Autodesk ALIAS 2010 User Manual

Autodesk Alias 2010

Learning Alias

March 2009Part No. 712B1-050000-PM05A

©

2009 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be

reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December,
3December.com, 3ds Max, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD
Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk
Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch,
AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil 3D, Cleaner,
Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what's>Next>
(design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio,
Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF,
Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Filmbox, Fire, Flame, Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, Frost, GDX Driver, Gmax,
Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor
LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, LocationLogic, Lustre, Matchmover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, Moonbox,
MotionBuilder, Movimento, Mudbox, NavisWorks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall,
Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, RasterDWG, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, REALVIZ,
Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage, Softimage|XSI (design/logo),
SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual
Landscape, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo).

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries:
Backburner,Multi-Master Editing, River, and Sparks.

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of MoldflowCorp. in the USA and/or other countries: Moldflow, MPA, MPA
(design/logo),Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, MPI (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Insight,MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert.

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Disclaimer

THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS
ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.

Published by:
Autodesk, Inc.
111 Mclnnis Parkway
San Rafael, CA 94903, USA

Contents

Learning Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 How to use this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

About the Learning Alias Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Graphic Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 2 Getting help on Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Finding help on Alias features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Finding Alias training resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Finding support for Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Working with Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 3 Interface Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Learning objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Installing the tutorial courseware files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Starting Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Overview of the Alias Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Arranging Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

iii

Using Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Using a Snap Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Picking and Unpicking Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Shortcuts to Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Creating Custom Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Using and Customizing Marking Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using hotkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Changing Your View of the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Tracking, Dollying, and Tumbling the Camera’s View . . . . . . . 56

Changing the Point of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Using the Viewing Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Understanding the Object Lister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Types of Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

The Object Lister window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 4 Introduction to 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Beginning a Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Part 1: Creating 3D objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Saving your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Part 2: Building the lampstand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Part 3: Organizing the model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Part 4: Building the lampshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Part 5: Assembling the desk lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Part 6: Posing the Lamp Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

On your own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Chapter 5 Modeling a Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Part 1: Creating the Joystick Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Part 2: Creating the Joystick Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Part 3: Creating the Flexible Sleeve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Part 4: Creating the connecting cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Part 5: Assigning objects to layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Part 6: Directly modifying surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Part 7: Creating the button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Part 8: Visualizing the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

iv | Contents

Chapter 6 Modeling a Vacuum Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Modeling Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Part 2: Intersecting and Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Part 3: Surface Fillet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Part 4: Creating the Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Part 5: Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Part 6: Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Part 7: Dust Bag and Cable Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Part 8: Completing the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Chapter 7 Modeling an MP3 Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Part 1: Creating the Casing Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Part 2: Creating the Side Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Part 3: Completing the Casing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Part 4: Creating the Screen Recess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Part 5: Center Navigation Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Part 6: Control Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Part 7: Completing the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Chapter 8 Modeling a Sports Shower Gel Bottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

New Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Part 1: Creating Primary Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Part 2: Creating the Finger Grip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Part 3: Label Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

Part 4: Adding Blend Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

Part 5: Embossed Logo Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Part 6: Completing the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Chapter 9 An introduction to Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Contents | v

Visualizing a PDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Chapter 10 Shaders and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

Part 1: Creating Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Part 2: Adding a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

Part 3: Lighting the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Part 4: Creating an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

On Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682

Chapter 11 More rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

Part 1: Editing the Render Globals parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Part 2: Creating a background environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

Part 3: Creating a 3D solid texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Part 4: Creating a 2D bump texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710

Part 5: Raytracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

On your own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

vi | Contents

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Learning Alias

Welcome to Alias and the world of three-dimensional modeling, rendering, and animating.

Alias offers a complete solution for the creation of digital content in fields such as industrial
design, automotive design, and consumer product design.

1

2

How to use this book

1

This chapter shows how to use the tutorials, and presents the graphic and text conventions
used in this manual.

