Wings3D tutorials, notes and general

information.
wings3d

ppzpitstop ODF

All information here is specifically written for Wings3D - nothing else.

(Please note that this info has been written for different versions and therefore some workflow
details may be different from any given latest release - when time allows, I will try to update stuff)

Contents are a combination of previously posted (updated) stuff from the forum and some
new items.'Old lags' needn't waste their time looking through this load of junk because they'll
not find anything they don't already know - this'll probably help with bandwidth as well :)

Some global comments re the whole site.

1) RMB refers to a single click (press and release) on the right mouse button.
MMB as above with middle mouse button
LMB as above with left mouse button.
Note that L,M,R are used in Wings itself when referring to mouse buttons - keystrokes have square brackets around them eg
[Q]
2) I use a 3 btn mouse in Mirai mode (considering Wings is free, stop messing with anything less and go and treat yourself to a 3
btn one :) )
3) All advanced prefs have been activated - please remember this, especially when RMB functions are being used / described -
and sequences involving temporary selection
4) All strip sequences read from left to right, even those without numbers.
5) I've tried to remember that English isn't the first language of all that might browse through this lot and have used (I hope)
appropriate vocabulary.

Please read (and use) the contents of the information line at the bottom of the Wings window - It'll help a lot :)

My main aim was to try to keep info in one location - apart from anything else, it makes it much easier for me to find, since I've
usually forgotten what I've written after a short period :)

If using any info you find here messes up your model big time - tough - you should have tried it on something that didn't matter first
- anyway, you must have had at least one backup, eh?

Oh yes - all text and piccies my copyright of course :)

Saying thanks.
If the information here has been of use and you would like to show your appreciation - I'd be very happy to receive an Amazon gift
certificate from you :)

If you wish to do this, please use www.amazon.co.uk (as am based in the UK) and follow the Gifts > order E-mail gift certificate
links. (My e-mail (for this) is p u z z l e d p a u l AT h o t m a i l DOT c o m - modify as necessary : ) )

Many thanks for considering this - even if you don't use it :)

 Wings User Manual - a reminder
The UM is currently being updated / re-written - as you can imagine, doing this is an 'interesting' task, because of the way the
goalposts keep getting shifted :)

The latest version (in pdf format - 4.8 Mb) is available here - if you've not already seen / got it - please get it - and read / digest it :)

Wings User Manual

BabyTuts
No, not tuts for babies - although Wings users appear to be getting younger and younger as 'The Word' gets spread even
wider...........
This is a very simple tut for people taking their first baby step(s) (sorry - flight(s)) with Wings :)

Please read (and use) the contents of the information line at the bottom of the Wings window - It'll help a lot :)

BT1s - Standard - A very basic tut for making a simple table in my 'standard' width (ie full screen width) page / strip layout.

BT1n - Narrow - As above (identical info) - but in a narrower format, for more convenient reference purposes (open at the side of
Wings)

BT1w - Wide - As above, but arranged for display in a 'letter box' format window, with scroll-able text boxes. (open above or below
Wings)

Since this tut (maybe more, time permitting) is specifically aimed at people very new to Wings - it would be appreciated if
experienced Wingers ignored this - they'll not learn anything and all that'll happen is that bandwith will be affected - thx :)

[o] Bikewheel - Describing a method for making a
'properly' spoked example of one of these - 36 spoke
version made here, but the technique used will apply to
others.
[o] 2D to 3D - Making a 2D profile in Wings and using
this to make a 3D object - includes some ideas for lathing
workarounds - both solid and thru' hole objects.
[o] Inflate - Organising pesky verts into circular or
spherical configurations - like conforming geometry
around eyeballs and making wheel arches for cars.
[o] Magnets - May the force be with you - some basic
ops using these tools (some with vectors) - that'll no
doubt attract ridicule. (Updated for new 'Alt +'
implementation - 0.98.16)

[o] Snakes - Some ideas for having a go at making [o] Booleans - No, not 'proper' ones - this is Wings,
curly bits of pipe / cable / wire - in both 2D and 3D (As not Rhino - but some half-baked ideas for getting
there is no Extrude along path in wings. something that 'looks' vaguely similar.

[o] Vectors - Definition behaviour of these darned [o] Bounding Boxes - Some info about aspects of
things - Shows how the direction (and origin) of a vector is their use - very useful for precise alignment purposes
specified (and affected) by the number and types of (amongst other things) - but rather overlooked tools I
elements selected.. suspect.

