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>Blender Documentation Volume I - User Guide: Last modified April 29 2004 S68</TH
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>Special modelling techniques</TD
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><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H1
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="special_modelling_dupliverts"
></A
>DupliVerts</H1
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"DupliVerts"</SPAN
> are not a rock band nor a dutch word
for something illegal (well maybe it is) but is a
contraction for <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"DUPLIcation at VERTiceS"</SPAN
>, meaning the
duplication of a base Object at the location of the Vertices of a
Mesh (or even a Particle system). In other words,
when using DupliVerts on a mesh, an instance of the base object is
placed on every vertex of the mesh.
</P
><P
> There are actually two approaches to modelling using DupliVerts.
They can be used as an arranging tool, allowing us to model
geometrical arrangement of objects (eg: the columns of a Greek
temple, the trees in a garden, an army of robot soldiers, the
desks in a classroom). The object can be of any object type which
Blender supports.
</P
><P
> The second approach is to use them to model an Object
starting from a single part of it (i.e.: the spikes in a club, the
thorns of a sea-urchin, the tiles in a wall, the petals in a
flower).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="special_modelling_arranging"
></A
>DupliVerts as an Arranging Tool</H2
><P
> All you need is a base object (eg: the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"tree"</SPAN
> or the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"column"</SPAN
>)
and a mesh with its vertices following the pattern you have in
mind.
</P
><P
> I will use a simple scene for the following part. It consists
of a camera, the lamps, a plane (for the floor) and a strange man I
modelled after Magritte's famous character
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.001"
>Figure 1</A
>). If you don't like
surrealism you will find this part extremely boring.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.001"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-basicscene.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 1. A simple scene to play with.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Anyway, the man will be my <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"base Object"</SPAN
>. It is a
good idea that he will be at the centre of the
co-ordinate system, and with all
rotations cleared. Move the cursor to the base object's centre, and
From Top View add a mesh circle, with 12 vertices or so
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.002"
>Figure 2</A
>).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.002"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-02.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 2. The parent mesh can be any primitive.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Out of Edit Mode, select the base Object and add the circle to
the selection (order is very important here). Parent the base object
to the circle by pressing <B
CLASS="keycap"
>CTRL-P</B
>. Now, the
circle is the parent of the character
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.003"
>Figure 3</A
>). We are almost done.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.003"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-base-parent.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 3. The man is parented to the circle.</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.004"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-buttons.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 4. The Animation Buttons</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Now select only the circle, switch the Buttons Window to
the Object Context (via <B
CLASS="guiicon"
> <IMG
SRC="PartAT/effects/gfx/AnimationButtonsIcon.png">
</B
> or <B
CLASS="keycap"
>F7</B
>) and select the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>DupliVerts</TT
> Button in the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Anim Settings</TT
>
Panel
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.004"
>Figure 4</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.005"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-05.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 5. In every vertex of the circle a man is placed.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Wow, isn't it great? Don't worry about the object at the
centre (<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.005"
>Figure 5</A
>).
It is still shown in the 3D-views, but it will
<I
CLASS="emphasis"
>not</I
> be rendered. You can now select the base
object, change (scale, rotate, Edit Mode)<A
NAME="AEN9232"
HREF="#FTN.AEN9232"
>[1]</A
> it and all DupliVerted objects will reflect
the changes. But the more interesting thing to note is that you can
also edit the parent circle.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="note"
><P
></P
><TABLE
CLASS="note"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="25"
ALIGN="CENTER"
VALIGN="TOP"
><IMG
SRC="./stylesheet-images/note.gif"
HSPACE="5"
ALT="Note"></TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
>The base Object is not rendered if DupliVerted on
a Mesh but it <I
CLASS="emphasis"
>is</I
> rendered if
DupliVerted on a Particle System!</P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
><P
>
Select the circle and scale it. You can see that the mysterious men
are uniformly scaled with it. Now enter the Edit Mode for the
circle, select all vertices <B
CLASS="keycap"
>AKEY</B
> and scale it up about
three times. Leave Edit Mode and the DupliVerted objects will
update (<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.006"
>Figure 6</A
>).
This time they will still have their original size but the distance
between them will have changed. Not only we can scale in Edit Mode, but we
can also delete or add vertices to change the arrangement of
men.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.006"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-04.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 6. Changing the size of the circle in Edit Mode.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Select all vertices in Edit Mode and duplicate them (<B
CLASS="keycap"
>SHIFT-D</B
>).
Now scale the new
vertices outwards to get a second circle around the original. Leave
Edit Mode, and a second circle of men will appear
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.007"
>Figure 7</A
>).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.007"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-18.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 7. A second row of Magritte's men.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Until now all Magritte's men were facing the camera, ignoring
each other. We can get more interesting results using the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>Rot</TT
> Button
next to the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>DupliVerts</TT
> button
in the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Anim Settings</TT
>Panel.
