How create models like a house

[Leu]

Hi. How can i make a model in SWift 3D v.2 like a house with windows or a pub or so? There are no good textures important, only the room. It´s so hard to make a house with 50000 Cubes... :-)

[RUSHVision]

Use the Extrusion Editor or draw the shapes in Flash or another drawing program to create the walls. Include cutouts for the windows, doors, etc. The actual windows and doors can be drawn at the same time and extruded with the rest of the house elements. Then position them in the scene editor.

[Leu]

Hi. I have a question to your stick-Swift3D-Animation: How have you created the room, and the most important, how have you created the stairs in the room? Thx, Leu

[RUSHVision]

Since this was only an example of camera animation, I didn't make a point to create everything in Swift3D. To save some time I just used a free model I pulled off the net.

You could easily make something like this in Swift3D, though. Start out by taking a look at the staircase and breaking it down into individual components...the treads (the part you step on), the supports on either side that the treads attach to, the smaller vertical railing supports, the railing, and the bannister (the larger vertical support that the railing attaches to). Once you know which elements you need to make, you can determine what method you wish to employ for creating them and outline in your head how you will put them together in Swift3D.

There are a number of different ways to go about making each element. You could make one of the treads in the Extrusion Editor and them arrange them in the Scene Editor by dragging them in the viewport or more accurately by using the Position page on the Properties Toolbar. You could also create them by adjusting the Sizing properties of a cube primitive. These would be arranged using the same method as mentioned previously. Using these methods is suitable for single objects or maybe a few, but it can be time-consuming if you have many objects like all the treads for a staircase.

A faster/better way would be to create a single tread profile in Flash, convert that to a symbol, then duplicate the tread symbol and use Flash's alignment tools to get all your treads positioned in relation to the side supports, which would be drawn in another layer. I recommend making the first tread a symbol so if you want to make any changes, you can just change one and it will be reflected globally in all of the treads instead of having to reposition everything again.

You might also want to include a profile for the railing in the .EPS that you will export from Flash for import into Swift3D. Instead of making a separate file for each element, I will just make one that includes all the shapes I will need for that particular project.

In the .EPS for the staircase, you would want one layer for a single side support, which would be copied/pasted in Swift3D once you have the first one positioned. One layer that includes all the treads, already positioned, these can be Combined under the Arrange menu and sized all at once. You may also want to include a kick plate, or the vertical piece that connects each tread and encloses the staircase. I mention this because the staircase in the stickman example does not have these.

The bannister could be created in Swift3D's Lathe Editor, as could the smaller vertical railing supports. Once you have all the individual elements imported and created in Swift3D, you would then position them so they resembled a staircase.

You were also asking about making a pub. Many of these have the raised panel work on the walls and the bar itself. You could create the profile for the raised frame in the Lathe Editor, drawing it a good distance away from the center line. Then back in the Scene Editor you would uncheck radial smoothing and set the segmentation settings to 4. The inside panel could be created in the Extrusion Editor. This would give you a very convincing wainscoting effect.