Detailing the Doorways
 
 
 

Modeling the lintel is a bit more complicated than modeling the windows. On the other hand, the doorways themselves are a simple extrusion as the windows are.

Set up the lesson:

Correct the outline of the lintel beam:

  1. Click the Front face of the ViewCube to return to a Front view.

  2. Pan and Zoom to get a good view of the faces that show the lintel beam.

    As you can see in the bitmap, the lintel has an irregular outline. You will edit the faces so they correspond to the outline of the wooden beam.

  3. On the ribbon, click (Vertex) to go to the Vertex sub-object level.
  4. At the left end of the lintel, move the three lower vertices so they follow the outline of the beam.

    TipTo do these edits and the ones that follow, it might help to zoom in more closely, then pan as you work on other parts of the lintel.
  5. Where the lintel passes over the central pillar between the two doorways, click to turn on (SwiftLoop), then add a new vertical loop where the stones of the pillar form an angle into the beam.

    This new loop of edges is so you can add a vertex at the angle point without creating a free-standing vertex. Free-standing vertices are never a good idea.

  6. Right-click to close the SwiftLoop tool.
  7. On the ribbon Edit panel, click to turn on (Cut).
  8. Use the Cut tool to draw new edges that follow the top of the pillar and the bottom of the beam.

    TipThe cursor for the Cut tool has three different forms:
    • when the cursor is at a vertex
    • when the cursor is on an edge
    • when the cursor is on a face

    To avoid creating free-standing vertices, do not click the mouse while the cursor shows that it is on a face.

  9. Right-click to close the Cut tool.
  10. At the right end of the lintel, click to turn on (SwiftLoop), then add two new vertical loops where the stones rise into the beam.

  11. Right-click to close the SwiftLoop tool.
  12. Click to turn on (Cut).
  13. Cut new edges to follow the outline of the beam.

  14. Right-click to close the Cut tool.
  15. Move the two upper vertices at the right end of the beam, to better follow the beam contour.

  16. Click to turn on (Select Object) and turn off Move.

Now the faces over the lintel are a fair approximation of the shape of the beam.

Add depth to the lintel:

  1. If you zoomed in to perform the edits in the previous procedure, zoom out and pan so you can see the entire lintel.
  2. On the ribbon, click (Polygon) to go to the Polygon sub-object level.
  3. Click and Ctrl+click to select all of the lintel faces.

  4. Drag the left side of the ViewCube to get a view that shows some depth, again.

  5. Do the extrusion interactively this time: On the ribbon, click (Extrude) to turn it on, then drag in the viewport so the lintel extends above the doorways.

  6. Right-click, and from the quad menu, choose Scale.
  7. Use the scale gizmo to scale the size of the front faces of the lintel down a bit along the X and Z axes.

    NoteIn the original building, the lintel doesn’t appear to extrude this far; but for our model, we want to have geometry that casts a decent shadow.

Add depth to the doors:

  1. Zoom, pan, and orbit (or use the ViewCube) to get a better view of the doorways.
  2. Click and Ctrl+click to select the doorway faces. Include the portion with stone to the left of each door. (The left-hand doorway has an extra sliver of face that the right-hand doorway does not have.)

  3. On the ribbon, Shift+click (Extrude), then use the caddy’s Weight field to extrude the doorways inward by a value of –0.6m.

  4. Click (OK) to accept the extrusion.
  5. Orbit (or use the ViewCube) to see the doorways from the other side.

  6. On the ribbon, click (Edge) to turn on the Edge sub-object level.
  7. Click and Ctrl+click to select the four vertical edges that are part of the doorways, but whose faces show stonework.

  8. Move these edges to the right along the X-axis until the faces show only the shadows beyond the door.

    Incidentally, the perspective captured by the camera helps with the texture projection onto the left-hand doorjambs: These now look good. The right-hand doorjambs don’t look as good. This is a problem that you will fix in a later lesson.

  9. Click (Edge) to exit the Edge sub-object level.

Next

Completing the Façade: Detailing the Roof