 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
|
Other
ClydeSight Productions Bryce 5 Tutorials:
|
||
Learn Bryce 5 modeling by building a robot model based on "Robby, the Robot™"*
See local media coverage of this tutorial!
| This tutorial is intended to teach Bryce 5 users basic modeling techniques by building a robot BASED on the character Robby the Robot™. The Bryce 5 model can be used for educational and personal use ONLY. Commercial use of the model will require a license from Turner Entertainment Co., A Time Warner Company. ClydeSight Productions does not condone or imply any use of this model that would be construed to violate their rights, nor does it use the model in any of its own commercial products. See Disclaimer |
Building
Robby's GyroscopesNote: This is a highly detailed tutorial. I STRONGLY suggest that you print these pages (there will be a lot of printed pages!) and use the hardcopy as a guide while working. It's much easier than having both Bryce 5 and your browser open and then flipping between applications!
Robby's head has three gyroscopes on top to help him keep his balance. They are constantly in motion, spinning around the Pilot Lamp assembly. A gyroscope is a kind of "top". When it is spinning, it resists changes in direction along the X,Y,Z axis depending on its orientation. Aircraft and ships use them all the time. Bicycle wheels act like a gyroscope, the motion of the wheel helps the bike resist falling over when in motion. You can find out more about gyroscopes on the Internet.
Robby's gyroscopes are made up of concentric rings on the three planes of the three dimensions (one set of rings for each plane), but they are tilted at an angle. I have no idea why. We will model the gyroscopes using Torus objects because Bryce 5 just doesn't have a good material for us to "fake" the look. This will add object overhead to the file, but the look is so "classic" that we really have to do it. It seems more complicated than it is, but I have worked out all the numbers for you, so all you have to do is follow my lead. As a BONUS, I am including a test movie that shows the gyroscopes in animation. I often refer to the gyroscopes as "gyros" in this section of the tutorial.
If you have saved and closed your model, open it now and go to the FRONT view. Select NONE and click on the SOLO button. You should have a blank workspace.
|
|
Step 1: Make Gyro Y Axle If you are in wireframe mode and can see your model, make sure you have not selected anything and click on the SOLO button in the VCR controls. This will hide all objects in your wireframe view. You should be in the FRONT view (press 4 on the keyboard) and your workspace should appear to be blank. There are three axles needed for each gyro assembly, oriented to the X,Y,Z coordinates. We'll make them from the cylinder, starting with the Y axle. This has a "stem" to attach the gyroscope to the Pilot Lamp Base. Click on the Cylinder in the Create Palette to bring it into your work space. Click on the Attributes Box and set the following coordinates: Position:
X = 0, Y = 156.92, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Assign a material to the axle. I chose Brushed Silver. This is a painted object so assign it to you "painted" family (I used the orange color cube) SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 2: Make Gyro X Axle Switch to the TOP view (press 2 on the keyboard). DUPLICATE the Y axle. Open the Attributes box and set the Z rotation = 90. Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Open the Attributes box and perform a Set As Unity . Click the Check Mark to apply the change. The duplicate will now be aligned on the X axis. Click on the duplicate's Attributes Box and set the following coordinates: Position:
X = 0, Y = 158.24, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. The object has inherited the material and family of the original. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 3: Make Gyro
Z Axle
Stay in the TOP view (press 2 on the keyboard). DUPLICATE the X axle. Open the Attributes box and set the Y rotation = 90. Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Open the Attributes box and perform a Set As Unity . Click the Check Mark to apply the change. The duplicate will now be aligned on the Z axis. Click on the duplicate's Attributes Box and set the following coordinates: Position:
X = 0, Y = 158.24, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. The object has inherited the material and family of the original. SAVE YOUR WORK! The image here shows the three axles from a slightly offset view to illustrate their orientations. It shows the Y axle coordinates to help you get your bearings. This 3-dimensional construction work can get confusing! These axles will act as the centers AND braces for the "ring planes" we are going to make for the gyroscopes. Even though there will be three "ring planes", because they share centers, we only need three axles and they will automatically act as braces. Don't worry if this is confusing. It will all make sense when the gyroscope is completed, and it is easy when you follow the numbers. I've done all the hard work for you, so just go along for the ride and the concept will come to you.
