Help with mech face

[t_smith5]

Hi

I'm struggling to figure out the best approach on how to do something. I have the face region of my mech, but I need to add the eyes and nose based on the references in the scene. However, if I try to create a Sketch of the Eye and Nose, and extrude them, they don't look right in relation to the rest of the mesh due to them clipping through the model. I've tried extruding and joining, but they still don't look right or sit flush in the face. I'm not quite sure how best to approach it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[jhackney1972]

Here is an idea.  Model attached.

[t_smith5]

Um. It is. 😉

[davebYYPCU]

Please update your terminology,

Mesh - to most of us, is STL, and Mesh Environment is using totally different tools.  

You are working in the solid or surface Environment.  

Export as STL but Input is not.

Interpret what you need by studying the top, side and front views, takes practise, and a while to get that understanding.

Might help......

[t_smith5]

Um, okay. Yes, I'm working in the Solid (and sometimes Surface) mode. Why would I need to export as an STL? The last time I tried that the whole model was oriented the wrong way when I imported it into a scene. At least with it being an .f3d file, everything I've got and been using, such as references, are all there.

I've been modelling with Solid, so ideally, I'd like to continue with that. I've only briefly used Surface/Patches. But if the other modes are easier for achieving what I want, I'm open to seeing some Screencast videos of them in action (I'm more of a visual learner. 😁). Can't say I've used the other tools though, so I'm not sure how I'd approach/use them.

[davebYYPCU]

Just a word thing, you say Mesh, most will think 3d printing question.

You have done well as a new user with a complicated first project, usually you start making the bigger object and use detail smaller cuts or add in more material, just as you have been doing.

Take the beak, I would use Loft.

You need a front view triangle inside the head, and a sketch point on the right place of the Canvass.  Loft the point to the triangle.  If you don’t have a front view Canvass you can draw it using the side view detail.

Been a while since checking the Canvass, but I think the eye would be a centre line, at an angle, long enough to go inside the head, and use Pipe (Join) for the tube, fillet the external face.

Just do one side and mirror, later.

Might help....

[t_smith5]

As I've come from traditional 3D modelling and sculpting, 'mesh' is what I'm used to saying to refer to geometry. It's force of habit. 😅 They're to be converted to a mesh later down the line anyway as I'll eventually take it into ZBrush to refine, retop, and turn into a low poly game model. These sorts of issues could technically be sorted out in ZBrush, but I want to learn and do a lot of the work as best I can in Fusion first. 🙂

Thanks. I've certainly learnt a lot since I first began using it, though there's a lot more yet to learn. 🙂

Thanks for the suggestions. I did do a side-view triangle for the nose initially, but a lot of it gets lost inside the face, even if I try to Join, which is why this method hasn't been working too well. Same for the eyes. I'm not quite sure what you mean for the eye though. This is where I need a visual guide/video to show me the process as I get lost and confused if they're explained in text. I struggle to visualize it. 🙂

[t_smith5]

See, with the torso for it, I'm trying to do it from the front view, and I've added a lot of the additional cuts and indents on a separate Sketch. Adding them to the first, or Revolving everything within a single Sketch, is just including everything as one:

I'm also using some references of an existing toy of the mech:

[davebYYPCU]

Don’t know that I had even seen the front canvasses.  The grey eye surround, Pipe on a centre line that provides from the head, is the easiest way to get there, sure you could Extrude a circle, but that needs a tangent plane.  Many ways to do it.  The blue ball, is a sphere, on the end of the grey eye “plate”

Filleted triangle inside the head, to a Point using Tangent point option.  

Your work flow is fine, sketches for features, sections at a time.

Might help.....

[t_smith5]

Oh, I don't have any front canvases set up. I only have side view/profiles which are sprites from the games their from. The rest of the references I have are collected in PureRef to help with seeing the various shapes and interpretations. I'm mixing and matching ideas/designs in places.