About the Learning Alias Tutorials

The tutorials in this book present examples of typical concept design workflows.
The tutorials introduce the powerful tools and interactive features of Alias, and
demonstrate how to use them to accomplish your concept design tasks.

The first six tutorials introduce modeling tools to build your experience level.
We recommend that you start with the first tutorial and proceed sequentially
through the modeling tutorials, because they build on each other.

The next two tutorials introduce rendering tools and skills.

These tutorials are densely packed with information and techniques that may
be new to you. You may want to re-read the lessons after completion, or even
repeat the more difficult lessons.

You can view movies (in Flash format) demonstrating each tutorial in the online
documentation. In order to view these movies, you may need to install a Flash
player. You can download Flash plug-ins for your browser for free from

www.adobe.com.

Disclaimer: There may be slight discrepancies in procedures between the movies
and the written documentation. If you encounter a discrepancy, use the written
documentation version because it will be the most current.

3

For More Information

These tutorials are an introduction to Alias. They are not intended as an
exhaustive guide to the capabilities and options of Alias, and will not teach
you everything there is to learn about the products and workflows.

For additional information and more comprehensive explanations of tools
and options, refer to the online documentation included with the product,
and read Getting help on Alias on page 7.

Graphic Conventions

To call attention to part of a screen shot, we highlight the important area and
darken the rest of the image. For example, in the following picture, we have
marked the location of the close box on the Action Window.

To indicate a click, we use this symbol. For example, in the following picture
we have indicated that the Open command should be clicked. In the text of
the instruction, we will refer to this as File > Open. The first word or term is
the name of the menu or palette; it is followed by an arrow and the name of
the menu item or tool. In the case of a submenu, two arrows are used: Layouts
> All Windows > All Windows refers to the All Windows menu item
available from the All Windows sub-menu, which is found on the Layouts
menu.

To indicate that an option box for a tool or menu item should be opened, a
box appears after the tool name, like Surfaces > Skin ❒.

4 | Chapter 1 How to use this book

Terms

When we ask you to choose a tool, we show the tool’s icon next to the

instruction, for example, select Pick > Object .

Click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a mouse
button once.

Double-click: Move the mouse pointer over an object and press and release a
mouse button twice fast.

Drag: Move the mouse pointer over an object and hold down a mouse button,
then move the mouse with the button held down. Then release the mouse
button.

Click-Drag: Move the mouse pointer over an object, press the mouse button,
and move the mouse pointer to a final position before releasing the mouse
button.

The Scene: The 3D “world” inside the view windows.

The Model: The curves, surfaces, and points that make up the object you are

creating.

Terms | 5

6

Getting help on Alias

2

Autodesk provides you with a number of resources to aid you in becoming a proficient Alias
user.

Finding help on Alias features

Try thisIf:

You want information about installing Alias

You are new to Alias

■ Follow the on-screen instructions on
the installation DVD. For more detailed
instructions, see the InstallingAlias.pdf
file on the top level of the DVD.

■ Read Getting Started, the booklet in­cluded in the kit.

■ Browse through the information on
the main documentation page (in­dex.html).

■ Work through these tutorials in Learn­ing Alias. These are basic lessons that
will teach you about working in 3D in
Alias. They are also the prerequisite for
more advanced Alias courses.

■ Use the How To… section of the online
documentation to learn how to per­form specific operations within Alias,
like drawing curves, making four-sided

7

surfaces, and using masks while paint­ing.

■ Visit http://www.autodesk.com/estore
to find out about learning tools.

You are upgrading from a previous version
of Alias

You are looking for detailed information
about a tool or feature

You want to learn new techniques for using
Alias

■ See the What’s New in Alias document,
available by selecting Help > What’s
New, or available as a PDF file on the
Alias Design Community Web site ht-

tp://aliasdesign.autodesk.com.

■ Look at the What’s New tab in the
default shelf provided with the applic­ation.

