Tutorial 3D
Example: Entering walls and editing walls
Example: A cuboid forms a beam of an opening
Example: Enter an opening and insert a profile
Example: Edit a profile
Example: Create a roof
Example: Create a scene
  Tutorial 3D  
 

result This tutorial was composed giving you an introduction of how to design and how to build up a 3D model in CYCAS easily. In a step by step mode we want to introduce the handling of CYCAS. Concentrating on entering and editing of 3D elements, this is supposed to support you in creating your future drafts. The final result will be a small but complete 3D model and you will be able to render an image of it.

These three graphics on the left shall give an overview on the results. Here we have the plan view, followed by an isometric view and the rendered image itself.

The final image shall be rendered with POV-Ray [TM of the POV-Ray Team], therefore, a properly installed POV-Ray on your system is required.

result This exercise can be followed easily, if you already have gone through the basics of handling CYCAS. So we can go deeper into handling CYCAS and we can discuss several possibilities CYCAS offers you while working in 3D. Doing this, we want to concentrate on the powerful Move-Point-function of CYCAS bearing very interesting features.

Else, we recommend you to go through the basic Tutorial first and then return to this point.

result Giving a brief overview, this is awaiting you:
We will build up a 3D model out of some walls, cuboids, openings, and profiles. Those elements will be modified in 3 dimensions, materials will be assigned, and finally, a scene will be arranged in order to start the rendering.

All figures we are dealing with in this tutorial are given in the metric system.


 
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  Example: Entering walls and editing walls  
 

1st wall To begin with, we will have a look at the walls dialog box. Enter the Wall menu and open the dialog box by clicking on the ? -button. There, ensure mainly the following settings or correct them: "Base: 0.00" and "Height: 2.50". Further possible settings such as "Wall Thickness" can be ignored at this point. The "Material" may be selected to be "Wall_white". Closing the walls dialog box we get started:

The 1st wall : Activate the Wall -function and situate the first point of the wall about in the middle of the drawing area. Confirm the 1st point and move the 2nd point to the right "X+: 5.00" m and "Y-: 0.30" m downwards. Confirm the 2nd corner point of the wall here.
As you learned already in the basic tutorial, you could zoom in or out now, in order to get the best view. Therefore, test the functions in the view menu, such as Zoom, + or -.

2nd wall The 2nd wall : Snap-to the lower right corner point of the first wall. Move this point downwards "Y-: 5.00" m. Confirm it here and start moving the 2nd point at first a bit to the left, "X-: 0.30" m and now "Y+: 4.00" m upwards. Confirm it there.
In the next steps we want to come to an Edit -function of CYCAS that is very essential and, moreover, extremely flexible to employ. You can use it in the 2D ground plan (just as we will do in a moment) or you can use it working in e.g. isometric views - where we want to come to later on.
move points Move Point : The idea is to edit single points of the wall in order to move them into the correct position. To do this, enter the Edit menu and select the Move function. Here, you choose the type Point offered in the selection menu. This setup enables activating single points of CYCAS elements.
Now, describe a frame (as you do when zooming in) with two mouse click around the upper points of the 2nd wall. These points will be marked with white crosses. Confirm your selection.
Here we have several options specifying the distance about which the points are to be moved.
Start moving the active points as you snap-to the right point of the active ones. This is the start point of the moving distance. Then, specify the end point of the distance as you snap-to the lower right corner point of the horizontal wall. (If you would like to know the distance the points will be moved, then have a look at the coordinate display, it should say "Y: 1.00 m", at the lower left corner of the CYCAS screen.) So, confirm the end point of the moving distance. The points will move upwards.
And finally, you abort the function hitting the enter key or you use the right mouse button outside of the drawing area. Alternatively, for we knew the exact distance, you could have entered "Y+: 1.00 m" right away.


 
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  Example: A cuboid forms a beam of an opening  
 

Next step shall be that we will have a closer look at the openings. We want to show up two possibilities how holes or openings can be created or inserted into walls.

erase wall Let us start splitting up the vertical wall into two pieces: Choose Erase in the Wall menu. Select the vertical wall. Two points need to be specified that mark the distance we want to erase. Position the start point on the top corner of the wall (the left or right corner point). From there, you move the start point downwards: "Y- 1.00 m". (This was constructing a point with a reference point.) Now confirm this point and move the end point downwards "Y-: 2.00 m". Confirming the 2nd point results in having two single parts of the wall.

