by Andrew Keller
For this tutorial we will use the A-Wing model created by Jose Gonzalez,
downloadable here.
Start by starting up bCAD and opening the A-Wing model. When starting a scene
in bCAD I usually delete all lights and cameras so I can make my own that are customized
to my scene. You can do this by pressing the delete button on your keyboard and
clicking on the object you wish to delete. Zoom in on the A-Wing using the Zoom
Custom option (F11). Choose a Scale to fit your needs (for this tutorial we will use
a Scale of 16). Press OK and center the A-Wing in your window by dragging it into
the center.
The simple rotation of an object in bCAD is not a hard task to master, but
getting the details down is. We will begin by selecting the objects we wish to
rotate, in the case the entire A-Wing. Press the Select button (a picture of an
arrow pointing to the upper-right hand corner of the button), and choose the second
Location option. Hit OK and select the A-Wing. Once the A-Wing is selected, it
can be rotated. Go to the Tools menu, and then the Transformations submenu and
choose Rotate. A crosshairs will appear on your screen. Click the point on the
A-Wing that you wish to be the center of rotation (in this case the very center), and then
click on another place on the screen and rotate the craft to the point which you desire.
Once this is done, hit the right mouse button to cancel the rotate request.
Your ship should now be rotated in the front view.
To do anything but roll the ship, we will have to go to a different view.
To accomplish this, press the User Defined Views button (F9), and select
<<Top>>. Hit OK. You can now see a top view of the A-Wing.
Go to the Tools menu and then the Transformations submenu and once more select the
Rotate option. Choose a center of rotation, and then click another point on the
screen and rotate the ship. You can then go back to the front view to see the
results of your rotation. To rotate the ship in other ways, use the User Defined
Views button (F9) to do the same thing as described above.
