Teapot

Create panel > Geometry button > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout > Teapot button

Create menu > Standard Primitives > Teapot

Tab panels > Objects tab > Teapot Object

Teapot produces a teapot. You can choose to make the whole teapot at once (the default), or any of its parts. Since the Teapot is a parametric object, you can choose which parts of the teapot to display after creation.

Examples of teapots

History of the Teapot

This teapot derives from the original data developed by Martin Newell in 1976. Beginning with a graph-paper sketch of a teapot that he kept on his desk, Newell calculated cubic Bezier splines to create a wireframe model. James Blinn, also at the University of Utah during this period, produced early renderings of exceptional quality using this model.

The teapot has since become a classic in computer graphics. Its complexly curved and intersecting surfaces are well suited to testing different kinds of material mappings on a real-world object.

Procedures

To create a teapot:

1. In any viewport, drag to define a radius.

   As you drag, a teapot emerges with the pivot point at the center of its base.

2. Release the mouse to set the radius and create the teapot.

To create a teapot part:

1. In Parameters rollout > Teapot Parts group, turn off all parts except the one you want to create.

2. Create a teapot.

   The part you left on appears. The pivot point remains at the center of the teapot's base.

   The teapot has four separate parts: body, handle, spout, and lid. Controls are located in the Teapot Parts group of the Parameters rollout. You can turn on any combination of parts to create at the same time. The body alone is a ready-made bowl, or a pot with optional lid.

To turn a part into a teapot:

1. Check all parts. This is the default.

   The whole teapot appears.

   You can apply modifiers to any separate part. If you later turn on another part, the modifier affects the additional geometry as well.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Edge: Draws a teapot from edge to edge. You can change the center location by moving the mouse.

Center: Draws a teapot from the center out.

Keyboard Entry rollout

See Creating Primitives from the Keyboard.

Parameters rollout

Radius: Sets the radius of the teapot

Segments: Sets the number of divisions for the teapot or its individual parts.

Smooth: Blends faces of the teapot, creating a smooth appearance in rendered views.

Teapot Parts group

Turn check boxes on or off for teapot parts. By default, all are on, producing a complete teapot.

Generate Mapping Coordinates: Sets up required coordinates for applying mapped materials to the teapot. Default=off.

Note: If a visible viewport is set to a non-wireframe or non-bounding-box display, Generate Mapping Coordinates is on for all primitives to which you apply a material containing a map with Show Map In Viewport on.