on the object.
■ Click the Preview button in the Material Editor dialogue
box to view the results.
Render the scene
■ Frame the glass object in the Perspective window using
the Supra key f and then choose the Render menu cell.
In the Render Setup dialogue box, select mental ray as
the Rendering Type, make sure that the Start and End
frames are both at 1 and that you’ve named the rendered
picture appropriately. Click Render Sequence to begin
rendering.
■ To view the final result, choose the Picture menu cell in
the Tools module. Use the browser to go to the
RENDER_PICTURES chapter. Select your rendered
image and click Display.
■ When you are satisfied, save your scene and then choose
Delete ➔ All to begin the next tutorial with a fresh
display.

Matter Module


This tutorial incorporates a light shader into your Table scene. This
shader has many uses, one of which is to project an image onto a
scene. You use the Slide shader to simulate light coming through a
window. The Slide shader can be used with a single image as in this
case, or with a sequence of images.

Matter Module
Shaders, Part 2
Light Shader (Slide)
Load a scene you created in an earlier section
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load the Table scene.
Create the effect of light through a window
■ Choose Light ➔ Define. In the Create Light dialogue
Fig. 1 box, select Spot as the Light Type and make the Cone
Angle sufficiently large (approximately 90 degrees).
Select the mental ray Shader option. Use the browser
that appears to go to the Shader_Lib/Example_Src/
directory. Select “slide” and then click Load.
■ Click Edit to modify the shader’s parameters (see Fig.
1). In the Slide Projector dialogue box, click the Select
button next to the Picture name text box. Use the
browser that appears to go to the Workbook Database.
Select the image called “window” and click Ok.
■ Change the Picture size to 50. A picture size of 50
SOFTIMAGE units should be large enough to cover the
scene without having to use the tiling option.
■ Click Save and name the shader instance. Click Save
again and then click Ok to exit the Slide Projector
dialogue box.
■ Click Ok to accept the light parameters you have
entered in the Create Light dialogue box.
Create an environment for your table and light shader
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube to create an enclosed
room for your table. Scale and position the cube so that
all the objects including the light and the camera lie
within its boundaries. Using the Front and Right
Fig. 2 windows, make sure the table is positioned correctly on
the “floor.”
■ Reverse the surface normals of the cube by choosing
Effect ➔ Inverse in the Model module. This allows you
to render the inside surface of the cube because the
normals are then facing in toward the camera.
■ Position the light and the camera as shown in Fig. 2.

■ Choose Camera ➔ Show Camera and Show ➔ Cone to

view both the camera and the cone of light.
Preview and render
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the effect of the slide
shader. If you are satisfied with the results, choose the
Render menu cell. In the Render Setup dialogue box,
change the End frame to 1 and name your rendered
picture appropriately. Click Render Sequence to begin
image and click Display.
■ Save your scene and then choose Delete ➔ All to set
yourself up for the next tutorial.

Matter Module


This tutorial incorporates the fabric shader into your Table scene by
applying it to your lamp shade. The fabric shader is a procedural
shader that is based on two basic principles: the interweaving of
two pieces of thread and their in-between values. You can
manipulate both the threads and their in-between values by scaling
them, adding colour, randomness, and a bumpy texture – alone or in
combination with the Displacement option. This gives you a great
amount of flexibility to create almost any effect. Take the time to
experiment with the various parameters to gain a better
understanding of the possible uses of the fabric shader.

Matter Module
Shaders, Part 3
2D Texture Shader (Fabric)
Apply a basic material to your lamp shade.
■ Select the lamp shade. Choose the Material menu cell to
apply a basic material to the shade. In the Material
Editor dialogue box, select Lambert as the Shading
Model. Click Ok to accept these parameters.
Fig. 1
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection and change the Step value to 10
in both the U and V directions. This increases the
object’s resolution which results in a more precise
displacement map.
Apply a 2D image to your object
Note: To apply a 2D texture shader, you must first
Note apply an image to your object. Any image will
do, so choose a low resolution image.
■ Choose Texture ➔ 2D Global. In the 2D Texture File
Filename text box. Use the browser to go to the
/SI_Materials_lib/PICTURES/TILINGS directory.
Select a low resolution image such as “tile_blue” and
click Load.
■ Select UV as the Mapping Method.
Apply a simple procedural fabric shader to the object
Fig. 2 ■ Add a bump effect to the shader by changing the
Roughness value to 0.1 and by selecting the
Displacement (mr) option. This uses displacement
mapping which actually changes the geometry of the
object during the rendering process.
■ Select the Shader option in the mental ray area of the
dialogue box (see Fig. 1). Use the browser to go to the
Shader_Lib/FABRIC/ directory. Select “Fabric” and
then click Load.
■ Click Edit to manipulate the Fabric shader parameters
(see Fig. 2).
■ In the Preview area of the dialogue box, select Refresh.

This gives you visual feedback of the shader in the form

of a Shaderball Preview. By selecting the Auto option,
the Shaderball automatically updates itself after each
revision.
■ In the OZ-Fabric dialogue box, change the RGBA
values for both the Horizontal and Vertical Thread.
Create the colours of your choice.
The OZ-Fabric shader is made up of Horizontal and

Vertical pieces of fabric woven together. The colour of
the thread blends into the GAP colour (the space
between the woven pieces of thread) to create the
impression of roundness.
■ Change the Width Variation value to 0.4. This adds a
certain amount of randomness to the width of the pieces
of thread making the fabric more uneven and natural
looking.
■ Change the H and V Amplitude values to 0.02. This
creates a more realistic woven effect by making the
thread a little bit wavy.
■ Change the Texture Range to 30 in the U direction.
Tip Click About to get more information on the

various parameters.
■ Click Ok to accept all other default parameters.
■ Click the Preview button in the 2D Texture File
dialogue box to view the results. If you are satisfied,
click Ok.
Render, view, and save your scene
■ Render the scene by choosing the Render menu cell. In
the Render Setup dialogue box, make sure the End
frame is at 1, name your scene, and then click Render
Sequence to begin rendering.
the Tools module. Use the browser to find your rendered
scene and then click Display.
■ Save your scene and then choose Delete ➔ All to get
ready for the next tutorial.

Matter Module


This tutorial incorporates a 3D texture shader into the Table scene
by applying a wood shader to the table. The “wood” shader is very
similar to the SOFTIMAGE 3D Wood texture, however, the
“wood” shader contains more parameters which can be
manipulated for greater flexibility. After you complete this tutorial,
take the time to experiment with the various parameters to better
understand the numerous effects that can be created with this
shader.

Matter Module
Shaders, Part 4
3D Texture Shader (Wood)
Apply a basic material to your object
■ Select the table hierarchy and choose the Material menu
cell. Select Blinn as the Shading Model and click Ok.
Apply a procedural wood shader to the table
■ With the table hierarchy still selected, choose Texture ➔
3D Global. Select the Shader option in the mental ray
area of the 3D Solid Texture (global) dialogue box. Use
Fig. 1 the browser to go to the Shader_Lib/MATTER/
directory. Select “3D_Wood” and then click Load.
■ Click Edit to open the OZ-Wood dialogue box (see
Fig. 1).
■ Select the Auto option in the Preview area and click
Refresh to open the Shaderball Preview.
■ Reduce the Grain Bias value and increase the Grain size.
Select both the Wobbly Structure and Turbulence
options. Manipulate the other variables until you
achieve the desired results. Check the results of your
modifications in the Shaderball Preview.
Tip Click the About button to get more information

on the various parameters.
■ When you are satisfied with the results, click Save. In
the Save TEXTURE 3D_SHADERS dialogue box,
name your shader appropriately and then click Save.
■ Click Ok to exit the OZ-Wood dialogue box.
■ Increase the Specular value to 1.0 so that the texture is
visible in the specular area of illumination. This gives
the table a more realistic wood-like appearance.
■ Click the Preview button in the 3D Solid Texture
(global) dialogue box to view the wood shader applied
to your table.
■ If the results are satisfactory, click Ok to accept the
parameters of the 3D texture and exit the dialogue box.

If the properties of the wood shader are not

Tip
proportional to the size of the table, increase the
overall scaling values in the 3D Texture dialogue
box on all three axes. Try starting with a
reasonably large value of about 50.
■ Render your scene by choosing the Render menu cell. In
the Render Setup dialogue box, make sure that the
Rendering Type is mental ray and that the Start and End
frames are both at 1. Name your scene appropriately in
the Filename text box and then click Render Sequence
to begin rendering.
■ To view the results, choose the Picture menu cell in the
Tools module. Use the browser to go to the
■ Save your scene and then choose Delete ➔ All to get
ready for the next tutorial.

Matter Module


In this tutorial, you apply a March Fractal atmosphere shader to one
of the lights in the Table scene. The March Fractal shader is highly
versatile with numerous parameters that allow you to create various
effects such as fog, visible lights, and surface and volume textures.
This shader, along with many of the other volume shaders
accessible from the Depth Fading and Material Editor dialogue
boxes are generally very “expensive” in terms of computing power
when trying to achieve realistic volumetric effects. However, the
March Fractal shader’s flexibility allows you to create a balance
between the amount of computing power required and the realism
of the effect. One easy way to achieve this kind of a balance is to
limit the volume in which the shader is applied. For volume shaders
accessed from the Material Editor dialogue box, the object itself
acts as the bounding model for the volume effect. In the case of
atmosphere shaders, no natural boundaries exist so an artificial one
is created. One of the many features of the March Fractal shader is
an invisible “bounding box” which limits the area in which the
shader is applied. This bounding box can be scaled up or down
depending on the specific needs of your scene.
In this tutorial, you access the shader from the Depth Fading
dialogue box. By default, a large bounding box defines the area in
which the shader is applied. For the purposes of this scene, you
need to scale the box down to create a realistic effect and to reduce
the rendering time. Take the time to experiment with the numerous
parameters to see the different kinds of effects that can be created.

