This folder contains several design documents, and even two rendered images created from those designs. The purpose is to explain a few design and rendering tips which might not seem obvious. The "reflection" file show how to set the surface properties of objects so that light reflects the way you want. The "gears" files show how the RenderBoy tool can be used to simplify and speed up the design process.
Gears Designs:
Please start out by opening the "Gears Image" file and taking a look at it. It shows several gears threaded onto a variety of rods. At first glance, you would probably think this design took a long time to create, but it really didn't. The secret is using the RenderBoy tools under the "Tools" menu. The four design files show the stages of the design as I did it. It really went pretty quick, and if I needed to repeat it, I could create it from scratch in just a few minutes. You might want to check out each design file as I describe it. Here's what I did:
Gears 1:
In this first file, I created a gear. The base of the gear is just a tube, aligned in the front view. Each tooth of the gear is a block. I started with one tooth, then used the orientation tool (with the shift key held down) to create a second tooth re-oriented in the front view around the center of the gear. The second tooth was oriented 45 degrees relative to the first one, and the "Repeat Last Usage" menu item was used six more time to create the other six teeth. Remember that to make a nice even looking pattern with the orientation tool, it is important to have the orientation angle be evenly divisible into 360. In this case 360/45 = 8, so I ended up with eight evenly spaced gear teeth. Simple! I finished up this part of the design by adding a yellow axle, and that's just another tube aligned with the gear in the front view.
Gears 2:
Here, I go from one gear to two. This was done in one step, using the tranlation tool (with the shift key held down). I just selected all the objects in the first gear, then used the translation tool in the front view to create a second gear, positioned so that the teeth are just about touching. That's it! Oh yeah, I did change the color of the new gear slightly, just so I could tell them apart a bit better.
Gears 3:
In step three, I went from two gears to four. This time, I used the horizontal mirroring tool. I simply chose "Select All", then I used the horizontal mirror tool in the front view (again with the shift key held down) to create two more gears which are a mirror image of the first two. Done!
Gears 4:
This is the last step, going from four gears to eight. This time, I used the vertical mirroring tool (again with the shift key held down) in the top view. I positioned the mirroring plane so that the eight objects I ended up with were on both sides of the mirroring plane. That's all there is too it!
So, what's the point? The point is that most things you will want to design have internal patterns or symetry. Before you start to create a design, you want to consider this, so that you only do each part of the design one time. In other words, think about how you can use the tools, then let them do the work for you. You will end up with better designs in a lot less time.
