Introduction

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Lattice Rig to widen the opening of a vase two different ways, by setting up the lattice differently while it is disengaged.

Watch a movie.

Part 1: Widen the opening using a shear-type modification.

Generate the lattice

1. Open tutorialVase.wire. This file is located in the CourseWare/wire directory on the documentation CD that came with Alias.
2. Choose Object Edit > Dynamic Shape Modeling > Lattice Rig to open the Lattice Rig toolbox.
3. Select all surfaces of the vase model.

   

4. Click Accept Targets to create the lattice. Notice the lattice is formed around the vase model.7

   

Use the lattice to enlarge the top

1. Use the and click the top four points of the lattice. They now have arrow manipulators attached to them.

   

2. Click the Scale button to change the lattice manipulation mode to scale. The manipulators change to boxes. These are scale manipulators.

   

3. Choose Layouts > Top to switch to the top view.
4. In the Lattice Rig toolbox, click on the Toggle Lattice Engage State tool.

   

   The lattice is drawn with solid lines, and the surfaces have a yellow-green highlight.

   

5. Use the and drag on the pink manipulator to scale the selected lattice points.

   

   The pink manipulator in an orthographic view scales proportionally in that view. In this case, the opening of the vase enlarges, but the vase does not grow taller.

6. Release the mouse button. The target surfaces update to show the vase enlarged as well.

   

7. Choose Layouts > Front . The top of the vase widens, and the sides of the vase remain linear.

   

Part 2: Widen the opening but leave the bottom stationary.

Follow the steps in Generate the lattice of Part 1 of this tutorial to load in the vase model and to generate the initial lattice.

Modify the lattice

1. Use the and draw a pick box around the bottom lattice points.

   They now have arrow manipulators attached to them.

2. Use the and click-drag any one of the blue arrow manipulators to move the bottom of the lattice up, as shown below.

   

3. Release the mouse button.

   The bottom points and edges of the lattice are now drawn in red. This indicates that the bottom of the lattice is locked, as it intersects the target surfaces in this rig.

   

4. Double-click or -click the Lattice Rig icon in the toolbox to open the option window.

   

5. Under NURBS Control, increase the value of Minimum Degree (u,v) from 3 to 5. This changes the degree of the output surfaces to 5 in both U and V directions. Close the option window.

Use the lattice to enlarge the top

1. Use the and click the top four points of the lattice.

   They now have arrow manipulators attached to them. Also notice that the bottom four points are no longer selected.

   

2. Click the Scale button to change the lattice manipulation mode to scale.

   The manipulators change to boxes. These are scale manipulators.

   

3. Choose Layouts > Top to switch to the top view.
4. In the Lattice Rig toolbox, click the Toggle Lattice Engage State tool.

   

   The lattice is now drawn with solid lines, and the surfaces have a yellow-green highlight.

   

5. Use the to drag the pink manipulator to scale the selected lattice points.

   

   The pink manipulator in an orthographic view scales proportionally in that view. In this case, the opening of the vase enlarges, but the vase does not grow taller.

6. Release the mouse button.

   The target surfaces update to show the vase has enlarged as well.

   

7. Choose Layouts > Front .

   The top of the vase has widened, but the bottom of the vase below the bottom of the lattice remains unchanged. The sides of the vase change gradually. Contrast this shape with that from Part 1.