Matter Module
Shaders, Part 5
Atmospheric Shader
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load the Table scene you
created in the Model section of this workbook.
Add a spot light to your scene
■ Choose Light ➔ Define and select Spot as the Light
Type. Activate Raytraced as the Shadows Type and
name your light “table_lamp_spot.” Click Ok.
■ Translate the spot light so that it lies within the lamp
shade (see Fig. 1).
■ Select the spot light’s interest and position it at the very
Fig. 1 base of the lamp so that the spot light points to the floor.
■ Choose Show ➔ Cone to make the cone of light visible.
■ Choose Light ➔ Edit to adjust the Cone Angle so that it
approximates the angle of your lamp shade (see Fig. 1).
Tip Don’t use an area light until the final render since
it slows down the rendering process and is
generally not necessary for this type of visible
light effect.
Add some atmosphere with a volume shader
■ Choose Camera ➔ Show Camera to show the camera.
Use the Supra key A (Shift-a) to frame all the objects in
each window.
Fig. 2
■ Choose Info ➔ Distance to determine the distance
between the cone of light and the camera. Middle-click
near the camera and then again near the edge of the cone
of light. The distance appears in the status line. This
distance value is used to determine the starting and
ending distance values required for the Depth Fading
effect. Use Fig. 2 as a reference.
■ Determine the distance between the origin and the
furthest point of your lamp by using the same technique
as in the previous step. In this case, the distance value is
used to define a bounding box around the lamp. This
bounding box defines the area within which the shader
is visible. Right-click to end Distance mode.

■ In the Matter module, choose Atmosphere ➔ Depth

Fading. In the Depth Fading Setup dialogue box,
activate the Depth Fading option. Use the distance value
obtained to determine appropriate Starting and Ending
distance values. Try adding approximately 10 units to
the camera to cone of light distance value for the Ending
distance and a value of about 5 for the Starting distance.
■ Select the Shader option in the mental ray area of the
dialogue box. Use the browser to go to the
Example_Src/directory. Select March_Fractal and then
click Load.
■ Click the Edit button to open the OZ-Raymarcher-
Fractal dialogue box (see Fig. 3).
Fig. 3
The OZ-Raymarcher-Fractal dialogue box contains
many parameters, but only a few of the parameters are
used in this example. Take some time to experiment
with the other parameters. The parameters are grouped
by effect.
■ Click the Select button beside the Lights text box in the
Scattering area of the dialogue box. Select the
“table_lamp_spot” you just created and click Ok.
■ Activate the Volumic Density option in the same area
and change the Density Scale to 0.08. This reduces the
overall intensity of the effect.
■ Activate the Proximity option. This simulates light
decay, meaning that as the light moves away from its
source, it loses some of its intensity.
Note: When using the Raymarcher shader from the
Note Depth Fading dialogue box, a bounding box is
always honoured, meaning that its size is defined
according to the size of the scene. The bounding
box is always defined in reference to the origin.
■ Set the Bounding Box Min and Max values so that they
include both the object and the light. Use the distance
value obtained previously (from the origin to the
furthest point on the lamp) to determine an appropriate
size for the bounding box. For example, a distance of 20
units between the light and the origin would require the
following values: -25 for the Min XYZ and 25 for the

Matter Module
Max XYZ.
■ Click Ok to accept all other default values.
■ Click Ok to exit the Depth Fading Setup dialogue box.
■ Choose Preview ➔ Setup and select mental ray as the
Preview Renderer.
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the final result.
Note: You may want to go back and increase the Step
Note Size and lower the Maximum Subdivision value
in the OZ-Raymarcher-Fractal dialogue box.
These modifications speed up rendering time, but
they also reduce the realism of the effect.
frames are both at 1. Name your scene appropriately and
then click Render Sequence to begin rendering.
■ Save your scene and then choose Delete ➔ All to prepare
for the next tutorial.


In this tutorial, you will incorporate a volume shader into the Table
scene by applying a March Fractal shader to one of the lights. As
stated earlier, this shader is extremely versatile and can be used to
create numerous effects. In this exercise, you will use the shader to
create a hazy, fog-like effect. Unlike the previous tutorial, you
access the shader through the Material Editor dialogue box, so the
object itself acts as a bounding box.

Matter Module
Shader, Part 6
Volume Shader
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load the Table scene you
created in the Model section of this workbook.
Create an “open” room for the scene and a bounding area
for the shader
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cube and accept the default
settings. Get another cube by choosing Duplicate ➔
Immediate.
■ With the second cube selected, translate it in the Top
window by 0.5 units in positive x and 0.5 units in
negative z. Then in the Front window, translate the same
cube by 0.5 units in positive y. Use Fig. 1 as a reference.
■ Select the original cube, go to the Model module, and
choose Boolean ➔ Static. In the Boolean Operations
dialogue box, select Difference as the Operations type
and click Ok.
Fig. 1
■ Pick the second cube to create a new Boolean object
(see Fig. 2). A Boolean operation allows you to create a
union, intersection, or difference between any two
objects. The result is a completely new polygon mesh
object, leaving the original objects intact.
■ Select the second cube and choose Delete ➔ Selection.
■ Open a Schematic window and parent the first cube to
the Boolean object. Select the Boolean object (“bool”
prefix), choose the Parent menu cell in the Model
module, and pick the cube.
■ Taking into account the size of the table and lamp, scale,
rotate, and translate both the Boolean object and the
Fig. 2
cube. The table should be in the middle of the open
room with its legs flat on the floor.
■ The first cube is used as a bounding area to limit the
scope of your shader. Choose Info ➔ Selection and
rename the cube “fogArea.”

■ Freeze the scaling of the cube by choosing Effect ➔

Freeze ➔ Scaling. This resets the scaling values back to
their default of 1.0 while retaining the cube’s current
size.
Create a fog effect using a volume shader
■ Add a light to your scene by choosing Light ➔ Define.
Select Spot as the Light Type and then click the Select
button in the mental ray area of the dialogue box. Select
the Slide shader you created in Part 2 of this tutorial and
click Load. Click Ok to exit the Create Light dialogue
box.
Fig. 3 ■ Choose Show ➔ Cone to make the cone of light visible.
■ Translate the Spot light and its interest so that the cone
falls directly across the table (see Fig. 3). Edit the cone
angle if necessary by choosing Light ➔ Edit.
■ Select the cube and choose the Material menu cell. In
the Material Editor dialogue box, change the
Transparency value to 1.0 to make the cube totally
transparent.
■ Select Volume Shader in the mental ray area of the
dialogue box. Use the browser to go to the
Example_Src/ directory, select the March_Fractal
shader, and click Load.
■ Click in the Volume Shader text box and click Edit.
■ In the Shader dialogue box, select the Shaderball option.
■ In the Scattering area, click the Select button beside the
Lights text box. Select the spot light and click Ok.
■ Change the colour of the Ambience and Absorption to
light grey.
■ Select the Volumic Density option and enter a density
value of 0.1.
■ Click the Select button next to the Transformation
Model text box. Select the object you named “fogArea”
and click Ok.
■ Activate the Proximity option and change the Fractal
size to 2.0.
■ Click Ok to exit the dialogue box.

Matter Module
■ Click Ok to accept the material parameters.

■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the final result. Make
sure that the Preview Renderer is set to mental ray
(Preview ➔ Setup).
■ If you are satisfied with the result, go back into the OZ-
Raymarcher-Fractal dialogue box and save your shader.
frames are both at 1. Name your scene appropriately and
then click Render Sequence to begin rendering.
■ Save your scene and then choose Delete ➔ All if you
wish to go on and combine all the shaders into one
scene.

Matter Project – Planets, Part 2

In this tutorial, you will incorporate an output shader into the
Planets scene by applying a DGlow shader to the Sun. An output
shader is a post-rendering shader meaning that it is applied after the
normal render process is complete. The benefits of using output
shaders is that the rendering time is generally very quick and when
used correctly, they can produce excellent results. They do,
however, have some limitations because they are simply rendered
over the existing image. Once you have finished experimenting
with the DGlow shader, try applying the “fur” output shader to the
Sun.

Matter Module
Planets, Part 2
Output Shader
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and load the Planets scene created
in the Overview section of this workbook.
■ To view the results of the output shader, you must first
remove the static blur that was originally applied to the
Sun. To do so, choose the Material menu cell, deactivate
the Static Blur option in the Material Editor, and then
click Ok.
Apply an output glow shader to the sun
dialogue box, make sure that the Rendering Type is set
to mental ray and that the Start and End frames are both
at 1.
■ Click the Options button in the lower-left corner of the
dialogue box. In the Output Shaders area of the mental
ray Options dialogue box, click Select.
Fig. 1
■ In the browser that appears, go to the Shader_Lib/
GLOWS/ directory. Select DGlow as the Output shader
and click Load.
■ With the DGlow shader selected, click Edit.
■ In the OZ-Diffusive Glow Postfilter dialogue box (Fig.
1), click the Select button beside the Object list text box.
The Object list allows you to apply the DGlow shader to
any or all objects in your scene. Select the Sun and click
Ok to exit the Object list.
■ Click Ok to exit the OZ-Diffusive Glow Postfilter
dialogue box and then click Accept in the mental ray
Options dialogue box.
■ Click Accept to exit the Render Setup dialogue box.
Preview and render the scene
■ Choose Preview ➔ All to view the results.
■ If you are satisfied, choose the Render menu cell. In the
Render Setup dialogue box, name your scene
appropriately, and then click Render Sequence to begin

Note: You will notice that mental ray only applies the
Note output shader to the specified object after it has
completely rendered the scene.
Display and save your scene
■ Choose Save ➔ Scene and then go back and apply the
fur shader to the sun.

