EIE 3101 Computer Animation

Lec 02
Modeling Concepts
and
Modeling Techniques
1
Isaac Kerlow, The art of 3D computer animation and
effects, 4th ed., Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Chapter 3, 4

2021/22 sem 1
3 Content
 Ch3 Modeling Concepts
 Ch4 Modeling Techniques
 Geometric Primitives
 Sweeping
 Tutorial
 Copy, Instance, Reference and Array
 Editable Poly
 Edge Ring, Edge Loop, Edge Connect
 Cut
 Chamfer
 Relax
 Bridge
4 Modeling Concepts
 Modeling: the sculpting, spatial
description, and placement of virtual 3-D
objects, environments, and scenes with
a computer system.
 This chapter explores the basic concepts
of the modeling process
 Numerical description of objects
 Moving and resizing objects in 3-D space
5 Space, Objects, and Structures

 Fig 3.1.2
6 Space, Objects, and Structures
 Workspace or scene: 3-D space with the
boundaries
 We can think of this space as our world or
environment.
 Objects that exist within the space are
visible, those that fall outside are invisible.
 The main point of reference in this world is
called the world origin.
 The origin is usually located in the center of
the space, but it can also be placed
elsewhere
7 Space, Objects, and Structures

 Fig 3.1.3
8 Space, Objects, and Structures
 All 3-D spaces have 3 basic dimensions:
width, height,and
width, height, and depth.
depth
 Commonly represented by arrows or axes.
 Commonly labeled width with X, height with Y and
depth with Z.
 But 3ds Max labeled width with X
X, height with Z
Z
and depth with Y
Y.
 The point where these 3 axes intersect is the world
origin.
origin
 The rectangular coordinate system can be used to
define specific locations and accurately position
the points of objects in 3-D space.
 Also referred to as the Catesian coordinate system
9 Space, Objects, and Structures

 Right-handed coordinate system

 Values on the X axis become larger to the right
of the origin
 Values on the Y axis increase as the move
above the origin
 Values on the Z axis grow as they get closer to us
10 Space, Objects, and Structures

 The 3 axes can be paired with each other

in 3 different ways to define a plane or a
view.
 XY axes: front plane
 XZ axes: top plane
 YZ axes: side plane
 Fig 3.1.4
11 Space, Objects, and Structures
 The spherical or azimuthal coordinate system is also
widely used
 Provides a simple method for placing objects in a 3-
D world in terms of their distance to the object, their
angle around the point of interest, and their altitude
angle above the point of interest
 Especially useful for placing and moving cameras
and light sources in a 3-D scene
 Fig 3.4.8
The spherical or azimuthal
coordinate system allows for
orbiting or panning the
camera around the subject
12 Vertices, Edges, and Facets
 Points, lines, and facets are
the basic elements that can
be used to build 3-D
objects.
 Fig 3.3.1
 The simple pyramid has
4 4 points or vertices,
66 lines or edges, and
4 4 planes or facets
13 Vertices, Edges, and Facets
 A point can be easily defined by its XYZ
position.
 A line can be defined by the XYZ location
of its two endpoints.
 In 3-D geometry, a point is also referred to
as a vertex, which is defined by the
intersection of 2 or more edges.
 An edge is defined by two adjacent
surfaces.
 A Facet is a planar surface that is defined
by the position of its bounding lines.
 A 3-D object is usually composed of several
points, lines, and facets.
14 Vertices, Edges, and Facets
 The facets or planar surfaces that defined
most 3-D objects are also called polygons,
which means “with many angles”
 Polygons are closed planes bounded by
straight lines
 Can be regular or irregular
 Can be used to create 3-D objects called
polyhedral (Fig 4.3.1)
 Fig 3.3.2 shows polygonal meshes in
wireframe rendering style
 Most modeling techniques focus on
building surfaces that are hollow shells– this
is called boundary geometry
15
16 Moving Things Around
 Once we have built some objects, we can
move them around
 Sometimes needs to move some of an object’s
components, e.g. a group of points, before the
modeling is completed.
 Geometric transformations: functions used for
modifying the shape of objects, their size and
proportions as well as their position in space
 Most widely used geometric transformations:
 Translation, rotation, scaling, perspective
projection
 Can also be applied to the camera and the
lights
17 Concatenated transformations