In the meantime have a look at the new walls in an isometric view (this is activated in the 3D menu) and return to the plan view.

cuboid So far. Now, we will enter a cuboid fitting exactly into the gap of the splitted wall. This cuboid will form the beam of an opening. Enter the 3D menu and select Cuboid. (Maybe you choose a different pen color for the cuboid and you could right away define the correct material for the cuboid, e.g. Wall_white.) Snap-to two points that face diagonally in between the wall pieces. After confirming the 2nd point CYCAS will ask you to enter the base height of the cuboid. Enter "1.00" and the height shall be "2.00" meter. The new element now can be viewed in an isometric view.
move point -1 Next step will be editing the totally wrong heights of the cuboid. Choose any of the isometric views and enter the Edit menu, where you choose the function Move and activate the selection type Point.
The focus at this stage is set on editing the cuboid in a way that the upper points of the cuboid exactly match the upper wall edge. Activate all four upper points of the cuboid and confirm your selection. (Activating points in a situation like this always ensure that you do not activate points of other elements accidentally that lie, depending on your view, directly on top of each other.) Now, move these points downwards in a way that you snap-to one of the activated points (the start point) and then you snap-to a point of the wall that is situated directly underneath the start point. Confirm this.
move point -2 Continuing right away, the base height of the cuboid needs to be edited as well. To do so, again choose the Edit Move -function with the type -Points and activate the four lower points of the cuboid. Describe the distance to move them like this: Snap-to one of the activated points. Now, snap-to that point of the wall which is situated directly underneath your start point. Then, you enter the new base of the cuboid typing "Z" on the keyboard (or use the cursor up key) followed by typing "2.00" meter. The cursor will move upwards. For this is the correct new base-height hit the enter key or click the right mouse button somewhere outside the drawing area to confirm the movement.

This example illustrates that it is useful to enter a cuboid (or any other 3D element) in the plan view without caring about the correct base and height at first. It is more descriptive to edit the base and height later on, just as we did in an isometric view.

Sometimes it is useful to create an opening this way by creating a beam instead of using the opening menu. Even, if a profile (a 3D window unit) cannot be implemented in this kind of "opening" that easy. A solution for this will follow during this tutorial. Now, let us have a look at the Opening menu.

Getting started with this, we need to draw a second vertical wall first. To do so, return to the plan view and choose the Wall menu, there, activate Wall and snap-to the lower left corner point of the horizontal wall. Confirm this point. Move the second point "X+ : 0.30" to the right and then "Y- : 5.00" downwards and confirm it.


 
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  Example: Enter an opening and insert a profile  
 

dialog box opening Going on in the plan view, we will enter the Opening menu and there we will have a look at the opening dialog box clicking the ? underneath the opening function. Following figures should be set: "Base: 1.00", "Height: 1.00", "Stop width: 0.00" and "Stop depth: 0.10". Choose the non-display of a symbol for this opening. Close the dialog box and ensure that the " ! " beneath the Opening function is de-activated, for we want to enter the width of the opening with two points.

The display of an opening symbol is focused on 2D graphics. For we want to concentrate on 3D modeling in this case, it is more clear to have no symbol inserted.

opening Ok, now start the Opening -function and select the new vertical wall. For each point of the new opening snap-to the corner points of the first opening. Confirm the end point and choose the outer side of the wall and the opening will be integrated into the wall.

You could have another look at the result in an isometric view now and come back into the ground plan, in order to enter a profile into this opening.

profile Enter the Unit menu. Select the material e.g. "Wood" from the material list. The current material chosen in that list will be added to the profile frames. Select the function Profile. The number of monials shall be: 2 and the number of transoms shall be: 1.
Now, click on to the opening. The profile will be fitted into the opening, as we defined it with a stop depth of 10cm distance from the outer side.
Viewing the work in an isometric, you can see that the elements of a profile are single 3D elements forming the window frames and the glass in between. The glass material is added automatically, but the material of the window frames is taken from the current material list in the Unit menu.

And this is what we will do next: We will take the profile, place a copy of it into the first opening and edit its height.


 
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  Example: Edit a profile  
 

middle point
mirror axis
Continuing in the ground plan, you will achieve a copy of the profile. This copy will be mirrored in a way that it comes up being placed in the first vertical wall - exactly there, where the cuboid was entered forming the beam of the first opening. For the elements are set up symmetric, you need to design the mirror axis exactly at the middle in between the two vertical walls.

Start by choosing the Edit menu. For we want to have a copy mirrored ensure that the + -button near to the mirror - button is pushed in and then select Mirror. Activate the profile (use the range option for selection) and confirm your selection.
Now, we will construct the 1st point of the mirror axis by constructing the middle point in between the two walls. To do this, you activate the Construction of middle points,   M   located at the right bottom edge of the CYCAS screen. This point construction is inserted into the point input routine.
The "1st Point:" shall be the lower left corner point of the left wall and the "2nd Point:" shall be the lower right corner point of the right wall. Confirming the second point lets CYCAS compute the middle point of the distance.

This 1st point of the vertical mirror axis needs to be confirmed. The 2nd point needs to be moved upwards (or downwards), e.g. "Y+: 1". (What distance you choose here is not the clue, the idea is to achieve an exact vertical axis very quickly.) Confirm this and at that moment the profile is copied and mirrored at the vertical axis.

Changing into the view (section) projection, you can see what is left to be done in order to have the new profile fitted into the opening correctly. The lower window frame needs to be moved downwards. To achieve this, we will continue by moving the points of the lower 3D element of the profile.
edit profile -1 Again, enter Edit and choose Move with the type Point. In order to move the points of the lower window frame you need to activate them. Now, we want to move them downwards; pretending we do not knew the Y -distance. So, snap-to the lower outer point of the window frame (this will be the start point) and position the reference point of the end point in the lower right corner of the wall. If you now have a look at the coordinate display, you can check the Y -distance between those points and you can read the X -distance. Surely, the X -distance has to be the 0.10 m we defined earlier in the opening dialog box.
edit profile -2 What is left to do is that you need to move the end point about "X-: 0.1" to the left and confirm this.

