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TUTORIALS
Boolean Operations
A Boolean operation comprises of 4 parts: Neutral, Positive, Negative and Intersect. In this tutorial we will create a simple 6 sided dice with rounded corners using Boolean operations.
1. Insert a cube with dimensions 13x13x13, and then a sphere with dimensions 20.5x20.5x20.5 into the scene. Centre them by selecting them both (hold down shift, then click the sphere and then the cube) then clicking on edit, then the align all button. Select the cube and then click the A button. Make it positive. Now select the sphere, click the A button and make it an intersect. Now group the two objects (select them both, then press the G button). A quick render should give you the below image.
2. Now the dice needs some numbers. Select the grouped cube and sphere, click A and call the group dice. Make the group positive. Now insert a cylinder with dimensions 2x1x2. Select the dice group and the cylinder, click on edit, then click the align X and align Z buttons. Deselect the dice group, so only the cylinder is selected. Click the A button and make it negative. Rotate the view so you see the side on view of the dice group. Drag the cylinder upwards until about half of it is below the top surface of the cube like in the diagram.
3. Realign the cylinder and dice if necessary using the X and Z align buttons. Now copy and paste the cylinder. Rotate it 90 degrees around the X axis using the rotate tool under edit. Holding shift while rotating rotates the object in 45 degree blocks. Now position the cylinder in the centre of the right hand face of the cube, so about half of it sticks out like below.
Rotate the view so the second cylinder is in the centre of the screen. Copy and paste the second cylinder twice, so one is in the top right corner and one is in the bottom left corner of the face. Select all three and click the Z align button.
4. Copy and paste the top right and bottom left cylinders. Group them using the G button. Rotate your view to the front of the cube. Now position them on the opposite face of the cube so half of them sticks out. Copy and paste the new cylinders and rotate them 90 degrees around the Z axis. Now you should have 4 cylinders in the shape of a square.
5. Ungroup all the groups except the cube/sphere group. Select the four cylinders and group them. Copy and paste them, rotate them around the X axis, then position them on the bottom face of the cube as we have been doing. Deselect everything. Select the top two cylinders on the bottom face, then copy and paste them. Drag them half way between the top and bottom set of cylinders to make the number 6.
6. Now using the above methods, create a 2 and a 5 on the remaining sides of the dice. Ungroup all groups except the sphere/cube group. If you did ungroup this, regroup it and make sure it is positive. Make sure each cylinder is negative. Now group all the cylinders and the dice together. It should look like the below image. Render it and viola! A dice with rounded edges! If you have any queries or questions send them to [email protected].
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Copyright Michael Balzer 2000
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