Alias Entrenamiento

Sebastian Zaje.
Introduction to AliasStudio
Computer Aided Industrial Design/
Computer Aided Styling (CAS)

Specializing in complex 3D forms and organic shapes:

Sketching Tools

3D NURBS Modeling

Interactive Work-in-Progress Rendering

High-Quality Rendering and Animation for Presentation

Technical Surfacing for Production


Used by... Product Designers, Transportation Designers, Packaging Designers,
Furniture Designers, etc.
3 2007 Autodesk
Example of 3D Form Development
4 2007 Autodesk
Example of Design Presentation
5 2007 Autodesk
AliasStudio in the Design Process
Sketching
and
Concepts
Design
Presentation
3D Form
Development
Component
& Assembly
Engineering
Mechanical
& Electrical
Design
Engineering
Analysis
AliasStudio
CAID
Engineering
CAD
Systems
6 2007 Autodesk
Surface Modeling vs. Solid Modeling
AliasStudio
Surface Models















Interested in:
Form & Function
Beautiful Shapes
Highlights
Color & Materials
Styling Lines
Manufacturability
Visual Impact
Fashion/Trends



Engineering CAD
Solid Models















Interested in:
Form & Function
Manufacturability
Strength
Kinematics
Dynamics
Performance
Materials
Sustainability
Cost
AliasStudio
Surface Models
Engineering CAD
Solid Models
7 2007 Autodesk
Simplified Interface
Limited use of
the Control
Panel
Use the Help Menu
Pick
&Transform
Palettes open
No Marking Menus
or Shelves
Prompt Line
8 2007 Autodesk
Full Interface
Menu
Prompt Line
Work Area
Layer Bar
Palette
Shelf
Control Panel
Marking
Menus
9 2007 Autodesk
Navigating Views
Tumble

Track
(Pan)

Zoom
(Dolly)

10 2007 Autodesk
Working with Windows
Layouts
Menu

The Layouts Menu offers different pre-set arrangements of
the modeling windows. The most commonly used
arrangement of four windows is given the hotkey F9 use
this to quickly return to viewing the four windows at any
time.
Active Window
Shown with a white
border instead of a
black one.

Window
Icons

Close Box Maximize Box
Title Bar

Resize Corners (4)

11 2007 Autodesk
Directory Structure
User_data Directory Standard Project Structure Lessons Project Structure
Projects
user_data
where all your
project design
work is filed
Only the wire and pix
directories are provided, to
save space. The other
directories can be created
when required.
See what you
can achieve
when youre well
organized....
12 2007 Autodesk
Pick Nothing, Pick Object
Click/Drag
Single Click (unambiguous selection)
Single Click (ambiguous selection)
Pick Chooser
Keep the mouse button
held down and move
between the selections
on the list. Release
when you have found
the right one.
Pick Nothing
De-selects all
objects
Pick Object
13 2007 Autodesk
Control Panel: Diagnostic Shading
Not all options are available...
It depends which version of
AliasStudio you have.
Pick Nothing
All objects will be
shaded/unshaded

Pick Object
Selected objects will
be shaded/unshaded

Diagnostic Shading
Shade Off/Shade On

Surface Quality
A tolerance of 0.01 will be more accurate
and smooth. Use the slider to modify.
Fast / Accurate
Use Accurate only if you get poor shading
results from Fast. Accurate can be very slow
on large models.
Click on the
To open the Color
selector

Use this to create
different colors for
different parts of the
geometry.
14 2007 Autodesk
Perspective Window: Viewing Panel
Preset Views
Top, bottom, and all sides,
plus the 3/4 views.
Look at selected objects.
Enable/disable perspective
Open BookMarks list
BookMarks Editor
Use ctrl and double-
click to re-name a
bookmark
Return to the
previous view
Click new to save a
view and create a
new bookmark for it.
15 2007 Autodesk
Positioning Objects Accurately
16 2007 Autodesk
Positioning Objects Accurately
Ambiguous Instruction

Align the red box with the
corner of the table
17 2007 Autodesk
Two Steps to Position an Object Accurately
Unambiguou
s Instruction



Instruction 1:

Put the center of the
base of the box .




