WinBlob 2.0

Contents

Organic Modeling for the PC

WINBLOB COMMANDS

Here are some important points to remember before continuing:

1) After each command name the letters F, S, T and Iso are used to define in which

    views a given command is valid.  If the letter of a view is not present, the command

    can't be performed in that view.

2) WinBlob preserves the last command selected.  To execute the previous command,

     left click on one the views.

3) Some of the commands can't be repeated - this is done either for convenience or for

     safety.

Create (F, T, S)

Use this command to create a blob component in any of the 3 principal views. After selecting this command, move to one of the views:

1. Left click to define the center of the component

2. Move the mouse to define the radius

3. Left click to accept or right click to CANCEL.

Move  (F, T, S)

You may move a component to another location at anytime by selecting the Move command. The move will be performed in 2D, i.e., if you move a component in the Front view, the Z coordinate will remain constant while the X and Y coordinates change.  After selecting this command, move to one of the views:

1. Move the mouse near the circle of the component to be selected and left click.  The

    component changes to yellow indicating it has been selected.

2. You have two options: left click to start moving the component or move to another

     then left click to start moving the component.

Sometimes, if your object has many components, it may be difficult to select

a component from a particular view.  You can then, select the Move command,

and left click on the object in any of the views where it's easy to select it.  Now

you can move to the view where you really want to the displacement of the

component.

3. Left click to drop the component or right click to cancel the operation.

Copy (F, T, S)

The Copy command behaves the same as the Move command but doesn't delete the

original component.

Delete (F, T, S)

Select this command to delete individual components.  Left click on any part of the circle.  You'll be asked if you wish to delete the selected blob.  Select Yes to delete the component.

Resize (F, T, S)

You may resize a component at anytime by selecting the Resize command.  After selecting this command:

1. Left click on any part of the circle of the component to be resized.  The circle will

    change to yellow indicating that it has been selected.

2. At this point you can left click to start resizing or move to another view and left click

    to resize from a different view.

3. Left click to accept the new size or right click to cancel the operation.

Preview (Iso)

Generates a wireframe representation of  the current object. WinBlob displays a hidden line version of the object. The hidden line algorithm has been optimized for speed but not for accuracy so you may see some small artifacts in the display every once in a while.  This does not affect the output in any way.

NOTE:	It's smart to save the data in BLB format before doing any previews.

Redraw (F, T, S, Iso)

This command refreshes ALL the views. Pressing the spacebar does the same thing.

Zoom (F, T, S, Iso)

To zoom In or Out of a view select the Zoom command.  After selecting this command:

1. Click on any of the views.  The mouse button pressed will determine the zooming

    operation:

* left click	Zoom In

* right click	Zoom Out

Camera (F, T, S)

In order to view an object from a perspective we must be able to define the position of the observer in the scene.  WinBlob displays the observer position as a yellow circle.  A line connects this circle to the origin of the 3D coordinate system.

The Camera function moves the observer's position.  Simply select the Camera command and move the mouse to any of the views.  Left click to define the position on the observer.  Check the Iso view to see how the point of view has changed.

You can also use the accelerator keys F and A:

F	Change the camera position

A	Change points being looked at by camera

Zoom All (N/A)

The Zoom All returns the views to their default settings (except the Iso view).

Origin (F, T, S)

This command puts the origin back in the center of the selected view. Click on the Origin icon then click on one of the views....the 3D axis will appear in the center.

This command comes in handy when you have used the Pan command excessively and are located very far from the origin.

ZFactor (N/A)

To control the rate of zoom, click on the ZFactor button. A input panel appears where you may type the Zoom factor value.  For example, a value of 1.25 indicates that each time a zoom is requested it will either enlarge or shrink the size of the data displayed by 1.25 times.

Higher values produce faster zooms. The maximum Zoom factor is 10.

Pan (F, T, S)

The Pan command places a selected point from a view as the center of that view.  Left click on any of  the views.  That point will become the center of that scene.  If the view gets out of limits and you can't return it back, reset it using the Origin command.

Zoom Win (F, T, S, Iso)

You can have more control when zooming in or out of a scene through the use of the Zoom Win command.  When you initially left click on one of the views, a small purple square is displayed.  Move the mouse to size it and left click to accept the size.  Now, a second purple square appears and it can be made smaller, equal or larger than the first square:

IF the second square is

* larger, you will zoom in the view

* equal, the scene will remain of the same size

* smaller, you will zoom out of the scene

The zoom factor used to zoom in or out depends on the relative sizes of the two squares defined.  The larger the ratio, the larger the zoom in or out.

Show Density Off/On (N/A)

The Show Density Off/On button displays or hides the outer or maximum radius of a component.  Recall that in order for two components to be able to interact, they should overlap.

Use this command when resizing with the Density button.

Threshold (N/A)

Changes the Threshold value for all the components in a blob. Think of it as a global resize value. Use values between 0.0 and 1.0.   In most of the cases you shouldn't have to change this value.

+/- (F, S, T)

This command changes the "polarity" of a component from (+) to (-) and vice versa.  Select the command then left click on the component to flip its polarity.  Recall that two positive components attract while a positive and a negative component repel.

Density (F, T, S)

The Density command works in the same fashion as the Resize command but only affects the internal radius of the component.  Use the Show Density command before selecting the Density command to display both the internal and outer radii.

The internal radius can be equal or smaller than the outer radius.  If you need a larger internal radius, first use Resize to enlarge the whole component.

Detail (N/A)

This value, between 5 and 50 determines the quality of the blob surfaces.  The values affect the program in this way:

5     	fastest,  	less resolution, 	uses less memory

:

:

50     	slowest,  	best resolution,  	uses more memory

For previewing, it's good to have a small number, between 20 and 30.  Use a higher number when you wish to generate the final object.

When you are ready to generate the object in order to load it into your favorite renderer, use a high number and select the Files/Save command.  The program will generate the surface at the given Detail value.

WinBlob creates the blob surface with triangles, therefore, the larger the Detail value the more triangles your object will have.

Grid (N/A)

Enables or disables the display of the grid.  Use the grid for orientation purposes and in conjunction with the Snap command to create object at precise locations and of precise sizes.

Row/Col (N/A)

The Row/Col command sets the number of  divisions (# of rows = # columns) in the grid.  The number should be an integer.

Snap (N/A)

Turns On/Off the Snap feature.

Files

This command presents series of  file-related subcommands.  Press Esc if you wish to cancel the Files command.

Key    Command          Description

N   	New	Deletes the whole database -  fresh start!

L	Load     	Reads in a WinBlob file.  Any existing data is overwritten.

S 	Save	Writes the current database to a file.  Formats supported are:

BLB	WinBlob format 	(read/write)

  	DXF	Autodesk's Data eXchange Format 	(write)

EYE	Simply 3D/Visual Reality project file     (write)

M   	Merge	Reads in a WinBlob  file.  New data is merged with existing data.