I know that I still need work on the cross and have not yet tackeled the knight but I'm looking for some comments. Maybe some suggestions on how to model the knight. So far everything has been modeled in the spline room and I would like to do the knigt the same if possible, so whatcha thunk. Stacey

Lookn' good Stacey. The knights head will need to be modeled as a seperate item (or two depending on what you want to do) and placed on a pedestal. Keep posting as you complete stuff! Mark

The pieces look really good. Only comment I'd make is that the crennelation on the rook is a bit thin (at least from this angle). Keep up the project!

Very nice. Can you tell me how you did the cutouts on top of the rook and the crennalation on the top of the bishop?

Stacey - Good stuff! I like the pieces. Keep up the fine work! Regards, Clint

I used boolean subtractions ( which I find to be quite buggy in Carrara) to create the cutouts on the rook and bishop. If you would like I can post I can post the file so you can take a look.

Hi Stacy, Booleans are a no-no if you can avoid them. Here is a solution with the (you guessed it) spline modeler. The circle cross section and the crenelation cross section have been positioned so that they are right on top of each other. Using different cross sections is an extremely powerful way to create fully editable shapes. Mark

Mark, Tried to figure out how to do this but had no luck thats why I went with the Boolean subtraction. I didn't know you could add different shapes in different cross sections. I'm still learning (obviously) how to do Spline modeling. You know if you ever decide to publish a complete tutorial of tips and techniques I know of at least one paying customer. Thanks for the tip going to give it a try right now. Stacey

How did you do this? I am completely baffled. Could you please explain how you added the second shapes and kept the circle section from continuing. ( I have a major cold so I just might not be getting it through my medicated head ) Stacey

It's easier that you might think (but isn't everything once you've learned it?) Your Envelope Path has multiple points. Any one of those points can be turned into a Cross Section. You can also add a point anywhere on the Sweep Path or Envelope Path with the Bezier tool located next to the Pen tool in the spline modeling room. If a cross section already exists at a given point, you can also delete it. The Crenelation CS was created at a point further down the Sweep Path. That way I could see it easily in the directors camera. After the cross section drawing was complete, (mine is actually an imported Adobe Illustrator path) I used the Arrow/Direct Select tool, grabbed the point on the Sweep path and dragged it back to the Circle Cross Section. (The shift key was held down to constrain the point movment to a straight line so I wouldn't get a goofy bend in the shape) The picture probably does a better job explaining it that I do. Mark