Vectary’s editing tools are very helpful when you create a 3D model from scratch or decide to edit a model from the 3D assets library. In this article you will get familiar with the basic tools for creating 3D objects. Have a look at more tutorials and how-to articles to have these detailed steps explained.
Add 3D effects to the box. Right click (for Mac users, Ctrl + click) your WordArt or Text Box and choose “Format Shape” from the drop down menu. Under '3-D Rotation', change the X and/or Y axis numbers; under '3-D Format', increase the value of the depth. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Exploring the properties of three dimensional shapes is fun and educational with this free printable foldable 3D shape set. You can introduce these 3D shapes early on and these together with young kids or you could use them with high schoolers to explore more complex math. No matter how you use them, this set ofRead More.
Most of the 3D mesh models are created from primitive shapes and fine-tuned by adding segments, beveling edges, and extruding and deforming the mesh to form the final shape. You’ve probably already tried to drag and drop 3D models from the assets library, now it’s time to create your own!
First you need to create a new object where your 3D shape is going to be placed. To do so:
1. Open the Objects List by clicking the objects list icon in the lower left corner of the workspace (shortcut shift+o).
2. Click + New Object and a new item will appear in the Objects List. When you create a new object, your workspace will automatically switch to Edit mode.
- If necessary, on the status bar click Workspace Switching and select 3D Modeling. Find Click Solid tab Solid panel Extrude. Find Select the objects or edge subobjects to extrude. Specify the height. After the extrusion, the original objects are deleted or retained, depending on the.
- In a few clicks, design a unique 3D model online, and order its 3D printing with Sculpteo. Create geometric shapes Choose a geometric shape (simple or complicated.
- In the 3D modeling toolbar, select a shape from the Draw objects list (shortcut shift + d). With the tool active, click on the scene (or the grid or surface of another object). With the first click you define the starting point of your shape. Move your mouse a bit and see how your shape.
3. Once you’re in Edit mode, you can choose from the 3D modeling toolbar a few tools which create primitive objects such as box, sphere, cylinder, tube, cone, polyhedron or torus. Draw your own mesh shapes with the Draw tool.
You can edit a mesh model in Edit mode. To get into the Edit mode of an already existing object, you first need to select it. Double click on the object on the scene to get into Edit mode. You will see the mesh structure of the 3D model and a 3D modeling toolbar at the bottom of your workspace.
How to draw basic objects:
1. In the 3D modeling toolbar, select a shape from the Draw objects list (shortcut shift + d).
2. With the tool active, click on the scene (or the grid or surface of another object). With the first click you define the starting point of your shape.
3. Move your mouse a bit and see how your shape starts to change its size.
4. Confirm the size with a second click and continue moving your mouse in the 3rd direction and confirm again with a click.
5. A radial menu will appear where you can adjust your shape and add or reduce segments.
6. Click one last time to confirm and the menu will disappear.
Note:
The number of options may vary depending on the shape you want to create. Some menu items in the radial menu can be dragged like a jog to set certain values. You can also click and then type the values you want in the input field. You can adjust the parameters of your shape (box segments, torus thickness, etc.) only when you create the shape for the first time. Once you confirm your shape, the mesh of this shape is baked and is no longer parametric. However, you can change the shape by scaling or using the cut and other tools.
The number of options may vary depending on the shape you want to create. Some menu items in the radial menu can be dragged like a jog to set certain values. You can also click and then type the values you want in the input field. You can adjust the parameters of your shape (box segments, torus thickness, etc.) only when you create the shape for the first time. Once you confirm your shape, the mesh of this shape is baked and is no longer parametric. However, you can change the shape by scaling or using the cut and other tools.
How to draw lines and polygons:
1. In Edit mode, choose the Draw Lines tool (shortcut “D”) from the 3D modeling toolbar.
2. Use your mouse to draw lines. With every left button click, you add new points connected with lines.
3. Connect the lines to create polygons. Make sure you have the Snap function enabled so your mouse click snaps to the nearest point when creating polygonal surfaces.
4. The Draw tool is “sticky” and, with each click, your mouse is followed by a yellow line which shows you the next line you are going to create. If you want to finish your drawing, press Enter or Esc on your keyboard.
Note:
You can re-draw lines on your mesh model, they will not be duplicated. With the active draw tool you can drag and rotate the scene with left mouse.
You can re-draw lines on your mesh model, they will not be duplicated. With the active draw tool you can drag and rotate the scene with left mouse.
The Hand Draw tool
The alternative Hand Draw tool lets your draw freehand just like you would do on a paper. Simply hold the left mouse button down while drawing. In the radial menu, adjust the parameters and confirm your drawing.
How to create 3D text:
Creating 3D text in Vectary is easy and unbelievably fast.
1. From the library categories at the bottom of your workspace, open the Add-ons category.
2. Click the 3D text add-on. This places the default word “Example” at the center of your scene. You can also drag the 3D text add-on from the library to a specific place on the scene and the default text will be dropped and snapped to the object or empty space on the scene.
3. This lists a 3D text object in the Objects Library and, when selected, you can change its parameters in the Properties panel on the right side of your workspace.
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In the earlier chapters, we have seen how to draw 2D shapes on an XY plane. In addition to these 2D shapes, we can draw several other 3D shapes as well using JavaFX.
