2. Next, create a shape of some sort. This can either be something drawn or a standard shape, like the rectangle, circle, or whatever. This will be your… Shape.

3. Next up, select your Path and click on the Geometry tab. From there, click on the menu list and choose Compound Objects, and select Loft.

4. Click on Get Shape and select your shape. The circle, for instance….

You see how the line took on some thickness? It is now renderable geometry. A cylinder, really. Now, you might notice that the option selected (by default) is Instance. What that means is that any change you make to the circle will be reflected by your lofted object. If Copy was selected instead, any changes to the circle will not affect the loft. This could be useful for lofting several objects of varying size without having to create multiple shapes. Move gets rid of the circle, altogether. This might be useful for keeping your viewports clear of needless objects without having to hide them. Instance will probably be all you’ll ever need, though.

5. Let’s say you want your lofted object to be comprised of more than one shape—all you have to do is create any other shapes you’ll need, and start the lofting process.

The only difference is, you will also be using the Path parameter.

6. First, select your path, click Loft, Get Shape, and select your first shape. Put a number in the Path parameter, click Get Shape again, and select your next shape. If you want a third shape, put a higher number for Path and select your next shape. I don’t believe there is a limit to how many shapes you can incorporate into your loft, but you will want to make sure it’s long enough to fit what you want to put in there, or else it won’t look right.

This example will form this object:

7. You can also adjust the smoothness of your shape by changing the Shape Steps or the Path Steps.

8. Another way you can adjust the smoothness (basically turning it on and off) is in the Surface Parameters tab.

There are several other things we can do with the loft tool and all its parameters, but this is a great start for you to work from.

You can check out previous tutorials such as the Introduction to the Panorama Exporter tutorial and the Introduction to the Shell Modifier tutorial for other things you can do. Stay tuned for more tutorials!

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