3D.book : actor.doc 267 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
A C T O R M O D U L E


Actor Module
Animating with Actor

The Actor module contains four powerful tools:
Critical Zone Root Joint Effector
Inverse Kinematics
■ Inverse kinematics allows you to create chains of joints
that can be used to manipulate complex hierarchical
models.
■ A chain consists of a root (chn) at the top, any number
of joints (jnt) below the root, and an effector (eff) at the
end. Chains also have a critical zone, which appears at
the root of each chain. They are generally used as a
guide to help move the chains. It is best to restrict the
effector from passing through this zone. The cones can
be displayed or hidden by choosing the Skeleton ➔
Show Critical Zone command.
■ To use a chain, simply translate the effector and
SOFTIMAGE 3D figures out the exact orientation of the
joints.
Skin or Flexible Envelopes
■ A “naked” chain or skeleton cannot be seen by the
renderer. By using envelopes, you can assign any type
of skin to a chain or skeleton. A skeleton with skin (an
envelope) is referred to as an actor.
Using a chain in Actor ■ Actor offers three types of flexible envelopes:
-A local envelope is the child of the first joint in a
Fig. 1
chain (see the hierarchical representation in Fig. 2).
-A global envelope is the parent of any number of
chains. This means that if you want an envelope to
be affected by two or more unrelated chains, use a
global envelope (see the hierarchical representation
in Fig. 2).
-A rigid envelope is a non-deforming envelope
which was created specifically for meta-clay
elements, but can be used on any object type.
Local envelope
Global envelope
Fig. 2

Note: You can also use bounding models to assign

Note points on an envelope to specific joints. The
following types of bounding models are
available:
Inclusive: This type of bounding model defines
the joint’s zone of influence; any point falling
outside its boundary cannot be assigned to the
joint.
Inclusive limit: Any point falling within the
bounding model is assigned 100% to the
associated joint, without regard to relative
proximity to the joint.
Exclusive: Any point falling within the bounding
model is prevented from being assigned to the
associated joint.
Dynamic Simulations
■ Dynamic simulations are created by assigning physical
properties to an object, defining a start frame for a
simulation for that object, and then creating a
simulation.
■ Constraints, collisions, and special forces can also be
defined before starting a simulation.
Quick Stretch
■ This effect uses the velocity and acceleration of
animated or interactively manipulated objects to create
“cartoon-like” deformations.
■ “Squash and stretch” effects are obtained through three
independent deformations called Flex, Stretch, and
Yield.

Actor Module

Actor Project – Happy Sweeper

This lesson uses a model of a happy sweeper to introduce you to the
concepts involved in creating and manipulating chains. 2D chains
and a position constraint are defined in this example to give
complex motion to the arms with quick interaction, and only one
object to move – a single effector!

Actor Module
Happy Sweeper
Constraints and Inverse Kinematics
Create a simple character and a broom
■ Choose the Get ➔ Primitive command to get several
primitive objects to build a sweeper similar to the one
Null 1 shown in Fig. 1.
Create arms using chains and place all objects in a
hierarchy
■ Choose Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain in the Actor module
Null 2 to make two arms. Click the right mouse button to end
the chain drawing mode.
■ Make the arms children of the body by using the Parent
menu cell.
■ Use the Parent menu cell to place the remaining objects
into a logical hierarchy.
Fig. 1
Constrain the effectors to the broom handle using nulls
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null and add two nulls on the
handle of the broom. The two nulls should be children
of the broom. The nulls define the position of the hands
on the broom. See Fig. 1 for null placement.
■ Select the effector on one of the arms. The effector is the
small cross icon (like a null) at the end of an articulated
chain.
■ Choose Constraint ➔ Position and pick one of the nulls
on the broom to constrain the effector of the arm to that
null (as in Fig. 1). Repeat this procedure to constrain the
other effector to the other null.
Animate the broom and save several keyframes
■ Now select the handle of the broom with the middle
mouse button and translate it. You will notice that the
arms always hold the broom or reach for it if it moves
too far away.
■ Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔ All
in the Motion module to save keyframes at different
stages.


Create a skin over the skeletons
■ If you view your animation in Shade view mode, you
will notice that the skeletons are not visible. You must
therefore add a skin over the skeletons. To do so, follow
the steps below:
-Select one of the chains that represents your arm
with the middle mouse button.
-Choose Skin ➔ Automatic Envelope and middle-
click to get a default circle envelope.
-In the Automatic Envelope dialogue box, click Ok
to accept the default values. Click Ok again in the
Envelopes Initial Assignment dialogue box to
Fig. 2 accept the default values.
-Repeat these steps for the other arm.
-Now view your animation in Shade view – your
sweeper should have two arms (see Fig. 2).
■ Delete the broom’s keyframed animation by choosing
FcrvReset ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔ All.
Tip Create an animation using channels. Connect the

rotation and the explicit translation function
curves of the broom to the mouse and move the
mouse around.

Actor Module

Actor Project – Starfish

In this tutorial, you will use articulated chains to create a starfish.
You will also use a scaled-down sphere and the Global Envelope
command to add a realistic skin to the object.

Actor Module
Starfish
Inverse Kinematics and Global Envelopes
Create one of the limbs for the starfish
■ In the Actor module, choose Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain
and draw a two-joint chain in the Front window (Fig. 1).
Right-click to end the Draw 2D Chain mode.
■ Open the Translation dialogue box by clicking on the
triangular tab in one of the TransXYZ menu cells. Make
Fig. 1
sure all the values are at 0 and click the Set button. This
places the root of the chain at the origin (0, 0, 0).
Make copies of the chain to create four other limbs
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Repetition. In the Repetitive
Duplication dialogue box, enter 4 as the No. of
occurrences and a 72 for the rotation in Y. Click Ok.
This creates five chains equally placed in a circular
fashion, as in Fig. 2.
■ Open a Schematic window. You will notice that the
duplicated chains are the children of a null. Make this
Fig. 2
null the parent of the original chain as well.
Create a body for your skeleton
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Sphere. Make it a Patch
Cardinal Sphere with a Longitude of 10 and a Latitude
of 2. Click Ok.
■ Go into UNI Scaling mode and scale the sphere so its
diameter matches the outside perimeter of the chain
effectors. Use Fig. 3 as a reference.
Fig. 3 ■ Select the ScaleY menu cell and flatten the sphere. Use
Fig. 4 as a reference.
Flatten the bottom of your starfish
■ Switch to the Model module. In TAG mode, tag the
bottom point of your sphere using the Supra key t. Drag
the point up in y by selecting only the TransY menu cell
(Fig. 5).
■ Use t and the middle mouse button to untag your point.
Fig. 4

Conform the shape of your sphere to that of your skeleton.

■ Choose Show ➔ Point if the points on your sphere are
not already activated.
■ Tag every other outermost point that doesn’t have an
effector next to it (Fig. 6).
■ Once the five points have been tagged, scale them in
toward the centre to make a starfish shape (Fig. 7).
Fig. 5 Untag the points.
Add definition to the body
■ Choose Edit ➔ Add Point and in the Front window, click
on any line in the top half portion of the starfish. Do this
for the bottom as well. This adds an intermediate row of
control points to the model which is useful for the
flexibility of the envelope. Use Edit ➔ Delete Point to
correct any mistakes.
Increase interpolated resolution
■ Choose Info ➔ Selection. In the Patch Info dialogue box,
Fig. 6
activate the Top capping option under V and set the Step
values to 8 in U and 6 in V. This smooths out the model
and increases its complexity to 3840 triangles. You may
want to change the model’s name to “starfish” if you
intend to save this scene. Click Ok.
Attach the skin of your starfish to its skeleton
■ Switch to the Actor module using the Supra key F3,
choose Skin ➔ Global Envelope and pick the null. In the
Envelopes Initial Assignment dialogue box, click Ok to
accept the default values. Right-click to end the
Fig. 7
skinning mode. You will notice that the sphere you
named “starfish” has become the parent of the entire
hierarchy and that the title “EnvG” appears above its
box. This signifies that a Global Envelope has been
applied to the entire hierarchy.
Create a sea floor and animate the starfish
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid and translate it under the
starfish.
■ Choose Effect ➔ Randomize in the Model module to add
some bumpiness to the grid.

Actor Module
■ Animate each arm of the starfish by translating each

effector and then choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Explicit
Translation ➔ All.
■ Apply materials and textures to both the grid and the
starfish.
Render the scene and view the results
■ When you are happy with the results, choose the Render
menu cell, name your scene, and click Render
Sequence.
Tip Try incorporating the starfish, animation and all,

into the Jojo the Fish, Part 3 scene.

Actor Project – Piston

In this tutorial, you will use articulated chains to turn basic
cylinders into a piston. You will link the two chains and cylinders
together by placing them in a hierarchy and by using the Constraint
➔ Position command. By doing so, you can manipulate either
cylinder to create a piston-like movement.

Actor Module
Piston
Skeletons and Constraints
Create two piston sheaths
■ In the Actor module, create two triangular cylinders by
choosing Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder. In the Create
Top Perspective Cylinder dialogue box, set the Longitude Step to 3 and
the Latitude Step and Base to 1. Click Ok to close the
dialogue box.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Cylinder again to create the
second cylinder. Set the Radius to 1.5 and the Height to
6. Click Ok to close the dialogue box.
Front Right
■ Orient the cylinders using the TransXYZ menu cells, so
Fig. 1 that they appear similar to the ones shown in Fig. 1.
Create two simple chains
■ Click the Layout icon in the Front window and activate
the Grid lock option in X and Y so that the chains to be
3 created are in a straight line.
b
4 ■ Create two simple chains by choosing Skeleton ➔ 2D
Chain. Click just below the lower (smaller) cylinder to
start the first chain (Pt. 1). Click again near the top of the
2 c d same cylinder (Pt. 2) – use Fig. 2 as a reference. Middle-
a
1 click to end the current chain without exiting the Draw
2D Chain mode.
■ Draw the second chain, starting above the second
Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4
(larger) cylinder (Pt. 3) and ending near the base of the
same cylinder (Pt. 4)- refer to Fig. 2. Right-click to end
the current chain and the Draw 2D Chain mode. Turn off
the Grid lock.
Constrain each effector to the root of the other chain
■ Select the effector of the lower chain (Fig. 3, arrow a),
then choose Constraint ➔ Position and pick the root of
the upper chain (Fig. 3, arrow b). The root null should
flash red. This allows the cylinders’ movements to
remain linked when either chain is moved as a hierarchy
selection.