[o] Bridge / Weld - Joining bits of model to other bits
- and a bit about tunneling. Comments about benefits
(and pitfalls) of these 2 very useful tools.
[o] Correcting 'pinching' - Nasty maths tables
lurk in here - useful if you need to make the roof of the
leaning tower of Pisa horizontal - nothing to do with
stopping teenage theft.
[o] Pipejoints - Some (older) methods for making
pipe joints from cylinders - and also some more (recent)
info here on the wings Wiki - using tools not previously
available.
[o] Flatten - Getting geometry to lie on the same plane
- whether parallel to XYZ axes or user defined. Use of the
tool for aligning stuff and keeping Virtual Mirror faces true..
[o] Scale (to a point) - RMB options offer mirroring
alternatives (incl about remote datums), making convex
stuff concave (turning 'inside out') and precision vert
alignment.
[o] Image plane - Info about bringing background pix
into Wings for reference purposes - these help you to
make a more precise mess than you might do without
them.
[o] Views - Mainly to do with screen plane issues in
'Free' (as in Move) commands - being aware of what's
going on can prevent stuff getting inadvertantly messed
up.
[o] Assorted - Inset, imprinting shapes, using
Dissolve / Connect to 'fill' cavities (like the ones you get
when you've used extrude instead of extrude region.

