8

Teapot Primitive 179
you can choose w hich par ts of the teapot to display
after creation.
Examples of teap ots
His tor y of t he Tea pot
This teapot derives from the orig inal data
developed by Martin Newell in 1975. Beginning
w ith a graph-paper sketch of a teapot that he kept
on his desk, Newell calculated cubic
Bezier splines
(page 3–1009)
to create a wireframe model. James
Blinn, also at the University of Utah during this
period, produced early renderings of exceptional
quality using this model.
Theteapothassincebecomeaclassicincomputer
graphics. Its complexly curved and intersecting
surface s are well suited to testing different kinds
of material mappings and rendering sett ings on a
real-world object.
Pr ocedur es
To create a tea pot:
1.
On the Create menu, choose Standard
Primitives > Teapot.
2. In any viewport, drag to define a radius.
As you drag , a teapot emerges with the pivot
pointatthecenterofitsbase.
3. Release the mouse to set the radius and create
the teapot.
To create a teapot part:
1.
In Parameters rollout > Teapot Parts group,
turn off all parts except the one you want to
create.
2. Create a teapot.
The part you left on appears. The pivot point
remainsatthecenteroftheteapot’sbase.
3. In Parameters rollout > Teapot Parts group,
turn off all parts except the one you want.
The teapot has four separate parts: bo dy, handle,
spout, and lid. Controls are located in the Teapot
Parts g roup of the Parameters rollout. You can
check any combination of parts to create at the
same time. The body a lone is a ready-made bowl,
or a pot with optional lid.
To turn a par t into a teapot:
1.
Selectateapotpartintheviewport.
2. On the Modif y panel > Parameters rollout, turn
on all parts. (This is the default.)
The whole teapot appears.
You can apply modifiers to any separate part. If
you later turn on another part, the modifier affects
the additional geometry as well.
Interf ace
Creation Meth od rollout
Edge—Draws a teapot from edge to edge. You can
change the center location by moving the mouse.
Center—Draws a teapot from the center out.