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Other
ClydeSight Productions Bryce 5 Tutorials:
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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 HandsNote: 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 hands are the greatest challenge for Bryce 5. That's because they are gloves and have some organic fluidity which Bryce 5 simply can't duplicate using primitives. I tried to make the hands using the metaballs, but they came out looking like a balloon sculpture and were unacceptable. It is tough to describe Robby's hands-- they start out roundish at the wrist and are round and rectangular at the fingertips. I could have made them using another modeling program and imported them, but I want this tutorial to be something anyone who owns only Bryce 5 can do using only what comes with Bryce 5.
As a compromise for the sake of this tutorial, I decided to make simple hands using rounded cube #1 mesh objects. This makes a reasonable, if somewhat inaccurate, facsimile or Robby's hands.
If you find a way to make more exact hands using ONLY Bryce 5, please drop me an e-mail explaining your discovery. I'll add it here!
We'll be using the rounded cube #1 mesh object exclusively for the hands, and we'll make groups and set origin points so the fingers and hands can be moved and posed! To see things clearly, we're going to use the TOP view most of the time, and the RIGHT view when necessary. FRONT view is not helpful in this case because we'd be looking straight on the hands, and we need to see them from the side.
If you have saved and closed your model of the legs/hip/chest/heartbox/arms, open it now and go to the TOP view (press 2 on the keyboard). Make sure nothing is selected and go into the SOLO mode. You should see a blank workspace. We are working in TOP view because the hands point forward, and would not make any sense from the FRONT view.
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Note1: In my images, the wireframes for the rounded cube objects look slightly askew. However, the objects themselves render "straight" and your workspace may or may not display slightly skewed wireframe representations. As long as the numbers in the Attributes box read as I describe them, your "hands" will come out fine. Note2: We are making the right hand in pieces as we make the left hand pieces. When you make a left hand piece, all you have to do is DUPLICATE it and change the duplicate's X position to a negative of what it is. This will be much simpler in the long run because of the many parts and their orientations. Again, building around the zero center of the Bryce 5 world makes this easy. |
Step 1: Make the Wrist - Left and Right Make sure you are in TOP view. (Press 2 on the keyboard) Open the Create Objects dialog box from the Create Palette and select the rounded cube #1 imported object. You did this before. If you forget how, click here. As you know the object will come into the space in the wrong orientation for our needs. When the cube comes into your workspace, open its Attributes box and change the Y rotation to -22.5. Click the Check Mark to apply the change. Open the Attributes box and Set As Unity. Click the Check Mark. This sets the orientation. Open the Attributes box and set the following: Position:
X = 19.40, Y = 101.35, Z = -40.38 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Change the color to the simple gray. Assign the object to the "painted" family. We will want to give the hands a different texture from the rest of Robby. SAVE YOUR WORK! Now we make the right wrist from the left one very easily. We'll do this with each piece as we create it. Select the left wrist and DUPLICATE it. Open the duplicate's Attributes Box Change the X position to; X = -19.40 You don't have to name it, Bryce 5 did that for you! Click on the Check Mark to assign the change. The object will jump into position on the right. You don;t have to go chasing it, you can be sure that the object is in the right place as long as you follow my numbers. |
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Step 2: Make the
Hand Heel - Left and Right
Select the wrist object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 19.40, Y = 101.35, Z = -42.65 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The hand heel will position on the left hand, have the gray color and family it inherited from the original. Right Hand Heel: Duplicate the hand heel, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -19.40. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 3: Make the
Palm - Left and Right
Select the hand heel object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 19.40, Y = 101.35, Z = -45.45 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The palm will position on the left hand, have the gray color and family it inherited from the original. Right Palm: Duplicate the Palm, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -19.40. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Note: You can name objects anything you like, but I like to take advantage of the Bryce 5 default of naming duplicated objects the same as their original followed by a 1. Then I know that all names followed by a 1 are duplicates. |
Step 4: Group the
Palm Set - Left and Right
