Incorporating the Sketch

Building an Architectural Model from a Concept Sketch

Creating the Main Building

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials >  Modeling Tutorials > Building an Architectural Model from a Concept Sketch > 

Creating the Building

You will begin creating the building, starting with the main entrance rotunda. Because you are not building this to scale, disregard the dimensions on the sketch.

Set up the lesson:

• Continue from the previous step, or open the tutorial file modelfromsketch_02.max from the \tutorials\arch directory.
  NoteIf you do open the provided file, the viewport background will not be visible in the Top viewport. To display the viewport background, activate the Top viewport and choose Views > Viewport Background. In the Background Source group click Files, and then navigate, if necessary, to the \tutorials\arch folder and highlight sketch.gif.

Start the main entrance rotunda:

1. In the viewport navigation tools, click Zoom Region.
2. In the Top view, drag a rectangle to zoom in on the main entrance in the lower left of the sketch.

   

   NoteIf you zoom in too far, a dialog will appear indicating that the amount of RAM needed to display the background image may exceed the available amount. Answer NO to the warning. To display your viewport after you’ve answered NO to the warning, right-click the viewport label and choose Show Background.
3. On the Create panel, choose Shapes.

   The default Shapes category is Splines, which are line-based shapes you can use as the basis of 3D objects.

4. On the Object Type rollout, click Circle.
5. In the Top viewport, position the mouse cursor in the center of the rotunda, and then click and drag outward to draw a circle that lines up with the glass walls of the rotunda. If necessary, right-click and choose Move, then move the circle into place.
   TipTo move the circle, drag the circle itself, the X or Y arrow, or the yellow corner box where the arrows meet.

   

6. On the menu bar, choose Edit > Clone.
7. In the Clone Options dialog, make sure Copy is chosen, enter the name Steel Ring 01, and then click OK to make a copy of Circle01.

   A new copy of the circle is created on top of the original circle.

8. Press H to open the Select From Scene dialog, choose Circle01 in the Name column, and click OK.
9. From the Modifiers menu > Mesh Editing category, apply an Extrude modifier. On the Modify panel > Parameters rollout, set Amount to 18.3m.
10. Click in a viewport, press H, select the Steel Ring 01 object, and click OK.

    By default, unmodified splines don't render and appear as wireframe objects in all viewports, shaded or not. The spline Rendering settings let splines appear as “solid” mesh objects in the viewports, when rendered, or both.

11. On the Modify panel > Rendering rollout, turn on both Enable In Renderer and Enable In Viewport.

    The spline now has thickness in the viewport and will be visible when rendered.

12. Set Thickness to 0.61m.

    This parameter determines the thickness of the spline when rendered.

    

13. On the toolbar, click Select And Move.
14. In the status bar (bottom of the screen) > coordinate display > Z field, enter 6.1m.

    This moves the ring up 6.1 meters.

15. From the Tools menu choose Array.
16. In the Array dialog, under Incremental, set the Move Z axis to 6.1m.
17. In the Type Of Object group, choose Instance.
18. In the Array Dimensions group > 1D Count, enter 3.

    

19. Click OK.

    This closes the dialog and creates two additional steel holding rings around the glass rotunda.

Add the outer wall and central column:

You'll now use the rotunda circle to create an outer wall.

1. Select the Circle01 object.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Clone.
3. In the Clone Options dialog > Object group, choose Copy.
4. Click OK to make a copy of Circle01.
5. In the Modify panel, under the modifier stack display, click Remove Modifier.
6. In the Modify panel > Parameters rollout, change the Radius amount to match the outer circle in the sketch (about 15.0m).

   

7. On the menu bar, choose Edit > Clone.
8. In the Clone Options dialog > Name group, type Large Column. Make sure the active choice is still Copy, then click OK.
9. In the Modify panel > Parameters rollout, change the Radius amount to 2.4m to match the small solid circle in the sketch.

   

   You needn't move the column to match the sketch. Remember, this is just a rough sketch, not a precise design.

10. Apply an Extrude modifier and set Amount to 21.3m.

    

11. Press H and select Circle01 from the list.
12. At the top of the Modify panel, rename Circle01 to Rotunda Glass.
13. In the modifier stack display, choose Circle.

    If you can no longer see the extrusion, it is because you've moved "down" the stack to the original shape. In order to see "up" the stack, you must turn on Show End Result. If this is already on you will see the extrusion without problem.

    

14. From the Modifier List > Object Space Modifiers category, choose Edit Spline.

    Like other object types in 3ds Max, the spline has sub-objects you can edit independently, such as Vertex and Segment, and you can also edit (transform) the entire object at the top level: Spline. A spline object can comprise several splines (separate curves), so it also has a Spline sub-object level so you can edit a single constituent spline.

15. On the Modify panel > Selection rollout, click the Spline button.

    This places you at the Spline sub-object level, which is the only one that affords access to the Outline function.

16. In the Modify panel > Geometry rollout, next to the Outline button, enter 0.03m.

    

    This creates a nested shape, like the letter O. Notice that the outline field returns to the original 0.0 value after you create the outline. This is because Outline is an action, rather than a parameter.

17. In the Modify panel > Selection rollout, click Spline to exit the sub-object level.
18. In the modifier stack display, choose Circle. When the warning appears, click Yes to continue.

    You can now see the result of outlining the spline: Instead of a solid column, you have a thin, circular wall.

    

Create doorways with Boolean:

Next, you'll create a box and then use Boolean to subtract its shape from the rotunda.

1. In the Create panel > Geometry > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout, click Box.
2. In the Top viewport, click and drag out a box as shown in the following illustration.

   

   TipRight-click the Top viewport label and change the viewport to Smooth+Highlights.
3. In the Modify panel > Parameters rollout, change the Length amount to 9.0m, the Width to 36.5m, and the Height to 6.0m.

   

4. On the toolbar, click Align.
5. Press H, choose Rotunda Glass from the list, and then click Pick.

   

6. In the Align Selection dialog > Align Position group, turn on X Position and Y Position.

   

7. Click OK to close the dialog.
8. On the toolbar, click Select And Rotate.
9. In the Coordinate Display > Z field, enter 45.0.

   This rotates the box into the same position and orientation as the rotunda openings in the plan.

   

10. Select the Rotunda Glass object.
11. Go to the Create panel, and from the drop-down category list, choose Compound Objects.
12. On the Object Type rollout, click Boolean.
13. On the Parameters rollout, make sure the Subtraction (A-B) item is active.
14. On the Pick Boolean rollout, click Pick Operand B, and then click the box.

    The box is subtracted from the rotunda object, leaving two open doorways.

15. Right-click in the viewport to exit the Boolean operation.

    

Create the roof:

Here you'll clone the topmost ring and then extrude the clone, producing a roof.

1. Press H and select Steel Ring 03 from the list.

   This is the topmost ring.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Clone.
3. Name the clone Roof, click Instance, and then click OK.
   NoteAn instance derives certain characteristics from the object it's copied from, so changing one also alters the other.
4. On the Modify panel, add an Extrude modifier.

   The roof appears at the top of the rotunda.

5. On the Modify panel > Parameters rollout, set the Amount to 0.15m.

   This gives the roof the appropriate thickness.