Instruction 2:

exactly on the near,
right-hand corner of
the table .




Unambiguou
s Result
Techniques







Snapping








Snapping










Tools






Set Pivot
Center Pivot








Move










18 2007 Autodesk
Snapping: Accurate Placement
Snap to points
Snap to grid
Snap to curves
Hold down the Alt key, and click close to a grid
Hold down the Ctrl key, and click close to a point
Hold down the Ctrl + Alt key, and click and hold on to a curve or surface line and drag along the curve/line
19 2007 Autodesk
Advanced Snapping
Free

Horizontal

Vertical

Snapping + 2D Windows + Mouse Constraints
Grid Snap

Point Snap

Curve Snap

20 2007 Autodesk
Mouse Constraints
Orthographic
Windows:
Move, Scale, Non-
P Scale

Perspective
Window:
Move, Scale, Non-
P Scale
Free

Horizontal

Vertical

X

Y

Z

All Windows:
Rotate
21 2007 Autodesk
Pick Component
The Pick Component
options can be changed using
the toolbar
Some of the Primitive shapes are groups of separate surfaces:
To pick individual surfaces within a group, use Pick Component instead of Pick Object
A cylinder is
three
surfaces
A cube
is six
surfaces
22 2007 Autodesk
Curve Snap Options
Options
The arrow opens the
curve snap options, which
allow you to increase the
snapping options when
using curve snap.

Snapping Toggles
If you are doing a lot of
the same type of
snapping, you can click
these icons to keep the
snap active.
23 2007 Autodesk
Working Accurately: Dimensions
Freeform, creative design...














... is also accurate,
constrained and disciplined.
24 2007 Autodesk
Working Accurately
A concept will only be
successful if all the dimensional
constraints have been fully
considered and integrated into
the final design.
25 2007 Autodesk
Where to Start Setting Units
Preferences Construction
Options
To set the modeling units and the tolerances for
data export

You will typically only change the main units.

Opening a File

The Construction Options settings are
saved with the file.

When opening a new file, if the settings are
different, you are prompted to decide which
settings to use.
26 2007 Autodesk
Where to Start Setting Up the Grid
What is the Grid Used For?
Snapping to
Center-Lines
for symmetry and
rotation axes
Sense of Scale
The other grid-lines
give a sense of scale
Snapping at a Spacing
Occasionally you will
change the grid spacing to
give a particular spacing for
snapping
Setting the Grid Spacing
27 2007 Autodesk
Entering Dimensions: Prompt Line
Entering Coordinate
Dimensions
Typing Coordinates
Type r or a [enter] to
switch modes

x, y and z can be
separated by a space or
a comma

Trailing zeros can be
omitted.
Zeros before values are
needed

The r or a can be
combined with the
coordinate input

Absolute Zero is useful
for the origin



You cant specify units
with the dimension

You cant do equations
While addressing in absolute mode, an object
will be: (1) moved to the grid position specified,
(2) rotated to the absolute degree value
specified for each of the three axes, or (3)
scaled based on its original size.




When in relative addressing mode, objects are
moved, scaled or rotated, relative to the
objects current position, scale or rotation.
28 2007 Autodesk
Entering Dimensions: Information Window
X Y Z
Displays information for
the picked object(s).


View the current
dimensions.


Change one coordinate
at a time.


Primitives & the Information
Window
29 2007 Autodesk
Duplicate Object
Transform Info
The same way of showing
dimensions in the Information
Window is used in the
Duplicate Object tool.
Number
Type in the number of
additional objects you
need. For example, a six
spoke wheel will need 5
spokes duplicated from
the original.