|
|
|
Step 4: Make Gyroscope Base The base of each gyroscope attaches it to the Pilot Lamp base. However, for ease of setting the gyros up for animation, we have made the Y stem of the gyro longer than the base. This will make sense later on. Switch back to the FRONT view (press 4 on the keyboard). Go to the Create Palette and choose the Sphere. Click on the Attributes box and set the following coordinates: Position:
X = 0, Y = 154.76, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Assign a material to the base. I chose Black with a 50% specularity. This is a painted object so assign it to you "painted" family (I used the orange color cube) SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
Why didn't we use Multi-Replicate? Multi-Replicate is a great feature for generating multiple objects from a single source. It can scale the repetitions of objects for us. However, it does this proportionally. Normally, this is fine for replication purposes. But our gyroscope rings do not get proportionally smaller as we move to the center. They get smaller in outside diameter, but not in thickness. For visual reasons, we need them to actually be unproportional. So we had to make the duplicated rings by hand and alter the dimensions to satisfy our visual requirements. It is important when using Bryce 5 to know when to allow the program to deliver its characteristic mathematical exactness, and when to manually "massage" objects for visual requirements. So just because Bryce 5 can perform an operation for us, it's not always desirable to have it help us out quite so much. It's like a spell-grammar checker. It will follow the rules of spelling and grammar, but we don't always want that to happen because of personal writing styles. With Bryce 5 we are dealing with personal visual styles. |
Step 5: Make the X- Plane Ring Set Stay in the FRONT view. There are three X-Plane Rings made from torus objects. I show all three here, they are easier to make than to describe! Go to the Create Palette and choose the Torus. It will come into the workspace in the proper orientation, all we have to do is size and position it. EDIT the torus (if you need a refresher on how to edit a torus, click here.) Set the Radius = 50. (Not the radius used in the refresher!) Click on the Attributes box and set the following coordinates: Position:
X = 0, Y = 158.24, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Assign a material to the ring. I chose Brushed Silver This is a painted object so assign it to you "painted" family (I used the orange color cube) Now we will make the other rings from this first one: DUPLICATE gyro ring 1. Bryce 5 will name it gyro ring 2. Edit the radius = 70 In the Attributes box for the duplicate, enter: Size: X = 3.85, Y = 3.85, Z = 0.25 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. DUPLICATE gyro ring 2. Bryce 5 will name it gyro ring 3. Edit the radius = 100 In the Attributes box for the duplicate, enter: Size: X = 2.25, Y = 2.25, Z = 0.25 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
In FRONT view, you won't easily notice the changes you make, but they will occur as expected. If you want to see them (it will be confusing to look at) in three dimensions, try switching to the Director's perspective view and point the director camera at the groups. They will look something like this:
|
Step 6: Group the X-Plane Ring Set and Make the Remaining Ring Sets. The gyro has three ring sets, one for each plane (X, Y and Z). We've made the X-Plane set and will duplicate that for the other planes and rotate the duplicates. We need to temporarily group the X-Plane set to do this so the set rotates as a unit. Shift-Select the three gyro rings (or use any method you like, but be sure you have ONLY the three rings selected.) A little G will appear at the bottom of the icon column. Click on the G to GROUP the rings. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the coordinates. Position:
X = 0, Y = 158.24, Z = 0 If the coordinates match mine (or are within .01 of them) Name the group: temp gyro group. Duplicate the temp gyro group. Bryce 5 will give this a name: temp gyro group 1. The second group will be oriented to the Y plane. All you have to do is change the rotate coordinates for the group to achieve this: Rotate:
X = 0, Y = 90, Z = 0 You'll know you made the change properly because you'll see the red selected group appear as a thick line running up and down in line with the Y axle. Don't bother with Set As Unity for the group. We're going to ungroup it in a little while anyway. Duplicate the temp gyro group 1. Bryce 5 will give this a name: temp gyro group 2. This third group will be oriented to the Z plane. All you have to do is change the coordinates for the group to achieve this: Rotate:
