Welcome to revisiting the mirror modifier in this video.
You will learn how to use another object as the point of reflection.
You going to understand that it is the origin itself that acts as the point of reflection.
And finally see other objects rotational values change the axis of reflection.
So let's hop straight on over into a blender.
Okay so over in blender The first thing I'm just going to do.
You don't have to follow me about as you're going to maximize the screen just to get a little bit more
space on the screen for me.
Okay so the first thing we need to do is show you this pax's of reflection.
So we need an object to mirror and I'm going to use our scene here.
I'm going to just hide a couple of things are going to hide the back drop and the camera.
And the lamp.
So it's just the basics that are in our scene.
Okay now we've done that.
If we go ahead and add a new object doesn't matter.
Well I want to put it over here so I'm going to click over here.
I'm going to just those three cursor values.
So let's find the location of the three recurses scroll down a little location I want X and Y to be
whatever they are.
But on our y to be zero along here I want to sit on the x-axis itself.
And Z.
So also be 0.
There we go.
A balance much better.
So we're going to create an object over here and let's actually add a mesh object and let's add all
that's a monkey way that's very very pick and I'm going to scale the monkey right down.
Okay so we're going to use Suzanne here the monkey as as basically our object that we're going to reflect
in our mirror.
So let's go straight and head in the mirror and modify us and then to get to the wrench at a modifier.
And down here and generate we've got mirror.
And so currently it's reflecting on the x y and z axis and it's reflecting about itself.
Now it's actually reflecting about the origin.
So if we were to sensor the cursor.
So I'm just going to hide that red box that we place on the screen before we gets out the way.
And I'm just going to click somewhere else just over here and in object mode.
I'm going to go hit insets origin to 3D Curson the moment we do that you can see that all of the mirror
modifiers axis down here.
It's changed where they were before it was right on top.
And afterwards it's here so we can use another object as a point of reflection.
So the last option here on the mirror modifier is a mirror object.
Now if we have a look at our lamp base its origin is smacked bang in the middle of it.
And that's absolutely fine.
That's what we want.
So I'm going to grab Suzanne here with the mirror modifier and set the mirror objects.
The lamp base there we go.
Excellent.
It's reflected on both sides and that's going to become very handy.
The last thing to cover is how an object's reflection is also based upon the view.
This object the mirror object down here based upon its rotation so sometimes you can end up with some
funny stuff happening.
So if I just I'm just going to uncouple the lamp base for the moment so we're reflecting around the
monkey's own origins is there an origin.
If I now go to the lamp base and just rotate It's 45 degrees on the y axis let's say it's tilted like
that.
Now if I go back to Suzanne.
And.
Mirror objects set it as the lamp base.
We end up with a completely different reflection to what it was before.
So you can see there how the mirror modifier can be very powerful but it can also be confusing at times
because if you have rotated an object and then you decide to use it as a mirror object you may in fact.
So if I go and take that all the way round you may find you need another access selected when it would
have been a different one.
If you just use the.
In this case the objects own origin.
Of course if you wanted a monkey on either side of here what you could always do is clear that I'm going
to centre our scene with shift and see how the plane still in the scene and we use the number pad full
stop to come back into our scene.
Now the curse is in the centre of the set the origin of the monkey which is fine to the 3-d cursor.
And now it's reflecting around there.
So if we wanted it on the x-axis we've got that there.
However with the end we could achieve a very similar thing with the lamp base if we set it to the lamp
base here.
Let's go to the lamp base etcetera and rotate it in the y axis by money minus 45.
There you go your back to the same thing so one way of doing it is moving the origin.
One is to use the another object's origin essentially.
And of course they've both got their benefits.
You don't want to start using a mirror modifier a move in an origin outside if you're also going to
use that origin for something else.
So there are a couple of things in blender that do use that origin one of which is pivot point scaling
proportional editing physics etc. etc. The list goes on.
So sometimes you will what if all you're doing is mirroring something and it has no other application.
Fine move the origin quickly you can always move it back again later on.
Alternatively I would use another object's origin.
But again if you go and move that object later on say we're looking at this lamp base and it's not symmetrical
and we go and rotate around the z axis.
Well look what happens there.
That could cause some problems.
If you decide to rotate that round especially if you were moving it or animating other objects based
upon.
This may indeed start to go a bit funny.
Now of course you can create a mirror empty or a plane and hide it.
It's entirely up to you.
There is always going to be more than one way of doing something like this.
Okay guys it's Challenge time.
I'd like you to build up the lamps them and the first arm.
So make the joint at the top of the stem.
I'll be using a boolean modifier and the union setting to make it one piece.
Then finally use the mirror modifier for generating two arms coming out of our stem.
These two arms will be a separate object and just to give you an idea of where I'm going of course your
design might be slightly different so you may have to modify these instructions to your model but these
are the front view and side view of the lamp for time.
Going for.
I'm going to try and go for.
So you've got the stem on the screen coming up splitting into what you can only call a tuning fork type
shape and then finally the two arms or actually there's only one object and we've used the mirin modifier
and I've set the mirror modifier against the base there in order to generate the other arm.
So pause a video now and give that a go.
Welcome back.
Let's hop straight on over in splendour right so I have opened up the file as it was when we started.
So we just get rid of all the susanne's and any other changes that I've made to us scene.
So the first thing I'm going to do is just hide a couple of bits and bobs that I don't want on anymore.
The lamp can go.
Yeah.
The lamp base can stay the lamp reeg can go and the plane can go as well because that plane is a light.
In fact I've still not move.
I'm going to nest that under lamp so I know it's out of the way now.
Right.
And got remember of course to bring that back later anyway to the task at hand.
