Modeling Question (for Blender users)
miniAmputee started this discussion in Help and Tips

Hello,

I've been trying to wrap my brain around on how exactly Scrubs' tutorial - http://www.mecabricks.com/en/forum/topic/15 on modeling parts works, specifically the outer dimensions part. Basically, this is what he says to do:

"Once the part is modelled, the next step is to alter the outside dimensions so that there will be a gap between the parts when they will be assembled:

-0.04 for vertical surfaces
-0.02 for horizontal surfaces"

I have not been able to figure out how this is achieved. Let's assume I created 8 1X1 bricks in Blender (with the same dimensions as listed in the tutorial) and stacked them together (4 on bottom and 4 on top).

http://i.imgur.com/8iaXzJT.png

In Blender, how would I go about changing the outer dimensions of these bricks in order to reduce the vertical by -0.04 and the horizontal by -0.02?

Thanks so much for your help! (I'm a visual learner, so visuals would be most welcomed 😃 )

4 replies · Page 1 of 1
Avatar of Scrubs
Administrator

Hi,

Select the vertices of the face to move and decrease/increase the value in the transform fields
http://i.imgur.com/FWweptG.png
In my example, I selected the bottom vertices that are at Z=0 and I moved them at Z=0.02
For the side faces, I would move to X=±3.96 and Y=±3.96
For the top, I would select the 4 top vertices as well as the 16 of the knob bases and move them to Z=9.58

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a fast reply, and especially from the creator himself haha!

Okay, it's making more sense, but I am a bit confused about which vertices are what (meaning, which vertex points you consider to be "bottom", "top" "side"), so I made a little illustration grouping specific vertex points.

http://i.imgur.com/aYF5N2s.jpg

These are my guesses and questions:

White = bottom vertices, correct?
Red = are these 4 inside vertices changed at all, and if so, which group (bottom, top or side)?
Blue = top 4 vertices, correct?
Cyan = top 16 vertices that make up the knob are top as well, correct?
Yellow = what about the bottom 16 vertices; do they get changed at all?
Green = the 4 interior top vertices; do they get changed at all?
Pink = center vertex on the top of the knob; does it get changed at all?

I feel like some of these are what you consider the "side face" vertices, but I'm not quite sure which ones you're referring to. Perhaps you could provide an illustration color coding which vertices are the "top", "side" and "bottom"? 😃

Avatar of Scrubs
Administrator

White & Red: +0.02 on Z
Blue & Yellow: -0.02 on Z
Blue & White: (X or Y depending on face) ±0.04

Green: nothing
Pink & Cyan: nothing

This is really just to create a space between 2 bricks that would be attached together. Snap point are located at exact position. e.g. (0,0,0) or (0,0,9.6)
It creates a gap between 2 pieces of 0.04mm on the vertical axes or a gap of 0.08mm on the 2 others.

A tip: Remember to use the mirror modifier. For this one you would just need to model a 1/4 of it and mirror on X and Y. For a 1X1 it might not be quicker but for more complex pieces it is way faster.

Hmmm, okay, think it's making more sense.

So now, if a 1X1 brick has eight more 1X1 bricks surrounding it...basically like this from the top view:

[ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ]

and then nine more 1X1 bricks stacked on the top and bottom (so same depiction as above but the side view would show twentyseven 1X1 bricks stacked), how would the dimensions of the very center 1X1 brick look? I'm just a bit confused since you said Blue and White depending on the face would be ±0.04.

So in this example I mention above, it sounds like you're saying that the top vertices (Blue & Yellow) for the very center 1X1 brick would have a Z of +0.02, and the bottom vertices (White & Red) would have a Z of +0.02. That makes sense to me.

What would the X and Y for the Blue & White groups be, especially since the 1X1 brick's four sides are surrounded by other bricks?

Sorry for not catching on quickly haha...it's embarrassing for me, and probably a pain in the neck for you...I deeply appreciate you taking your time to help me figure this out!

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Avatar of miniAmputee
Avatar of Scrubs

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