In this activity we are going to draw a 3D dolphin.
First, delete the default plane in the middle of the screen.
Step 1: Create a spheroid
We will add a sphere and then lengthen it
- Add a sphere: Spacebar>Add>Surface>Sphere
- Resize (S key) to make it a bit bigger.
- Make it long and thin: Press S, then hold ALT while you left click and drag.
It should now look like this:
Press Tab to exit from Edit mode.
Step 2: Add a Lattice
Next we will surround the long sphere with a lattice which will be used to shape the dolphin.
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Switch to Front View (Numpad 1)
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Left click in the middle of the sphere to bring the 3D cursor to the centre
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Spacebar>Add>Lattice (A pink square will appear in the middle)
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Open the edit buttons window (F9 or
)
and enter the following:
If you hold your Shift key as you click on the button, you can type in the values you want.
Step 3: Attach the lattice to the spheroid
If necessary, scale and reposition the lattice so that it completely surrounds the spheroid.
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Select the spheroid (Right click)
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Then hold shift and select the lattice
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Now make the lattice the parent of the spheroid: Ctrl-P
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See what your lattice looks like:
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Select it (Right click)
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Hold the ALT key
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Hold the left mouse button
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Move your mouse (Once you start moving, you can release the mouse button and ALT key)
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You can see that your lattice has several layers of vertices
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When you have finished, press numpad 1 to get back to front view.
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Step 4: Shape your dolphin
Whenever you change the shape of the lattice, the dolphin will follow (because the lattice is a parent for the spheroid)
To move a vertex: (Make sure you are in Edit mode (Tab key))
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Right click to select it
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Press B for box selection, then click and drag a box around the vertex. This is so that you not only select the front vertex, but get all those in the layers behind it. (Remember your lattice is several layers deep)
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Hold Ctrl and hold your right mouse button then move the mouse (Once it starts moving you can let go of the Ctrl key and your mouse button). Left click when you are happy with it. (If it messes up, just press the Esc key)
Work with your lattice in front view, until it looks something like this (or better!)
Change to top view (numpad 7) and work it until it is like this:
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Step 5: Add the dorsal fin
Press Tab to leave Edit mode of the lattice
Place the cursor above the dolphin's back, then press Spacebar>Add>Curve>Bezier curve
(If necessary, press the numpad + key to zoom in)
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Play around with your curve until it is fin shaped.
Leave editmode (Tab) and then, while the curve is selected, open
the Edit buttons (F9 or )
Change the Ext.2 value to 0.15, and then the BevResol value to 4
When you go to the right view (numpad 3) it should look like this:
Step 6: Add the side fins
Duplicate the dorsal fin (Shift D), then move it to the right place.
Rotate it (R) about 220 degrees (Look at the bottom left of the window)
Scale it (S) to about 0.6 (Look at the bottom left of the window)
Duplicate this fin (Shift D) and rotate it -80 degrees
Move them until they are correctly adjusted.
Step 7: Add Eyes
In top view, add a sphere.
Scale it down and place it in the head so that less than half of it sticks out.
Add the other eye.
Select the eyes, goto materials (F5 or 
)
Create a new black material.
(If you can't remember how, look again at the materials page.)
Step 8: Lamps and Render
Add lamps (Spacebar>Add>Lamp) and then render your image (F12)
By adding a plane (Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Plane) behind the dolphin, adding blue material and a Stucci texture, I got this effect.