3D Shape
In general, a 3D shape is a geometrical figure that can be drawn on the XYZ plane. These include a Cylinder, Sphere and a Box.
Each of the above mentioned 3D shape is represented by a class and all these classes belong to the package javafx.scene.shape. The class named Shape3D is the base class of all the 3-Dimensional shapes in JavaFX.
Creating a 3D Shape
To create a 3-Dimensional shape, you need to −
- Instantiate the respective class of the required 3D shape.
- Set the properties of the 3D shape.
- Add the 3D shape object to the group.
Instantiating the Respective Class
To create a 3-Dimensional shape, first of all you need to instantiate its respective class. For example, if you want to create a 3D box, you need to instantiate the class named Box as follows −
Setting the Properties of the Shape
After instantiating the class, you need to set the properties for the shape using the setter methods.
For example, to draw a 3D box you need to pass its Width, Height, Depth. You can specify these values using their respective setter methods as follows −
Adding the Shape Object to the Group
Finally, you need to add the object of the shape to the group by passing it as a parameter of the constructor as shown below.
The following table gives you the list of various 3D shapes provided by JavaFX.
S.No | Shape & Description |
---|---|
1 | Box A cuboid is a three-dimensional shape with a length (depth), width, and a height. In JavaFX a three-dimensional box is represented by a class named Box. This class belongs to the package javafx.scene.shape. By instantiating this class, you can create a Box node in JavaFX. This class has 3 properties of the double datatype namely −
|
2 | Cylinder A cylinder is a closed solid that has two parallel (mostly circular) bases connected by a curved surface. It is described by two parameters, namely, the radius of its circular base and the height of the cylinder. In JavaFX, a cylinder is represented by a class named Cylinder. This class belongs to the package javafx.scene.shape. By instantiating this class, you can create a cylinder node in JavaFX. This class has 2 properties of the double datatype namely −
|
3 | Sphere A sphere is defined as the set of points that are all at the same distance r from a given point in a 3D space. This distance r is the radius of the sphere and the given point is the centre of the sphere. In JavaFX, a sphere is represented by a class named Sphere. This class belongs to the package javafx.scene.shape. By instantiating this class, you can create a sphere node in JavaFX. This class has a property named radius of double datatype. It represents the radius of a Sphere. |
Properties of 3D Objects
For all the 3 Dimensional objects, you can set various properties like Cull Face, Drawing Mode, Material.
The following section discusses the properties of 3D objects.
Cull Face
In general, culling is the removal of improperly oriented parts of a shape (which are not visible in the view area).
The Cull Face property is of the type CullFace and it represents the Cull Face of a 3D shape. You can set the Cull Face of a shape using the method setCullFace() as shown below −
The stroke type of a shape can be −
- None − No culling is performed (CullFace.NONE).
- Front − All the front facing polygons are culled. (CullFace.FRONT).
- Back − All the back facing polygons are culled. (StrokeType.BACK).
By default, the cull face of a 3-Dimensional shape is Back.
Example
The following program is an example which demonstrates various cull faces of the sphere. Save this code in a file with the name SphereCullFace.java.
Compile and execute the saved Java file from the command prompt using the following commands.
On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window displaying three spheres with cull face values FRONT, BACK and NONE respectively as follows −
Drawing Modes
It is the property is of the type DrawMode and it represents the drawing mode used to draw the current 3D shape. You can choose the draw mode to draw a 3D shape using the method setDrawMode () as follows −
In JavaFX, you can choose two draw modes to draw a 3D shape, which are −
- Fill − This mode draws and fills a 2D shape (DrawMode.FILL).
- Line − This mode draws a 3D shape using lines (DrawMode.LINE).
By default, the drawing mode of a 3Dimensional shape is fill.
Example
The following program is an example which demonstrates various draw modes of a 3D box. Save this code in a file with the name BoxDrawMode.java.
Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.
On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window displaying two boxes with draw mode values LINE and FILL respectively, as follows −
Material
The cull Face property is of the type Material and it is used to choose the surface of the material of a 3D shape. You can set the material of a 3D shape using the method setCullFace() as follows −
As mentioned above for this method, you need to pass an object of the type Material. The PhongMaterial class of the package javafx.scene.paint is a sub class of this class and provides 7 properties that represent a Phong shaded material. You can apply all these type of materials to the surface of a 3D shape using the setter methods of these properties.
Following are the type of materials that are available in JavaFX −
- bumpMap − This represents a normal map stored as a RGB Image.
- diffuseMap − This represents a diffuse map.
- selfIlluminationMap − This represents a self-illumination map of this PhongMaterial.
- specularMap − This represents a specular map of this PhongMaterial.
- diffuseColor − This represents a diffuse color of this PhongMaterial.
- specularColor − This represents a specular color of this PhongMaterial.
- specularPower − This represents a specular power of this PhongMaterial.
By default, the material of a 3-Dimensional shape is a PhongMaterial with a diffuse color of light gray.
Create 3d Shapes With Paper
Example
Following is an example which displays various materials on the cylinder. Save this code in a file with the name CylinderMaterials.java.
Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.
Create 3d Shapes For Powerpoint
On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window displaying 7 cylinders with Materials, Bump Map, Diffuse Map, Self-Illumination Map, Specular Map, Diffuse Color, Specular Color, (BLANCHEDALMOND) Specular Power, respectively, as shown in the following screenshot −