If you are having trouble selecting the effector or

Tip
the root, open a Schematic window and select it
there.
■ Repeat the same steps with the effector of the upper
chain and the root of the lower chain (Fig. 4, arrows c
and d). When you are finished, right-click to end the
Constraint mode.
View the constraint relationships in a Schematic window
■ Open a Schematic window. Click on Plain mode in the
window title bar and select Model. The constraint
Fig. 5
relationships should be visible (see Fig. 5).
Note: The Schematic window shown in Fig. 5 is
Note displayed in the Model mode, where the yellow
constraint links are visible. In reality, both links
are named, but for clarity, only one name
appears.
The names and numbers of the joints, chains, and
effectors in your scene may differ from those in
Figs. 5 and 6 depending on whether or not you
have already used chains during this particular
session of SOFTIMAGE 3D. It’s a good idea
Fig. 6 therefore, to use the other three windows to make
sure that you are selecting and picking the right
elements, particularly when using the Parent and
Constraint commands.
Parent the sheaths to their respective joints
■ Select only the joint of the lower chain, then choose the
Parent menu cell. Pick the lower sheath.
■ Deselect the new hierarchy, then select the upper joint.
Pick the upper sheath. Right-click to end the Parent
mode. The hierarchy links should resemble those shown
in Fig. 6.
Note: If you make a mistake during the parenting
Note process, a message appears stating that a cycle
dependency has been set. If this occurs, choose
the Cut menu cell to disassemble the hierarchies,
then perform the parenting process again.

Actor Module
Move the pistons

■ Using the right mouse button, select either chain as a
branch hierarchy.
■ Select the TransXYZ menu cells, then move the pistons
by dragging the mouse in any window to see the real
time constraints updated.
Feel free to animate the translations and experiment!

Actor Project – Walk Cycle

This tutorial allows you to become more familiar with both
articulated chains and function curves. You will create a pair of legs
using the Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain command onto which you
will add motion using keyframing techniques. To tweak the motion
of your legs, you will manipulate the fcurves manually. You will
also use the FcrvEdit ➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle command to create a
continuous walk cycle which can then be integrated into almost any
scene.

Actor Module
Walk Cycle
Skeletons, Keyframing, Function Curves
Create a leg
■ In the Actor module, choose Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D
Chain. In the Front window, draw two joints, of a length
of 3 units each (Fig. 1). Click the right mouse button to
end the draw chain mode.
Tip You can also press the Esc button to exit out of
most modes (Parent, Skin, Draw, etc.)
Make a copy of the first leg
Fig. 1
■ Select the chain with the right mouse button.
■ With the chain selected, choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate.
■ Click the LAYOUT icon in the Top window title bar and
activate the Grid lock option in Z. Click Ok.
■ In the Top window, translate the duplicated chain two
units in negative z (Fig. 2).
■ Click the LAYOUT icon in the Top window to
deactivate the Grid Lock option in Z. Click Ok.
Group the legs into a hierarchy
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null.
■ In the Front window, position the null where the
stomach would be. In the Top view, move the null 1 unit
Fig. 2
in negative z, to the centre of the body (Fig. 3).
■ Choose the Parent menu cell and left-click on the two
chains. The null and both chains are automatically
selected. Right-click to end the parenting mode.
Create the up and down motion of the legs
Null1
■ Switch to the Motion module (F2) and make sure the
current frame is 1.
■ The effectors of the legs should be positioned at (1, -1)
for x and y as shown in Fig. 3. If the effectors of your
(1, -1) legs are not in this position, translate the whole
hierarchy to the (1, -1) position in the Front window.
Fig. 3

Note: To position the effectors properly, you must

Note translate the chains interactively. You cannot
enter the values directly into the TransXYZ menu
cells because these values correspond to the
location of the root null, not the location of the
effector.
■ Save a keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
■ Set the current frame to 30 and save another keyframe
by middle-clicking SaveKey.
■ Set the current frame to 15 and translate the whole
Fig. 4 model up about 1 unit in y (see Fig. 4). Save another
keyframe.
■ Play back the animation. This gives the walk a slight
bounce.
Create the cycle motion of the legs
All.
■ Select the green y position fcurve.
Note: The function curves, like the centres, are colour
Note coded in the following way: red = x, green = y,
blue = z (think RGB=XYZ). The function curves
turn white when selected.
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle.
■ Set the end frame to 59 instead of 100.
■ Use the z and o Supra keys to position the camera in the
Perspective window so that you can see both legs.
■ Middle-click on the Fcurve title bar name to return to
the Front and Right windows. Press Shift-a to frame all
objects in the three orthographic windows.
■ Play back the animation with the L (loop) option active.
The legs should move gently up and down.
■ Stop the playback by clicking any mouse button.
■ Deselect the model.

Actor Module
Note: A quick way of doing this is to choose the Select

Note ➔ Clear command. Deselecting all objects is then
a matter of middle-clicking the Select menu cell.
However, remember that a menu cell has an
independent memory in each module. The Select
➔ Clear command would have to be selected in
each module to make this functional everywhere.
Change the colours of each effector to help identify them
■ Choose Preferences ➔ Desktop Colours. Edit the red and
yellow colours to make them brighter. Change the
colour model from RGB to HLS, and increase the
Luminance slider to 0.6 for each effector colour. Click
Ok.
Note: If you use an 8-bit Indigo, you cannot use the
Fig. 5 Note wireframe colour box. Please skip to the section
called “Extend the leg: key1”. Consider the left
effector yellow and the right effector red.
■ In the Right window, colour the left-most effector
yellow: open the wireframe colour box in the bottom-
left corner of the display. Click on the yellow colour
square. In the Right window, click on the left-most
effector.
■ Now colour the right-most effector red. Click on the red
colour square and click on the right-most effector in the
Right window. Close the colour box.
Extend the leg: key 1
■ Press the up arrow key to set the current frame to the
beginning of the sequence.
■ Select the yellow effector.
■ In the Front window, translate the effector as shown in
Fig. 5.
■ Change the end frame to 60.
■ Right-click the time line pointer and drag the mouse to
set the current frame to 60.

Note: Dragging the pointer with the right mouse button

Note lets you move to a different frame without
updating the scene. This is especially useful if
you want to quickly copy a particular position to
another part of the animation sequence.
■ Save another keyframe by middle-clicking on the
SaveKey menu cell.
Bring the leg back: key 2
■ Use the left mouse button to drag the time line pointer to
frame 30.
■ Move the effector to its back position and save a
keyframe (see Fig. 6).
Bend the leg: key 3
Fig. 6
■ Move the time line pointer to frame 45.
■ Translate the effector to move the leg to a forward bent
position. This keyframe defines the arc motion of the leg
and foot. Use Fig. 7 as a reference.
■ Middle-click the SaveKey menu cell.
■ Change the end frame to 59 and play back the one leg
walk cycle. Stop the playback with any mouse button.
Modify the timing
All and select the y explicit translation curve (etrny).
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Interp Management. Middle-click
the first key point to make the fcurve linear which
modifies the timing. This can also be done by selecting
the INTERP option in the window title bar or by using
Fig. 7 the i Supra key.
Edit the fcurves manually
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Set Key and click on the first key
point. The Edit Fcurve dialogue box appears.
Modify Fkey #1
■ Enter a new Value of 0.
■ Enter an RSlope and LSlope of 0.
■ Make sure the Automatic Slope option is deselected.

Actor Module
Note: If the Automatic Slope option is active, you

Note cannot change the slopes. The position of
neighbouring keys then determines key slope
values.
■ Click the Modify button, then the Next button.
Modify Fkey #2
Fig. 8 ■ Deactivate the Automatic Slope option.
■ Click Modify, then Next.
Modify Fkey #3
■ Leave the Value as is.
■ Deactivate the Automatic Slope option.
■ Click Modify, then Next.
Modify Fkey #4
■ Deactivate the Automatic Slope option.
■ Click Modify and Next.
■ The function curve should now look like that shown in
Fig. 8. Click Ok to exit the Edit Fcurve dialogue box.
■ Select the x explicit translation fcurve (etrnx) in the
Fcurve window.
■ Click INTERP in the Fcurve window title bar and then
middle-click the first key point to make the fcurve
linear.
■ Select the z explicit translation curve (etrnz). Click LIN
in the Fcurve window title bar to make the fcurve’s
interpolation linear. Now click on EDITKEY in the
Fcurve window title bar. Right-click on the first three
key points to remove these unnecessary keyframes,
leaving the last point (frame 60). Modifying the curve is
easier with these keys removed.

