Modeling with MetaBalls

Modeling with MetaBalls

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With the introduction of LightWave 5.0, there have been a lot of additions to organic modeling. The obvious first choice is MetaNURBS. However, if you want a really blobby style object, try using MetaBalls. There are a few tips and tricks that we will cover here that may help you on your way to cool new creations.

The object we will create here is just simple text, but the methods we use for building it will give you a good foundation for creating other, more complex objects.

Blobby Text

Enter Modeler, and using the Custom Pop-up, choose Configure Keys. We'll configure the F5 key for Add MetaBall and F6 for the MetaBalls plug-in. This makes the metaballs process a lot easier as you don't have to scroll through the pop up menus.

Generate some text. For this tutorial we will use the word UFO. Once the text is created, enter Layer 2 and put the text in the background layer.

Using the newly configured F5 key, add a Metaball. In order for the ball to size appropriately, set the scale to .08 in the X, Y, and Z axes. Change the strength to 5.0 and leave the resolution at low. (For information about strength and resolution, see the plug-ins section of the LightWave User guide.)

Resize the face view to fill the screen and move the metaball to the top left corner of the U.

Using Polygon selection mode, select all the polygons in the first metaball. Select Move on the Modify panel and then use the c and v keys to copy and paste that metaball down in the original location. There are now two metaballs resting in the same location, however the original metaball is still highlighted and can be moved.
Hold down the Ctrl key (to lock axis movement) and move the metaball straight down. Position the ball to be about half way down the first ball.

Once the ball is in position, use c and v to paste down another copy. Continue to move the original down along the y axis roughly halfway down the second ball. Continue this method until you have covered the text with metaballs.

Note: The skin that will be formed over the Metaballs will pull in around balls that have greater separation. For a smooth skin add lots of metaballs closely together. For a bumpier object add fewer objects with space in between.

Deselect all polygons. Open the surface panel and change the default color to a nice blue shade using some specularity, and activate smoothing. Make sure to press Change, not Apply. This will change the default parameter without changing the current Metaballs surfaces.

After setting the surface color, select all polygons and press F6 to make the smooth surface around the Metaballs. Set the Grid Size to 32. For a complete description of Grid Size, refer to the LightWave User Guide plug-in section.

Selecting the polygons before applying the Metaballs plug-in is not required, but will result in only the skin polygons being selected. This makes it much easier to separate the skin from the metaball skeleton.

Once the object has the skin applied, cut the skin away and paste it in the next layer. This will avoid having the skeleton poking through the skin and will also keep the skeleton separate for additional modification.

Now that your object is finished, here are a few tips for more successful Metaball modeling:

Use the Tools/Smooth command to smooth out the skin of the object. Try Strength 1, Iterations 5. Increasing these numbers can result in interesting effects when used on Metaball objects.
When the model is complete, use the Reduce Polygons Plug-in. Metaballs will always generate triangle polygons. LightWave supports quads and other N-gons. The reduce polygon function will often help maximize efficiency of the geometry.

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