Drawing a 3d circle (ball)

[michael_affeld@adobeforums.com]

Instead of doing the shading with the gradients and etc, I thought it might be faster using the 3d function (creating a circle, rotating it, and let the rendering actions of the 3d function making it then looking like a ball, with all of the shading and highlights). Is this possible? because when I try it... applying the 3d function to a circle makes it a donut. Again, my final result I want is a ball. If the 3d effects cannot do it, what is the best method. (I don't want my hot spot directly in the center which is what I get when I apply a radial gradient, how do I do this without getting my hot spot directly in the center?)
Thanks for your help.

[Cesar_Gonzalez@adobeforums.com]

I think to draw a ball using the 3D feature you'd have to draw a perfect half circle using the pen tool.

Try that

[Cesar_Gonzalez@adobeforums.com]

Or better yet, a circle that is cut in half with no fill just a stroke

[James_E._Talmage@adobeforums.com]

To do it with the 3D Effect:

1) Ellipse tool: Draw a circle.
2) DirectSelect the rightmost point of the circle and press Delete.
3) Either stroke or fill the semicicular path.
4) Effect> 3D Revolve & Rotate. Set Offset to zero from right edge. Click More Options. Turn on Preview. Set shading options as desired.

However, you can save alot of bandwidth by using a radial grad fill. To offset the highlight from the center, ClickDrag with the Gradient Tool, starting at where you want the highlight and dragging toward the shadow side.

JET

[Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com]

And if your spend a little time with the gradient and use 6 or so stops you can even include some reflected light. Go l-2-3-4-5-4 for the color intensity and vary the distance between the stops. It can look pretty good. Make sure you make a Style swatch if it comes out good and add it to your AI startup file.

Larry

[michael_affeld@adobeforums.com]

Great help, thanks for the input. I do have two questions regarding the 3d effects... why does the highlight function darken the area to be highlighted rather than lighten? (I did play with all of the settings.) My second question is the fact that my oval was created with only the path of a half circle going to be a problem when it goes to a service bureau (printer)?
thanks for the input

[lee_vickers@adobeforums.com]

Once you are happy with the 3D object, make a copy, select the copy and go to Object/Expand Appearance. This will turn the object into a 'proper' Illustrator vector item. Make sure you keep the original though as once expanded, no more changes can be made via the 3D pallette!

[michael_affeld@adobeforums.com]

Thanks again for the help, but again now I am wondering why, when using the 3D effect, my highlights come out dark.
thanks again

[James_Talmage@adobeforums.com]

"I am wondering why, when using the 3D effect, my highlights come out dark."

Are you using a Shading Color that is darker than your object color?

The Shading Color is not the highlight color, nor the color of lights you add; it is the shading color, thus its black default.

JET

[michael_affeld@adobeforums.com]

I made the shading color white.

[James_Talmage@adobeforums.com]

"I made the shading color white."

That explains it then. The fact that you specify the shade instead of the highlight is actually a good feature, you know.

See the little checkbox labeled "Preserve Spot Colors"? With that on, The 3D Effect achieves the shading by overlaying objects filled with varying tints of the shading color and with those fills set to overprint. The hightlights are craeted by tinting the spot color.

This lets you use the 3D Effect on spot color jobs without everything reverting to process just because it's shaded. I take it as a bit of much-appreciated foresight by the designer(s) of the 3D Effect.

JET