■ In Multi mode, select the x and y fcurves, and choose

FcrvEdit ➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle.
■ In Single mode, select the z fcurve, and choose FcrvEdit
➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Constant. The function curves should
look like those shown in Fig. 9.
■ Select the x explicit translation curve and fine-tune its
slopes by clicking on EDITKEY in the Fcurve window
title bar. Modify keyframes 2, 3, and 4 using Fig.’s 10,
11, and 12 as a reference. For the fcurve to cycle
Fig. 9
properly, the slopes at key 1 and 4 should be the same.
Note: The slope transition is easier to visualize if you
Note can see the function curve cycle, so change the
end frame to 70. Press the f Supra key to frame
the selected fcurve, and use the z Supra key to
zoom out slightly. Change the end frame back to
59 to check the cycle by playing the animation.
Tweak the motion
■ Change the Top window to a Front window to see the
results of the fcurve modification.
Fig. 10
Note: The second and fourth key points are the most
Note important. Upon play back, make sure the chain
doesn’t overextend. If it does, there are at least
two ways of fixing it:
1) Move the effector closer or farther away and
save a new keyframe (to overwrite the previous
one). Remember that each time a new keyframe
is added or overwritten using SaveKey, the user-
defined slopes are reset to a default value.
2) Modify the fcurve points and use the Supra
Fig. 11 key r to refresh the scene after each modification.
The latter solution is described next.
■ Select the x explicit translation function curve.
■ Tag key points 1 and 4.
■ Choose the TransY menu cell.
■ Change from OBJ to TAG mode. The TAG mode
selection is very crucial in this case. (You do not want
the whole curve to move!)
Fig. 12

Actor Module
■ Translate the tagged keys up and down. Use the r Supra

key to refresh (update) the Front and Perspective
windows. You might need to adjust the slope of the last
point if the modification is too drastic.
■ Change back to OBJ mode.
Tip The feel of the walk is based mostly on the stride

and duration of each step. Adding and modifying
key points can change the style of the walk
significantly.
Duplicate the motion for the second leg
■ Select the red effector.
■ Choose FcrvCopy ➔ Object ➔ Explicit Translation ➔ All
Fig. 13
and click on the yellow effector. The selected effector
should jump to the yellow effector’s current position.
All. Select the z explicit translation curve (eff2.etrnz).
■ Click SETKEY in the Fcurve window title bar. Click the
last point and enter a Value of -2 to align the chain’s
effector with its root. Click Ok.
■ Play back the animation. The motion of both legs should
now be identical.
Offset the motion of one of the legs
■ Choose Sequence ➔ Selection. In the Sequence dialogue
box, enter an Offset value of 29. Click Ok.
■ Play back the animation. The leg motion should now be
offset.
Add a hip rotation to make the walk cycle more realistic
■ Click on the up arrow key to jump to the first frame.
■ Select the whole hierarchy and open the Rotation
dialogue box. Enter a value of 10 for X and -15 for Y.
Click the Set button.The hips should have rotated
(Fig. 13).
Rotation ➔ All.
■ Change the end frame from 59 to 60.

■ Move the time line pointer with the right mouse button
to frame 60 and save another keyframe.
■ Set the current frame to 30 and open the Rotation
dialogue box. This time, enter a value of -10 for X and
15 for Y (the opposite to the rotations set at frame 1).
Click Set.
■ Save another keyframe by middle-clicking the SaveKey
menu cell.
■ Change the end frame from 60 to 59 and play back the
animation.
■ With the entire hierarchy selected, choose FcrvSelect ➔
Object ➔ Rotation➔ All to display the fcurves.
■ In Multi mode, select both the x and y rotation fcurves.
■ Choose FcrvEdit ➔ Extrap Mode ➔ Cycle to extrapolate
the curve over a continuous cycle.
■ Change the End frame to 120 and play back the
animation.
■ Change the End frame back to 59.
Tweak the walk
■ If the knee joint on either leg is overextending, modify
the explicit x position. If the walk is fine, continue to the
section “Make the legs go forward.”
■ Tag the second key point (frame 30).
■ Switch from OBJ mode to TAG mode and choose the
TransY menu cell. Drag key 2 down slightly.
■ Move the time line pointer until you’re at the peak of the
fcurve. Use the r key to refresh the model after each
movement to get a slight bend in the joint. Do this
separately on both effectors, or use copy and sequence
as described previously.
Make the legs go forward
■ Go to frame 1.
■ Choose Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Null and leave it at its default
location. Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate and translate
the new null toward the yellow effector.
■ Choose Duplicate ➔ Immediate again and translate the
third null toward the red effector.

Actor Module
■ Select the central null (null2) and make it the parent of

all the objects. Choose Parent in the Model module and
pick the two new nulls and the stomach null (null1, the
parent of the two legs). Right-click to end the parent
function. Deselect the new hierarchy.
■ Open a Schematic window. It should look similar to the
hierarchy shown in Fig. 14.
■ Transfer the motion from the effectors to the two nulls
by following the steps below for the yellow effector.
Repeat the same steps as for the red effector.
-Select the null closest to the effector.
-In the Motion module, choose FcrvCopy ➔ Object
➔ Explicit Translation ➔ All and click on the
Fig. 14 effector. Right-click to end the copy mode. The

null should now be in the effector’s location.
-Select the effector.
-Choose FcrvReset ➔ Object ➔ All. Play back the
animation. The null is animated, but the effector is
only swinging left and right.
-Choose Constraint ➔ Position and click the null.
The effector’s position is now constrained to that of
the nulls. Right-click to end the constraint mode.
-Remember to repeat the previous steps for the red
effector.
■ Now you can animate the forward motion of the walk
cycle. Select the whole hierarchy. Return to frame 1 and
save a keyframe by choosing SaveKey ➔ Object ➔
Translation to create a path. Set the end frame to 120
and move the time line pointer to 120. Translate the
hierarchy forward in the x direction by -25 units and
save another keyframe.
■ Select the translation fcurve by choosing FcrvSelect ➔
Object ➔ Translation. Make the fcurve’s interpolation
linear by selecting LIN in the Fcurve window title bar.
■ Play back the animation. The character should now be
moving forward.
Note: Translating or rotating the path moves or orients
Note the walking character anywhere you wish.

Actor Project – Wind Chime

This lesson further develops your understanding of the many uses
of chains and how they can be integrated into many different kinds
of scenes. 2D Chains and physical properties are defined in this
example to give complex motion to a wind chime. The acting force
is added by a single fan, and the whole thing is brought to life by
Simulate ➔ Simulate (automatic).
Physical Properties let dynamics work their magic. Only objects
that have this property applied are affected when a simulation is
performed.
A Fan is a special control, which is a type of force that can be
applied to dynamic simulations. A fan is only one of several types
of special controls that can be applied. By default, a gravity vector
is created when you add physical properties to a scene.
Note:
Tip A physical property must first be applied to an object or a
chain to assign one or several special controls.
The gravity vector, as with all special controls, can be scaled up and
down to obtain different movements during the simulation.

Actor Module
Wind Chime
Skeletons, Special Controls, Simulation
Create a wind chime using chains and primitive objects
■ Choose Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain in the Actor module
and create a chain of four joints in the Front window
using Fig. 1 as a reference.
■ Get a primitive cube using the default values. Scale,
translate, and rotate the cube to position it over the first
joint of the chain using Fig. 2 as a reference.
■ Duplicate the cube twice and move each copy over a
joint.
Fig. 1 ■ Get a primitive sphere as a polygon mesh. Scale and
move the sphere over the fourth joint.
■ Make every joint parent of their respective object.
Add a dynamic force and a special control to the scene
■ Select the chain with the middle mouse button and apply
a default gravity factor by using Dynamics ➔ Physical
Properties. Accept the default values by clicking the Ok
All button.
■ Choose Control ➔ Get Special Control ➔ Fan and a fan
icon appears in the centre of the windows.
■ Select the fan and position it to the front and left of the
wind chime. Rotate the fan toward the wind chime (see
Fig. 3).
Fig. 2
■ Use the ScaleXYZ menu cells to define the strength of
the wind and the area and distance it affects.
Note: Each axis affects the fan in a different manner.
Note Their areas of influence are as follows:
- x scaling defines the length of the decay vector
- y scaling defines the amount of air current
generated by the fan
- z scaling defines the radius of influence of the
cone.
Fig. 3

■ Select the entire wind chime hierarchy by using the right

mouse button. Choose Control ➔ Select and pick the fan
to assign it as a special control.
■ Move the time line pointer to frame 1.
Animate the elements in your scene
■ Choose Simulate ➔ Save Start/End to initialize the
simulation. Choose Simulate ➔ Simulate (automatic) to
create the animation.
■ To get a more dynamic animation, manipulate the
scaling values along each axis.
■ Animate the fan by rotating it on the y-axis and setting
keyframes. Make the animation of the fan a cycle. When
a simulation is created, a normal function curve for the
rotation is automatically created and can be edited at
any time.
Tip To create a cycle motion of the fan, give three

keyframes of rotation on the y-axis. The first and
last keyframe should have the same values.
Select the fan’s y-rotation function curve in the
function curve editor and choose FcrvEdit ➔
Extrap mode ➔ Cycle. The function curve should
now be cyclical for the entire length of the
animation.
Recreate the simulation
■ Before creating a new simulation, you must first delete
the original one. To do so, choose Simulate ➔ Delete
Transition Curve and then Simulate ➔ Delete
Simulation.
■ Choose Simulate ➔ Save Start/End to initialize the
simulation again and then Simulate ➔ Simulate
(automatic) to create the new animation.

Actor Module

Actor Project – Cannon, Part 1

In this lesson, you will become familiar with some of the other
dynamics commands available in the Actor module. You will use
keyframes combined with a simulation to produce a cannon ball
shooting out of a cannon and bouncing off a trampoline. Collisions
are also used to provide a reactionary force to the cannon ball: in
this case, Bbox and Bplane Obstacles.

Actor Module
Cannon, Part 1
Simulations and Obstacles
Create a cannon and trampoline
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Bezier or B-Spline and in the
Front window, draw the profile of a cannon. Use the
Surface ➔ Revolution command to give it volume – use
the cannon in Fig. 1 as a reference.
■ Add some wheels and place the elements into a
hierarchy (refer to Fig. 1).
■ Use a primitive grid and primitive cubes to build the
trampoline (refer to Fig. 1). Choose Info ➔ Selection
Fig. 1 again to rename the trampoline grid “dust”.
■ Get a second grid by choosing Get ➔ Primitive ➔ Grid.
Copy, scale, and move the grid to create a floor.
Handle bar
■ Position the cannon away from the trampoline on the
x-axis.
■ Get a primitive sphere (patch object) and name it
“cannon ball”. Scale the cannon ball until it fits in the
mouth of the cannon.
Animate the cannon ball
Fig. 2
■ Set a keyframe at frame 0 for the sphere using SaveKey
➔ Object ➔ Translation in the Motion module with the
sphere at the bottom of the cannon. Move the time line
pointer to frame 10, and translate the sphere about 20
units from the mouth of the cannon along the trajectory.
Set a second keyframe.
■ Choose FcrvSelect ➔ Object ➔ Translation. The fcurve
should look similar to the one shown in Fig. 2.
■ To remove the deceleration at the top of the fcurve, click
Fig. 3
EDITKEY in the window title bar. Click and drag the
last key point’s handle down until the fcurve looks like
the one shown in Fig. 3. By changing the fcurve this
way, you increase the cannon ball’s acceleration over
time.

