Learn how to utilize the Sculpt workspace in Fusion to build a lampshade component for a lamp model. This tutorial guides you through every step of the process, from isolating specific components, selecting the appropriate plane, applying circular symmetry, and adjusting the form to ensure the lampshade fits appropriately.
Key Insights
- The Sculpt workspace in Fusion allows for the creation of complex components such as a lampshade by isolating individual elements and applying symmetry to ensure consistency.
- It's crucial to adjust the size and position of the lampshade in relation to other components such as the lampshade arm and the washer to achieve a realistic and functional model.
- When modeling in T-spline, care should be taken to avoid twisting the edges, as it could result in the form folding over itself, disrupting the model's integrity.
In this video, we will use the Sculpt workspace to build the lampshade for our lamp. I will scroll down in my data panel and open up Step 07: T-Spline Modeling.
When your file is open, you can close your data panel and let's begin. The first thing I would like to do is go to right-click > New Component, and I will name this component Lampshade. Before I begin to model the lampshade, I would like to hide specific components to make it easier while modeling.
I will unroll the Import Assembly and the Arm Assembly, and I will select, holding CTRL, the Lampshade Arm, Lampshade, and Rubber Washer. Then right-click > Isolate. In Fusion, we can isolate and un-isolate specific components instead of hiding them individually.
Notice that when I use Isolate, the rest of the components that were not selected have automatically been hidden. I can collapse these two assemblies, and we can begin to model our lampshade. I will orbit so that I am looking at the bottom of my Rubber Washer, and I will go to Create Form.
For our lampshade, go to the Create dropdown and find Cylinder. Just like when making solid modeling geometry, we need to select a plane. I will select the underside of the washer, then find the center point of the circle, and click.
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Don't worry about your size—we will change that in a minute. I will change the diameter to 30, the height to 150, and I will leave my diameter faces at 8 and change my height faces to 3. Before we click OK, make sure to change your symmetry to Circular. You can apply symmetry after you create your form, but it’s easier to do at the beginning.
I will click OK, and now we can begin to edit the form. Notice that all of the vertical edges in the model are green, and this is because Circular symmetry has been applied. We can now edit form and begin shaping our lampshade.
I will drag this out 60 millimeters to get the correct base size, and then I will go to the front view on the ViewCube and begin to model more freely. You can see that I have left the Lampshade Arm and the Washer visible so I can get a good feel for how the lampshade should fit between these arms. I'm going to leave a small gap on both sides, and when I am done, click OK.
We can now see that our T-spline model is shaped correctly. When you are done adjusting your lampshade, click Finish Form. One word of warning—if I select this point, right-click > Edit Form, and move it in this direction, the lampshade will move outward symmetrically, but the edges may twist. This is not a good workflow when working in T-spline modeling.
It increases the risk of the form folding over itself. If I click OK and go to Display Mode > Box, we can see that we have twisted the lampshade into an odd shape. I will hit CTRL+Z to undo, and this is what it looked like before.
If I go back to Display Mode and toggle Control Frame Display, we can see that our box and our lampshade are in the appropriate shape. I will click OK and Finish Form. I will right-click the Lampshade component and go to Unisolate.
I will activate my top component and save the file. If we open our Lampshade component, we will see that we have created a surface. This surface has no thickness, so in the next video, we will apply thickness to our model.
I’ll see you in the next video.
