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In this project, we're going to create a stereo receiver. The first step is to create each of the orthographic views as shown at right. The top piece in the figure is the top of the receiver. Creating this piece is fairly simple. We'll start with a 4 inch square and fill it with a medium gray. Then we created another rectangle that is 1/8" by 3/8" and rounded the corners so that it is pill shaped. We colored this a dark gray as the pill shapes represent the vent holes in the top of the stereo.
The next piece that we need to create is the face of the stereo. So that it will line up correctly with the top piece, the width must be 4 inches. We made it 1 7/8" tall. Rather than describing how to draw each of the individual knobs and the display, why don't you experiement and draw your own version of this faceplate. It is important that you have knobs with text on them somewhere to finish this project.
The last piece we need to create is the side of the receiver. The dimensions are dictated by the other two pieces. It must be four inches wide to match the depth of the top piece and it must be 1 7/8" tall to match the height of the front piece. We've added the EZ Metrics logo and our URL to the side for a little decoration on something that is typically blank.
Now we have the three pieces needed to create our three-dimensional object. As with our first project, we could use any of the five different projections. We've decided to use the 2nd Trimetric, but you can use any one you like. The only difference will be in the look of the results.
From the projection type drop-down list, select the type of projection you will be creating. We chose 2nd Trimetric and will use it for the whole of this project. We also need to make sure that the Create Face radio button is selected. Marquee-select all of the pieces that make up the top of our receiver. Click the Red panel of the cube on the left in the Surface section of the EZ Metrics dialog box. Boom, that piece is done. While all the pieces are still selected, Group them together. Your result should look similar to the piece shown at right. Remember that there could be differences if you chose a different projection type.
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Now let's do the side panel. Again, you'll want to marquee-select all of the pieces that make up the side panel. You did put some decorations on your copy, didn't you? Click the Green panel of the cube on the left in the Surface section of the EZ Metrics dialog box. Group all the pieces together while they are still selected. Again, you should see results similar to those at right. But keep in mind that each projection type will produce different results.
For now, we're not going to concern ourselves with aligning these first two pieces with one another. We'll wait until everything is done and then we'll put the puzzle pieces together.
The last piece is the front of the receiver. Just like the other two pieces, we want to marquee-select all of the objects. Then click the Blue panel of the cube on the left in the Surface section of the EZ Metrics dialog box. In the other pieces, we turned around and grouped all of the objects. But since we still need to work on the knobs, we're going to hold off on grouping things right now.
There are really two steps to making the knobs look three dimensional. We first need to move the face of the knob (including the text) off of the piece. Then we'll Extrude the knob back to meet the receiver.
We'll start with the Bass knob. Select both the knob and the text. Type 1/4 inch (.25) in for the Move distance. Click the Blue arrow at the lower left of the Move section. You should see the knob move away from the receiver's front panel. Deselect both objects and then reselect the knob without selecting the text. Type 1/4 inch (.25) in for the Extrude depth and click the Blue arrow in the upper right of the Extrude section of the dialog box. To make the knob look somewhat metallic, we added a gradient fill from 40% Black to 10% Black to the face of the knob. This fill was automatically used on the Extruded portion. Then we separated the Extrude so that the fill was used only to the extent of each piece. This adds more highlights. Repeat this process for all the rest of the knobs and you should see something similar to the image at right. When you're done, select all the pieces of the front panel and Group them together.
OK, we're all done creating the receiver. We just need to put all the pieces together. Let's start with the front and side panels. Select each of the groups that make up these two panels. Draw 7 users will need to use the Align and Distribute dialog box, Draw 8 and 9 users can just use the single key shortcut keys. We want to align the bottom of these pieces. That means just clicking "B" or pushing the appropriate buttons in the dialog box. Now you just need to slide these two pieces together. You can do this by Ctrl-dragging one of the pieces so that it only moves in the horizontal direction or by nudging with the arrow keys. You might want to switch to wireframe view to get them lined up just right.
One more piece to drop into place. Select the top panel and the front panel. This time we want to align the left edge. So that's the "L" shortcut key for those using Draw 8 and 9. Now Ctrl-drag the top piece down or nudge it into place. Again, you might want to switch to wireframe to get everything just right.
See how easy it is to take the orthographic views and turn them into a 3-D object? EZ Metrics does all the hard work for you. You'll see our final result below.
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