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Part 3: Completing the Casing
Modeling an MP3 Player
Part 5: Center Navigation Key
Part 4: Creating the Screen
Recess
The screen is cut out
of the front face of the MP3 player.
You will Offset the outline
of the casing to create the screen curves. You will then Project
them onto the front face to create Curves-on-Surface. These can
then be used to Trim out the aperture for the display screen.
Opening the tutorial file
(optional)
If you successfully completed
Part 3, proceed to the next step: Creating Offset Curves below.
If you were not successful
in part 3, open the file called MP3Player_part4.wire,
located in the wire directory
of the CourseWare project.
This file contains the completed model from Part 3.
Watch Part
4 of the tutorial.
Creating Offset Curves
To keep the structured
style of the design, the shape of the screen will echo the curve
at the top of the MP3 player.
Start by duplicating
the edge of the top surface to create a reference curve.
- Maximize the Top window.
- Turn off the Symmetry on the Front
Casing layer, and zoom into the top half of the casing.
- Choose Curve Edit > Create > Duplicate Curve and select the lower edge
of the fillet surface at the top of the casing.
-
You will get a choice of picking the edge of
the fillet surface or the edge of the plane.
Select the edge of the
fillet. This will give you a good quality curve.
A curve is created that is a duplicate of the
surface edge.
- With the Curve Edit > Create > Duplicate Curve tool already active, select
the fillet surface at the left side.
-
Again, choose the fillet edge, not the edge
of the plane.
- With the curves still highlighted, choose Object Edit > Offset and type in -3 to
create the top and side curves for the screen.
- Click Accept to
create the offset curve.
Now you will duplicate and mirror the top curve
to create the lower curve.
This time you will use a different technique
for mirroring. The Edit > Duplicate > Mirror tool
always mirrors across a grid axis. You will use the Edit
> Duplicate > Object tool to mirror across an object’s
pivot point.
So first, set the pivot
for the curve.
- Choose Pick > Object and select the upper curve.
- Choose Transform > Local > Set Pivot and use the (Windows) or (Mac) key to snap the pivot
point to the end of the curve.
- Choose Edit > Duplicate > Object ❒ to open the option window.
Change the Scaling in
the y-direction to -1.
TipThe
Duplicate Object tool is used to duplicate and transform
objects in one operation. It is useful for creating patterns of many
duplicates, and you will use it later in the tutorial to create
the pattern of control buttons.
Click Go to create
a duplicated curve, scaled in the Y-direction to create a mirrored
copy.
- Choose Transform > Move and type in 0,
-28 to move the curve downward.
- Choose Curve Edit > Create > Fillet Curves and follow the prompts to
create fillets between the curves. Set the fillets radii to 2.0
by typing the value on the prompt line.
Projecting the Screen Curves
Next, you will Project the
curves onto the front surface to cut out the screen shape.
The direction of projection
is determined by the active window: the curves will be projected
perpendicular to the active window.
By continuing to work
in the Top window, you will be setting
the direction of projection correctly.
- Choose Surface Edit > Create CurvesOnSurface > Project .
-
You are prompted to select a surface. Pick the
plane surface, and click Go.
- You are then prompted to select the curves
to project. Drag a pick box over the screen outline curves you created.
- Click Go to project
the curves.
- Maximize the Perspective window.
You will now template the curves, so that you
can see the curves-on-surface more easily.
- Choose Pick > Component and choose the curves-only option.
-
Drag a pick box over all the curves to select
them.
- Choose ObjectDisplay > Template to template the curves.
Now you can see the curves-on-surface
created by projecting.
Next, you will trim the front face of the casing
to create the opening for the screen.
- Choose Surface Edit > Trim > Trim Surface . You are prompted to select
a surface to trim.
Pick the plane surface.
- You are then prompted to select a region.
Click the plane surface,
outside the screen area.
- Click Keep to trim
the surface.
Creating the Screen Surfaces
Now you will create a
chamfered edge for the screen, and a screen surface.
- Choose Surfaces > Draft Surfaces > Draft/Flange . Double-click the icon to
open the option window.
Reset
the Construction Type to Draft.
Set the Angle to 45 degrees
and the Surface Depth to 1.5.
- Select the edges of the screen to create
the draft surface from.
- Click Go to create
the draft surface.
If the surfaces are built in the wrong direction,
click the blue dotted line to switch the pull direction of the Draft
surface.
To finish off the screen, create a planar surface
for the face of the screen.
- Choose Curves > Keypoint Curve Toolbox,
then Keypoint Curve Tools > Lines > Line and use the curve snap ( and (Windows) or and (Mac)) to create a curve
for the center-line of the screen face.
- Choose Surfaces > Planar Surfaces > Set Planar and select all the lower
edges of the screen chamfer.
- Click Go to create
the planar surface.
- Assign all the surfaces to the Front
Casing layer.
You
now have lots of curves, so it’s a good idea to organize them onto
a separate layer.
- Choose Layers > New to create a layer.
- Change the layer name to Curves.
- Use Pick > Template to select the templated
curves, and Assign them to the new Curves layer.
- Use Pick > Component to pick any remaining curves
and Assign them to the Curves layer.
- Make the Curves layer
invisible.
- Turn Symmetry on
for Front Casing layer, and use
diagnostic shading to evaluate the design.
(If you want, use the Show menu
in the window title bar to turn off the Model and Grid for
a better view.)
Saving your work
Save your work in the wire directory of the Lessons project. Name your file myMP3Player4.wire.