Alright, so I wanted to make a 3D model of a quarter, you know, like the US currency coin. Seemed simple enough, right? Wrong! It turned out to be a bit more involved than I initially thought, but hey, that’s part of the fun of learning, I guess.
First, I grabbed a real-life quarter. Gotta have a good reference, you know? I spent a good chunk of time just looking at it, noticing all the tiny details – the ridges on the edge, the lettering, Washington’s profile, the eagle on the back. It’s actually pretty intricate for such a small, everyday object.
Modeling the Basic Shape
I fired up my 3D modeling software. I normally use Blender. Then, I started with a simple cylinder. This was going to be the basic shape of the coin. I adjusted the dimensions, making sure the diameter and thickness were roughly the same as the real quarter. Eyeballing it is fine for now; I can always tweak it later.
Next, I worked on the edge. Real quarters aren’t perfectly smooth; they have those little ridges. To replicate this, I used a technique called “beveling.” Basically, I selected the top and bottom edges of the cylinder and used the bevel tool to create a series of small, evenly spaced segments. It took a bit of fiddling to get the number and size of the segments just right, but it ended up looking pretty good.
Adding the Details
This is where things got tricky. I needed to add all the raised text and images to the coin’s faces. There are a few ways to do this, but I decided to go with the “displacement mapping” route.
Basically, I created two grayscale images – one for the front (heads) and one for the back (tails) of the quarter. In these images, the areas that should be raised on the model are brighter, and the areas that should be recessed are darker. It took a lot of trial and error to get these images right. I kept switching back and forth between my image editor and the 3D software, making tiny adjustments and seeing how they affected the model.
- I spent, a lot of time to adjust the detail.
- Noticed and fixed some small area, made big differents.
- And adjusted the images again and again.
Once I was happy with the displacement maps, I applied them to the model. This basically “pushed” and “pulled” the surface of the cylinder based on the brightness values in the images, creating the raised and recessed details. It was like magic! Okay, maybe not real magic, but it felt pretty cool.
Final Touches
After the displacement mapping was done, I added a material to the model to make it look like metal. I played around with the settings to get a nice, slightly reflective surface. I also added some subtle imperfections, like tiny scratches and smudges, to make it look more realistic. No coin is perfectly pristine, after all.
Finally, I rendered the model. This is basically taking a “photo” of the 3D scene. I set up some lighting, chose a good camera angle, and hit the render button. And there it was – my very own 3D quarter model!
It wasn’t a perfect replica, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I learned a lot along the way, and that’s what really matters, right? Maybe next time I’ll try modeling a whole dollar bill… just kidding (maybe)!