Assign a default physical property to the sphere

■ In the Actor module, choose Dynamics ➔ Physical
Properties. Select Bounding Sphere as the Node
collision and click Ok All to accept these properties.
■ Move the time line pointer to frame 7 and save a starting
frame for the simulation by choosing Simulate ➔ Save
Start/End.
Note: Note that the simulation and the keyframed
Note motion are overlapped by a couple of frames to
ensure continuity of motion.
■ Create the first simulation by choosing Simulate ➔
Simulate (automatic). Play back the animation.
■ To adjust the trajectory of the cannon ball, open a
Schematic window and select the gravity vector. In the
Front window, scale the gravity vector down to increase
the cannon ball’s trajectory or scale it up to decrease the
cannon ball’s trajectory. Run the simulation again.
Repeat this process until the sphere hits the trampoline.
Note: Each time you want to create a new simulation,
Note you must first delete the previous simulation by
choosing Simulate ➔ Delete Simulation.
Assign the trampoline as an obstacle for the cannon ball
■ Select the cannon ball, choose Collisions ➔ Select Bbox
Obstacle, and pick the trampoline. Assign the floor as an
obstacle, but this time make it a Bplane.
■ Create the simulation again.
Note: A Bbox obstacle’s influence is limited to the
Note actual size of the object to which it is assigned –
in this case, the trampoline.
A Bplane obstacle’s influence, on the other hand,
is not limited to the object’s size but continues in
the specified plane to infinity.
Select the sphere and choose FcrvSelect ➔
Dynamics ➔ Transition Curve in the Motion
module. As you can see, this fcurve varies
between 0 and 1, with 0 representing keyframed
animation and 1 the simulated animation,
respectively.

Actor Module

Actor Project – Cannon, Part 2

In this tutorial, you will develop the scene further by applying wave
effects to both the cannon and the trampoline. The waves will be
integrated into the existing scene and will be animated in sync with
the elements of the scene itself.

Actor Module
Cannon, Part 2
Tweaking Motions and Wave Effects
Create a cartoon-like spitting effect to the cannon
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ B-Spline and create a wave
profile in the Front window like the one shown in Fig. 2.
■ Choose Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Create and select a spherical
wave. Accept all other default values.
■ Position the wave icon inside the cannon. Choose
Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Attach ➔ Node and pick the cannon.
■ Play back the animation, find where the wave effect
should take place, and edit the wave. To edit the wave,
choose Info ➔ Selection. In the Define Wave dialogue
Fig. 1
box, change Velocity to 30 and Start to -5. This
increases the wave’s velocity to 30 units per second and
starts the wave five frames before the scene’s start to
synchronize the movement of the cannon with the
cannon ball.
■ Play back the animation. If the wave is not synchronized
with the cannon ball, manipulate the Velocity and
Frame Start values until you get the desired result.
Create a wave effect on the trampoline at the point of
impact
■ Select the wave profile created earlier and choose
Fig. 2 Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Create. Make it a circular wave and
then click Ok to accept the other default values.
Spherical wave
■ Choose Effects ➔ Wave ➔ Attach ➔ Node and pick the
trampoline surface, not the whole hierarchy.
■ Play back the animation. Find the exact frame when the
cannon ball hits the surface of the trampoline and then
edit the wave’s starting and ending frames to coincide
with the impact.
■ When you are satisfied, choose the Render menu cell.
Name the scene appropriately and then click the Render
Circular wave
Sequence button to begin rendering.
Fig. 3 ■ Choose the FlipBook menu cell in the Tools module to

Actor Project – Cheers!

This lesson provides you with another one of the many uses for
articulated chains. It also introduces you to the concept of global
envelopes. You will assign a global envelope to a skeleton and then
manually reassign the envelope’s vertices.

Actor Module
Cheers!
Articulated Chains and Flexible Envelopes
Create a straw
■ Choose Draw ➔ Curve ➔ Bezier or B-Spline and draw
the profile of a straw in the Front window. Refer to Fig.
1 for positioning the control points.
Effector
Spline
■ Make a B-Spline patch object by choosing Surface ➔
Revolution in the Model module. Make sure the Axis of
Revolution is Y. Refer to Fig. 1 to check the result.
Use 2D chains to move the top part of the straw
Patch
■ Draw an articulated chain inside the straw using three
Revolution
joints by choosing Skeleton ➔ Draw 2D Chain in the
Actor module. Refer to Figure 2 for the position and
Root direction of the chain.
■ Select the straw object and make a global assignment by
choosing Skin ➔ Global Envelope and clicking on the
Fig. 1 Fig. 2 chain. In the Envelopes Initial Assignment dialogue
box, click Ok.
■ Choose Skin ➔ Envelope Assignment ➔ Show Vertices
and using the Supra key t, tag all rows of points on the
straw object below the root of the articulated chain (see
Fig. 3).
■ Use the Shift-a Supra key to frame all objects. Verify
that all the points below the chain’s root have been
tagged.
Assign the lower portion of the straw to No Joint.
■ Choose Skin ➔ Envelope Assignment ➔ Reassign
Manually and middle-click once in one of the windows
to remove the tag assignments from the joints. Untag the
Tagged points using the middle mouse button.
points
■ Open a Schematic window, select the chain effector, and
move it around.
■ You will notice that the straw deforms according to the
Fig. 3 chain’s orientation.
■ Build a glass and duplicate the straw with its chain to
finish your scene.

Actor Project – Octopus, Part 2

This lesson uses Quick Stretch to add expressive movements to a
simple object modelled with polygon modelling tools.
Quick Stretch is a very quick and easy way to create cartoon-like
deformation effects. It can be used to deform any model according
to its own movements.

Actor Module
Octopus, Part 2
Quick Stretch
Load the Octopus, Part 1 scene
■ Choose Get ➔ Scene and select the Octopus scene you
created as a Model project.
■ Select only the body of the octopus.
Apply Quick Stretch to the octopus
■ In the Actor module, choose QStretch ➔ Setup. In the
Quick Stretch dialogue box, select the Flx (Flex) and Str
(Stretch) options for Velocity in the Modes: overview
area. Then click Ok.
Note: The Flex option bends the object in the direction
Fig. 1 Note of the motion and Stretch elongates the object in
the direction of the motion
■ Select the whole octopus hierarchy. Move it quickly
across the screen to see the Quick Stretch effect.
Animate the octopus by saving keyframes
■ Over 100 frames, set keyframes for rotation and
translation. Make sure that your octopus is moving
around quickly, otherwise it may be difficult to see the
results of Quick Stretch.
■ Save your scene.
Tip When saving a scene with Quick Stretch, you are

asked if you want to plot the velocity and
acceleration fcurves. Motion vectors are
generally computed on the fly, so it is a good idea
Fig. 2
to plot the velocity and acceleration fcurves. By
doing so, you can easily go back and tweak the
deformations to get just the right effect. Once you
have plotted the fcurves, they can be loaded into
the Fcurve window by choosing the FcrvSelect ➔
Object ➔ Velocities and/or Acceleration
commands.


3D.book : particle.doc 309 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
P A R T I C L E


Particle
Introduction
About the Particle System
Particle is a pixel-based particle generation system that
lets you create three-dimensional animation that simulates
a wide variety of images containing many particles.
Particle is a separate application not found within the
SOFTIMAGE 3D interface. It is one of the options that
can be installed when you install SOFTIMAGE 3D.
To start up Particle, simply go into the directory in which
Particle was installed and type particle.

The Interface
Working in Particle
■ To move between modules within Particle, simply click
on the module name in the title bar or use the F1 to F6
supra keys. There are six modules in Particle:
Particle
■ This module allows you to define and characterize the
different types of particles that are emitted by the
particle sources in your animation. You can define as
many particle types as you want.
Source
■ This module lets you create and define sources of
particles. Each source is classified according to its name
and the type of particle it emits. The nature of the source
is determined by its geometry and emission parameters.
Obstacle
■ This module allows you to create any number of
obstacles which can affect the particles in many ways.
Obstacles can be models imported from SOFTIMAGE
3D, or procedural objects linked to hierarchies in
SOFTIMAGE 3D.
Collisions
■ This module allows you to simulate simple collisions.
Simple collisions happen between two different types of
particles coming from different sources.
Events
■ This module allows you to simulate complex collisions.
A complex collision occurs when two different types of
particles collide and their collision creates new particles.
File
■ This module allows you to launch and control
previewing of the Particle effects. It lets you start the
first pass of the rendering process, and set up the general
configuration of the software.

Particle

Particle Project – Torch, Part 3

This tutorial introduces you to the Particle system. You will use the
Particle program to create a flame for the torch you built in an
earlier section. By going through this exercise, you should gain a
good understanding of the Particle system since it covers many of
the main elements within Particle.
Note: In the Torch, Part 2 tutorial, you rendered your scene with
Note the Render Z Channel option activated. The reason for
doing so was to easily integrate Particle into the 3D scene.
The Z Channel gathers information which allows for more
advanced compositing operations. The Z Channel
provides depth information so that you can position
objects in front of and behind a background image.

