The key to merging

Today I spent my time teaching a relative newcomer to EnRoute the ins and outs of merging reliefs. Like many he found the concept of merging reliefs somewhat hard to grasp. There are four options but today I will deal with two - merge highest and merge lowest. After some simple exercises and lots of trial and error it was time for a real file - a KEY. It would employ both merge highest and merge lowest as well as some other tasks. The file was in fact harder than it looked at first glance. While certain pieces could have been done with sweep to rails I was trying to keep things simple... or at least as simple as possible for this exercise. The key we were modeling had two key ways cut into it at different depth. Both were cut with a circular grinding wheel and so were rounded upwards at the big end of the key. That was the difficult part.

The vectors were relatively easy - all done in EnRoute.

The first relief I created was for the key ways. I would model the key at two inches thick and thin it down later. Since I wanted the key way to go half way into the key it needed to be one inch deep and ramp up at the end. By using the scale to height on the rounded relief I could control this. Take note I used the subtract from relief command to make it go down.

To create the flat portions of the key I created two rectangles which would be used to create flat reliefs two inches high (The same height as the key)

In this screen shot (front view) you can see the thin grey line is the top of the flat reliefs while the bowl we created is well below. I would use the up key to nudge it upwards until it was even with the two inch high flat reliefs.

Then it was time to use the MERGE HIGHEST command to merge the flat reliefs to the key way bowl.

The result (after I deleted the no longer needed rectangle reliefs) looked like this. 

Then it was time to create the key relief. This was done as a two inch high flat relief in the shape of a key.

To match the sample I modified the key relief with three grooves across the head using the bevel tool and the subtract from relief command.

Then it was time to use the MERGE LOWEST command. I would be modifying the key relief by using the keyway bowl with the two inch high vectors (previously merged highest to it.)

 Now we had a good looking key.

The last step was to use the narrow keyway profile to modify the key shaped relief. I positioned the relief correctly then stretched the modifying relief down a bit. I again used the MERGE LOWEST COMMAND to modify the key shaped relief.

The result was a good looking key. But we were not finished yet.

Since I had modeled the key at two inches think it didn't look at all proper. 

In the front view I simply grabbed a top node and shrunk it down to size. PRESTO - perfect key.

So there you have it... the key to learning MERGE HIGHEST and MERGE LOWEST.  Give it a whirl and I hope this helps!

-dan

More details

We are keeping very busy these days with the design of future projects. Unfortunately most of the projects are TOP secret for the time being - to be revealed in the not too distant future. In the meantime we are busy doing the last minute preparations for the Sculpture Magic Workshop this weekend. There more name plaques were finished today.

Doug's received the last few details. Bec decided to pull out the stops with some finicky and subtle touches. The first was some orange paint brushed on to resemble flaked green paint. At first glance (and a second close look) I really thought the top paint had been scraped off. A dirty brown glaze over the plaque with a little iron paint and subsequent acid wash instantly aged the plaque making this 'ancient' alien artifact look like the real deal.

Dustin's plaque got two more colors of glaze and after considering where it will most likely get hung we declared it done. It is perfectly suited to his business.

Kurts got the silver paint on the blade and then it's final glazes. A little silver highlight finished it off. Everytime I see the short dagger I want to talk a little pirate talk - just for fun.

We have decided Chris' name plaque will get a little variegated gold leaf to add some needed bling. Stay tuned for a peek at that one finished tomorrow.

-dan

Finishing Touches

With our Sculpture Magic Workshop now only four days away the name plaques for our attendees are well into production. Today I show three that need just a little more work to be finished. One or two more glazes and perhaps a few highlights will complete the job.

Gary's is the most complete and looks good enough to eat already.

Dustin's name plaque needs two more colors of glaze and then the lettering will be painted. We are still deciding on the final colors.

The photo does not do Doug's justice. Rich blends and deep metallic glazes make this a delight to hold and look at. One or two more colors and some carefully applied highlights will make this a real (WIERD) gem.

Three others are in about the same state. I'll be taking pictures of them later today and posting them as well. It is hard to believe that they are merely routed Precision Board underneath.

Stay tuned...

-dan

Last of the series.

Since the Sign Magic Workshop begins tomorrow morning bright and early I am posting the last of this series of name plaques today.

Scott works in sales at MultiCam Western Canada so I decided his name plaque should reflect the machines he sells. Since his office is in the MultiCam office we themed a while back I drew a lot of visual ideas from that project. ( To see the photos of that project go to the right sidebar and under labels/MultiCam done you will find pictures. )

I used a very basic font and then built a gear to substitute for the 'O' A linear gear serves as the underline. The vectors were created inside EnRoute.

First off was a basic flat relief as shown. 

Since I wanted the whole thing to have a similar texture, making the gears look well used I assed a simple and subtle texture to the entire piece. This bitmap is from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection and is called splotches 1.  It gives a slightly different texture as the normal one as it is an inverted version.

The letters and gears were all raised the same amount as flat modifications to the original relief.

Then I modified the original relief one last time using the dome tool to create the rivets.

As quick as that the project was ready to tool path and then send to the MultiCam.

I didn't get a shot of the plaque on or after it got off the router but I grabbed one tonight to it anted and ready to go.

Tomorrow I'll try and grab some shots of a few more of  the name plaques finished.

-dan

Rafael

Rafael is our guest teacher from EnRoute for the Sign Magic Workshop that begins tomorrow. He is one of the support techs for the software and knows his stuff. He has attended our workshops previously. For his name I selected a narrow font. The kerning was a little weird and the letters were narrow but we'll take care of that in a jiffy.

To remedy the narrow lettering I simply did a narrow (0.05") outline. My first try showed the 'R' and the 'a' a little too close together so I backed up a step, jogged the 'R' away and then repeated this step.

Then I deleted the original letter vectors.

I used the offset tool once again but this time with a 0.2" offset to crete the letter outlines.

Then I used the distort tool to modify the plaque border. I'm starting to get the hang of this tool and i like it!

 Once I had the online nailed it was time to add some rivets. I started with some circles.

I then used the distort tool to rough up the rivets suitably - like the plaque border.

With the vectors done it was time to start in on creating the relief. A flat relief was the first step.

I decided to dome up the plaque a little so I drew a square with rounded corners around my relief. By selecting this vector AND the relief, the relief would be modified to the shape of the rectangle vector.

Next I create a separate flat relief of the lettering outline. 

The lettering relief was also shaped with the same rectangle vector as the base relief had been with the same parameters entered. Doing so meant the the base relief and the lettering outline relief were the same shape.

After I had domed the two pieces I checked the front view to make sure everything worked as I wanted. The two reliefs were separate so I was not worried about their height in relation to each other. 

Next up was the texture. I called up my old standby 'splotches'.

Once the texture was on it was time to put things into position vertically. I did this in the front view using the up - down arrow keys.  

When I was happy I merged highest and then deleted the lettering outline relief.

The last step was the lettering. I opted for a beveled lettering, nice and clean to counter the rusty texture below.

As quick as that another Sign magic Workshop name plaque was ready to tool path and send off to the MultiCam. As always it would be routed from 1.5" thick 30 lb Precision Board.

-dan