Sweet Home 3D: Design a House

Yesterday we began exploring features of Sweet Home 3D -- a free 3D home design program which does rendering, animation, etc. The program has an active developer community and a lot of extra models you can download for free.

Sweet Home 3D: http://www.sweethome3d.com
Sweet Home 3D Models: http://www.sweethome3d.com/importModels.jsp

Our goal over the next couple of days is to design a house with at least one bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom.  You are welcome to create additional bedrooms, a family room, a garage, a workshop, or whatever.  Just have fun with it.

When you are finished, take some "photos" (renderings) of different rooms and/or angles to put on your portfolio.

Other web sites with 3D models

The following sites offer also some 3D models at OBJ, DAE, 3DS or LWS formats supported by the furniture import wizard of Sweet Home 3D:

		Google 3D Warehouse (a big choice of models at DAE/Collada format)
		Resources.blogscopia (free well designed models shown also here)
		ArchiBit Generation (various well designed models)
		Flying architecture (various models with regular updates)
		Kinnarps (office furniture)
		Free the models (furniture tested in Sweet Home 3D)
		Kolo (bathroom furniture)
		Creative-3D.net (a lot of importable furniture, but monochrome)
		Klicker (a few chairs and trees)
		Model3D.biz (various models, but a few models can't be imported)
		Baumgarten Enterprises (a few interesting models, generally for industrial purpose)
		3DPlants.com (a lot of plants but without colors, except for the Plant of the month)

OTHER USEFUL DOCUMENTATION:

Create Multi-Story Homes:   http://www.sweethome3d.com/multiLevelHouseGuide.pdf

Creating Sloped Roofs/Ceilings/Etc:   http://www.sweethome3d.com/slopingCeilingGuide.pdf

Plug-Ins & Extentions (Haven't checked yet):    http://www.sweethome3d.com/pluginsUserGuide.pdf


This video tutorial does a pretty good job of showcasing the tools in Sweet Home 3D -- although it's a much earlier version:

Rhino: Inlaid Table with Beveled Edges

Today we are going learn a few new tools to build a decorative table with an inlaid top and carved legs. We will be beveling the edges of a block using the "SOLID > FILLET EDGE" tool. We will create the "carved legs" look by starting with a "Truncated Cone" and then creating a "Spiral Curve", adding a "Pipe", and then doing a "Boolean Difference".

Rhino: Rubber Duck

Today we're going to learn a few new tools and techniques to build a Rubber Duck. If you need to follow a printed tutorial later, you can check out The Training Manuals online (see previous post).  Today we'll be using Rhino Training Manual Level 1 [pages 156-169].  Following a tutorial from a book [particularly an online book] can be difficult, so I will work through this one with you as well.

The Basics (see illustrations below):

1. Create two spheres (head and body) in the RIGHT viewport
2. Select both spheres and type REBUILD
3. Set dialog for 8, 8, 3, 3, Delete input, ReTrim, OK
4. Select the body (or de-select the head)
5. Turn Control Points on (F10)
6. Select the bottom 1/3 of Control Points (on the body)
7. Go to TRANSFORM > SET POINTS and Set Z and Align to World
8. Drag upward to have a flattened bottom of the ducks body
9. Drag around some control points to select them and stretch the body to look more "duck-like" (i.e. puff out the chest, pull out the tail shape, etc.).
10. Turn Control Points off (F11)
11. Select the head (sphere)
12. Follow the same select > drag/stretch to form the bill and head shape
13. Right click on RIGHT to select Ghosted as the view type
14. Draw a curve (I usually use the free sketch curve) COMPLETELY intersecting the head shape
15. De-select everything and type SPLIT
16. Follow the prompts by selecting the object to split (the head) and then the cutting object (the curve)
17. The bill and head should now be separate objects so you can color/texture them as you wish
18. Draw a straight line cutting through the base of the head
19. Copy and paste the straight line, then drag it to intersect the top-right section of the body (copying and pasting keeps the lines perfectly parallel)
20. Type TRIM and select the pieces to trim (or delete) and press ENTER when finished
21. Go to SURFACE > BLEND SURFACE 
22. In the Perspective window (I find this is the easiest to work with in this step) select the first edge of your cut object then press ENTER
23. Select the second edge (the other cut object) and press ENTER
24. Check the PREVIEW box and adjust the "bulge" to look its' best 
25. Add colors/textures/gloss 
26. Add some shapes (i.e. spheres, ellipsoids (flattened spheres), etc.) to create eyes.

Please Note:  I am trying to teach you the basics of editing shapes (split, trim, blend, etc.) and not necessarily how to build a rubber duck -- so experiment and have fun with it.  You don't have to have a duck that looks exactly like mine [in fact I like creativity].  Here are some examples of creative ducks.  :)

Rhino: Work on Chess Boards, Chess Pieces and Pull Toys

On Thursday and Friday of last week I kind of threw chess pieces and pull toys at you and didn't give you much time to work on them.  Today, tomorrow and Wednesday I would like you to work on them.

I would also like you to feature them on a table of some sort with a floor and walls.  Remember that a large block makes the floor, another large block makes a wall, and another makes another wall.  The you can add a block as a table (or actually make a table) and shine some spotlights on it.

Add your checker/chess board to the table and adjust the lights if necessary.

Some specifics:

• Chess Pieces:  Complete a full chess set (Pawn, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen and King)

 Pull Toys: 

• Trace an object (animal, vehicle, etc.) and extrude it and cap it.
• Create a block for the object to sit on
• Add axles and wheels (I use cylinders)
• I also use Filletedge on these to round them off
• Draw a curve that will become the string or rope
• Select the curve and type "Pipe"
• Set the width of the first end (i.e. .25")
• Set the width of the other end (i.e. .25")
• Press ENTER
• Add textures and bump maps

Rhino: Wooden Pull Toy

Today we are going to be creating a wooden pull-toy which will include wheels, axles, a rope, etc.  Remember that a wooden toy for children typically has rounded (filleted) edges.  Because there isn't a definite pattern for this project, I expect it will take a couple days to find a good design, model the body, create the wheels, etc.  Over the next couple days [while you are working on this project] I will also be grading your animations.

Here are some examples of wooden pull toys that I found simply by typing "wooden pull toys" in Google.

Notice the different ways that wheels are done, different painting styles, different types of wood pieces (spheres, flat wood, beveled edges, etc.), and different methods for ropes/pulls.

You can also find woodworking plans on the Internet which you can actually use to create 3D models.  Here are a few examples:

Something else you might want to try is doing a search for "silhouette animal".  Here are a couple examples:

Using the camel silhouette, I traced a curve, extruded it, capped it, filleted the edges, and created the following pull-toy: