Keep a stone's place clear

WhereBlender’s top menu bar, File > Open, then File > Save As.

DoOpen p10-03-start.blend. Then choose File > Save As and give the file a name of your own, so that the start file stays clean.

You should seeOne plain oval plate on the grid and, just above its middle, a round stone in its own pale colour, touching nothing. The stone is not set: it only marks where the metal must stay clear.

It worked whenThe plate and the stone are the only things in the 3D view.

WhereThe sidebar at the right of the 3D view (press N with the pointer over the 3D view if it is shut), the CAD/CAM tab.

DoClick Flow in the section bar, the small word buttons at the top of the tab.

You should seeThe panels of that section: Flow on Surface, and under it Pattern Builder.

It worked whenFlow is lit.

WhereThe 3D view, then the sidebar. Scroll down to the Pattern Builder panel.

DoAlmost everyone does this once, so meet it now. Click once on the plate, away from the stone, then press Make Pattern. Then scroll the sidebar down to the words Last message.

You should seeRed words on the panel and the same on the status bar. They begin: “No face is picked on Plate.” and go on: “Press Tab to enter Edit Mode, select the face to pattern, then press Make Pattern again.” The status bar’s message fades: Last message stays on the panel until your next press works. Nothing was made, and the plate is not harmed.

It worked whenLast message begins “No face is picked on Plate”, and the 3D view holds only the plate and the stone.

WhereThe 3D view, with the pointer over it.

DoClick once on the plate, away from the stone, then press Tab.

You should seeThe plate’s edges show. Edit Mode is where you work on one piece’s own faces, edges and points. Object Mode, where you were, is where you work on whole pieces.

It worked whenThe menu at the top left of the 3D view reads “Edit Mode”.

WhereThe 3D view, with the pointer over it.

DoPress 3 on the number row, the keys above the letters. Then click once on the top of the plate.

You should see3 turns on face select: the right-hand of the three small boxes at the top left of the 3D view lights up. The whole top face lights up in pale orange. A face is one flat facet of a piece, and this is one.

It worked whenOne face is lit, and the menu at the top left still reads “Edit Mode”.

If it goes wrongA thin strip of the plate’s side lights up, not the top: your click landed on the side. Click again, further in on the top.

WhereThe sidebar. Scroll down to the Pattern Builder panel.

DoPress Make Pattern.

You should seeThe cells land on the top face as small solid posts, and leave a clear round under the stone. They become holes at Make Real. In front of the plate lies the guide, with the same cells on it. The blue marks and the word Done on the plate are handles, for changing a number by dragging: leave them alone for now. Make Pattern has taken you out of Edit Mode by itself, so do not press Tab.

It worked whenThe panel’s first line, under the words “Pattern 1”, begins “70 cells”, and the menu at the top left reads “Object Mode”.

If it goes wrongLast message says “No faces to lay flat: pick some in Edit Mode”: no face was lit when you pressed, and you are still in Edit Mode. Click the top of the plate so that it lights up, then press again. Do not press Tab.

If it goes wrongYou pressed Tab anyway: the menu reads “Edit Mode” and the handles go: that Tab put the pattern itself into Edit Mode. Press Tab once more to come out.

WhereThe 3D view, the button Done on the model.

DoClick Done.

You should seeThe handles go. A keep-out is a place the cells stay out of. The panel’s first line counts 70 cells and says “19 left out near stones”: the cells this keep-out has kept off the stone’s place.

It worked whenThe first line says “19 left out near stones”.

WhereThe 3D view.

DoClick the stone. With the pointer over the 3D view press G, X, type 3 and press Enter.

You should seeThe stone moves 3 mm along the red line (G starts a move, X holds it to that line, and the typed number is the distance). The cells stay where they were. Scroll the sidebar if you need to: a line under the panel’s first line warns “Stones have moved: Refresh Keep-outs”.

It worked whenThe panel shows that warning.

WhereThe Pattern Builder panel, near its foot.

DoPress Refresh Keep-outs.

You should seeThe plain round moves under the stone, and the warning goes.

It worked whenThe plain round stands under the stone, and the warning has gone from the top of the panel.

WhereThe 3D view, with the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+Z twice: once for Refresh Keep-outs, once for the move.

You should seeThe stone goes back to the middle, and the cells with it.

It worked whenThe panel’s first line begins “70 cells” again.

WhereThe Pattern Builder panel, near its foot.

DoPress Make Real, and wait a few seconds.

You should seeThe posts become holes, cut right through the plate. The status bar’s message says what was cut: it fades, and it cuts a long sentence with three dots, so read its first words. If the message has gone, the holes are proof enough.

It worked whenHoles go through the plate where the posts stood, and the status bar’s message begins “Cut 185.0 mm3 from Plate”.

WhereThe foot of the Pattern Builder panel.

DoPress Remove Pattern and Guide.

You should seeThe guide and the cells on it all go. The holes stay: what is already real is not touched.

It worked whenOnly the plate and the stone are left in the 3D view.

WhereThe 3D view, with the pointer over it.

DoOrbit the view until you look across the plate as in the picture. Then press Ctrl+S to save your copy.

You should seeThe holes going right through, the plain round in the middle, and the stone standing clear above it. It is not set.

It worked whenYour own copy is saved.