We will group the palm objects so we can manipulate them as a unit if we need to. Shift-Select (or use the marquee drag or any other selection method you like) the three LEFT palm objects: wrist, hand heel, and palm. You will see a little G in the icon column. Click on the G to group the objects. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the following: Position:
X = 19.40, Y = 101.35, Z = -43.19 If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: palm group. Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Palm Group: Repeat the above with the right palm objects (wrist 1, hand heel 1, and palm 1) the figures should match the table above, except the X position should be X= -19.40. If this is correct, name the group: palm group 1 Click the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 5: Make the
Thumb Base - Left and Right
The thumb has two parts, the base and the tip. Select select ANY object (wrist, heel, etc.) and DUPLICATE it. Since the object has been duplicated from a Group, we must disassociate it (or UNLINK it) from that group. Click twice on the third box down (the Link icon) in the icon column. This will unlink the duplicate from the palm group. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 18, Y = 103.40, Z = -47.45 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The thumb base will position on the left hand. Right Thumb Base: Duplicate the thumb base, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -18 Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 6: Make Thumb
Tip- Left and Right
Select a thumb base object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 17.80, Y = 103.60, Z = -49.60 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The thumb tip will position on the left hand. Right Thumb Tip: Duplicate the thumb tip, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -17.80. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Note: Bryce 5 doesn't numerically re-set the origin handle for a group very well, so it's easiest to position this origin point by hand. The idea here is to get the thumb to rotate from its base, just like a human thumb does. Because the thumb base overlaps the palm object (to make a better seam), your origin point re-position will be inside the thumb base and inside the palm object. There's really no exact way to do this, so all I can give you is an approximation. You can play around with this and test your positioning by rotating the thumb group on the Y axis. This repositioning from the TOP view leaves the origin point in the vertical (Y axis) center of the group, just where we want it! |
Step 7: Group the
Thumb - Left and Right
We will group the thumb objects so we can manipulate them as a unit if we need to. We'll also move the origin point of the group. Shift-Select (or use the marquee drag or any other selection method you like) the two LEFT thumb objects: thumb base, and thumb tip. You will see a little G in the icon column. Click on the G to group the objects. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the following: Check
ON "Show Origin Handle" If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: thumb group. Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Thumb Group: Repeat the above with the right thumb objects (thumb base 1, and thumb tip 1). The figures should match the table above, except the X position should be X= -18. If this is correct, name the group: thumb group 1 Click the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! Reset the Origin Point: You can't numerically set the origin point of the group in the Attributes box-- Bryce 5 recalculates everything and makes a mess. But you CAN rest the origin point manually, and that's why we had Bryce 5 display the origin point for our thumb group. Click on the GREEN box (the origin handle) in the Left Thumb Group and drag it until it is over the thumb base and inside the front of the palm object. The position isn't critical. Repeat this process for the Right Thumb Group. This will allow you to rotate the thumb and it will rotate from the palm and not the Thumb Group center. It's not perfect, but it will do for small rotations. |
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You may have noticed that the "fingers" we are making are not in a straight line. They are positioned to resemble the more organic nature of the gloves used for Robby's hand. Also, the thumb is "square" when viewed on end, but the fingers are narrow in the X plane. That's the way the original hands were made and we're trying to duplicate that here! While most of the work done here is illustrated from the TOP view, you can always switch views to see how it all is coming together in 3 dimensions. |
Step 8: Make the
Pinky Base- Left and Right
Robby has three fingers, a thumb, a pinky (little finger) and an index finger. Now we make the Pinky. It has three joints: base, mid and tip. Select select ANY hand object (wrist, heel, etc.) and DUPLICATE it. Since the object has been duplicated from a Group, we must disassociate it (or UNLINK it) from that group. Click twice on the third box down (the Link icon) in the icon column. This will unlink the duplicate from the group. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.95, Y = 99.65, Z = -47.45 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The pinky base will position on the left hand. It is actually at the bottom of the hand, which is a little hard to see from the TOP view. If you switch to and SIDE view, you'll see it. But be sure and come back to the TOP view when you are done. Right Pinky Base: Duplicate the pinky base, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -20.95. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 9: Make Pinky
