Lofting the Telephone Base

Load a start file:

• Continue from the previous lesson, Creating the Shapes for the Base, or you can open telephone_base.max from the \tutorials\intro_to_modeling folder.

Make the loft path:

Before you can loft a shape, you need a path to loft the shapes along. The path can be a simple straight line or a complex curved line. For the base, all you need is a straight line that is as long as the height of the telephone.

1. On the Create panel, click Shapes.

2. Click Line to turn it on, and then click the Keyboard Entry rollout title to expand it.

   

3. Without changing any of the X, Y or Z values, click Add Point.

   This places the first point of your loft path at the scene origin, (0,0,0).

4. In the Z field enter 65, and then click Add Point again.

   The loft path is a vertical line 65 units long.

   Tip: If the Top viewport is maximized, click the Min/Max Toggle or press Alt+W to see viewports where it is visible, such as the Perspective viewport.

5. Click Finish, and then right-click a viewport to exit the Line tool.

   

   That's it. The loft path for the base of the telephone is a simple, straight line. Now you're ready to build the base.

Loft the base cross-sections:

Now you'll loft the base of the telephone. You'll start by lofting the base and tower cross-sections along the path. You will also learn how to control the placement of shapes along a loft path.

1. On the Create panel, click Geometry.

2. Click the down-arrow next to Standard Primitives, and choose Compound Objects from the drop-down list.

3. Make sure the path line is still selected, then click Loft.

4. On the Creation Method rollout, turn on Get Shape, then in a viewport pick the Telephone-Base shape.

   Tip: If you lose track of which spline is which, watch for the name tooltip that appears when you place your cursor over an object.

   

   Ready to pick the Telephone-Base shape

   

   The lofting begins

5. On the Path Parameters rollout, choose Distance and then enter 20 in the Path field.

   In wireframe viewports, you can see a yellow 'x' move up the loft path. Because you can add multiple shapes to a loft path, this marker indicates where your next shape will be placed.

6. Click Get Shape again, and then press the H key.

   This shortcut key opens the Pick Object dialog, where you can choose the next shape. This can be handy when the shapes in your scene are obstructed by nearer objects.

7. Choose Telephone-Base from the list, and then click Pick.

   Tip: You can also pick the object by double-clicking its name.

   

   The second shape appears on the path

   Adding a duplicate of the first shape ensures that the base footprint of the telephone is maintained before it blends into the tower section.

8. On the Path Parameters rollout, enter 21 in the Path field, and then click Get Shape once again.

9. Press the H key, choose Telephone-Tower from the list, and then click the Pick button again.

   A distinct shoulder now divides the base and the tower.

   

   If you didn't add the duplicate of the Telephone-Base cross-section at 20 units along the path, the transition from the base footprint to the tower shape would have been immediate.

   

   Lofting without the second Telephone-Base shape.

10. On the Name And Color rollout, change the loft object's name to Telephone.

Use Fit deformations to complete the shape of the base:

To finish sculpting the base of the telephone, you use the front and side profiles to constrain the lofted cross-sections. The tool that does this is a deformation tool called Fit.

1. Open the Modify panel.

   Because the lofted object is selected, you see the same creation rollouts. On the Modify panel, there is an additional rollout called Deformations.

2. On the Path Parameters rollout, right-click the spinner next to the Path field to set the value back to zero.

   This is an important step. If you leave Path set to 21 units, you can end up with some strange results when you add the front and side profiles.

3. Click the Deformations rollout title to expand it, then click Fit to use this tool.

   The Fit Deformation graph is displayed. Its title bar indicates that the X axis is active.

   

4. On the Fit Deformation toolbar, turn off Make Symmetrical.

   Because the two profiles are quite different, this button needs to be off.

5. On the Fit Deformation toolbar, click Get Shape, and then in a viewport pick the Telephone-Front profile.

   

   The profile appears in the Fit Deformation graph, but it doesn't make the model look any better.

   

   This isn't right.

6. On the Fit Deformation toolbar, click Rotate 90 CW.

   The image in the Fit Deformation graph rotates 90 degrees and the model looks far closer to completion.

   

   Note: If your results show strange extrusions or harsh edges, it's most likely due to the cross-sections being scaled to maintain uniformity and a lack of shape optimization.

   

   Note: Fix this by opening the Skin Parameters rollout and turn off Constant Cross-Section and turn on Optimize Shapes in the Option group.

8. Now, on the Fit Deformation toolbar click Display Y-Axis.

9. Get Shape is still active, so in a viewport pick the Telephone-Side profile.

   

   The side profile appears in the Fit Deformation graph, but it's apparent you'll have to rotate this one, too.

   

10. On the Fit Deformation toolbar, click Rotate 90 CW twice.

    The image in the Fit Deformation graph rotates 180 degrees. The telephone base is almost done.

    

    The finished telephone base.

11. Save your scene as my_phone02.max.