[o] Mechnotes - Various and miscellaneous ideas to
maybe consider when having a go at this sort of object -
also a few suggestions re possible subject matter - if
needed.
[o] Hotkeys - A bit more information re setting up
hotkeys. General points worth considering (imo) to make
efficient use of this customisation facility.
[o] Move Absolute - Some examples of how to use
the re-worked Move Absolute command that was included
in release 0.98.34.
[o] Making 'Banjos' - No, not musical instruments
but cylindrical 'blobby bits' on the ends of extrusions (or
stalks / tendrils etc)
[o] Making springs - Alternatives for making any
pitch / shape / size of one of these items - from scratch
(including tapered) - also basic screw thread for bottles.
[o] Aligning stuff - A method for making 'wobbly
lines' dead straight - and another for true-ing up newly
introduced axial edges to a cylinder - to make sure it stays
circular.
[o] Wedges - Some comments about making circular
objects by forming a 'wedge' of a single section and using
this (by mirroring / welding) to construct a whole item.
[o] Klein Bottle - A couple of (basic) ideas for
making something that might pass as one of these
objects. (Not for the purists, I suspect...)
[o] Archway / window - a method for creating an
arch-shaped aperture in a wall - starting with a single vert.
Includes a bit about making quads square and mech
bevelling.
[o] Intersect - some info / notes describing the basics
of this very useful facility that's only recently arrived on the
scene. (Was a plugin, now part of wings proper 0.98.26 -
>)
[o] Drilled Holes in tubes - A boolean type
approach for 'drilling a hole' in a tube - when you're trying
to maintain a reasonably accurate internal line of
intersection.
[o] Archway using Bend - a basic method for
making an archway (semi-circular top) with vertical
columns, using one of the Vert | Bend tools.
[o] Multiple holes in discs - a couple of
methods for creating multiple holes around the periphery
of an object like a brake disc - 'wedges' are also used
here.
Please read (and use) the contents of the information line at the bottom of the Wings window - It'll help a lot :)
when you've used extrude instead of extrude region.
[o] Basics - As the title suggests, this deals with some
of the basic tools in Wings - includes pix showing their
function and comments about their use / implementation.
[o] Text tips - A collection of assorted tips / ideas /
methods etc - similar to assorted, but different subject
matter covered - and no pix.
[o] Inset Region cludges - Face | Inset usually
works ok with individual faces - but not multiple faces -
here's a few workaround ideas for insetting regions.
[o] Chainwheel - Making a 'toothed pulley' that might
be part of some simple lifting device using chains + a
couple of ideas for making chainlinks - this is not another
bike part :)
[o] Sprocket - A (no math) method for making
accurate 'wedges' for circular stuff - demonstrated here by
making a bike-type sprocket (for roller chain) and
chainring.
[o] Making Roofs - Basically some info about how
to get the joins right when dealing with interconnecting
roofs at different levels and angles etc.
[o] Aligning withVM - Some suggestions for
aligning object in difficult situations by using a temporary
VMirror plane to constrain movements.
[o] Multiple Holes - A workflow suggestion for the
creation of multiple holes at the same time in a suitable
piece of geometry
[o] Making Quads square - an assortment of
ideas for making a square from a quad - all general
purpose methods using different approaches.
[o] Edge | Cut > 10 - Methods concerned with
cutting edges into more equal parts than 10. Can also be
used when prime numbers > 10 are involved.
[o] Bend - Some initial bits of info about these
extremely useful (and complex) options for creating
bends in long rods / pipes etc Added to wings in 0.98.31
[o] Boat Hulls - A basic tut giving some ideas about
how to make very simple boat hull shapes - both hard
chine and rounded hulls are covered.
[o] Curly cables - An approach for making such
items as curly cables as used on phones / electric irons
etc. (A variation of a technique used on the 'Snakes'
page)
Updates / new stuff
I'll mention additions / changes etc here - then you'll not
I suppose an enormous vote of thanks to all the coders
(esp Bj) should be made for bringing us Wings as we
now know it - but I can't help wondering what we'd all
have done with the time we've spent on this project - if it
had never existed :):)
Large format (5x4in) photography
by Graham Worker
b different... stand out from the
crowd...
[o] A trip down memory lane - nothing to do
with Wings at all - just a few pix and a bit of info about a
magnetic core memory board that might be of general
interest to the more tech minded out there. :)
Under Construction :)
I believe this is the standard euphemism for this sort of
thing:)
Basically, stuff that's been (quickly / roughly) posted up in
response to specific questions being asked - and this is
where I've put suggestions etc .......ie a dumping ground -
but I think the info might still be of general interest to
others.
If / when tidied up they'll get moved :)
[o] Keeping edges sharp - a rough collection of
stuff about keeping edges sharp - without using 'Hard
Edges' - here, mainly associated with mech type objects -
a sort of wip :)
[o] Geometry debugging - This is an on-going
wip about looking for problem areas and related
issues/techniques - keep this in mind if you read it :)
NB - This is a VERTICE - FREE site / group of pages - there's
no such beast :)
I'll mention additions / changes etc here - then you'll not
have to wade through any of the above again - 'just to
check'.
3rd March - Added a more detailed (wine glass) lathing
example to the 2D > 3D page
2008
10th Jan - Added Curly Cables page.
2007
30th Jun - Added 'Archway using Bend' and multiple holes
in a brake disc pages.
27th Mar - Changed Move Absolute page contents to be
relevant to the command added in Wings 0.98.34
8th Jan - Added boat hulls page
2006
7th July - Added Bend page.
23rd April - Added 'model' page
11th March - Minor mods to Image Plane page
2005
8th Dec. - Added Drilled hole in tube page
12th Nov - Additional info to Cut > 10 page added.
12th Nov - Added Cut > 10 page.
4th Oct - Added extra material to Intersect page re
'straddled' edges
2nd Oct - Minor text mods to Booleans page to take
account of the presence of Tools | Connect and Intersect
Plugin
29th Sept - Added examples of use to Intersect plug-in
page
26th Sept - Added Intersect plugin page.
23rd July - Separated making square info from assorted
and added new method to ms page.
21st July - Added Arch -vert page
29th June - Added Multi-hole page
2nd June - Updated AlignVM page with new ex.
19th April - Added Klein Bottle page.
8th April - Updated AlignVM page.
4th April - Added AlignVM page
10th Jan - Updated bridgeweld page with 'inverted object'
bridge procedure.
2004
20th Nov - Updated flatten page to 0.98.17f release specs
13th Nov - Added wedges page
27th Oct - Minor mods to Image Plane page
16th Oct - Updated Inflate page to 0.98.16b specs.
19th Sept - Updated Vectors page to 0.98.16a release
specs
17th Sept - Added important mod (imo) to bevel snakes tut
16th Sept - Added bevel snakes approach for making 3D
pipework runs to snakes page.
15th Sept - Updated Magnets page to 0.98.16 release
specs.
8th Sept. - Added info about making complex 3D wire cage
type objects (face masks?) to Pipejoints page.
30th Aug - Added info about constant cross section bridging
to Bridge / Weld page
27th Aug. - Added BT1w option.
7th Aug. - Addition to spring page (bottle screw thread)
18th July - Added Roof page.
13th July - Added aligning stuff page.
13th July - Added aligning stuff page.
12th July - Added BBox scaling info to Bounding Box page.
2nd July - Added sprocket page.
15th June - Added sharp edges wip page.
14th June - Added memory page.
6th June - Additions to springs page.
5th June - Added BT1 tut.
27th May - Added chainwheel page
24th May - Added springs page.
17th May - Mods etc to 'filling cavities' in assorted and re-
hashed front page somewhat.
14th May - Added inset region stuff.
1st May - Added a modified (simpler, imo) lathing
workaround for objects with 'through holes' (2D -> 3D page)
18th April - Added making banjos page
5th April - Front page mods (minor)
31st March - Added some subject ideas in mech notes.
19th March - Added Geometry Debugging page - this is an
on-going WIP and should be read as such - no one's being
forced to read it :)
14th March - Added some useless guff about absolute
moves
9th March 03 - Im. Plane - minor mods.