I know what you're thinking. Halloween was last month and here are those VMM guys doing a tutorial on pumpkins. Well you see we've been kind of busy since Siggraph. Besides you can use the leftovers from your Boolean Jack-O-Lantern to make a Boolean Pumpkin Pie for the upcoming holiday feasts.

To begin making your Boolean Jack-O-Lantern, launch Ray Dream Studio 5. The first step is to create the basic shape of the pumpkin. Launch the Free Form Modeler by selecting its icon from the toolbar and dragging it into the Hierarchy Window. Change to the Drawing Plane Preset View (Ctrl+5). Select the Draw Polygon tool and holding down the shift key to constrain the shape, draw a Polygon on the drawing plane. A window will open prompting you to choose the number of sides for your polygon. Enter 12 and click OK to draw the polygon. Center the Selection. Ungroup the polygon shape so you can individually manipulate each point. Select the first point and move it one or two grid spaces towards the center of the polygon. Do this to every other point until you've moved six points.

Next use the Convert Point tool to round out the outermost points (the other six) of your polygon. When you're done, select all the points and regroup them. From the Section pull-down menu, create a Section. After doing this, use the Create Multiple option to create another section. Your shape should now have two ended sections and one middle section. Select the first section and from the Geometry pull-down menu Scale this section to about 10 percent of its original size in both the horizontal and vertical axes. Select the second section and Scale it to about 500 percent of its original size. Scale the last section to 20 percent of its original size. With this last section still selected, Copy (Ctrl+C) it to the clipboard. To convert the three sections into a pumpkin-like shape, select the middle point on the Sweep Path and using the Convert Point tool drag the point past the last section to create a plump pumpkin. Holding down the Shift key while doing this will constrain the change in line with the sweep path. Your finished shape should look like Figure One. Once you're satisfied with your initial shape, click Done to return to the Perspective Window.

Now it's time to make the stem for the pumpkin. Drag the Free Form icon into the Hierarchy Window to open the Free Form Modeler. Paste (Ctrl+V) the shape you copied to the clipboard. Add an end Section and a middle Section the same way you did when creating the pumpkin. From the Geometry pull-down menu, scale the second and third sections so you've got a tapering stem. Next using the Select Tool, drag the sweep path of the last section away from the centerline. Repeat this step with the second section. Next, using the Convert Point tool select the second point and smooth the path until you have a shape similar to Figure Two. Click Done when you're satisfied with the stem.

Once back in the Perspective Window, align the stem so it attaches to the top of the pumpkin. By copying the last section from the Pumpkin shape and using it for the base of your stem, the two shapes mesh perfectly. When these shapes are aligned, group them.

If you were working with a real pumpkin, now would be the time to drag out the knives and implements of destruction to cut out the pumpkin's top. Next you would scoop out the middle, being careful to separate the seeds from the meat you'll save for your pumpkin pie. In Ray Dream Studio scooping out the middle is much tidier. And much faster. Select the pumpkin shape and duplicate it. Rename the new shape Pumpkin 2. Move Pumpkin 2 into the group you just created. With that shape selected, use the Size and Scaling section of the Properties Window and with the Keep Proportions option checked, resize the new shape to about 85 percent of the original. Align the two shapes so they're centered on X, Y, and Z axes. Now with the two shapes selected, choose 3D Boolean from the Arrange submenu and select Pumpkin minus Pumpkin 2. You'll get a warning saying the operation may take a while. It's still faster than using a knife on a real pumpkin. When the operation is finished you'll have a hollow pumpkin shape. If desired, rename the new shape Pumpkin. Now all you need are eyes and a mouth.

To create the eye shape, drag the Free Form Modeler icon into the Hierarchy Window. Change to the Drawing Plane view (Ctrl+5) and using the Pen Tool to create a triangle. Click Done to return to the Perspective Window. Copy this triangle shape two times and align them to form the eyes and the nose of the pumpkin. If desired, you can change the names of the shapes to eye and nose to make the Boolean operations easier. Once again, open up the Free Form Modeler and using the Pen Tool, create the pumpkin's mouth. You may want to use the Convert Point tool to further manipulate any points in the pumpkin's mouth. When satisfied with your shape, click Done to return to the Perspective Window. Align the mouth under the pumpkin's nose. When finished you should have a shape similar to Figure Three. Move the eye, nose and mouth shapes into the pumpkin group. Now once again you have a chance to prove that the Boolean is mightier than the sword... er I mean knife.

Select the pumpkin shape and one of the eye shapes. Choose Boolean 3D from the Arrange menu and select pumpkin minus eye. After the Boolean operation carves the eye out of the pumpkin, select the new shape and continue Boolean operations on the pumpkin's remaing facial features. When done you should have a shape similar to Figure Four.

Create a base for your pumpkin by using the Rectangle Tool in the Free Form Modeler. Align the pumpkin atop the base. If desired you can create a candle in the Free Form Modeler by manipulating a perfect circle using a Symmetrical Extrusion Envelope. Add a couple of points to the Sweep Path and manipulate the envelope until you have a tapering candle. To create the flame, use the same method that created the pumpkin stem, this time using a circle for the sections instead of a polygon. Size and align the candle so its top is visible through the pumpkin's nose. Align the flame atop the candle and you're ready to shade your models.

The shader for the Color Channel of the pumpkin uses the Cellular function to Mix two shades of orange. Turn down the Highlight and Shininess channels. Add a Value in the Glow Channel. The pumpkin stem was shaded using the Wood function to mix two shades of brown in the Color Channel. The flame shader is a preset from the Ray Dream Shader Browser.

The scene was lighted using three spotlights and one bulb light. Two front spots were turned down to about 30 percent and aimed at the pumpkin. The rear spotlight was set to 75 percent and aimed from overhead. The range of all three spotlights were set to illuminate the pumpkin, yet fall short of the base. In Ray Dream you can set the range of a light by selecting the light and the object it's illuminating. The Properties Window will compute the distance. Simply add an inch or so to that figure to get the proper range.

A yellow bulb light set to 50 percent was aligned inside the pumpkin and aimed towards the eyes, nose and mouth. The ambient lighting was set to 20 percent using the default color. A dark blue Distance Fog starting at 130 inches creates the Atmosphere for the scene. As a final touch, a Fog Envelope was inserted and aligned around the scene. You'll find this preset on your toolbar. For this scene a patchy blue fog was created. Trail, error and patience are the key words with this tool. The completed scene prior to rendering is shown in Figure Six.

Not content with a glowing Jack-O-Lantern, I took the scene one step further and created a two second animation. The only parts of the scene that changed during the animation were the color and intensity of the bulb light, the shape of the flame, the flame shader and the fog properties.

Now let's see, what's next? Ah yes. December. Perhaps it's time for Rudolph The Boolean Nosed Reindeer. On second thought...

Happy Rendering.

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/.