Faceting is a good way to emulate sharp edges on objects such like glass, ice, or materials.

Pixels3D | studio | v3.6 and above

Were going to create a simple Zeppelin to show a quick and easy way to realistically show the zeppelin's balloon area. Start by creating a Shape>Cylinder and change the Veiw Options of the Right View to Twist & Taper. Here we can Taper the image into a basic shape of our Zeppelin Hull.

*Also another way is to create a series of spline and then use the loft tool for precise shaping.

We can also use the Reshape>Spline tool to move the cvs near the front more towards the tip, as picture on the right.

Choose Reshape>Close Ends to close the open areas at both ends of the Cylinder shape. Select Smooth Edge then the Radius to 0.75% for an elongated closure.

Now for the easy part, faceting. To get this done quickly, we need to export our Cylinder as a DXF file. Select DXF from the export options in the File Menu. Check Subdivide and hit OK.

Import the Model back into Pixels3d by choosing the import option in the File Menu. Uncheck Smooth Normals ( this keep the edges of each facet sharp ). Hit OK.

Do a Quick Render. See how faceting creates the effect common with the tarp over wooden ribs of the Zeppelin?

There are more steps we can do to add to the Zeppelin, but that's something you can learn using the Step & Repeat tool, covered earlier in PIU. Enjoy!