First thing I'm going to do is place the 3-d cursor on top of us them and make sure that it's 0 0 on
x and y coordinates.
Next I'm going to add a cube to our scene.
So it is in object mode.
That's important at this point.
Cube is far too big so we're going to scale it in.
I'm just going to do this too.
I for the moment or by I hand because I do want two bits either side of this.
So I'm happy with that being the centre gap.
By the looks of things of hopping to edit mode and just test.
So I want it face select.
I'm a bit too close.
There we go.
And I'm just going to extrude thinking that this way being forward some can extrude along the x axis
here and extrude and just see how far that comes out.
So looking at the lower lower corner they're about point three or so.
KS So if I type but in point oh three there and here extrude by point not three.
Excellent.
Now I can scale the entire model not there.
So everything on a scale it's on the y axis only.
And we can see some artefacts happening here.
And this is what can happen if you're working with a model to see if it was much smaller than this.
It would be impossible to work with.
So there we go.
That's that's there some going to have to find the.
But it's just going to select the stem match.
We go to the modifiers air add a modifier a boolean modifier.
Or when we want a union between that and the cube case something weird has gone on there let's just
do that again and make sure everything's selective and once selected.
So let's go in to the lamp reyk which is where that's hidden and the cube is on top.
That's fine.
Stem and modify a boolean.
And we're going to go for a union with the cube.
Okay.
Now that's a bit weird something funny's going on here.
I'm going to pause a video and just see what's going on.
Okay.
So something weird is going on here.
I'm literally going to save my file just in case there's a bug going on.
And I'm going to shut down blender.
An hour ago when I re open.
I animated lamp.
Excellent.
And I'm just going to try doing that again.
So would the cube a union.
Okay so I'm just going to remove the cube completely from our scene and I'm just going to whack another
cube on read quickly.
So in object mode mash cube cube cube scale it in.
Kate I'm now going to select this one.
A union with the cube again.
Press apply.
OK.
Very interesting so it seems that something was causing some sort of a geometry screw up basically was
causing the two things not to be unioned at all.
Some is going to undo the operation.
It could have been a bug in the program at some point.
Crazy stuff going on.
I'm going to edit this cube before and scale it in on the x axis.
To about there I think.
Excellent.
And then I'm going to extrude out here by 0 point.
Nought three.
Your numbers may be different by the way.
Don't have to copy exactly what I'm typing here some gimmick extrude here by point not three again because
then these bits here I can extrude up in two hour two hour tuning fork.
I'm not sure on the size or anything we can always go back and change that later.
Can I have done that.
Select the stem out select the stem give to union objects with our cube and click apply.
So now when we hide our cube.
Excellent.
That's exactly what I wanted to do in the first place and it wasn't doing it.
I honestly do not know why I think there was a complete bug out so I had to restart the whole bit again
so don't panic if that happens to you.
And I've finally just deleted that old q from the scene.
So now we've cracked that we should have been a very straightforward part of the video.
We're going to add in our arms so I'm going to click on this face here so first of all going to go into
edit mode on the stem.
I'm going to go in face select which I'm in.
I'm going to select this face here.
I'm going to use Shift an S to move our 3D cursor to the selected and it will automatically go to the
centre.
I'm now going to add or come out of edit mode and add.
LANE.
So we're going to build this arm from a plane and let's make it a little small Let's make the radius.
Oh point snorts 3 seems what a lot of the others seem to be at the moment.
Only a set.
The.
Let's just have a look at the axes here on the set the why rotation to 90 degrees.
And that might have flipped it the wrong way for us and do minus 90.
So the colour difference there was.
Basically I'm going to end up having to flip Normal's if I hadn't done that.
And let's see if I can get away with a 45 degree rotation on the x axis as well.
No that's not going to do what I want it to so.
At that plane again.
I didn't mean to come away from it and it was just 90 degrees minus 90 on the y axis.
I can get there minus 90.
Brilliant.
Then just rotate that around the x axis by 45.
Perfect then extrude out.
So let's go to edit mode.
Strew down by point not three in a hour.
Don't need extra geometry here so I'm not going to extrude from this point.
I'm literally just going to move.
And I think it's the x no it's going to be the y axis but not like that.
No press on the y.
Oh no is it Z then.
No it must be x.
Great.
So on the x axis but pressing X Twice means the time going along the local axis.
So finally I don't know how long maties So with the face still selected I'm going to hop into orthographic
new mode and move around to the side.
I figure there can be a little bigger so x x.
There it go.
Now of course you can edit this to your heart's content.
Any point in the future as well.
And there we go that's arm created.
Now I know that later on in this scene I'm just going to clear that red border for the moment.
I know later on in this scene I'm likely to be animating it and I'm going to be moving this base so
setting the mirror points for the mirror modifier to this base.
I don't think would be a good idea or any other moving parts.
In fact in this case I'm going to create an empty and use that as a reference point song going to create
an empty which I initially choose.
I'm showing you a plain axis and I'm going to.
I wanted that to be the 0 0 0 and I can do that here.
0 0 0 in the.
Operator panel perfect and ungathered ness.
They're empty.
I'm going to call it something first when I call it the mirror axis and I'm going to set that as a child
of the sort not the stem.
Sorry this plane's 0 0 1 because that needs to record lower.
Air ago.
Of.
CAPS LOCK ON let me turn that off the lower arm.
There we go.
So finally we're going to add a modifier a mirror modifier to that arm being blind.
There we go.
Mirror modify and select the mirror objects as the mirror axis.
Oh and I don't even have to select any other any other things.
The x axis has already ticked.
Perfect.
How did you guys get on.
Please share in discussions and I will see you in the next lecture.