■ Look in the “Tool Palettes” and
“Menus” sections of the online help.

■ Choose Help > What’s This and
then click the tool or menu item.

■ Use the right mouse button on the
background of any option window to
see help for that tool or operation.

■ See “Learning Alias”.

■ See “Learning Technical Surfacing.”

■ Go to the Communities section of ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com, and check out

the tips and tricks.

■ Visit http://www.autodesk.com/estore
to find learning tools aimed at interme­diate and advanced users.

You want a PDF version of one of the
manuals

8 | Chapter 2 Getting help on Alias

■ All of the manuals are available in PDF
format on the Alias Design Community
Web site http://ali-

asdesign.autodesk.com..

You want to know what the keyboard
shortcuts are in Alias

■ Choose Help > Modifier Keys from

within Alias, or click Help > Modifier
Keys, Marking Menu Keys, and Hotkeys
on the main online help page.

You want a Quick Reference card

Finding Alias training resources

You want to obtain in-depth training

You want to get tips and techniques from
the experts at Alias MasterClasses

You want to create plug-ins for Alias

■ Print the Quick Reference card PDF file
provided on the Alias Design Com­munity Web site http://ali-

asdesign.autodesk.com.

Try this…If...

■ See the learning materials and training
courses available from Autodesk, see

http://www.autodesk.com/training.

■ For events near you, see ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/training.

■ Use the Alias Application Programmers’
Interface Manual to learn the object­oriented programming required to
build plug-ins.

You want information about becoming an
Alias-certified instructor

■ See the information at ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/training or

contact us at learning­[e-mail].

Finding Alias training resources | 9

Finding support for Alias

Try thisIf…

You are a Platinum member and want to
access the Knowledgebase or Ask Autodesk

You want to interact with other Alias users

You want answers to common
troubleshooting questions

You want to license your software

■ Go to the Alias support site at ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/support

■ Go to the online User-to-User Discus­sion forum on the Alias support site at

http://www.autodesk.com/support

■ See the FAQs (frequently asked ques­tions) in the technical support section
of the Alias support website at ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/support.

■ If you are a Platinum member and
need a license, check the executable
license file on the top of your installa­tion DVD. If your license isn’t there, go
to http://www.autodesk.com/spar and
follow the instructions in the Installin­gAlias.pdf file at the top of the Alias
DVD.

■ If you are a new customer, go to ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/opa to obtain

a new license.

You want customer or technical support

10 | Chapter 2 Getting help on Alias

■ Go to the webpage ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/support.

Working with Alias

If you create concept designs

■ Read about our concept design workflow

■ Work through the modeling and rendering tutorials in Learning Alias

If you build 3D models based on sketches

■ Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning Alias

If you build 3D models for manufacture

■ Read About Curves and About Modeling

■ Work through the modeling tutorials in Learning Alias

■ Check the community site for tips and tricks

If you modify 3D models for manufacture

■ Read Alias Fundamentals

■ Work through the Learning Technical Surfacing tutorials

If you create rendered images

■ Read About Rendering

■ Work through the rendering tutorials in Learning Alias

■ Check the community site for tips and tricks and downloadable shaders

and backgrounds

If you create animations

■ Do the work in the “If you create rendered images” section

■ Read About Animating

■ Work through the animation tutorials in Learning Alias

Working with Alias | 11

■ Check the community site for tips and tricks

12 | Chapter 2 Getting help on Alias

Interface Basics

Learning objectives

You will learn how to:

■ Log into the system and start Alias.

■ Arrange windows.

■ Use tools and tool options.

■ Customize shelves and marking menus.

■ Tumble, track, and dolly the view.

■ Use the Object Lister window to understand the model.

3

Introduction

Before you begin working in Alias, you should spend some time learning how
Alias represents the scene and the model (both externally and internally), and
how you use menus and tools to create and edit model data.

