Polygon Paradise - Medieval Bridge

This was created using Wings 3D version 1.4.1, so if you are using a different version some shortcut keys and menu items might be accessed slightly differently.


Step 1

Right-click and select Cube with left mouse button (create cube)
Select right side of the cube with the left mouse button (select)
Right-click and select Move with the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select X using the left mouse button (move each element along the X axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter -2.0 for Dx (see step 1, above)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 2

Select left side of the cube with the left mouse button (select)
Right-click and select Move with the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select X using the left mouse button (move each element along the X axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter 2.0 for Dx (see step 2, above)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 3

Select edge selection mode
Select left and right edges ontop of object using left mouse button (select) (see step 3, above)
Right-click and select Cut using the left mouse button (cut into edges of equal length)
Select 3 using the left mouse button (cut into 3 edges of equal length)
Right-click and select Connect using the left mouse button (create a new edge by connecting selected vertices) (see step 4, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 4

Select edge selection mode
Select bottom edge using the left mouse button (select)
Right-click and select Move using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select Z using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter -0.3 for Dx (see step 5, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 5

Select edge selection mode
Select the top edge using the left mouse button (select)
Right-click and select Move using the left mouse button (move alonog std. axis)
Select Z using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter 0.3 for Dx (see step 6, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 6

Select face selection mode
Select top and bottom faces ontop of object
Right-click and select Extrude using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select Y using the left mouse button (extrude faces as region, then move along the Y axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter 0.3 for Dx (see step 7, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 7

Select edge selection mode
Select the top 4 edges using the left mouse button (select)
Right-click and select Cut using the left mouse button (cut into edges of equal length)
Select Enter Number... using the left mouse button
Enter 15 for the number of segments (see step 8, below)


Step 8

Right-click and select Connect using the left mouse button (create a new edge by connecting select vertices) (see step 9, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 9

Select face selection mode
Select alternate faces on top of object (see step 10, below)
Right-click and select Extrude using the left mouse button (extrude along std. axis)
Select Y using the left mouse button (extrude faces as region, then move along Y axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter 0.3 for Dx
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 10

Select edge selection mode
Select top and bottom edges on bottom of object using the left mouse button (select) (see step 11, below)
Right-click and select Cut using the left mouse button (cut into edges of equal length)
Select 3 using the left mouse button (cut into 3 edges of equal length)
Right-click and select Connect using the left mouse button (create a new edge by connecting selected vertices)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 11

Select edge selection mode
Select the right edge using the left mouse button (select) (see step 12, below)
Right-click and select Move using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select X using the left mouse button (move each element along the X axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter -0.4 for Dx
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 12

Select edge selection mode
Select the left edge using the left mouse button (select) (see step 13, below)
Right-click and select Move using the left mouse button (move along std. axis)
Select X using the left mouse button (move each element along the X axis)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter 0.4 for Dx
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 13

Select edge selection mode
Select top and bottom edges using the left mouse button (select) (see step 14, below)
Right-click and select Cut using the left mouse button (cut into edges of equal length)
Select Enter Number... using the left mouse button (cut into segements)
Enter 20 for the number of segments


Step 14

Right-click and select Connect using the left mouse button (create a new edge by connecting selected vertices) (see step 15, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 15

Select edge selection mode
Select top and bottom edges on the bottom of the bridge (see step 16, below)
Right-click and select Circularise using the right mouse button (choose common plane to which loops will be flattened)
Pick plane using the left mouse button (pick plane) (see step 16, below)


Step 16

Execute using the right mouse button (execute)
Press the tab key (numeric entry) and enter the following: A=-175 %=100 (see step 17, below)
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 17

Adding Texture Maps

Select body (object) selection mode
Select object
Right-click and select UV mapping using the left mouse button (generate UV mapping or texture)
In the new window select edge selection mode
Select whole object using the left mouse button (hold left mouse button down to create a rectangle that contains all of the object)
Deselect lines using the left mouse button (select) (see step 18, below)


Step 18

Right-click and select Mark Edges for Cut
Right-click and select Continue
Select Projection Normal
In the AutoUV window that appears, right-click and select Create Texture using the left mouse button (make and attach a texture to the model)
A new menu will appear, select OK (see step 19, below)
Close the AutoUV window
Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)


Step 19

Open the Outliner window (drop-down menu: Window > Outliner)
Select Cube_auv using the left mouse button
Right-click and select Make External...
A new window will open
Select the filetype (I recommend .png) and enter a filename (see step 20, below)
Click on Save


Step 20

Open texture file in your favourite image editor (e.g. Microsoft Paint)
Update the texture file with textures inside the outlines (or fill with colour) and save the changes
In Wings 3D, in the Outliner window select Cube_auv (or whatever you called the texture)
Right-click and select Refresh (see updated textures applied to bridge!) (see step 21, below)


Step 21

Once the texture is finalised you could use the Make Internal option (stores the texture inside the Wings 3D file instead of using the external texture file) (see step 22, below)


Step 22

Select smooth shading mode
Can you see the weird light sourcing? (see step 23, below) That's because the edges are all currently set to Soft - we need to change certain edges to Hard


Step 23

Select body selection mode
Select the bridge
Select edge selection mode
Deselect some of the edges (see step 24, below) and don't forget to do the same for the edges on the other side of the bridge


Step 24

Press the middle button on the mouse and rotate the camera so you can see underneath
Press the left mouse button to accept the new camera view
Deselect the lines in the arch (see step 25, below)


Step 25

Deselect the two lines (see image) at each end of the bridge (see step 26, below)


Step 26

Right-click and select Hardness
Select Hard
The bridge now has the correct light sourcing (see step 27, below)


Step 27

Press the spacebar (deselect current selections)
All done!

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