X = 90, Y = 0, Z = 0 You'll know you made the change properly because you'll see the red selected group appear as a thick line running side to side in line with the X axle. Don't bother with Set As Unity for the group. We're going to ungroup it in a little while anyway. This makes all three plane rings (9 rings in all) in less time than it took for me to explain it! SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
Why Did We Set the Origin Handle? Setting the origin handle for a group is difficult. You can't do it by the numbers in the coordinates box because Bryce 5 adjusts the group to compensate and knocks everything off. (You CAN do it with objects--that's not a problem). We needed to set the origin handle for two reasons: 1) The gyroscopes are set at an angle of 55 degrees from the Pilot Lamp base 2) Later, when you want to animate, you'll need to rotate the gyroscope around its origin, which must be in the right place to work properly
|
Step 7: Re-Group the Rings and Axles If you changed views, switch to the FRONT view (press 4 on the keyboard). The rings and axles are all made, but they are in groups and we don't need that. We need one group for the whole assembly. Select each temp gyro group and UNGROUP it. Now, all the objects you have created are "free" objects. Use the object selector at the bottom of the work space (if you don't see it you are in "time line" mode-- click the little "world" on the far right of the screen (your right) to change to the object palette. Select ALL the torus objects but DO NOT group them. Just perform a Set As Unity. This will align them to our workspace and remove any angles. Shift-Select all the objects (torus and cylinders) (you may find it easiest to use the "drag marquee" selection method-- but don't select the camera!) so ALL the objects are selected. You'll see a little G in the icon column. Click the G to Group the objects. Open the Attributes Box and activate "Show Origin Handle". Close the Attributes box and boost your magnification as high as it will go. You will have to manually drag the origin handle into position. Drag it to the BOTTOM Center of the Y axle. Open the Attributes Box for the group and check the Origin Coordinates. They should be: Origin: X = 0, Y = 153.08, Z = 0 Note: It is tough to get the origin handle in the exact position and may take a few tries. If you are off the numbers I gave by .01 (i.e. X = 0.01), that's close enough and will do. Check
the rest of the coordinates: If these numbers match (or are close, within 0.01), Name your group: gyroscope group 1 Click on the Check Mark to Close the Attributes Box and apply the name. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
Right now, the gyro group is actually INSIDE the Pilot Lamp. It needs to be because the X and Z coordinates of the origin point MUST be aligned with the X and Z coordinates of the origin point for the Pilot Lamp Group. |
Step 8: Align the Gyro Group 1 to the Pilot Lamp Group The gyroscopes work in conjunction with the Pilot Lamp Group and we'll be making a "Super Group" that allows us to control everything nicely. Click the SOLO button to go to the full mode wireframe. It will, by now look very confusing! Shift Select (you can use the group selector, it makes selecting much easier-- if you need a refresher on how to use this, click here) the groups: pilot lamp group and gyroscope group 1. Click on the SOLO button to see ONLY these two groups. Your workspace should look like this. To make SURE your gyroscope group 1 is in the right place, Open its Attributes box and check the coordinates: Origin:
X = 0, Y = 153.08, Z = 0 If the coordinates match my figures, your gyro group 1 is aligned properly to the Pilot Lamp and we're ready for the next step. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 9: Rotate the Gyro Group 1 We're all set for our final rotation and placement of gyro group 1. Once this is in place, we can DUPLICATE it and make the other two gyro groups and complete Robby's gyro system! Switch to the TOP view. This will make things easier to see. (Press 2 on the keyboard) Select the gyroscope group 1 Open the Attributes box and change the X rotation. Rotate: X = -55, Y = 0, Z = 0 Click on the Check Mark to close the Attributes Box. Now you can see WHY we set the origin point for the group! We DO NOT SET AS UNITY. The gyro group will be controlled by a master group, SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 10: Make the Gyro Group 2 We make and position the other gyro groups from the first one. Select gyro group 1 and DUPLICATE it. Bryce 5 will name it for you: gyro group 2. Open the Attributes Box and set the following rotation coordinates: Rotate: X = 125, Y = -60, Z = 180 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Open