Installing the tutorial courseware files

Each tutorial in this book is based on an Alias wire file, which contains the
material you need to learn the tools, skills, and concepts in the tutorial. These
files are required to complete the Learning Alias and Technical Surfacing
tutorials.

13

When you install Alias, the courseware files (Alias wire files and other support
files) are not automatically installed. You must install them manually.

To install the courseware for use with Alias

The courseware files (Alias wire files and other support files) are not
automatically installed when you install the documentation from the Alias
Installation DVD.

1 Download the courseware files from the Alias Design Community Web

site http://aliasdesign.autodesk.com.

NOTE You need write permissions to the directory in which you plan to install
the courseware files.

2 Copy the downloaded CourseWare folder into your user_data folder.

On Windows systems, this is typically:

C:\Documents and Settings\[userid]\My Documents\Autodesk\Ali

as\user_data\CourseWare

On Mac OS X, this is typically:

/Documents/Autodesk/Alias/user_data/CourseWare

Starting Alias

Logging In

If you have not logged in to your account on your workstation, do so now.

To log in to your account

■ Type your user name and password at the prompts.

If you have an account on this workstation, the operating system user
environment appears.

Depending on which product you are using, the Alias icon may have a different
name, such as Design or Automotive.

14 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics

To start Alias on Windows

1 Do one of the following:

■ Double-click the Alias 2010 shortcut icon on the desktop

■ Select Programs > Autodesk > Alias 2010 > Alias from the Start

menu.

If you work in an environment where there are several Alias products
installed, the first time you run Alias, you may be presented with a choice
of products to launch. The product choice depends on the licenses owned
by your organization.

2 Choose the product you want to run, and click Go.

If you select Surface or Design, skip to step 4#.

If you selected the Automotive product, you are presented with a
workflow selection.

3 For the purpose of these tutorials, choose the Default workflow, which

gives you access to all 3D curve and surface creation tools.

The Paint workflow is for working solely within a 2D environment. You
can click the do not show again check box, so this window will not
appear every time you launch Alias. If you have chosen a workflow setting
and checked don’t show again, you can change the default workflow
by choosing the workflow you want from Preferences > Workflows.
Alias launches the application in the same workflow that was active when
you last exited the application.

4 Alias shows a splash window as it loads.

During start-up, Alias may warn you about unusual conditions on your
system:

If you are already running Alias (or if Alias exited abnormally the last
time you ran it), the application asks you if you really want to start
another copy.

If you are sure Alias is not running, click Yes to continue loading.

5 After Alias has finished loading its resources and plug-ins, the workspace

window opens.

To start Alias on Mac OS X

1 Do one of the following:

■ Double-click the Alias 2010 shortcut icon on the desktop

Starting Alias | 15

■ Click the Alias icon on the Dock.

■ From the Apple Finder, select Go > Applications, browse to

Autodesk > Alias2010 and double-click Alias.

If you work in an environment where there are several Alias products
installed, the first time you run Alias, you may be presented with a choice
of product to launch. The product choice depends on the licenses owned
by your organization.

2 Choose the product you want to run, and click Go.

If you select Surface or Design, skip to step 4#.

If you selected the Automotive product, you are presented with a
workflow selection.

3 For the purpose of these tutorials, choose the Default workflow, which

gives you access to all 3D curve and surface creation tools.

The Paint workflow is for working solely within a 2D environment. You
can click the do not show again check box, so this window will not
appear every time you launch Alias. If you have chosen a workflow setting
and checked don’t show again, you can change the default workflow
by choosing the workflow you want from Preferences > Workflows.
Alias launches the application in the same workflow that was active when
you last exited the application.

4 Alias shows a splash window as it loads.

During start-up, Alias may warn you about unusual conditions on your
system:

If you are already running Alias (or if Alias exited abnormally the last
time you ran it), the application asks you if you really want to start
another copy.

If you are sure Alias is not running, click Yes to continue loading.

