Creating a Tapered Cylinder

Creating a Realistic Hourglass

Adding the Caps Using AutoGrid

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials >  Modeling Tutorials > Creating a Realistic Hourglass > 

Adding a Free-Form Deformation

The Free-Form Deformation (FFD) modifier provides a lattice of control points that let you deform geometry.

Continue from the previous lesson or load sands_of_time1.max found in the \tutorials\hourglass directory.

1. On the Modify panel, open the Modifier List and choose FFD(cyl).
   TipTo quickly locate FFD(cyl) , press F to cycle through all the modifiers that begin with the letter F.

   The FFD gizmo is applied to the tapered cylinder.

   

   Free-Form Deformation Lattice enclosing the cylinder.

2. On the FFD Parameters rollout, in the Dimensions group, click Set Number Of Points. On the Set Dimensions dialog, increase the Height to 15 and click OK.

   Now there are many more lattice control points to work with.

3. Click the Min/Max Toggle to reset the display to four viewports, and then right-click the Front view.
   NoteActivating a viewport by right-clicking in it does not deselect any selected objects. Left-clicking in an empty area activates the desired viewport while deselecting any objects.
4. Right-click the Front viewport label and turn on Smooth + Highlights and Edged Faces.
5. In the view navigation tools, click Zoom Extents so that you can zoom in on the FFD Lattice.

   

   Front view of lattice.

6. On the modifier stack, click the plus button next to FFD(cyl) to expand it. Select Control Points.
   Tip If the modifier stack is blank, click the Select Object button on the toolbar, and select the cylinder.
7. In the view navigation tools, turn on Arc Rotate, and then rotate the Perspective viewport so you can see the grid behind the hourglass.

   

   View grid behind the hourglass.

   It's important to use an angled view so that you'll be able to see the transform corners when they appear.

   Now, you'll select the vertices in the Front viewport, so you're sure to get horizontal rows, then scale the vertices using the transform gizmo in the Perspective viewport.

8. In the Front viewport, drag a selection rectangle around the middle horizontal row of control points.

   The control points become outlined in yellow to show they are selected. You are selecting the points in the Front viewport

   

   Select the middle row of FFD control points.

9. On the toolbar, click Select And Uniform Scale. Right-click in the Perspective viewport to activate it without losing the selection you made in the Front viewport.
10. Press the + key on the keyboard three times to increase the size of the transform gizmo. Now you can see the three sets of transform corners and plane handles.

    

    Scale the transform gizmo display.

11. To scale the vertices of the lattice in the Perspective viewport, move your mouse over the inner set of triangular plane handles. When the scale cursor appears, click and drag downward. As you move the cursor, watch the coordinate display change. Release the mouse button when the X, Y, Z fields display 30.

    

    Scale cursor appears over the inner plane handle.

    

    Drag downward to deform the center.

    To refine the shape of the hourglass, you'll need to repeat this process on all the horizontal rows of control points, scaling two rows at a time. This is a two-step process for each pair of rows:

    • Select a pair of rows of control points in the Front viewport.
    • Scale in the Perspective viewport. Remember to right-click the viewport to avoid deselecting control points, and be sure to drag the bottom section of the Scale gizmo to scale on the XY plane.

      

      Drag the bottom section of the Scale gizmo to scale on X and Y only.

      It might be a little difficult to see where exactly to drag in the above image, so we've added the following image, for illustration purposes only, to show you which part of the gizmo to adjust. Position the mouse cursor on the horizontal strip between the X and Y axes until the strip and the two axes highlight in yellow, and then drag.

      

    To select the control points, drag a selection rectangle around a row, then press the Ctrl key and select the corresponding row in the opposite half of the hourglass. Select each pair of rows then scale them on the XY plane by varying amounts to create the hourglass shape.

    Here is the shape you are trying to achieve.

    

    FFD lattice scaled from the front.

12. When you are finished, turn off the Control Points level in the modifier stack and then left-click in the Perspective viewport to deselect the object.
13. Activate Arc Rotate, click inside the yellow circle, then drag the cursor around to view the object from different angles.

    It's good practice to look at objects from all sides while you work.

    

    Sculpted object

14. Save your work as MyHourglass1.max.

The next stage in transforming the hourglass involves adding the caps and posts.