Particle
Torch, Part 3
Particle Parameters, Global and Local Fields
■ If you have not already done so, reduce SOFTIMAGE
3D to an icon (Alt F9) and start the Particle program.
Tip Remember to press Enter after typing in each

value within Particle, or they might not get
accepted.
Load your 3D scene and set up the Particle environment
■ Go to the File module by clicking on File in the window
title bar or by using the Supra key F6. Make sure you
are in the correct database and click the Load button
under the 3D Scene heading. Use the browser to select
the latest torch scene and click Ok. Your 3D scene
appears in the 3D viewing area.
■ Dolly, zoom, and orbit the camera around so that you
can see the entire torch.
■ Click the Layout button in the Settings section and
Fig. 1
deactivate the Grid Display option. Click Ok.
Make one of your 3D objects a Particle source
■ In the Source module (F2), click New to create a particle
source. Rename Source_1 “firesource”.
■ Click the Visibility button if it is not already activated.
Note: Visibility determines whether the particle is
Note displayed on the screen. Just like the Display ➔
Hide command in SOFTIMAGE 3D, the
Visibility command is very useful when you have
a complex scene containing many different
sources. Toggling Visibility off allows you to
concentrate on one source at a time.
■ In the Source Parameters section, change the Geom
setting to SCENE OBJECT. In the dialogue box, scroll
Fig. 2 down and select the object you named “firesource.”
Click Ok to accept.
■ Change the Generation setting to SURFACE so that
particles are emitted from the entire face of your object
and not just from a specific point.

■ Change the Emission pattern to NORMAL. This makes

the particles emit according to the geometric normal of
its source.
Fig. 3
Change the End frame and begin playback
■ Change the End frame to 9999 and click on the forward
arrow in the playback area. The particle stream begins.
Note: By changing the End frame to 9999, you can
Note view any changes you make to the Source and
Particle parameters. As changes are made, the
particle emission is automatically updated.
■ Slide the Preview Sampling Rate slider (next to the
Global Fields section) to the left so that only a quarter of
the bar is highlighted.
Fig. 4 Tip By reducing the number of particles displayed,

you can speed up playback. This is extremely
useful when you have a complex scene
containing many particle sources.
Adjust the emission parameters of the source
■ Change the Spread value to 0.3 to increase the angle of
the aperture through which the particles are emitted.
■ Change the Speed to 25.0 with a Jitter factor of 10.0.
The Jitter factor allows you to create a more random
particle emission by allowing you to input a certain
discrepancy value between particles or emission
patterns.
Adjust the Particle Parameters
■ In the Particle module (press F1), change the name of
Particle_1 to “flame.”
■ Change its Friction value to 0.2 with a Jitter factor of
5.0. This value controls the amount a certain medium
affects the particles – in this case, the medium is wind.
■ Change the Electric value to 40.0 with a Jitter factor of
10.0. This value controls the amount of effect an
Electrical field has on the particles. A value of 40.0 has
a significant effect on the particles.
■ Change the Magnetic value to 0.2. This value controls
the amount of effect a Magnetic field has on the particle.

Particle
A value of 0.2 results in a minor change in the behaviour

of the particles.
■ Adjust the Life Time of the particles to a value of 1.6.
The life time determines the amount of time in seconds
the particle exists.
■ Adjust the Trail Life to 0.3 with a Jitter factor of 0.05.
The trail life determines the amount of time in seconds
that a trail effect remains behind the particle.
Fig. 5
■ Adjust the Noise values to the following:
-Position: 0.3
-Velocity: 0.6
-Acceleration: 0.2
The Noise values add a jitter effect to the particle itself,
affecting its position, velocity, and acceleration.
Modify the rendering attributes of the particle
These parameters are only computed at rendering time and
as a result, their effects can only be viewed upon
rendering.
Fig. 6
■ Adjust the Size to a value of 10 with a Jitter of 2.
■ Click Blur and select the Both option. This creates both
a forward and backward motion blur effect.
■ Change the Blur Width to a value of 0.2. This value
simply controls the amount of blur surrounding each
particle.
■ Select the Multiplication option. Change the Number to
25, the Size to 5.0 with a Jitter factor of 2.0, and a
Radius of 0.5.
Note: The Multiplication option lets you replicate an
Note infinite number of particle instances. By default,
these instances inherit the physical characteristics
of the original particle, however the size and
radius of these instances can be modified.
Changes made to the original particle are
reflected globally in the instances. The
Multiplication option works much like the
Duplicate ➔ Repetition command in
SOFTIMAGE 3D.

■ Select the Glow option. This parameter simulates a glow

effect by adding the RGBA values of each particle.
When there are many particles near the source, the
colours stay intact. However, as the number of particles
decreases (at their life’s end), there are fewer RGBA
values to add up resulting in a less saturated color, hence
a glow effect.
Fig. 7
Modify the colours over time
■ Adjust the colour of the particles by clicking the Color
button. In the Color Editor dialogue box, click Shape
and select Turbulence. An example of the turbulence
shape appear in the Color Editor.
■ Make the base of the flame a dark blue colour by using
the following RGBA values: R: 0.0, G: 0.0, B: 0.525,
A: 0.490.
■ Make the end of the flame black by selecting the Color
Shift option and using the sliders to enter the following
RGBA values in the text boxes on the right: R: -0.46, G:
-1.0, B: -1.0, A: -1.0.
■ Add an intermediate colour by placing the cursor in the
Fig. 8
black bar at the bottom of the colour bar. The bottom bar
allows you to create colour shifts at specific points in
time. Click on the bar at 2% and drag the slider to enter
the following RGBA values on the right: R: 1.0, G:
0.64, B: -0.42, A: -0.12. A green arrow marks your
various colour shifts.
■ Add another colour change at 48%. This time, enter the
following RGBA values: R: 0.660, G: 0.1, B: -0.72, A: -
0.3.
■ Add the final colour shift at 90% by entering the
following RGBA values at that spot: R: 0.26, G: -0.16,
B: -0.86, A: -0.38.
■ Click Ok to accept the colour and shape.
Apply natural forces to your scene
■ Add a local electrical field by clicking the Electric
button in the Local Fields section of the interface.

Particle
Note: A Local force field, unlike a Global field, affects

Note only the particles that pass through its sphere of
influence. It also can be applied to a specific point
in your scene as opposed to the global
environment. You also have the option of adding
as many local fields to a scene as you wish.
■ In the Electrical Local Field dialogue box, click New to
add a force field. Change the Strength value to 50.0 and
the Droprate to 10.
Note: The Strength value defines the amount of
Note attraction there is and the Droprate value defines
Fig. 9
the sphere of influence of the local field.
■ Click the Link button and scroll down to get the 3D
object you named “fieldsource.” Click Ok to exit the
dialogue box. This actually links the electrical force
field to the “fieldsource” object in your 3D scene.
■ Add a Global Wind icon by clicking the Wind button in
the Global Field section of the interface. Change the
Strength value to 3.0 and the Direction/Inclination (I)
Fig. 10 value to 90.0. In the Turbulence section of the dialogue
box, set the Correlation to 1.0 and the Amplitude to 2.0.
Click Ok to exit the dialogue box.
■ Add a Global Magnetic icon by clicking the Magnetic
button in the Global Field section. Change the Strength
to 20.0 and click Ok to exit the dialogue box.
Render your particle scene
■ Select the CAM view option at the top of the 3D
viewing area. You must select this option to get the
exact camera position in which your 3D scene was
rendered.
■ Press the Supra key F6 to go to the File module. Click
Animation in the Settings section, change the Preroll
value to 30, and click Ok. This allows you to have a full
burning flame from the start of your animation.
Fig. 11 ■ Click Render in the Settings section. In the Render
Setup dialogue box, activate the Render Picture option
as the Output Type.

■ Change the Start and End frames of your Particle scene

to 61 and 210 respectively and increase the Step value to
2. The start and end frames as well as the step value
must be the same as those of your previously rendered
3D Torch scene.
■ In the Output section of the Render Setup dialogue box,
make sure that the correct database is indicated in the
Rendering in Database text box. Enter an appropriate
file name for your scene in the Output file name text
box.
■ In the Compositing section, activate both the
Background Image and Z Channel options. Make sure
that both databases are correct and pick the last version
of the Torch, Part 1 scene as the Filename.
■ Click Render Sequence to begin the rendering process.
■ Remember to save your scene before exiting Particle.
Tip You should save your scenes periodically as

you work through the tutorials.
■ To view the final results, use the FlipBook menu cell in
the Tools module of SOFTIMAGE 3D.

Particle

Particle Project – Missile, Part 4

In this tutorial, you will use particles to create the fire burst that is
emitted from the missile. You will create a particle source from one
of the objects in your 3D scene as was done in the Torch, Part 3
tutorial. In this tutorial, however, the 3D object is in motion and as
a result, certain parameter modifications are required.

Particle
Missile, Part 4
Particle Parameters, Global Fields
■ If you haven’t already done so, start the Particle
program as you did in the previous tutorial.
Load your 3D scene and deactivate Grid Display option
■ Go into the File module by pressing F6 or by clicking on
File in the Particle interface title bar.
■ In the 3D Scene section, click on the arrow beside
Database text box to select the database in which you
saved Missile, Part 3. Select it and click Ok.
■ Click Load and navigate through the database to find the
correct scene. Select the scene and click Ok. The 3D
missile scene is loaded into Particle. Load the latest
version of your Missile scene.
■ In the Settings section, click Layout. In the Layout
dialogue box, deactivate the Grid Display option and
Fig. 1 click Ok.
Create a particle source from an element in your 3D scene
■ Go into the Source module by pressing F2.
■ Click New to add a particle source. Rename Source_1
“blast.”
■ In the Source Parameters section, change the geometry
of the source by clicking Geom and selecting
SCENE_OBJECT. In the dialogue box, select the
element you named “Part_source” and click Ok.
■ Change the Generation setting to SURFACE so that the
particles are emitted from the entire face of the object
and not just a specific point.
Change views and play back
Fig. 2
■ Switch to Camera View by clicking on CAM above the
viewing area. This gives you the camera’s position in
which your 3D scene was rendered.
Fig. 3 ■ Click on the Loop option in the playback area and then
play back your animation by clicking on the forward
arrow.

