Use OBJECT | PROPERTIES and name your saucer "Saucer"
(Note - on older versions of Anim8or, we used SETTINGS | OBJECT)
Name any objects you create in your Flying Saucer file from now on
Use OBJECT | NEW to create a blank screen for your ROCKET
(multiple objects can be stored in the same AN8 file - just keep them named appropriately!)
Choose the SIDE view (Key-4)
Set the OPTIONS | GRID | SNAP to GRID (Spacing) option to ENABLE
Use a CURVED PATH tool and draw as follows
Starting left side right on the Z-Axis, click and drag to draw the "nose" of the rocket
Continue dragging the little red square to establish the next points; try to draw the rough outline shown here using just six points
This curved path is called a "SPLINE"
Perfect the End Points
Click on an end point and you can move it so it lands PRECISELY on the Z-Axis
Make some corners
Choose a point like the tip of the tail and double click it
The "Knot Editor" lets you make it a CORNER rather than smooth point - Click OK
Make all the other points corner points EXCEPT the one on the "back" to give your object a more classic rocket like profile
Tighten the curve
Click on the curved point on the back of the rocket spline, and adjust the green "handles" to shorten the curve. Less curve can reduce the polycount
Use BUILD | LATHE and select the Z-Axis
Both the START and END should be closed
Click OK
If it looks like a mess, you probably didn't draw your rocket from the SIDE view. You can adapt by hitting UNDO
Try the LATHE command again, this time set the axis for the one that DOESN'T appear in the legend in the lower left of the screen
DELETE the SPLINE
The thin black line that you used to sculpt your lathe can now be deleted - it serves no purpose at this point
Lathed objects always start out "inside out" for some reason. You can correct them with these steps
Select your rocket object
Use EDIT - FLIP NORMALS
Does the very tip of your rocket oddly coloured or transparent? There seems to be a glitch that we can fix:
View the rocket from the FRONT view
MOVE the rocket to the left or right of the Y axis
Use BUILD | MIRROR IMAGE and choose X Axis to create a duplicate of your original translated along the X Axis
If the "hollow tip" glitch is fixed, use this duplicate and delete the old glitchy object
Use OBJECT EDIT to paint the entire rocket a uniform colour
BE SURE to NAME your materials appropriately, or they can be lost when you add the rocket to the saucer.
To colour individual faces of the rocket you can use POINT EDIT mode, but first you'll find you need to flip the normals
HAVING PROBLEMS SELECTING FACES?
If you have problems selecting faces after lathing, your model may have been lathed INSIDE OUT.
Choose the WIREFRAME view - can you see the faces being selected now? Are they yellow on the INSIDE?
Here's how to "FLIP the NORMALS" to turn your object right-way out.
Go back to OBJECT EDIT mode
Select the object
Use EDIT - FLIP NORMALS
Use "QUAD" view by tapping the DEL key in the lower right corner of your keyboard
COPY (CTRL-C) the rocket object, and PASTE it (CTRL-V) into the Saucer Object window
MOVE and SCALE the rocket to fit properly
Is the rocket facing the wrong way?
View the model from the TOP view
Use the ROTATE TOOL, but do it using only the RIGHT mousebutton - it rotates it more intuitively on only ONE axis on your screen.
Select the rocket and use BUILD | MIRROR IMAGE (X-Axis Mirror) to create a symmetrical duplicate on the other side of the saucer.