Giving a short summary at this stage, we learned about editing walls by moving their corner points. Then, we entered some more elements such as a cuboid, an opening, and a profile and again edited those elements by moving single points of them.

Besides the option of moving single points of elements, we wanted to show up that existing 3D elements can be taken as a source for new elements. The idea is to copy the existing elements and then move the points of those clones forming the desired shape needed for your design. In fact, this is an easy and fast way to build up 3D models.


 
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  Example: Create a roof  
 

The next steps of this tutorial deal with creating the roof built up out of some rafters and the roof covering.

middle axis We will start in the plan view constructing a line that marks the vertical middle axis of the building. Draw a Y-Line with the start point in the lower region by using the Construction of middle points -function.   M   (As we did it in the profile example.) Position the end point by snapping-to the upper right corner point of the walls and move that point upwards "Y+: 0.25" and confirm this.
cuboid Now, we will enter a Cuboid in the plan view and edit it by moving points in a way that it ends up forming the inclined plane of the roof.
So, you snap-to the upper point of the middle axis. The 2nd Corner point works out like this: Snap-to the lower right corner of the right vertical wall and move it "X+: 0.25" and "Y-: 0.25" - and confirm this. The base of the element is 2.50 m and the height is 0.25 m.
Now, we have defined the region of the roof in the plan view including the roof overhang. Have a look at it in an isometric view.
edit cuboid Change into the elevation view now. There, we want to transform the horizontal lying cuboid in order to achieve the inclined plane of the roof. We will move the inner points of the cuboid upwards to the ridge. Choose the Move -function in the Edit menu. Then, select the type -Point and activate those two points of the cuboid that are situated beneath the ridge. In fact, all four points are activated, because in this view all points that lie exactly behind the points in front are activated as well.
So, confirm your selection and move the points "Z+ 1.59". (For "Z+" use the cursor up key or the Z -key.) The height of 1.59m was calculated like this: tan 30° x (5.50m/2)=1.59m - you also could have constructed this in a separate 2D section and gauge the height of the ridge.
mirror cuboid At this moment, one side of the roof has the correct form, so it is a good idea to mirror and copy that element to the other side. The mirror axis is the vertical axis we used before. Return to the plan view, enter the Edit menu, select Mirror with the + -button active. Select the right side of the roof, finish your selection and enter those two points of the mirror axis.

Viewing the result at this stage in an isometric view, you can see the simple simulation of a roof. The next steps would be to add the roof covering, form some rafters, etc. Therefore, enter a section view.

Maybe, start with the roof covering. This could be created by making a copy of the current roof-cuboid on top of itself. Out of this copy, you can form the roof covering by moving the upper or lower points up or down. Now, you can assign a material display the covering. (Do this in the 3D menu, Material, -Alter.) And, while editing those elements you could assign a different pen color in order to have a better overview on your 3D elements.

Now, some hints how to create the rafters. For the rafters will lie directly underneath the roof covering (viewed at it in the plan view), it is a good idea to move the covering away temporarily. Maybe, you move the covering 10 m aside.
The rafters can be formed out of the initial roof elements now. Enter the plan view and move the points together in a way that the rafters have a thickness of e.g. 14 cm. After that, copy those rafters that they are distributed evenly.

Finally, check if the rafters have been assigned the desired material and move the roof covering back on top of the building. Surely, you can continue adding eave plates or whatever is necessary.


 
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  Example: Create a scene  
 

camera and light We have come to the point where we can start to arrange the scene for rendering. A camera and at least one light need to be added to the scene. Return to the plan view and enter the 3D menu. There, choose Camera and enter the "Eye Point:". We suggest to locate the eye point about 5 m to the right and about 7 m below the lower right corner of the building. Confirm that point and position the "Target Point:" of the camera directly on the lower right corner of the building. After having confirmed that point, CYCAS asks you to enter the "Height:" of the camera. Enter e.g. 1.70. Choose the Perspective view to get a preview of the cameras position.

Now, we will enlighten the scene as follows: Open the lights dialog box with the ? -button below the Light -button. Choose a point light with a size of 0.0 (0 means infinite radius). Position the light e.g. 10 m below and 3.50 m to the right from the lower right corner point of the building. The "Height:" shall be 15 m.

Now, that we have a 3D model and a scene, you can start the rendering. In this tutorial we will use POV-Ray. Surely, POV-Ray needs to be installed on your system correctly to do so.
The materials you assigned to the elements already are especially designed for the export to POV-Ray likewise the camera and the light. So, what is left to do, is to start the rendering by choosing Render in the 3D menu. A POV-Ray dialog box pops up enabling you to make some settings for POV-Ray. Finally, click the Render -button in that window...


 
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