My First Beer.

[Venkman]

Lathe objects have a distinct advantage when you could model the object using a piece of wood and a real-world lathe.

A beer can is a perfect example of this. You could be done with the can shape in a matter of minutes (depending on how fast you get your spline profile just right), and just spend your time adding details like the tab, hole, and textures.

If you started with a column and pushed and pulled it, you would have to make sure to move all your points perfectly to maintain a nice solid look. I definitely think you should model the most efficient way possible, and in this case I think it is by lathing a spline like Janine does for her vase. You can then tweak the spline profile and see updates to the model in real time.

There are always multiple ways to do it, some prefer the fastest way, others prefer the way which conforms to their habits or ways from other programs.

I would use a spline and lathe nurbs.

[Tiziano]

Cheers.

I just got to the Nurbs section of the manual and while they don't say it as well as you did, they get the point across.

Efficiency is best. Especially since I forgot about the tab and hole. Hopefully a WIP will follow soon.

[JIII]

Definitely, most people trash Cinema's Nurbs, while we might not have RHINO Nurbs modeling they are still Nurbs and they still work. Just use Nurbs.

Good Luck,

-John

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

I agree with what Venkman and JIII already said about using the Lathe NURBS object, and I'd like to add a little word of advice. It's a good idea to change the default parameters anytime you're using a C4D Nurbs object, so that you get a cleaner mesh. Especially if you plan on converting to polygons and using a HyperNURBS:
http://www.cactus3d.com/Lathe.jpg

Using the Natural setting on the Intermediate Points of the spline can give you a more even mesh and help reduce your polygon count.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[Jonj1611]

Not too sure about the modelling but I would pour the can of Guiness into a pint glass, then you can model the can while enjoying your drink :)

Jon

[R1PPER]

For any sort of seymetrical object i would take a quick snap or google an image...throw it into illustrator...save back as 8.0 open in C4D lathe it.....then C it....that takes around 30 seconds. Then all you have to worry about is the top section. select top polys and copy to a new doc....tweek with knife...when happy copy back to original doc long as the outer polys are still the same number just line them up and run optimise....job done.....show us your result.


PS...James MK posted a really good spritzing tequnique the other day...if you've got the power use it and post results. :)

PS...nice tip mister Cactus Dan, i always get abit sloppy with poly counts.

[Tiziano]

...select top polys and copy to a new doc....tweek with knife...when happy copy back to original doc long as the outer polys are still the same number just line them up and run optimise...

Lost me here. Maybe the third can did me in :thumbsup:

PS...James MK posted a really good spritzing tequnique the other day...if you've got the power use it and post results.

I looked up both James MK and Spritzing, no luck but I did see your post on it.

Here's the starts.

[Tiziano]

Howdy,

I agree with what Venkman and JIII already said about using the Lathe NURBS object, and I'd like to add a little word of advice. It's a good idea to change the default parameters anytime you're using a C4D Nurbs object, so that you get a cleaner mesh. Especially if you plan on converting to polygons and using a HyperNURBS:

Cactus Dan

Howdy,
I notice in your posted image that you have many more horizontal edges than I (even in your adjusted model). If you look at my attachments (above) you'll see that the long vertical section is made up of very long polys. I wondered whether this was OK since I'll need to texture using a selection tag to keep the top, bottom and middle different. My thought was to edge select the top edges just before the long ones and move them down?

Now that I see your model I think I must have done the lathe wrong. I just brought in the Illustrator spline, added the lathe, centered it on the 'center' point of the spline and parented.

Anyway, I'll go back to the manual some.

