MAXON Computer Cinema 4D Tutorials: Modeling a Knight

- Chess Set

Chess Set:
Modeling a Knight
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CE Requires:
Version 6+

This tutorial will go through the steps of how to model a Knight chess piece using Sweep NURBS, Matrix Extrude, and Hyper NURBS.

Step 1: You are going to create two objects and connect them together. First you will need to create the back portion of the knight. Create a cylinder (Object=>Primitive=>Cylinder) with the settings shown. Double click the cylinder icon in the object manager to access its parameters. Make the cylinder editable (Structure=>Make Editable) so you can manipulate the individual polygons.

Step 2: Next you will make the mane for the knight. Go to view 4 or hit F4 and select the polygons shown by switching to polygon mode and using the live selection tool (Selection=>Live Selection). Hold the Shift key to select multiple polygons.

Step 3: With these polygons selected go to Structure=>Edit Surface=>Matrix Extrude. Use the settings shown. Steps=5 Move: X=0 Y=0 Z=5m Scale: X=90% Y=90% Z=90% Rotate: H=10 P=0 B=0. The rest of the settings can be left as default.

Step 4: Without deselecting the polygons go to Structure=>Edit Surface=>Matrix Extrude again using these settings. Steps=5 Move: X=0 Y=0 Z=5m Scale: X=85% Y=85% Z=85% Rotate: H=-10 P=0 B=0. The rest of the settings can be left as default.

Step 5: Once again without deselecting the polygons use the matrix extrude with these settings. Steps=5 Move: X=0 Y=0 Z=5m Scale: X=70% Y=70% Z=70% Rotate: H=-10 P=0 B=0. The rest of the settings can be left as default.

Step 6: Your knight's mane should look like this so far.

Step 7: Now we are going to bend the knight into more of a horse shaped figure. Select the polygons shown using the rectangle selection tool (Selection=>Rectangle Selection). In the active tool tab disable 'only select visible elements' and check the box for 'Tolerant Selection'. Then drag a box around the polygons you want to select in the editor window. Now input -10 into the P field in the coordinates manager. Also, add 8 to the Z position by inputing '+8' after the existing value for the Z field and add 3 to the Y position by inputing '+3' after the existing value for the Y field in the coordinates manager.

Step 8: Select the polygons shown and input -20 into the P field. Add +12 to the Z position and +4 to the Y position in the coordinates manager.

Step 9: Select the polygons shown and input -20 into the P field and add +3 to the Z position field in the coordinates manager. Click apply.

Step 10: Deselect all the polygons except the very top face. Holding down the control key while using any selection tool will deselect polygons or points. Then go to Structure=>Extrude and in the active tool tab input 15m into the offset and click apply. Then input -20 into the 'P' field in the coordinates manager. Now use your perspective view to rotate around and select the very bottom polygons of the cylinder. Extrude (Structure=>Extrude) these polygons using 60m for the offset.

Step 11: Now we are going to create the front portion of the knight. Draw a spline similar to the one shown using the B-Spline tool (Objects=>Create Spline=B-Spline).

Step 12: Now that we have our shape we need to make it look like the rest of the knight. Create a circle spline (Objects=>Spline Primitives=>Circle) and change the radius to 5m and the projection to XY. Set the Intermediate Points to 'Natural' and the number to '2'. This will be the size of our pipe. Create a sweep nurbs object (Object=>Nurbs=>Sweep Nurbs) and drag and drop the spline then the circle into it. The order should look like this.

Step 13: Double click on the text 'Sweep NURBS' in the object manager and rename it 'FrontKnight'. Make it editable (Structure=>Make Editable or hit 'C') then group the two objects together by hitting the 'G' key in the object manager and dragging the crosshair over all the objects. Select the new null object group and go to Functions=>Connect. This will give you a single object. You can now delete the old null object group.

Step 14: Select the polygons shown and make a knife cut (Structure=>Knife) close to the top as shown by clicking and dragging with the Knife tool across the object where you want the cut to be made.

