Ok.. I've been messing with the animation and stuff but thought it was time I model something.

I've gone through the tutorials in the book and some online as well and I'm just having trouble grasping the spline modeling in A:M.

I can't really even explain where I'm having trouble.. it's just not clicking..

I understand the basics of working with splines, the types of patches, lathing, etc.. I think I'm just having trouble getting them all to work together.

For instance I tried to model a bar of soap thinking this would be a good simple project to finish and make myself feel better... well, I don't feel better.

I got the body nicely shaped and all but at the top and bottom I can't get the damn thing to have a smooth curve.. you can always see the lines through the curve.. I'd post screenshots but I'm on my way out to class.

Is there anyone else either in the same boat, or was in the same boat and got through it?

My friend Greg said that he was struggling as well and it just kind of clicked one day..

It's very frustrating when you can't even model a bar of soap! haha

Ok.. enough of my venting.

See ya'!
Steve

It sounds like a continuity(of spline) problem. Can you make a snapshot and put it up here....jpeg please.

Ken,
I'll post it as soon as I get home from class.
Thanks!

Steve

I think this is a common problem for new users of AM and certainly, I was no different.

But, I can tell you this...once you start to get a feel for spline modeling, there's no turning back...everything else will seem totally un-natural.

I'll keep an eye out for your post.

Hang in there.

Eugene

Whew.. what a day/night...

Here is the quick render and wireframe of my bar of soap I wrote about above.

I've tried moving the splines around at the top and can't get a smooth curve at the top.
This is half the bar to make it easier to see the mesh.

Thanks for any help / suggestions you all can give!

Steve

Haha.. well apparently Greg's login was saved on my machine from a few days ago.

Anyway, that was posted by me..
Thanks all.
Steve

It's kind of like the top of a sphere. You see the top bit where you've closed off the hole....you've made valid patches as they're 4 pointers, but a spline in each quadrant is just cut off. They're the ones causing the creasing. There is a complex way to close it off properly, but the best way is to extrude the circular spline again inward and scale it down to a tiny sized hole that won't be seen by the camera.

Sometimes an alternate topology can simplify things. Since a bar of soap is basically a block, how about something like this. There's tiny bit of ridging about the three pointers, but porcelain can smooth that.

Don't make the same mistake I made early on...
I tried to use lathe for entirely too many models (some worked though!)

Robcat's displayed methodology shows there is often a better way than resorting to lathing.

I think I used lathing as a crutch for the longest time simply because it made full shapes whereas extruding too time and needed a plan.

If you can draw it out on paper... even in the simplest of forms that will help as well.

The defining moment for me had to be when I purchased one of the SIGGRAPH videotapes. Seeing other people create models made it click for me in ways that just couldn't happen otherwise short of having someone knowledgeable show you in person.

Nowadays, with the online video tutorials and other resources on the internet 'seeing' how other people model is much easier. For instance... have you seen John Henderson's recent Osprey modeling Tutorials! I learned new ways to do things by watching him.

Hang in there that moment will arrive soon enough and all (or at least most) of it will click.

I may have a similar problem not understanding spline behavior, so I decided to add to this discussion.

I have created a two-layered intersecting tube so that the inside layer has different properties and can glow and behave differently than the outside layer. So far, so good...

But I seem to have shadows on the side where they intersect. I have worked very hard to ensure that all the lines line up and are consistent with their bends but cannot seem to get rid of the artifact.

I have never tried this forum before. I will try to upload three images. the first is a jpg of the splines. If that does not work, I will try 3 subsequent messages.

Many thanks, Michael

The second image starts to show the shadow at the intersection.

The third shows the shadow in the rendered image.

As for the soap, robcat2075's solution is the best. I find if I am having trouble like that, it is best to find a different, better way of modeling. Otherwise one needs to practice disconnecting and reconnecting splines to get continuity.

As for the tubes, it looks to me that those 3 point patches in the trouble spots are the problem. I would have to think of another way to model it or simply have something cover that area. maybe one of these gurus can think of a better solution!

Wow. Tough shape there.
There are probably a few ways to make it(there might be a similar shape on the cd) most using 5 point patches. It doesn't help that the splines are all so close together. But looking at the shadows, it looks like there is internal rendering going on. You might get away with deleting a point in the centre that gives the tube thickness. Hard to tell without playing with it.

I think this would be the Jeff Cantin way to do it:

Hey Rodney,
Where is John Henderson's Osprey tutorial?

I checked on A:M Resource Matrix but couldn't find it.

Thanks,
Steve

Try searching the forum! There's gold in tham ther hills!

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=S...highlite=osprey

Wow, Robert, Thanks!

Simpler is better. Jeff's example was excellent. It's amazing the way AM shapes can bend when you know its characteristics. Like the way it curves from the spline join where two adjoining pipes meet to the way it smooths out at the intersection on the flat side where all four pipes meet.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the help all.. I think I'm starting to get this modeling thing a little bit.. just gotta' take baby steps.

Anyway, here's my bar of soap if anyone's interested.

Thanks again!
Steve