Mid - Left and Right
Select the pinky base object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.95, Y = 99.50, Z = -50.15 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The pinky mid will position on the left hand. Right Pinky Mid: Duplicate the pinky mid, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X = -20.95. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 10: Make Pinky
Tip - Left and Right
Select the pinky base object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.95, Y = 99.40, Z = -52.45 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The pinky tip will position on the left hand. Right Pinky tip: Duplicate the pinky tip, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -20.95. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Note: Bryce 5 doesn't numerically reset the origin handle for a group very well, so it's easiest to position this origin point by hand. The idea here is to get the pinky to rotate from its base, just like a human pinky does. Because the pinky base overlaps the palm object (to make a better seam), your origin point reposition will be inside the pinky base and inside the palm object. There's really no exact way to do this, so all I can give you is an approximation. You can play around with this and test your positioning by rotating the pinky group on the Y axis. This repositioning from the TOP view leaves the origin point in the vertical (Y axis) center of the group, just where we want it! |
Step 11: Group
the Pinky - Left and Right
We will group the pinky objects so we can manipulate them as a unit if we need to. We'll also move the origin point of the group. Shift-Select (or use the marquee drag or any other selection method you like) the three LEFT pinky objects: pinky base, pinky mid, and pinky tip. You will see a little G in the icon column. Click on the G to group the objects. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the following: Check
ON "Show Origin Handle" If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: pinky group. Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Pinky Group: Repeat the above with the right pinky objects (pinky base 1, pinky mid 1, and pinky tip 1). The figures should match the table above, except the X position should be X= -20.95. If this is correct, name the group: pinky group 1 Click the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! Reset the Origin Point: You can't numerically set the origin point of the group in the Attributes box-- Bryce 5 recalculates everything and makes a mess. But you CAN rest the origin point manually, and that's why we had Bryce 5 display the origin point for our pinky group. Click on the GREEN box (the origin handle) in the Left Pinky Group and drag it until it is over the pinky base and inside the front of the palm object. Repeat this process for the Right Pinky Group This will allow you to rotate the pinky and it will rotate from the palm and not the Pinky Group center. It's not perfect, but it will do for small rotations. |
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Switching views at this point makes sense because the index finger is directly over the pinky. Trying to view it from the TOP would be difficult. However, in this SIDE view, we can see the thumb objects, which makes placing the index finger objects confusing. So concentrate on what you're doing, as the views are going to be a bit difficult to see through. |
Step 12: Make the
Index Finger Base- Left and Right
Robby has three fingers, a thumb, a pinky (little finger) and an index finger. Now we make the Index Finger. It has three joints: base, mid and tip. We'll shift views from the TOP view to the RIGHT view (press 3 on the keyboard). It makes viewing things a little easier. You'll see your two thumb joints on top, and your three pinky joints on the bottom of your view. You should still be in SOLO mode. Select select ANY hand object (wrist, heel, etc.) and DUPLICATE it. Since the object has been duplicated from a Group, we must disassociate it (or UNLINK it) from that group. Click twice on the third box down (the Link icon) in the icon column. This will unlink the duplicate from the group. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.75, Y = 103.10, Z = -47.55 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The index base will position on the left hand. Right Index Base: Duplicate the index base, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -20.75. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 13: Make Index
Mid - Left and Right
Select the index base object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.75, Y = 103.20, Z = -50.55 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The index mid will position on the left hand. Right Index Mid: Duplicate the index mid, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X = -20.75. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 14: Make Index
Tip - Left and Right
Select the index base or mid object and DUPLICATE it. Open the Attributes box for the duplicate and set the following: Position:
