Creatively using Illustrator files in 3d programs

The wonderful thing about some 3d programs is that you can import vector files which are then converted into polygons, objects, paths, etc... for you to play with. Lightwave is one such program. But the majority of imports are usually for just fonts or logos or n-gon shapes that are easier to make in Illustrator (and other vector programs such as Freehand).

However, Illustrator is a good place to actually model flat versions of your objects or even prepare parts of your object that would be more time consuming in 3d. In this tutorial, I'm going to show you some ways of making Illustrator an option to 3d modelling.

I should note in advance that A) these ways are limited because we are working flat and it can't replace working in a true 3d environment and B) you may work faster in your own 3d environment making this tutorial moot.

But, this is just an alternative and, when you see what I have to offer, you may think twice at how useful these techniques are.

Drawing your polygon mesh
For this technique we will be use the Pathfinder palette. If you don't have your Patherfinder palette open, go to Windows > Pathfinder to make it appear. I use this palette ALOT because it is mega-useful!

1) Because we will be using the divide tool you need to have at least ONE solid shape (IE a closed path). I've just drawn a simple 4-sided shape. You don't need to concern yourself about having straight lines either so don't worry about that yet.

2) Now, with the pen tool, make some criss-crossing paths over the shape. You don't even have to worry about the lines going over the edges because they will be eliminated when you use the divide tool.

3) Select all the shapes and click 'Divide' in your pathfinder palette to get something like this. If you want, you can ungroup the object but it is unnecessary.

4) Now, at this point, if you were to save and import the shape into Lightwave, you would get polygons with more than 4 points. So, as this is going to be a 4 point polygon mesh, we need to fix this.

Make sure your object/s are all selected and go to Object > Path > Simplify (I have an action set to this). When the Simplify window pops up select 'Preview' and tick the 'Straight Lines' option. Then press 'OK'.

This will convert you object to straight lines. You may occasionally get 5 point polygon shapes but you can easily use the Delete Point tool to clean them up.

5) The plugin for Lightwave is not used to the recent versions of Illustrator so I suggest you save out your .AI object as a copy and at a lower version. I usually pick Illustrator 4 as it provides a neat and simple format.

In Lightwave, go to Import > ESPF loader and load up your .AI file. Stick with the default settings and press 'OK'.

Your .AI shape should now load up as a polygon object. Before you do anything, you need to 'Merge Points' (Press 'm') because all your shapes are separate when you save in Illustrator. There is no way of having your polygons merged in Illustrator but it's not a big deal as you can easily do it in Lightwave.

The benefit of this technique is that if you are fast in Illustrator, it can be more comfortable to do things this way. You may also find that you don't need to fiddle with the background image as much because in Lightwave it can be a pain setting the background image up. Also, you can use multiple layers for reference in Illustrator. Add this with snapping and you are in for a more accurate way of modelling (OK, to an extent.)

Two-Point Poly Lines
If you are making a complex shape and you want a nice evenly spaced polygon line, then this technique is for you. There are plugins which can convert your splines/paths into two-point polygon chains in Lightwave (usually used for hair plugins). However, you can do this in Illustrator, too. It basically works in the same principle as the above technique but with a little twist.

1) Draw your path.

2) With your path selected, go to Filter > Distort > Roughen. Set 'Preview' on, set 'Size' to 0 and play with the 'Detail' slider until you get the added points you want then press 'OK'. It doesn't matter if you set it to 'Smooth' or 'Corner' because we will convert them to straight lines anyway.

3) Make sure your path/object is selected and go to Object > Path > Simplify. When the Simplify window pops up select preview and tick the 'Straight Lines' option. Then press 'OK'.

And, Voila! You now have a 2 point polygon chain you can export into Lightwave.

Create a polygon row quickly
OK, just say that you have a complex curvy shape you want to make in Lightwave. Splines are not always easy to use as Lightwave doesn't have the best tools for vector line creation. Anyway, this shape you want to create consists of a single row of polygons. This is how you approach it in Illustrator.

1) Draw your path.

2) Select the stroke and change the width to what you want it to be. This width will be the width of your polygon row.

3) With the path selected, go to Object > Expand to expand your stroke. (If your stroke overlaps somehow in a messy way, you may need to use 'Merge' from the Pathfinder palette.) Then swap your stroke with your fill (your fill should be empty so you should end up with just a black stroked object).

4) This next step could be done in two ways:

5) Select all the objects and use the 'Divide' tool from the Pathfinder palette to cut your object into the polygons.

6) Your polygon row is still curved in places so we go to Object > Path > Simplify and set the 'Straight Lines' option.

After you press 'OK', you will have your straight-edged polygon row to export into Lightwave. You may need to clean up any polygons with more than 4 points but this can be done in Lightwave.

Artbrushes and polygon rows
This technique works similar to the last technique except that you start with an Artbrush.

1) Create a row of squares. The number of squares will depend on how dense you want your polygon row in the end. This can be changed midway through the process by updating the artbrush, though.

2) Select all the squares and make the object into an artbrush.

3) Draw your path and apply the new artbrush.

4) Expand the object and use the Simplify technique to give you your straight-edged polygon row.

All you need to do is clean up the object and export to Lightwave or export then clean up in Lightwave.

So, you see, there are a number of useful techniques to help you model with the use of Illustrator. If you are really good at Illustrator, you could probably automatically set up ways to go super fast in setting up a mesh for 3d.

This is good for starting to create faces, animals, etc... Plus, it is good to plan edge flow in Illustrator rather than spin quad and tri polygons all the time.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful.

Regards,

Mix Mash

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