Part 2: Creating a Rocket (continued)
Now it's time for a little color. You'll use the Color Per Vertex
Editor to color the individual polygons of the shape.
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You should have Cosmo Worlds open with the model of your rocket with
its newly created fin. If you don't have your model available, open a
new file (File > New) and import shipAndFin.wrl, a
file provided for this tutorial. Choose File > Import.
Clear the Selection field, then type in this pathname and
press Enter: /usr/share/Insight/library/SGI_bookshelves/Help/books/CosmoWorlds_UG/Models/shipAndFin.wrl
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Change the draw style to As Is. In the Viewer Menu, choose Draw
Style > As Is.
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Select the ship by clicking on it.
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Open the Color Per Vertex Editor by clicking on its button in the Looks
palette:

The Editor window pops up.
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Notice that a copy of the selected object appears in the editor window.
This is to preview the color before pressing Apply. Once you
press Apply, the coloring is applied to the object in the
scene. You can undo mistakes in the Color Per Vertex Editor by using Ctrl-z.
To reposition your view of the rocket in the editor's preview window, Alt-drag.
Also notice the buttons along the bottom of the window. Pass your
cursor over the buttons to see a description of what each button does.
For an overview of the icons and buttons, look at a diagram of the Color Per Vertex Editor.
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Make the ship blue.
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Press the pick button
and
click the ship in the preview window to make the color editor appear.
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Choose a color. Jump to Color
Editor to learn more about using this editor.
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To color all the polygons at the same time, click the button "Edit
Color of Every Color in Shape" by choosing the last icon along the
bottom of the editor.
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Press Ctrl to temporarily switch to the paintbrush, and
click on the rocket in the preview window. The rocket turns blue.
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Make the windows gray.
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Use the paintbrush to select one of the polygons at the nose of the
rocket to be a window.
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Choose the Edit Polygon Face button (the third button from the left).
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Switch back to the pick icon, and change the color in the color editor
to gray. The polygon you selected turns from blue to gray.
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Choose a polygon on the opposite side of the nose and color it gray to
make a second window.

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Color the fin red.
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Use the paintbrush to select a polygon on the fin.
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Use the pick button to change the color to red in the color editor.
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Use the paintbrush to paint all the polygons making up the fin.
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Color the rocket's end to a fiery glow.
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Use the paintbrush to select a polygon at the tail of the rocket.
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Use the pick button to change the color to orange in the color editor.
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Use the paintbrush to paint all the polygons orange.
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Now choose the Edit Single Vertex button.
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Use the pick button to change the color to yellow in the color editor.
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With the paintbrush, paint around alternate polygons for a starburst
effect.
The finished product.
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Take a moment to save your file before continuing.
The rocket is almost done! Now you'll attach the two
"pontoons" to the underside of the ship using the Snap Target
and the Snap Source arrows. You'll use a sample file for this part of
the tutorial; it contains a ship with special markings for placing the
pontoons. A file with a pre-made pontoon is also included for this
tutorial.
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If you don't have Cosmo Worlds open with the file you've been working
on, then create a new file and import the file shipAndFinWithColors.wrl:
/usr/share/Insight/library/SGI_bookshelves/Help/books/CosmoWorlds_UG/Models/shipBasic.wrl
You can save this file as rocket.wrl or give it another
name.
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Reposition your view of the ship so you can see its underside. Notice
that there are two quads that are darker blue. These are the spots
where you will attach the pontoons.
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In the File menu, turn off Interactive Import Placement.
Then import the file shipPontoon.wrl.
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De-select the pontoon by clicking on the background.
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Click-middle over one of the darker blue quads on the ship. The yellow
Snap Target appears. You can drag the Snap Target if it isn't precisely
where you want it.
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Select the pontoon and reposition your view so you can see the blue
top-end of the pontoon that will be attached to the ship. You may need
to hide the ship so that you can see pontoon. Choose View >
Hide Unselected Objects to hide the rocket (later, choose View
> Show All Objects to bring the rocket back into the
view). Ctrl-click middle over the pontoon to place the green
arrow for the Snap Source.
The Snap Target and Snap Source arrows placed. Remember to
select the pontoon before moving to Snap Target.
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Re-select the pontoon by clicking on it.
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Press Ctrl-m, or choose Layout > Move Selection to
Snap Target. The pontoon will snap to the bottom of the ship.
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Make the second pontoon by cloning the original. Select the pontoon and
choose Edit > Clone.
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Place the Snap Target on the other dark blue quad on the other side of
the ship. (Click-middle on the quad.)
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When you paste the clone, it will appear on the Snap Target. Choose Edit
> Paste Clone.

Jump to: Layout Tools
to learn more about the snapping arrows
and other alignment tools.
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You're almost done. Now, to group the pontoons to the rocket, then save
and close the file.
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Shift-click to select each part of the rocket.
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Choose Edit > Group to combine the parts into a single
object.
Jump to: Grouping Objects to
learn more about this task.
Yay! You've learned how to select and edit PEPs and how to use the
snapping arrows. Your rocket is complete. Choose File > Save from
the main menu to save your file. If you are continuing to Part 3 now,
keep Cosmo Worlds open.
Next, you will create a scene composed of the planet and the rocket.
You'll learn how to animate the rocket to land on the planet.
Part 3: Animating the Rocket 