the Attributes Box again and check the coordinates: If the coordinates match my numbers (within .01) you are all set. Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Set as Unity is NOT required. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 11: Make the Gyro Group 3 We make and position the other gyro groups from the first one. Select gyro group 2 and DUPLICATE it. Bryce 5 will name it for you: gyro group 3. Open the Attributes Box and set the following rotation coordinates: Rotate: X = 125, Y = 60, Z = 180 Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Open the Attributes Box again and check the coordinates: Position:
X = -2.77, Y = 155.32, Z
= 1.60 If the coordinates match my numbers (within .01) your are all set. Click on the Check Mark to apply the changes. Do NOT Set As Unity. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
Bryce 5 is doing some heavy calculating in this grouping. It has managed to determine that the Z origin point is a negative zero. That's not a problem. A negative zero is the same as a positive zero. The assignment of the negative value simply is a result of the calculations. You can play with your group now. To make all the gyroscopes rotate around the pilot lamp group. Simply click on the master group-- gyro pilot group-- and rotate it on the Y axis. The pilot lamp will actually spin, taking the gyroscopes with it. Since the Pilot Lamp is the same on all sides, it won't appear to be spinning, only the gyroscopes!
|
Step 12: Create the Master Group Shift-Select (or use any method you like to select multiple objects) all the Groups: pilot lamp group, gyro group 1, gyro group 2, gyro group 3. You'll see a little G in the icon column. Click the G to Group the objects. Click on the Attributes Box for the group. Make sure that Show Origin Handle is ON. Click the Check Mark to apply the setting. Be sure you are in the TOP view and magnify the wireframe as high as it will go. Manually move the origin handle for this new group (which as yet has no name) to the X and Z center-- or as close as you can get-- of the Pilot Lamp Group. This is very tough to do and get "right on". An error of .01 on either axis will not cause a problem. Don't worry about the Y location of the origin point. It should (if you are working in TOP view) remain at 157.27. Open
the Attributes Box and check the following coordinates: If the figures are close (in the image, I am off the X center by .01!) -- within .01 Name your group: gyro pilot group. Click the Check Mark to apply the setting. Your family assignment block will appear gray. That's because there are several families in the group. Leave it as is. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
|
Step 13: Render the Gyro Pilot Group When you render the gyro pilot group in SOLO mode, it should look like the image here. If you click on SOLO mode to go back to your full model and render the group, it should look like the image below:
SAVE YOUR WORK! |
|
Step 14: BONUS: Animation! (You'll need Apple Computer's QuickTime to view the movie. Click here to get it.) In this complex assembly we used multiple groups to accomplish a construction. Because the gyroscope groups are independent groups, they can behave on their own while being influenced by the master group, the gyro pilot group. We set this up deliberately so that Robby's gyroscopes can spin around their own Y axles while also spinning around, or orbiting the Pilot Lamp. This gives the illusion of multiple turning. The little test movie on the left will demonstrate how I got this to work. Click the start button to see the movie if it does not start by itself. In a later tutorial about animating Robby, I'll show you how to make this happen very easily!
|
Congratulations! You have completed Robby's gyroscope assembly. The features in Bryce 5 made short work of a conceptually complex bit of modeling. You learned the power of multiple groups, how one group can control another yet how all groups can behave independently.
We'll move on now to Robby's "Face", the parts you see clicking and rocking away when he's thinking! We'll start with the Computer Resets-- two animatable "flappers" that are very easy to make and understand!
<-- Visit ClydeSight Productions Company Site
<--Visit ClydeSight2.0! the Fun and Games Cat Site!
Tutorial copyright - © ClydeSight Productions - 2004
