It's February 13th, almost midnight. You're sitting in front of your computer, checking e-mail, when suddenly you realize tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Panic sets in. You forgot to get a card for your sweetheart. Of course, you could always send an on-line greeting, but that's not very original. You smile and decide to send your valentine a 3D rose. Here's how.
Step 1. Open up Ray Dream Studio 5.0 and start a new document. Drag the Free Form Modeler icon into the perspective window to create a petal for the rose. Once in the Free Form Modeler, select the Geometry pull down menu. Set the Extrusion Method to Pipeline and the Extrusion Envelope to Symmetrical in Plane.
Figure 1. Click for a larger version.Now, using the Bezier Pen Tool, create the Cross Section for the petal. Create a closed shape that looks similar to Figure One. Next select the bottom plane of the modeling box. Add some points to the sweep path and adjust the points until it resembles a rose petal viewed from the top. Now click on the right panel and select drawing plane. Adjust the points on the outside path (the blue lines) of your petal to give it some depth. Use the convert point tool to smooth the points. Adjust the points until your petal resembles Figure Two. Click done to return the petal to the Perspective Window.
Step 2. Select the petal and center the Hot Point (ctrl+alt+H). Using the Properties Window, adjust the position of the petal to: X="0", Y="0", Z="0". With the Keep Proportions option checked, adjust the Y value of your petal to an even number, say 20". While still in the Properties Window, click the lock icon next to the Position properties. This will unlock the hot point from the center of the petal allowing you to change the position of the Hot Point. Set the Y value of the Hot Point to half the value of the Y dimension of the petal.
Figure 2. Click for a larger version.In our example here we'd set the Y Hot Point Value to -10. Adjust the Roll of your petal to a value of 25 degrees. With the petal still selected, duplicate it(ctrl+D). Set the YAW of the duplicate petal to 72 degrees. Duplicate(ctrl+D) the petal three more times. Adjusting the Y value of the Hot Point is what caused the duplicates to align in a circular pattern.
Figure 3. Click for a larger version.
Figure 4. Click for a larger version.
Figure 5. Click for a larger version.
Figure 6. Click for a larger version.Step 3. You now have 5 petals of your rose completed. However they're cutting into each other instead of overlapping. Click on an individual petal to edit it in the Free Form Modeler. A Jump In Advise warning will pop up. Create New Master will be checked. Click okay to enter the Free Form Modeler. Adjust the shape of the petal using the points on both planes until the petal no longer cuts into the one next to it. You may have to edit the shape a time or two to get it right, but your sweetheart's worth it. Edit each base petal until they no longer cut into each other. Your completed rose base should look something like Figure Three.
Step 4. Select one of the petals and Duplicate (ctrl+D) it. Adjust the properties of the duplicated petal, raising it slightly higher then the base petals. Add a degree or two of Roll to it. Select the bottom 5 petals and group them. Now select the duplicated petal and change it's YAW value by about 15 degrees or so. This prevents it from lining up on top of the petal you duplicated from the base. Duplicate (ctrl+D) this petal and add 90 degrees to its YAW value. Duplicate it two more times and you'll have a total of four petals. As before, edit each individual petal so they don't cut into each other.
Step 5. When you're satisfied with the second tier of petals, duplicate one of them and raise it higher still. Add Roll to taste. This petal will be the base for the third tier of petals. Select the lower four petals and group them. Now select the first petal of the third tier and add 15 or 20 degrees to it's YAW value. Duplicate( ctrl +D) it. Add 90 degrees to the YAW value of the duplicate and Duplicate (ctrl+D) it twice more. As before, edit each petal so they're not cutting into each other.
Step 6. When you're satisfied, select one of the petals and duplicate it to form the base for the top of the flower. Raise it slightly high and add a few degrees to it's Roll value. Group the third tier of petals. Now select the petal that forms the base of the top of the rose. Add 15 or 20 degrees to its YAW. Double click the petal to edit it in the Free Form Modeler. Adjust the points of the petal so it's narrower and thinner then the lower tier of petals. Create a shape similar the Figure Four . Click Done to return to the Perspective Window. Duplicate(ctrl+D) the petal. Add 120 degrees to its YAW value. Duplicate it once more and you'll have three petals for the top of your flower.