X = 20.75, Y = 103.10, Z = -53.15 Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. The index tip will position on the left hand. Right Index Tip: Duplicate the index tip, open the duplicate's Attributes box and set the position X= -20.75. Click the check mark to apply the change. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Note: Bryce 5 doesn't numerically reset the origin handle for a group very well, so it's easiest to position this origin point by hand. The idea here is to get the index finger to rotate from its base, just like a human index finger does. Because the index finger base overlaps the palm object (to make a better seam), your origin point reposition will be inside the index finger base and inside the palm object. There's really no exact way to do this, so all I can give you is an approximation. You can play around with this and test your positioning by rotating the index finger group on the Y axis. This repositioning from the RIGHT view leaves the origin point in the horizontal (X axis) center of the group, just where we want it! |
Step 15: Group
the Index Finger- Left and Right
We will group the index finger objects so we can manipulate them as a unit if we need to. We'll also move the origin point of the group. Shift-Select (or use the marquee drag or any other selection method you like) the three LEFT index finger objects: index base, index mid, and index tip. You will see a little G in the icon column. Click on the G to group the objects. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the following: Check
ON "Show Origin Handle" If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: index group. Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Index Group: Repeat the above with the right index finger objects (index base 1, index mid 1, and index tip 1). The figures should match the table above, except the X position should be X= -20.75. If this is correct, name the group: index group 1 Click the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! Reset the Origin Point: You can't numerically set the origin point of the group in the Attributes box-- Bryce 5 recalculates everything and makes a mess. But you CAN rest the origin point manually, and that's why we had Bryce 5 display the origin point for our pinky group. Click on the GREEN box (the origin handle) in the Left Index Group and drag it until it is over the index base and inside the front of the palm object. Repeat this process for the Right Index Group. This will allow you to rotate the pinky and it will rotate from the palm and not the Index Group center. It's not perfect, but it will do for small rotations. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 16: Group
the Hands - Left and Right
The hand objects have all been assigned to groups, so now we will make a "Super group" from those by grouping the four hand groups. We need to select the four groups. You can do that by using the marquee to drag -select, or there is another way. There should be a selection palette at the bottom of your workspace with a row of shape icons (if not, click on the globe to the far right of the screen-- you're in the time line palette!) . This selection palette lets you pick objects by type. We want to pick groups and link them. Groups are not an object type, but we can still select groups easily. Click on the triangle next to the Selection Palette (on the right) and you'll get a pop-up list of things to select. You'll see a listing for Select Group. Click on that and all your groups will be listed. You can pick any one of them, or hold the shift key and pick as many as you like. We want to pick ONLY the left hand groups for now, so pick: palm group, thumb group, pinky group and index group - these are the four groups that make up the LEFT hand. When the groups are selected, you should see a little G in the icon column. Click on it and the groups will be grouped! (a "super group") With the "super group" selected, click on the Attributes box and check the following: Check
ON "Show Origin Handle" If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: left hand group. Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Hand Group: Repeat the above with the right hand groups (palm group 1, thumb group 1, pinky group 1, and index group 1). The figures should match the table above, except the X position should be X= -20.75. If this is correct, name the group: right hand group Click the Check Mark to apply the changes. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Positioning the Left Hand Group origin handle inside the Left Wrist Ring object (it's not really inside it, it just looks that way) allows you to rotate the hand independently of the arm, yet have it move as if it were attached to the arm itself. However, until everything is grouped, this will NOT work properly. Also, since we made the hands and assigned them to the "painted" family, even when they are grouped to objects from another family (the "Robby Paint" family that will be used on the arms) they will maintain their family relationship and be easily selected.
When we group the arm pieces and include the hand group, we make a complete arm group. Rotating the arm will move the hand along with it, but rotating the hand will NOT rotate the arm! This is how things work in the real world, and we have just imitated them in Bryce 5 using only Groups and the origin handles!
Robby's shoulder is a kind of "ball and socket" joint, so we need to position the origin point of the complete arm group at the center of the shoulder object, which is a sphere!