5 After Alias has finished loading its resources and plug-ins, the workspace

window opens.

16 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics

Overview of the Alias Interface

The main parts of the Alias interface are:

■ the Palette (location can be customized)

■ the Menu Bar, located at the top

■ the Window Area, taking up most of the interface and located in the

middle (this area may or may not contain view windows when you first
start Alias).

■ the Shelves (location can be customized)

■ the Control Panel, located on the right

If the Palette or Shelves are not visible, choose Windows > Palette... or
Window > Shelves... from the Menu Bar.

The position of the Palette and Shelves can be customized from the options
in Preferences > Interface > Palette/Shelves Layout ❒. In the following tutorials,
we will work with the Palette on the Left and the Shelves on the Bottom

Overview of the Alias Interface | 17

of the interface. (To learn how to set options see Set options for a tool or menu
item.)

As you continue through this tutorial, you will become more and more familiar
with the Alias interface.

Using Help

One of the most important menus is the Help menu. The Help menu is
organized so you can get quick and specific information on just about any
tool in Alias.

To get help on a tool or menu item

It is easy to get help on any tool or menu item in the interface using the
following steps.

1 Click the Help menu, located at the right end of the menu bar.

2 In the Help menu, click What’s This?

3 Click a menu item or a tool icon in the Palette.

You are prompted to select the tool for which you want help. (This prompt
appears in the prompt line, located just below the menu bar.)

A browser window launches and the on-line documentation about that
tool icon or menu item displays.

4 When you are finished reading the information, minimize or close the

browser window.

Arranging Windows

Performing Menu Commands

To use the menus to choose a window layout

1 Click the Layouts menu to open the menu.

NOTE Notice the arrow next to the All Windows command. This means

there are suboptions for this command:

18 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics

2 Click the All Windows command to open the submenu, then click the

All Windows option.

The All Windows command arranges view windows in the following
layout: Top, Left, Back, and Perspective.

Arranging Windows | 19

These tutorials sometimes refer to menu options by the path through the
menus to the item. So, All Windows is: Layouts > All Windows > All
Windows .

As an alternative to the single-click method, you can use the pull-down
menus by dragging the mouse down the menu and releasing on the
option you want.

Window Controls

Use these controls on the borders of view windows to move, close, and resize
the window:

20 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics

The view windows have more controls across the top, but for now, concentrate
on the close box, title bar, maximize, and resize corners.

You will discover the functions of the other icons later in the tutorials.

Closing Windows

To close the Top view using the close box

■ Find the close box in the upper left corner of the Top view window.

■ Click the Top view window close box.

The Top view window disappears.

Resizing Windows

You can change the size of windows using the resize arrows at each corner.

To change the size of a view window using the resize arrows and maximize
box

1 Find the resize arrows in the corners of a view window.

Arranging Windows | 21

2 Drag a resize arrow to change the size of the window. An outline of the

view window follows the mouse.

3 Release the mouse button. The corner of the window snaps to the new

size.

4 Try dragging the resize corners in the other corners to see how they resize

the window.

■ To work in one large window to see more detail, use the maximize

box to temporarily make the view window fill the entire screen.

5 Find the maximize box in the upper right corner of a view window.

22 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics

6 Click the maximize box of the view window.

The view expands to fill the entire screen.

Notice that the maximize box changes to black to show the window is
maximized.

7 Click the maximize box again to return the view window to normal size.

Moving Windows

To move and arrange the remaining windows

1 Find a view window’s title bar.

The title bar is the area at the top of the window, between the close box
and the other icons on the right.

2 Drag the title bar. An outline of the view window follows the mouse.

Arranging Windows | 23

3 Release the mouse button. The window snaps to the new location.

4 By now you probably have some view windows overlapping other

windows, similar to this:

The windows are like a stack of papers on a desk. As you shuffle them,
they can overlap.

24 | Chapter 3 Interface Basics