Step 7. Drag the Free Form Modeler icon into the Perspective Window to open the Free Form Modeler. Using the Bezier Pen Tool, draw a shape that looks like a spiral. Use the Convert Point Tool to smooth the shape. Choose Pipeline for your Extrusion Method and Symmetrical for your Extrusion Envelope. Group the points that form the spiral shape. Create a Cross Section. With the first Cross Section selected, Create another Cross Section. Position the middle Cross Section about two thirds of the way along the extrusion plane. Select the second Cross Section and increase its diameter. Now move to the third Cross Section and decrease its diameter so it's smaller then the first Cross Section.
Figure 7. Click for a larger version.Using the Convert point tool, smooth the points until you have a shape resembling Figure Five. Click done to return the unfolding petal to the Perspective Window. Align the unfolding petal in the center of the three petals that form the top tier and group them. Your shape should resemble Figure Six.
Step 8. Next we're going to create the stem for the rose. Open up the Free Form Modeler. Choose Pipeline for the Extrusion Method, and Symmetrical in Plane for the Extrusion Envelope. Using the Draw Oval Tool, create a circle. Click on the Sweep Path (center pink line), and adjust the points to add some bends to the stem. Near the top of the stem, Create a Cross Section. You can create a cross section anywhere on the Sweep Path by selecting a point and then choosing Create from the Sections pull down menu. Create another section at the end of the stem. Adjust the size and shape of the last section to create the cup-like shape that the petals grow out of. Your completed stem should look similar to Figure Seven. Click done to return the stem to the Perspective Window. Align the stem so it encloses the petals. You may have to return to the Free Form Modeler a time or two in order for the shape to completely envelope the petals. If you want to get fancy and add some thorns, select the stem and jump into the Mesh Modeler. Using the attraction tool, select a point or two and pull them from the stem to create a thorn-like shape.
Figure 8. Click for a larger version.Step 9 Using the same technique you used to created the petals, create two leaves and align them with the stem. The finished rose should look like Figure Eight. Group all the objects that make up the rose.
Step 10. To finish the scene, use the Modeling Wizard(the top hat icon) and choosing Lathe Objects, select the Vase Profile. Create a vase, size slightly higher than the stem and align the stem inside the vase. Add a little pitch and roll to the rose so it's leaning on an angle. Create the table by using the Draw Rectangle tool in the Free Form Modeler. Size the table and align it with the bottom of your vase. To complete the scene shown here, I duplicated the rose and set it on the table. For a finishing touch, I ungrouped the duplicated rose, duplicated a few of the petals and arranged them around the vase.
Figure 9. Click for a larger version.The Color Channel for the rose Shader is a Texture Map that was created in a paint program. It's a gradient from pink to dark red. The Color Channel Shader for the leaves is a Mix of two shades of green using the Cellular Function. The Shader for the table uses a Texture Map of a wood object in the color channel.
Lighting for the scene consisted of three spotlights, one main set at 75 percent, the other two at twenty five percent, and one bulb light set at 22 percent. The bulb light was used to highlight the petals at the top of the rose. All lights were set to the default gray color and aligned as shown in Figure Nine. Under the Affects tab in Scene Settings, set the Ambient Light at 60 percent. Under the Atmosphere Tab, choose Distance Fog. Color it black and have it start just before the back edge of the table. Select the proper size and resolution for the image's final destination and choose the Ray Tracer Renderer at its best settings.
Click here to view the final rose!
Doug Sahlin is a writer, freelance graphic illustrator, and digital artist living in Lakeland, Fla. You can E-Mail Doug at das001@earthlink.net or visit his Web site, Doug's Digital Domain at home.earthlink.net/~das001/.
