Can a box object be rotated arbitrarily?

[gogurt]

Hi,

I used a box object to create this soldier course under the window:



It looks okay, but in real life, the bricks are not parallel to the ground, they're rotated somewhat so that the top surface is slanted downward away from the window. I know that a box object can be rotated 90 degrees, but is it possible to rotate the object to an arbitrary angle, say 10 degrees?

Gary

[gogurt]

Okay, I figured out how to rotate the object an arbitrary amount using the commander, but no matter where on the object I put the base point, it always rotates about a vertical axis. In this case, I need to rotate the object about its horizontal long axis. Is there a way to do that? (I tried selecting the center of the object while in elevation view, but it still rotated about a vertical axis).

Gary

[Allan Chesney]

Hi  Gary,

A 3DS box can be rotated to any angle on the Basic tab.  I have attached a couple you can import (Right click in the Interior Accessories - select Add Element)

One is just one texture spread over the whole box the other has two one around the four sides. another on one end and black on the other end (not setable). Both are useful in different situations.

The image shows one in use for sloping sills (not a good angle but as you can see it does work).

Allan

[gogurt]

Wow, thanks Allan! That looks much closer to real life:

One is just one texture spread over the whole box the other has two one around the four sides. another on one end and black on the other end (not setable). Both are useful in different situations.

Do I understand correctly that in the second object one texture can be assigned to the four sides, and a different texture assigned to one of the ends, but no texture can be assigned to the other end?

Gary

[Doug.S]

Setting/changing textures on object sides independently depends on the object and how it was created and how the faces were "domain named"...either manually or if colors are applied.  All TFP objects were created by a 3rd party program.

It is usually easy to change or fix in other 3D programs such as Hexagon or Carrara or Blender or SketchUp.

You can tell by looking at the properties and see which faces have a color/texture choice...if choice not there, you can't do it.

But you can combine or nest objects as a work-around.

Or export, fix, re-import (usually using .3ds)

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Gary,

Do I understand correctly that in the second object one texture can be assigned to the four sides, and a different texture assigned to one of the ends, but no texture can be assigned to the other end?

Yes that is correct. On the Appearance tab you will see it seems to have four materials (called Cube, Cube1, Cube2 and Cube3 - from memory).  The first two can be set to another texture but do not show. Cube2 will put the same texture on 4 sides (around the middle of the box for example), Cube3 will put a texture on the top and the bottom will be black. 

You could use this for example to have a step with bricks around the edges and carpet on the top while the bottom was unseen , so is just black anyway. Using this box you would need to rotate the box so that the black side was not visible.

Incidentally, if you want a box that can have a different texture on every side, and can be gyrated to any angle, you can use the Custom Member. You will find this in Interior Accessories / Decorative.  It is a very useful object. I use the simple, one texture box most, as it is simple to just set one texture, but if you want all surfaces the same in the Custom Member you can Shift Select all faces and change them all at once. It is useful for brick steps etc as you can use the texture Mapping setting to move the texture on one surface so that the joins between the bricks align or you get the half bricks on corner where you want them etc.  It can be use to build almost anything by putting several together.

In the image below there are 14 boxes put together, (set to wood and glass) to make up this 'leaflets counter'. If you put together something like this in a blank project, (with the Terrain turned off!!) you can export it as a 3DS and import it again into your catalogue for future use as one object.

Stretchable Sill:
Did you know you can create a sloping sill that can be stretched to whatever length you want and can go around corners and odd angles and that will mitre the textures on the corners (as for a bay window)?
What you do is use the Layout Toolbar and simply draw a line (straight or with the angles for a bay window), select it all, right click and choose Convert To Members. Right click and Add Element. Set the size you want and texture, tick the Mitre boxes and set the slope (if you are drawing left to right set the slope to 150 degrees for example). The just elevate and move into position. (see image). Once created you can simply drag the ends to stretch it if necessary like you do a wall. This technique can be used to create all sorts of things and shapes - eg adding Guttering to the roof - http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,867.msg4159.html#msg4159.

By the way, your model is looking very real with these subtle changes you are making! Have you tried varying the heights of the plants you use? You will find if you do that they will look more real too, as plants do not all grow at the same rate so the variaous heights look more natural. See http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,1286.0.html for an example.

If you want to get the brick to go 'inside' the door and window openings, go to the Walls Appearsnce tab and set the Openings to the same brick as your wall.

Allan

[gogurt]

Thank you so much, Allan. These are terrific suggestions. I'll play around with these things and see what I can come up with.

Gary