 A series of global transformations applied

in sequence
 Fig 3.4.2
18 Absolute or Relative Values
 Common to use mouse to control the position,
orientation, and size of the models in the
environment
 Sometimes necessary to type specific values
for controlling the exact position, orientation,
and size models
 In 3ds Max, shortcut key for transform type-in:
F12
F12
 Absolute values: exact position in space where
the object must be relocated regardless of
where the object was located in space before
the transformation
 Relative values: the number of units added or
subtracted to the current position of the object
(relative to an existing absolute position)
19 Translation
 Move an object or group of objects in a
linear way to a new location in 3-D space
 Can occur along one axis or along several
axes at the same time
 Order of translations does not affect the
final position (Fig 3.4.2)
 Fig 3.4.3
20 Rotation
 Move an element or group of elements
around a specific center and axis
 The amount of rotation is usually specified
in terms of an angle of rotation (measured
in degrees) and a direction of rotation
 When rotating an object around its own
center, it is possible to reposition that
center (In 3ds Max, it is called “pivot”)
"pivot"
21 Scaling
 Change the size and/or the
proportion of an element or a
group of elements
 Can be applied in proportional
or a non-proportional mode
 Proportional scaling: resize an
object along each axis in equal
amounts
 Non-proportional scaling: the
object may be resized by
different factors along each axis
 Fig 3.4.7
22 Perspective Projection
 Makes possible the representation of 3-D
environments on the flat surface of the
computer’s monitor or a sheet of paper
 A perspective view of a 3-D scene is
created by projecting each point of an
object from the viewpoint onto the image
plane
 The points in 3-D object coordinate system
are then transformed to the 2-D image
coordinate system
 Happens automatically in virtually all 3-D
software
 EIE 3101 Computer Animation

Modeling Techniques

23
Isaac Kerlow, The art of 3D computer animation and
effects, 4th ed., Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Chapter 4
25 Geometric Primitives
 Virtually all 3-D modeling computer programs
provide a collection of tools for creating simple
shapes with a fixed structure known as geometric
primitives.
 The number and type of geometric primitives varies
from program to program, but the following list is a
representative selection:
 Cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones, toruses, regular
polyhedral, and 2-D polygons
 Fig 4.3.1, 4.4.1
 What are the standard primitives
26
provided by 3ds Max?
27 Geometric Primitives
 Geometric primitives are standard shapes that the
modeling program can create and manipulate
effortlessly and usually from a simple predefined
mathematical description.
 Can be used to represent simple shapes
 Require almost no modification except for changes to
their position in space, size, and proportion in some
cases
 Can be used as the basis for more complex,
composite 3-D shapes
 Build more complex objects with a variety of utility
tools for trimming, attaching, and blending
 Fig 10.2.4
28 Geometric Primitives
1. Cubes
 Six-sided, closed, 3-D objects
 All sides have the same length (the only variable)
2. Spheres
 Symmetric, closed, 3-D objects
 Variable of radius or diameter
 Popular as the starting point for free-form modeling
3. Cylinders and Cones
 Commonly defined as polygonal objects
 May be shaped by the following variables: radius,
height, number of longitudinal divisions, number of
latitudinal divisions, and whether they are capped or
not.
 Capping determines whether the round sides of
cones or cylinders are open or whether they are
closed
29 Geometric Primitives
4. Toruses
 A torus is a 3-D, closed shape that resembles a
donut
 Like a cylinder that has been bent and stretched
so that the two bases touch each other
 Modeling variables: size of exterior radius, size of
interior radius, number of latitudinal divisions, and
number of longitudinal divisions.
 Can also be built with radial sweeping
techniques (Fig 4.4.1)
30 Geometric Primitives
5. Regular Polyhedra
A polyhedron refers to a 3-D object
that is composed of polygons
Common regular polyhedral:
4-sided tetrahedron,
8-sided octahedron,
12-sided dodecahedron,
 20-sided icosahedron
Fig 4.3.1
31 Geometric Primitives
6. 2-D Shapes
 Usually include arcs, circles, spirals, triangles,
squares, and other polygons
32 Sweeping
 Sweeping is perhaps the most powerful
derivative modeling technique
 The basic idea behind all sweeping
modeling techniques consists of defining a
2-D outline that is swept along a
predefined path.
 As the outline is swept, it defines a shape in
3-D space.
 The resulting 3-D model depends largely on
the complexity of the seed outline and the
complexity of the path (Fig 4.4.2)
33
34 Sweeping
The 3 most popular sweeping techniques:
1. Extrusion
 Create 3-D shapes by starting with a 2-D outline
and extruding or extending it along a straight
path along one axis (Fig 4.4.2)
 Sometimes called lofting because the 2-D
outlines are duplicated and moved a level up
2. Free-form sweeps
 Some programs also offer the ability to extrude
objects along curved paths of any shape and
along any axis or combination of axes.
 An extrusion that takes place along several axes
is sometimes called a sweep, an extrusion on a
path, or a free-form extrusion (Fig 4.4.3)
35 Sweeping
The 3 most popular sweeping techniques (con’t):
3. Lathe or revolve
 The surfaces created with this technique are
usually called surfaces of revolution.
 The software-based lathe tool simulates a real
lathe, which is a tool composed of a rotating base
on which you place a cylinder of wood that is
shaped by placing a steep blade on its surface as
the base rotates around its vertical axis.
 The software lathe sweeps a 2-D outline around
one axis; the 2-D outline may be open or closed.
 A new 3-D shape emerges as the 2-D outline is
swept along a circular or radial path; it usually
remains perpendicular to the sweeping path as
they are swept.
 The resulting 3-D object is defined by the areas
enclosed with the revolved 2-D outline.
36 Sweeping
The 3 most popular sweeping
techniques (con’t):
3. Lathe or revolve (con’t)
 2-D outlines that do not
touch the axis of sweeping
will result in 3-D objects with
holes
 In these cases, the resulting
shapes can be capped or
uncapped.
 Fig 4.4.4