With this Tog Button active, we can
rotate the DupliVerted objects according to the normals of the
parent Object. More precisely, the DupliVerted Objects axis are
aligned with the normal at the vertex location.
</P
><P
> Which axis is aligned (X, Y or Z) with the parent mesh
normal depends on what is indicated
in the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>TrackX,Y,Z</TT
> buttons and the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>UpX,Y,Z</TT
> buttons top in the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>Anim Settings</TT
> Panel. Trying this with
our surrealist buddies, will lead to weird results depending on
these settings.
</P
><P
> The best way to figure out what will happen is first of all
aligning the "base" and "parent" objects' axis with the World
axis. This is done selecting both objects and pressing
<B
CLASS="keycap"
>CTRL-A</B
>, and click the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Apply
Size/Rot?</TT
> menu.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.008"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-11.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 8. Show object's axis to get what you want.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Then make the axis of the base object and the axis and normals
in the parent object visible
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.008"
>Figure 8</A
> - in this case, being a circle with no
faces, a face must be defined first for the normal to be visible
(actually to exist at all))
</P
><P
> Now select the base object (our Magritte's man) and play a
little with the Tracking buttons. Note the different alignment of the
axis with the different combinations of <TT
CLASS="literal"
>UpX,Y,Z</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>TrackX,Y,Z</TT
>
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.009"
>Figure 9</A
>, <A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.010"
>Figure 10</A
>, <A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.011"
>Figure 11</A
>,
<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.012"
>Figure 12</A
>).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.009"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-trackminYZ.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 9. Negative Y Axis is aligned to vertex normal (pointing to the circle's center)</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.010"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-trackYZ.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 10. Positive Y axis is aligned to normal</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.011"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-trackXZ.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 11. Positive X axis is aligned to normal</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.012"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-trackZZ.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 12. Positive Z axis is aligned to normal (weird, huh?)</B
></P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="AEN9298"
></A
>DupliVerts to Model a Single Object</H2
><P
>
Very interesting models can be made using DupliVerts and a
standard primitive.
</P
><P
>
Starting from a cube in Front View, and extruding a couple of times I have
modelled something which looks like a tentacle when SubSurfs are activated
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.013"
>Figure 13</A
>). Then I added
an Icosphere with 2 subdivisions.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.013"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-polipo.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 13. Strange tentacle and SubSurfed version.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> I had special care to be sure that the tentacle was located at the sphere centre, and
that both the tentacle axis and the sphere axis were aligned with the
world axis as above (<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.014"
>Figure 14</A
>).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.014"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/verts-axisaligned.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 14. Local reference of the tentacle.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>
Now, I simply make the icosphere the parent of the tentacle. Select the
icosphere alone and made it <TT
CLASS="literal"
>DupliVert</TT
> in
the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Anim Settings</TT
> Panel (<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.015"
>Figure 15</A
>).
</P
><P
> Press the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Rot</TT
> button to rotate the tentacles
(<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.016"
>Figure 16</A
>).
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.015"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-25.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 15. DupliVerts not rotated.</B
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.016"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-24.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 16. DupliVerts rotated.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
> Once again to make the tentacle point outwards we have to take a
closer look to its axis. When applying <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Rot</TT
>,
Blender will try
to align one of the tentacle axis with the normal vector at the parent
mesh vertex.
</P
><P
> We didn't care about the Parent circle for Magritte's men, but here
we should care about the Sphere, and you will soon notice that it is <I
CLASS="emphasis"
> not</I
> rendered. You probably would like to add
an extra renderable sphere to complete the model.
</P
><P
> You can experiment in Edit Mode with the tentacle, moving its
vertices off the centre of the sphere, but the object's centre
should always be at the sphere's centre in order to get a
symmetrical figure. However take care not to scale up or down in one
axis in Object Mode since it would lead to unpredictable results in
the DupliVerted objects when applying the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Rot</TT
>
button.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.017"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/dupliverts-26.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 17. Our model complete.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>
Once you're done with the model and you are happy with the
results, you can select the tentacle and press <B
CLASS="keycap"
>SHIFT-CTRL-A</B
> and click
on the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Make duplis real ?</TT
> menu to turn your virtual copies into
real meshes (<A
HREF="x9177.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.017"
>Figure 17</A
>).
</P
></DIV
></DIV
><H3
CLASS="FOOTNOTES"
>Notes</H3
><TABLE
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><TD
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VALIGN="TOP"
WIDTH="5%"
><A
NAME="FTN.AEN9232"
HREF="x9177.html#AEN9232"
>[1]</A
></TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
WIDTH="95%"
><P
>and also
Object Mode, however scaling in Object Mode could bring up some
problems when applying Rotation to DupliVerts as we will see
soon</P
></TD
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