Define the particle’s parameters

■ Switch to the Particle module by pressing F1 and
rename Particle_1 “fireburst”. Under Particle
Parameters, change the Friction to 0.8. This value
dictates how much the particle slows down as it travels
through the specified medium – in this case, the medium
is wind.
■ Change the Life Time of your particle to 3.0 with a Jitter
value of 0.5. This creates a realistic stream of fire behind
the missile.
Fig. 4
Define the rendering attributes
■ Change the size of your particle from 0.3 to 0.9. By
increasing the size to 0.9 from the default value of 0.3,
you have blended the particles together which creates a
better effect for both the fire and smoke emitted by the
missile.
■ Activate the Glow option.
Add and animate the colour of the particles
Fig. 5
■ Click Color and the Colour Editor dialogue box appears.
Click the Shape button to make the particles linear.
■ Set the first colour by entering the following RGBA
values: R: 1.0, G: 0.79, B: 0.0, A: 0.3 in the first column
of text boxes. This makes the particles a fairly
transparent bright yellow colour.
■ Activate the Color Shift by selecting it. Move the cursor
Fig. 6 to the bottom portion of the colour bar – percentages
from 0 to 100 appear as you move from left to right.
This allows you to animate colour shifts at different
points in the particle’s life. Go to 5% and click to set a
colour shift. Use the sliders to enter the following
RGBA values on the right: R: -0.32, G: -0.58, B: -0.54,
A: 0.0. This creates a fairly transparent orangy-red
colour denoting the cooling of the flame as it gets
further from its source.
Note: The RGBA values in the column on the right are
Note not set to default values once the Color Shift has
been activated. Your starting point (0,0,0)
therefore, is the last colour you set before the
Color Shift. It might be necessary to use negative

Particle
RGBA values to achieve a certain colour or

transparency.
■ Put your cursor back in the colour bar and set a colour
shift at 13%. Use the slider to enter the following RGBA
values: R: -0.92, G: -0.94, B: -0.9, A: 0.2. This produces
a slightly transparent black colour which creates the
effect of thick black smoke.
■ Set the final colour by using the sliders to enter the
following RGBA values at 100%: R: -1.0, G: -1.0, B: -
1.0, A: -0.8. These values make the smoke dissipate
Fig. 7 slowly. Click Ok to exit the Color Editor dialogue box.
Introduce a Global Wind field to your scene
■ Click the Wind button in the Global Fields section under
the viewing window. In the Wind dialogue box, set the
Strength to 5.0 and the Direction/Inclination (I) to 60.
Create a more realistic flame
■ Press F2 to return to the Source module. Click Spread
Fig. 8 and increase the value to 180.0. This increases the
aperture through which the particles are emitted by 180
degrees. This is enough to create a realistic fire blast
from the reactor.
■ Increase the rate of emission by chaning the Rate value
to 2500.0 with a jitter of 1000. The high value is needed
to create a powerful looking fire blast.
■ Change the Inherit Velocity value to 2.0.
Note: Inherit Velocity controls the velocity of the
Note particle emissions from a moving source or from
a moving 3D object that acts as a source. The
value entered is a percentage value relative to the
velocity of the source.
■ Change the Speed to 2.5.
Render the integrated scene
■ If you are not already in Camera View, do so now.
■ Go to the File module and click Render in the Settings
section. In the Render Setup dialogue box, activate the
Render Picture option as the Output Type.
■ Change the Start and End frames to match those of your

3D scene.
■ In the Output section, make sure that the correct
database is indicated in the Rendering in Database text
box. Type in an appropriate file name in the Output file
name text box.
■ In the Compositing section, activate both the
Background Image and Z Channel options. Make sure
that both databases are correct and pick the last version
of the Missile, Part 3 scene as the Filename. By
activating these two options, the scene is rendered with
the 3D background image with all the appropriate depth
information.
■ Begin the rendering process by clicking Render
Sequence.
Fig. 9
■ When the rendering is complete, view the final scene by
returning to the Tools module in SOFTIMAGE 3D and
using the FlipBook command.
Note: You may find that your flipbook differs
Note substantially from the one provided for you. This
is a result of the difference in missile
displacement per frame. The Particle System
parameters provided relate to a missile travelling
at 10.2 units per frame. If your missile is
travelling at a slower or faster rate, these particle
parameters may not produce a realistic missile
blast. To solve this problem, increase the
Oversampling rate. Go into the File module, click
Animation, and change the Oversampling value
to about 5.
The Oversampling value determines the number
of antialiasing calculations made by the Particle
system. By increasing this value, you increase the
number of calculations performed between
frames. In this particular example, an increase in
the Oversampling rate reduces the distance
between particle emissions which results in a
more realistic fire burst.

3D.book : 3DIX.doc 1 Tue Sep 29 15:49:09 1998
Index
A D
Animation 102 Databases 8 to 9
channels 154 DatabaseDir.rsrc 8
flock 142 DatabaseSys.rsrc 8
keyframes 101 managing files 86
light 199 Default
material 237 transformations 57
path 97 Deformation
shape 126 by curve 65
Articulated chains by surface 61
2D 273 Delete
Atmosphere scenes 14
ambience 208 selection 35
depth fading 208 Desktop colours 287
Draw
C curves 37
Camera holes 81
depth of field 215 Duplicate
picture format 195 animated objects 66
resetting parameters 11 instances 74
selecting 151 objects 13
settings 152 setup 13
showing 151 swapping 78
Channels Dynamics
activating items 155 physical properties 295
connections 155
offset 155 E
scaling 155 Edit
Clusters points 37
creating 135 Effect menu cell
Collisions 298 alignment 151
bbox obstacles 300 beveling 85
bplane obstacles 300 convert 77
Compositing 196 plane clipping 159
Constraints randomize 58
direction 176 subdivision 61
object to cluster 135 symmetry 58
position 273 Explicit Translation 101
tangency 120 Expressions 162
up vector 136 creating 163
SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook Index-1

Index
local variables 165 M

F Mapping
bump 229
FlipBook
displacement 212
standalone 22
Material
viewing 21
associating 201
Function curve
copying 238
copying 293
Materials 183
editing 97
mental ray 210
resetting 293
2D texture shaders 248
selecting 66
3D texture shaders 252
slope 106
antialiasing 216
H area lights 222
atmospheric shaders 256
Hierarchies 28
camera shaders 226
I light shaders 245
material shaders 242
Interface
motion blur 218
3D 7
output shaders 264
particle 312
rayhosting 214
Inverse Kinematics 269
shaderball 250
K shaders 240
volumic shaders 260
Keyframes
Modelling Relation 37
branch animation 30
Multi menu cell 13
object animation 17
shape animation 78 N
Keyframing 101
NURBS 68
L trimming 70
weighting points 69
Lattice 52
animating 148 O
creating branch 109
Object
removing branch 111
boolean 219
Light
centre 25
cone angle 207
curve 33
defining 17
cutting relationships 25
HLS colour model 187
face 33
spread angle 207
hiding 35
types 186
meta-clay element 33
umbra intensity 223
Index-2 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Index
naming 25 scenes 21
normals 38 subregion 194
parenting 25 z channel 314
polygon mesh 33 Repeating
surface 33 texture maps 208
text 35
types 33 S
Saving
P scenes 14
Paint 77 Scaling
Particle 311 UNI manipulation mode 13
cam view 319 Schematic
electric fields 316 open/close 34
friction 316 Shading Model 181
glow 318 shadow objects 186
inherit velocity 325 Simulate
jitter 316 delete simulation 300
loading 3D scenes 315 save start/end 296
local fields 319 simulate(automatic) 296
magnetic fields 316 Simulations 270
multiplication 317 Single menu cell 13
oversampling 326 Skin
source parameters 315 automatic envelope 274
spread 316 bounding models 270
trail life 317 envelope assignment 305
visibility 315 flexible envelopes 269
Polygon Special Controls 294
assigning materials 85 Supra keys 10 to 11
selecting 85 Surface
Preview capping 48
setup 241 extruding 35
revolution 37
Q skinning 49
Quick Stretch 270 zipping 38, 41
setup 307
T
R Textures
Raytracing 182 2D 77
Rendering 3D 191
mental ray 210 copying 201
picture files 181 editing 203
SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook Index-3

Index
U
Undoing operations 89
V
Viewing
animation 18
rendered images 21
W
Waves
attaching 131
creating 131
decay 140
Windows
default windows 12
maximize/minimize 45
Ortho 12
schematic 25
spreadsheet 45
Index-4 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

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Self-Training Workbook

SOFTIMAGE|3D Self-Training Workbook

Training Notes and Projects

Training Notes and Projects

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook i

Training Notes and Projects

Training Notes and Projects

ii Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Soft Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Training Notes and Projects

Training Notes and Projects

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook iii

iv Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 1

2 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

About this Self-Training Workbook

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 3

4 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Training Notes and Projects

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 5

6 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 7

The Scene Database

8 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

■ There are several maintenance functions provided by

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 9

Overview Project – Moving Around

10 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 11

Overview Project – 3D Building Blocks

Tip Use the UNI scaling mode to scale on all three

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 13

Decorate your table with several objects

14 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 15

Overview Project – Jewel, Part 1

16 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 17

■ Set another keyframe at frame 100 by choosing

Tip The middle mouse button always repeats the

18 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 19

Overview Project – Jewel, Part 2

20 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Tip Rendered images are always saved in the

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 21

down (only when the playback is paused).

Usage: flipbook <sequence> <first> <last> <step> <frames per sec>

<sequence>: name of the sequence

■ Save your scene by choosing Save ➔ Scene.

22 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 23

Overview Project – Planets, Part 1

24 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

Your hierarchy should look similar to the one shown in

Tip To undo a parent-child relationship, select the

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 25

■ Choose SaveKey ➔ Object ➔ Rotation ➔ All to create

Tip Set the animation of the moon first, then set

Tip For the sun’s material, select the Constant

26 Self-Training Workbook SOFTIMAGE 3D

SOFTIMAGE 3D Self-Training Workbook 27

Overview Project – Mister Roboto