Transform
Type in the transform
required for each
duplicate
Reset
Returns all the values
to zero and one
Option Window
Click on the small
square to open the
option window
30 2007 Autodesk
Curves

31 2007 Autodesk
Two Types of Curves
Freeform Curves

Keypoint Curves

Curve shape
controlled by CVs
Curve shape
controlled by keypoints
32 2007 Autodesk
Freeform Curves Terminology
Control
Vertex
Points used
to shape the
curve/surface
Edit Point
Points showing
the number of
spans in a curve

Hull
Lines
connecting a
row of CVs
Span
Part of a curve
between two
edit points
Start
The first CV is
displayed as

The second
CV is shown
as

Together they
show the
direction of the
curves
Control Panel
Use to change the
number of spans
(and therefore
CVs) in a curve.
At the start and end of
a curve, there is a CV
and an Edit Point.
33 2007 Autodesk
Creating New Curves
Create NURBS Curves
Place 4+ CV points
Place 2+ Edit points
Place 2 Keypoints
Place 3 Keypoints
To modify...





Pick CV





Transform Move









Transform Drag
Keypoints





Windows Information
Information Window
Create Keypoint Curves

34 2007 Autodesk
Where to Position CVs
If you want a constant, regularly changing
curve shape, then the CVs should be
evenly spaced, and you should have as
few CVs as possible.




If you need to create a strong change in the
direction of a curve, youll need to bunch
up extra CVs to control the shape.


This method is OK for quick, concept
modelling but not for high quality,
controllable surfaces see the technique
below.




One of the skills you will develop is to judge
when a shape should be made out of a
single curve or from separate curves
joined together.


Curve 1
Curve 2
Curve 3
35 2007 Autodesk
Curve Tools: Curve Section
Global Curve Intersect Curve Edit Curve Section
In this sketch, curves are
drawn across each other.

Even when drawing
accurate curves, it is
sometimes easier to draw
overlapping curves, and
then trim them to create the
final design.
This is a Plug-in which
is useful for complex
layouts such as
numeric keypads.
This function can be
used to trim or split
curves where they
cross.
36 2007 Autodesk
Curve Techniques: Center-Line Symmetry
When using the Revolve tool, having two CVs perpendicular to the rotation axis gives a smooth transition.
Use snapping and mouse
constraints to align the first two
CVs.
37 2007 Autodesk
Layer Symmetry
If geometry is assigned to a layer, then
Layer Symmetry can be used to create
a mirror image.
If the original geometry is modified, the
mirrored geometry will update.
Layers Symmetry Set Plane
To set the direction of mirroring
Object Edit Align Symmetry Plane
Align
To create a tangent relationship between
the two CVs on the center-line
38 2007 Autodesk
Other Curve Tools
Curve Edit

Add Points: Adds new CV points to the end of a curve. Use with....


Reverse Curve: Swaps the direction of the curve



Object Edit

Attach: Connects two curves to create a single curve (but beware,
they will soften)

Detach: Splits a curve into two parts

Insert: Puts extra Edit Point (and hence extra span and an extra CV)
into a curve

Extend: Lengthens or shortens a curve without changing its shape


Offset: Creates a new curve, offset from the original


39 2007 Autodesk
Sculpting with CVs
3D Model
Control Vertices (CVs) are
used to accurately describe a
design as a 3D model.

Control of CVs
Similar expertise and fluency
in sculpting with CVs will give
full control over a design
developed in 3D.
2D Drawing
Sketched curves are used to
describe a design in a 2D drawing.

Control of the Pencil
Expertise and fluency in sketching
is essential to a designer.
40 2007 Autodesk
Shapes & Smoothness
For Smoothness
For Industrial design, you will typically be aiming for smooth,
clean curves and surfaces.

















Fewer CVs will create a smoother curve/surface.

A single-span curve/surface will be the smoothest.

For Complexity
To trace out the shape of this
characters ear, you will need
many CVs and many spans to
get the crinkly style of the
shape.

41 2007 Autodesk
Number of CVs: Controlled by Degree and
Spans
Number of CVs =
Degree + Number of Spans
Your choice: Change Degree or Change Number of Spans