Creating a Plasma TV using the Block Editor
1. Switch to the Design Mode (3D Mode)
2. Select the Construction Block tool from the left toolbar.
3. In the 'Blocks' Dialog window, select the Outline Tab. Using the Selection tool, drag and select the shaded box. Press the delete key. (You should have a blank workspace)
4. Change the 'Object Construction' setting to 'Create Rectangular Edge'
5. Turn the 'Grid' on and draw a rectangle shape representing your TV. Now using the same tool, draw another rectangle within the current one which will represent your screen. Make sure you now have a shaded box with a cut-out in the centre.
6. Press the 'General Tab' and set the 'Height' to 10cm.
7. Tick 'Turn vertical' (Turn on)
8. Select 'Blocks, holes as recesses'.
9. Change the 'Floor' setting to 8.
10. Now select the 'Surface Area' Tab.
11. Change the Interior Texture to Black (or use an image)
12. Change the Exterior to Dark Grey.
13. Press 'OK'.
14. To add more detail such as buttons, I used the 'Ball layer 90' found in 'Elements/Geometric bodies/Balls/Ball sections and segments'.
15. Change the scale to suit your object (I used 1.25cm). You may need to rotate the object using the rotation tools on the left tool bar. The next step is a tricky process and is made easier if you work using a 2D view rather than the perspective view. Here are the steps I took…
16. In the plan, adjust the button object to the face of the TV. It will snap to the TV. Now double click on the buttonl object and turn off the Snap during movement. (This will make it easier to position the height).
17. Change to the Front View and position the button on the face of the TV.
18. Texture the button Grey or Black by going to the textures and selecting 'Colours/Solid'
19. Repeat the process of using objects and textures to complete your TV. Add a logo using the text objects or using the object modeller(not available in some version).
20. Select all the objects using the Selection tool and holding the Shift key. Or press the Select All button.
21. Select all the objects by going to 'Edit>Select All' or select the objects individually by holding shift and clicking on each object.
22. Group the Objects by going to 'Edit>Group' and give the group a name. Then Select 'Objects>Save Group'. You can save the group anywhere on your hard drive, however you will need to load the object each time. If you save the group into the objects folder in the installed directory. You will notice that it will appear in your Object catalogue. I suggest organising your groups by creating a new folder in the Objects directory. Call it 'My objects' or something similar.
23. Now you can use this object in all your future projects.