Step 15: Select the polygons shown using the live selection tool (Selection=>Live Selection). Rotate in your perspective views to select the polygons as shown. Then select the bridge tool (Structure=>Bridge) and click and drag to connect the two selected areas together. You will get the best results by bridging between points directly across from each other. You may need to tweak some of the points after bridging to get a smooth connection.

Step 16: Create a torus (Objects=>Primitives=>Torus) and double click on the icon in the object manager to change its settings. Set the Radius to 30m, the Rind Segments to 24, the Pipe Radius to 5m, the Orientation to +Z and check the box for Slice from 180 degrees to 360 degrees. This will be the support base for the knight.

Step 17: Make a copy of the torus by holding control and dragging the object in the object manager. Position each one of them at the base of each of the ends of the Knight. Use your side and top views to position the bases more accurately.

Step 18: Create a cylinder (Objects=>Primitives=>Cylinder) and double click on the cylinder icon in the object manager to change its settings. Set the Radius to 10m, the Height to 10m, and check the box for Fillet with a Radius of 5m. Double click on the cylinder text in the object manager and rename it Base.

Step 19: Make copies of Base by selecting it in the object manager then going to Functions=>Duplicate and inputing the following settings. Drag the original Base object into the newly created Null Object group. Position the bases at the bottom of each of the ends of the knight. Use your side, front, and top views to position them accurately.

Step 20: Create a sphere (Objects=>Primitives=>Sphere) and double click on its icon in the object manager to change the radius to 10m. Position it as shown. Rename the Sphere 'Eye'.

Step 21: Create a HyperNURBS object (Objects=>NURBS=>HyperNURBS) and in the object manager double click on its text and rename it 'Knight'. Drag and drop all the objects into the newly renamed Knight object. Make sure the Null Object frame of the knight is the first object in the HyperNURBS heirarchy so that it will be smoothed out.

Step 22: Create a new material in the material manager (File=>New Material). Rename it by double clicking on the name under material preview. It will be named 'New' by default. Input 'BodyMaterial' into the rename dialog.

Step 23: Double click on the new material to open the material dialog box. You will see the different channels listed in the material dialog with checkboxes for each one. Checking a box activates the corresponding channel for that material. For this material you will need to check the boxes for Color, Reflection, Environment, and Specular. You can switch between the different channel settings by clicking on the channel text. Click on Color and set the brightness slider to 100% for a pure white color.

Step 24: Click on Reflection to go to the reflection settings. You will use an image for this channel. Click on the triangle to the right of the Image field to access a number of built in shaders and images for you to use. Use the gradient shader (Shader=>Gradient) for the reflection channel. The default gradient colors are red and blue, but you need them to be black and white. Click the Edit button below the image field to change the gradient colors. Click the Color 1 button and choose white from the color palette then click OK. Then click the Color 2 button and select black from the color palette. Click OK.

Step 25: Now go to the Environment settings. The environment channel gives the material somewhat of a fake reflection. It takes a given image and invisibly 'wraps' it around an object so that object will reflect it. You want to use another image for this channel so go to the triangle menu again and this time use the Water shader. Input 50% for the Strength under the Mix settings.

Step 26: Finally go to the Specular settings. Set the mode to 'Metal', with the width at 50% and the height at 100%. Close the material dialog.

Step 27: Create a new material in the material manager (File=>New Material). Rename it 'Water'. In the color channel use the sliders to select a light green color. The settings used here are R=70% G=95% B=80% Br=100%.

Step 28: Check the box for Diffusion and in the diffusion channel settings, use the Water shader for the image. The diffusion channel allows you to lighten or darken certain areas of the material based on an image.

Step 29: Check the box for Transparency and set the transparency brightness to 20%.

Step 30: Check the box for Environment and in the environment settings also use the Water shader for the image.

Step 31: Use the Water shader once more in the Bump channel. Be sure to check the activation box for the bump channel. The specular settings can be left as default.

Step 32: Click on the water material in the material manager and drag and drop it onto the Eye in the object manager. A dialog box will appear when the material is dropped onto the object. Change the projection to spherical and click OK. Now drag and drop the BodyMaterial texture onto the Knight. When the dialog comes up leave the settings as default and click OK.