I have already evaluated several different compound objects, and now I have two more to add to the list. Now that I have some experience with Terrain and Scatter, I am officially going to add them to my ranking! Scatter is an amazing tool that allows you to apply and randomly generate an object throughout a scene. You can apply it to any other object and specify how many copies of it you want as well as place other parameters. Scatter is extremely easy to use and is super great for duplicating an object throughout your scene, especially if you aren't too specific about its placements. It also adds realism considering the random placement, similar to in real life. For example in this Old West scene I designed, I was easily able to randomly place three objects (a cacti, rock, and tumbleweed) I made, throughout the environment in amounts I specified. As you can see it adds to the scene and makes it look more realistic and less plain. It took a matter of minutes to learn how to use and to apply it, several times, overall rendering it very efficient and productive. The other tool I learned and got to try was the Terrain tool. This tool is also one of my favorites so far as well. This tool is amazing for making landscapes and is also extremely simple to use. All you have to do is create splines outlining where you want the land to level in and move them to where you want the land to extrude or dip down. It is super easy to do this and gives the user a surprising about of control. I also used it to make a rock and can imagine it being applied to several other multi layered objects. It reminds me of Loft in some aspects but gives a little bit more control. Overall these two tools are great additions to my skill set and think they're two of my favorites that I have learned so far. Although they are great for landscape/environmental art, they can be applied to other objects and be re-purposed outside of that singular use. In conclusion;
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Now that I have evaluated all the tools and in particular, ProBoolean, I would like to look closer into the Loft tool. This tool comes as a close second to ProBoolean, so I decided to explore it more. It is relatively easy to get the hang of Loft but hard to master. It also appears to be limited to a singular line segment and has some unpredictable behavior. Besides these limitations though, it is amazing for creating relatively complex shapes and parts. For example I was able to make this screwdriver all from one line segment and using just a few splines. I also made the lightsaber handle in a matter of minutes, showing how fast and easy the Loft tool is to use. To get a better idea of how much this tool is capable of, I started making another object with it, but using multiple parts and using it in a couple different and new ways. I decided to do a sniper/gun so I could closer evaluate it to ProBoolean which I also used to make a gun, particular focusing on the nozzle and scope. The images above are the two guns I made using the two different tools. I used Loft to make the one on the left and ProBoolean for the one on the right. Loft actually gave me more capability for more of the parts on the gun and was also able to make a nozzle/barrel and scope, that turned out better than the ones I made with ProBoolean. I am also particularly surprised and happy with how well Loft worked for creating the butt of the sniper, and created the exact shape I was going for with only two splines. Overall Loft is a really great tool and can be used for many things. Although it has limitations, it has a lot of potential and is one of the most versatile tools, and for me competes with ProBoolean as one of the best compound objects. Synopsis:
Compound objects are used for various different purposes, however the one I find myself using the most casually is ProBoolean. ProBoolean works with combining and subtracting shapes from each other, basically turning standard primitives into a tool. ProBoolean is great because you can use shapes to create more unique shapes. It is fun, easy, and convenient to use. The Loft tool applies the shape of splines to a simple line and is great for creating a shape with multiple layers to it, however the tool does appear to be limited to creating singular parts with symmetry all around, like handles and tools. Sweep is similar to Loft and also uses splines/lines, but is very complex. Sweep applies the shape of a line segment to the border of a spline to add texture. Sweep is great for creating things like architectural molding, but is relatively unpredictable and often results in creating normals. It's a really difficult process and isn't enjoyable considering the lack of control it gives the user. ProCutter is another compound object tool. ProCutter allows you to embed a shape or text into another object. However, it is similar to ProBoolean, but with less potential, overall putting it low on my list. BlobMesh creates a metaball that you can apply to any object to create a unique shape. It is great for making cushions or more rounded objects. However, Blobmesh is limited to making cushy or slimy textures and is also very unpredictable when applying it to an object. Lastly is Array which systematically aligns objects by using a grid system. Although Array makes it much easier to align objects and get things systematically into place, it is very hard to tell what coordinates to plug in and requires a great understanding of the coordinate system. Summary:
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AuthorMy name is Quinn Peterson! I will be reflecting about my art work in this blog! Archives
May 2022
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