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In this movie, you take a look at an efficient method of modeling curtain walls.
Select the curtain wall that makes the corner of the building.
Hide it or delete it so you can rebuild it.
Set an Orthographic view in Wireframe mode.
Right-click the 3D Snap tool and set it to Midpoint only.
Enable it and then draw a line that represents the base of the curtain wall, running through the middle of the existing wall opening.
Disable Snap mode when done.
Extrude the line you created to fill the opening.
It should be 13'-6".
Turn your view into shaded mode again (F3). Also make sure that Edged Faces mode (F4) is active so that edges are visible in the viewport.
Convert the extruded spline to an editable poly. Next you start subdividing it to help with the creation of mullions.
Expand the modeling ribbon and choose the SwiftLoop tool. This will help you subdivide the curtain wall.
Place your cursor in the appropriate positions and click to divide the mesh.
To divide a set of edges directly in the middle, use the Connect tool instead of SwiftLoop.
Select a set of parallel edges and then click Connect.
Once the basic divisions are done, it is time to give the mullions a width.
In Polygon sub-object mode, select all polygons except those that make the corner column.
Use the Inset Settings and set the type to By Polygon.
Specify a width of 1" and accept the value.
This gives the mullions a thickness and leaves you with a set of selected polygons that represent the glazing.
Detach these polygons and give them the name Glazing.
While you're at it, select the polygons that make the corner column and detach those too.
Give the new object an appropriate name.
Exit sub-object mode and rename the selected object Mullions.
These mullions have thickness but no depth.
With the Mullions selected, apply a Shell Modifier.
Set the Inner and Outer values to 4" to give the mullions a depth.
Similarly, apply a Shell Modifier to the corner column and give it an Outer Amount of 2".
Take a look in the top view and notice how the corner column is slightly deformed.
When using the shell modifier, especially in architectural modeling, you generally want to enable the option: "Straighten Corners".
Finally, do the same for the glazing with very small Inner and Outer amounts
Apply the same metallic blue material to the structure and a transparent material to the glazing.
At this time, the Shell modifier gave you a basic inner and outer extrusion to the mullions.
This would be fine for most purposes when the building is viewed from a distance.
For a close-up shot, you may need a bit more detail.
Instead of a simple extrusion, you can use the Shell modifier in conjunction with a spline.
The extrusion is then made based on that spline profile.
Drawing the profile in the correct orientation is tricky but fortunately, you can always adjust it after the fact.
In the top view, draw a profile to add details to the mullions like chamfered corners and contours for the glazing.
When done, select the mullions and in the Shell Parameters, enable Bevel Edges.
Click the None button and then select the spline you just created.
In this case, the bevel is done in the opposite direction than the one anticipated.
Select the profile once more and go to spline sub-object mode.
Select the spline and mirror it horizontally to get the required effect.
For linear shapes like curtain walls, you may want to add a Smooth modifier to the top of the stack.
The mullions are still dependent on the profile. You can add more detail to the profile and see them update on the mullions.
Of course, remember that additional detail is only useful in a close-up shot.
When seen from a distance, additional detail only adds to rendering time.
In this 3-part series, you learned different methods to model architectural metal. We hope you found these techniques useful.