[CosmicBear]

Howdy,

I agree with what Venkman and JIII already said about using the Lathe NURBS object, and I'd like to add a little word of advice. It's a good idea to change the default parameters anytime you're using a C4D Nurbs object, so that you get a cleaner mesh. Especially if you plan on converting to polygons and using a HyperNURBS:

Using the Natural setting on the Intermediate Points of the spline can give you a more even mesh and help reduce your polygon count.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

it's always a good idea to change the original setting, i agree on that. but i wouldn't go for a subdivision of 15
16 or 12 will give you the chance - if you convert it into polys - to work on only half the object and sym it afterwards ;)

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

it's always a good idea to change the original setting, i agree on that. but i wouldn't go for a subdivision of 15
16 or 12 will give you the chance - if you convert it into polys - to work on only half the object and sym it afterwards ;)
Agreed. Even numbers are better. :thumbsup:

Howdy,
I notice in your posted image that you have many more horizontal edges than I (even in your adjusted model). If you look at my attachments (above) you'll see that the long vertical section is made up of very long polys. I wondered whether this was OK since I'll need to texture using a selection tag to keep the top, bottom and middle different. My thought was to edge select the top edges just before the long ones and move them down?
Well, I reckon that is sort of the "trade off" when using the Natural setting on the spline's Intermediate Points parameter. I like to use the Natural setting to keep the tight areas clean. Once I'm done with the initial shaping and convert to polygons, it's easier for me to clean up the wider areas. The attatched images are just a quick example. (I did it before breakfast, so I didn't have a can in front of me :p )

It really all depends on what you're going to do with the model. If you're going to animate the can, then you'll need the extra polygons on the length of the can so it will bend and twist.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[dfaris]

I dont know about anyone else but I would use a cylinder and a HN object. you end up with a lot less polys and it only takes about 5 mins to make. Also I did not have a can in front of me so I don't know how it looks.

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

I dont know about anyone else but I would use a cylinder and a HN object. you end up with a lot less polys and it only takes about 5 mins to make. Also I did not have a can in front of me so I don't know how it looks.
As the old saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." And, you're right in that the main goal is to get the shape in as few polygons as possible. Originally, I abandoned Cinema 4D's NURBS modeling tools in favor of boxmodeling methods, because the NURBS meshes were always too dense. It was later on that I found out by adjusting the parameters, you can lower the resulting mesh's density. But, boxmodeling is still my prefered method, simply because it's easier for me, especially when fleshing out character models. ;)

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[Mfunky]

grande tiziano,

continua così!!!

[Tiziano]

grande tiziano,

continua così!!!

Grazie, troppo gentile!

[Tiziano]

OK, so it's the Intermediate Points on the spline that affects the number of vertical subdivisions! Cool.

I would like to animate this someday but first I have to do the tab and hole plus the texturing. Leaving the tab/hole aside for the moment (too many questions to ask about that before I look up the answers in the manual) I do wonder about the texturing aspect. Specifically, if you look at a Guinness can you'll see that the top 1/16 is light tan while beneath that is dark brown. Was I correct that to texture this I need a poly subdivision where the color is to change? If so then can I just select the edges around the can that are somewhere near the correct place and move them the the right spot? Bear in mind I'm not talking about any of the edges that are part of the curves near the top but just on the 'flat' sides of the can.

As far as the cylinder and HN object, I'll have to give that a try too. I can't quite wrap my head around it though. I suppose it's just pushing and pulling on edges (or is it points) to conform the shape to the proper contour.

[Tiziano]

OK Guys,
Here's the WIP at this point. No materials yet. It's still a sweep nurbs from an Illustrator spline. I reworked the AI spline with a Guinness can actually in front of me this time. Previous attempts were from memory.


Edit- see file a few posts down.

[vid2k2]

Glad to see that your file actually uses a "Lathe Nurbs" :)
You don't need to have the sub'd field as high as 50 as a setting
of 24 with placing the Lathed object into a HN cage will smooth
everything out and reduce the size of the mesh.

As far as the tab and other elements in the top are concerned,
just using a bump map could serve your needs, However, the actual
"pull tab" will need to be modeled geometry.

I also assume that you'll map the graphics of the can to your model.

Good WIP so far.

[Tiziano]

Glad to see that your file actually uses a "Lathe Nurbs" :)
You don't need to have the sub'd field as high as 50 as a setting
of 24 with placing the Lathed object into a HN cage will smooth
everything out and reduce the size of the mesh.

Good WIP so far.

Didn't know you could put a Lathe into a HN cage. :banghead:

Here's the same with sub'd of 24 but with the HN cage.

Yes, I'll map the textures (once I read up a little).
I'm starting the tab too. First I made a spline in AI and then extruded that in C4d.

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