Your origin point may be different from what I show here, but as long as it is close. Your arm should rotate properly. |
Step 17: Group
the Hands and Arms - Left and Right
The hand groups now have to be grouped to the arms so they make a complete unit. Click on the SOLO button to go back to your full wireframe of the model. Use the group selector (as described above) to select the following groups: Left Arm Group, Left Hand Group, Right Arm Group and Right Hand Group. Click the SOLO button again and switch to the TOP view (press 2 on the keyboard) You should now only see the groups you selected in your workspace. Slide around -- using the little hand pan tool, don't move the groups-- so you have a clear view of the LEFT Arm and Hand Groups. You'll notice that the hand is already positioned on the end of the arm where it belongs. First, we must set the origin handle of the Left Hand Group. Since you can see it, this is easy. Just drag it until it is a little inside the Wrist Ring at the end of the Left Arm Group. Now, and this next part can be tricky so be careful-- Select the Left Arm Group. UNGROUP it! All the objects that make up the Left Arm will be selected. Hold the SHIFT KEY down and click on the Left Hand Group (or pick it from the Group Selector). You'll see a little G at the bottom of the icon column. Click the G and everything will be grouped. The hand is now a part of the Left Arm Group. Open the Attributes box for the group and check the following: Check
ON "Show Origin Handle" If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: left arm group (we lost the name when we ungrouped it) Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. Right Arm and Hand Groups: Do everything above with the RIGHT Arm and Hand Groups. When you are done, the figures should be the same as for the LEFT ARM GROUP, but the X position should read X = -19.40 SAVE YOUR WORK! Set the Origin Handle and Position the Arms We need to make the arms rotate properly in their shoulder rings. To do that, we just move the origin point for the Arm Groups (left and right) to the center of their shoulder sphere objects. Manually move the origin point for the left arm group until it about in the center of the left shoulder sphere. Manually move the origin point for the right arm group until it about in the center of the right shoulder sphere. FINALLY, we rotate the arms into their proper position. Select the LEFT arm group and open the Attributes box. Set the Y rotation to -20 Select the RIGHT arm group and open the Attributes box. Set the Y rotation to 20 You do not need to do a Set As Unity on these groups. You want to know their angles in case you want to change them. Robby's arms and hands are now complete and properly positioned. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Don't worry about the numbers: -0.00. This is the result of a Bryce 5 calculation for the large group. It has the same value as zero (0). |
Step 18: Create a MEGA Group Robby's chest, heart box assembly, and arms are all independent groups. But as you know, Robby can turn his chest (rotate it and bend it) and obviously, these parts move with it. So we must make a MEGA group that will allow for this. If you are in SOLO mode click once to get to the full model. Go to the Group Selector and shift-select the following groups: chest
group A small G will appear in the icon column. Click on the G to GROUP the items. Open the Attributes box and check the coordinates: Position:
X = -0.00, Y = 99.58, Z =
-13.12 If the numbers match mine or are very close (within .01), name the group: A upper body group. By starting the name with a capital A, the group will appear at the top of the group selector list and be easy to find! Click the Check Mark to close the Attributes box. This will make a MEGA group as we did with the legs and hips. Later on, we'll learn how to link these groups so we can pose Robby easily and accurately. SAVE YOUR WORK! |
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Step 19: Render the Model You can check your work now by rendering it. Click the SOLO button to return to the full model wire frame. It probably looks very confusing by now! The SOLO mode is tremendously useful! Render your model so far, you should be rewarded with images that looks like the one here. SAVE YOUR WORK! Now, all that's left is Robby's head-- and there's a lot of fun and fascinating stuff to make there! |
Congratulations! You have made Robby's hands and attached them to his arms. You've learned along the way how to work from a new view in Bryce 5, the TOP and the SIDE view. You did a lot of work with duplicating, unlinking from groups and created sub groups and super groups. These are really key procedures in Bryce 5 modeling. You also learned about using the origin points of groups and how to plan for the group's eventual behavior and position the origin point accordingly. Later on we will use these features to pose the robot.
In the next section, we'll continue building and start the most interesting part of Robby the Robot, his head! It's got MANY parts to it, and we'll just take them in sections, one at a time, so it will be very easy. We'll start with his mouth which contains his cheeks (yes, Robby has cheeks!) those famous light up "speaking tubes". Yes, Bryce 5 can manage it all.
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