But if I'm trying to match it from the side view, this is how it ends up looking if I extrude a cylinder from the face outwards and join it. It protrudes out too far. Same with the nose. Maybe I'm trying to match the side views too literally...?

[davebYYPCU]

Ok, that pipe / extrude, is not set up right.

Use a plane on angle, from the vertical Datum swing the angle say 35 - 40 degrees away from centre.  Sketch on that plane. Draw a line, at the angle about right to be perpendicular to the surface it is going to stick out.  Put the pipe on that line.

Not setting up the Canvass puts one hand behind your back.

i am an hour or too away from the Desktop.

Might help.....

[davebYYPCU]

Step along the timeline, edit features and their values to suit your sizing.

I notice there are no other Construction Planes, you will need to understand those.

I changed my mind went with a 3 point spline instead of the triangle.

Might help.....

[t_smith5]

Hmm. Interesting. Thanks for this. Are Construction Planes necessary? Can't say I've used them before; just the Origin Planes.

[t_smith5]

So, how exactly was the Pipe set up? I'm a bit confused with that aspect, even going back through the Timeline. Did you use Project for the face model to get that curved line? I'm also confused about the set up of that angled line and how that works.

[davebYYPCU]

Construction planes where you need them, would not say necessary, but sure make life easy.

Sketch 1 had a vertical line on the origin, so using that, I did the Plane on Angle, looking down from the top, set it to where I thought looked right, but at a wrong angle according to the Canvass so you would need to edit it, for your learning experience.

Yep Project > Intersect the face of the face.  (Purple curve)

Look At - the sketch and drew the blue line, close to radial across the purple line, (still adjustable - Drag end points to suit)

Create > Pipe Select Blue Line, Set diameter.

Create Sphere, placed on the centre of the pipe. (freehand)

As the eyes are too small and too wide, not close enough to the nose.

Open Change Parameters, tick immediate update,

adjust the window/s size so you can see the head, and the parameter table. Dig down to the Plane entry,

Edit the plane entry, and change the angle value, tab to another field, and the model updates.

Same for the Pipe, fillet and sphere values. Repeat till Happy, Close Parameters.

For the blue line, alignment, slide end points.  When happy, Edit sketch and fully constrain the blue line. Angle, length, and position.

Might help.....

[t_smith5]

I'm trying to follow what you did step-by-step, however I can't seem to get Project > Intersect to work. I select the Bodies option, and even though the face model is the same, the red lines don't appear. Not sure what I'm missing.

EDIT: I'm guessing the blue line needs to be added first...?

EDIT 2: Actually, I'm guessing it's related to the Plane on Angle...? Question: how did you get that Plane big? Mine only gets added small.

[davebYYPCU · Accepted solution]

Hide the clutter turn all sketches and bodies off.  (Clean sheet.)

I will list what I did, in your case use edit feature as we go.

Show Sketch 1.  

Construction > Plane on Angle.  Select the long black line.  The plane size will be relative to the selection item, if you select the origin axis it will be smaller, but does not mater in the slightest.

Set angle (text or blue dot handle)

Create Sketch on the new plane.  Show the head body.  

Project > Intersect the face of the head, (article not body) will Preview red curve, goes purple when confirmed.  Hide face body.

Press Look at. - draw the blue line (no Constraints) in appropriate location.  Finish Sketch.

Create Pipe on the blue line.

Create sphere on the face of the pipe.

Show the head body, and adjust the sizes positions until Happy as outlined above.

For the new question, I will check the canvasses, not sure of the directions those faces go.  Cut into or protrude from.  Either way it is a rectangle and a line, used in a Surface Loft.

Might help.....

[t_smith5]

Thanks for the step-by-step breakdown. Unfortunately, I'm still struggling with it. 😕 Every time I get to the Project > Intersect part, no red lines show. 😞

EDIT: Wait, never mind. I ended up creating a new Sketch but selected the Origin Planes instead of the Angled one. 😅

[davebYYPCU]

That'll do it.  Hide the clutter, even the origin.