drawing 3d sphere in powerpoint

In this post, I will build objects that appear spherical, using PowerPoint 3D and fill up effects. Like a lot of these posts, in that location are some PowerPoint "secrets" that need to be deemed for.

NOTE: This mail is about the 3D drawing tools that take been available in PowerPoint for several years. Information technology is not about the capability to import 3D models that has recently been introduced; there is no capability to really create these new 3D models in PowerPoint.

Spheres

The basic process is to draw a circle and add a 3D outcome:

• Create a 2 inch circle (I use this specific measurement to make the 3D stride a little easier).  Remove the outline and fill with a solid color. Tip: concur down Shift when you lot draw an Oval to constrain the object to a circumvolve. Also, use the Size/Position pane to go the dimension right.
• Side by side, in the Format Shape/3-D Format pane, add a Bevel/Top. Choose the Circle choice and set up the Height and Width to 72 pts (ane inch, the radius of the circle). Here are the circle, the "sphere," and the 3d Format for the object:

This "cantankerous section" diagram of the object shows the consequence of the 3D settings:

You tin, of class, use any measurements you like.  Since object sizes are measured in inches and the bevels are measured in points, you lot will have to do a little arithmetic.  Another irritation is that resizing the sphere does non alter the bevel dimensions; you will have to manually change the Height and Width of the Bevel appropriately (sigh).

I selected the Warm Matte Material option in theFormat Shape/iii-D Format for the sphere. Y'all can experiment with otherMaterial options for dissimilar effects; here are a few of the options:

Lighting Angle and Lighting can likewise be adjusted:

Textures and "Planets"

Yous tin can add texture to a sphere by using Make full/Picture or texture and selecting one of the born textures; here are a couple of examples:

You can likewise utilise Fill/Slope; here are two preset gradients:

Annotation: These preset gradient options are no longer available in recent versions of PowerPoint – you volition accept to experiment with Gradient Fill to become similar results.

Textures and other images can also be added to the sphere using Fill and the Motion picture selection. I have described the process in earlier posts; briefly, here's how:

• Re-size/crop the image to the aforementioned size every bit the object to exist filled (the sphere).
• Copy the prototype; this puts information technology on the clipboard.
• Make full the object using the Picture or texture selection, choosing the Clipboard as a source.

Notation: See this post for a lot more detail on Filling Shapes with Pictures.

Hither'southward an example using a "water" image:

The original sphere is filled using the square "patch" shown. Of course, you tin can make full a circle first and and then utilize the 3D Bevel issue.

You can use other images including maps. Here are some examples:

Here'due south an example using part of a map of our moon; I used the Matte Textile:

Yous can find interestingfictional planet maps; here'south one from http://freebitmaps.blogspot.com/:

Text on Spheres

Adding text to a "sphere" requires some experimentation. First, we type a text character directly into a circle, and and so utilise the 3d outcome:

Equally you can see from the rotated view of the result, the text remains "apartment.".

The text besides remains flat when a text box is grouped with the circle:

Filling a sphere with a groundwork and the text grapheme via Make full/Picture../Clipboard (every bit we did with the textures, etc., higher up) has a strange outcome:

When the text/background object is used to fill the sphere, it is converted to an image. Nosotros can testify the reason for the result above by converting the text/background object explicitly (copying and Past Special/png):

The starting time object above is the flick conversion – as y'all tin can see it is larger than the original object.  I'm non sure why, simply I think information technology has to do with assumptions nearly the text box, To piece of work around the problem, Crop the picture (the second version in a higher place) earlier filling the sphere. The rotated version shows the result with the text conforming to the sphere. Whew!

Pool Balls

As you might await from the previous sections, using Picture Make full is the most reliable method to create objects with more circuitous fills, including the pool balls.

For the 8-ball, brainstorm with a black foursquare containing the white circle and numeral. Employ the picture fill technique to make full the sphere:

I inverse the Material to Nighttime Edge for a shinier wait. Of form, this is only a half sphere equally shown by the rotated version. To set up this, apply a Bottom/Circle bevel with aforementioned dimensions equally earlier. Hither'south the result:

The x-brawl is created the aforementioned way with the stripe added to the image used equally fill:

I used an ivory color for the background – white tends to wash out. Of class, you can experiment with Material and Lighting to get the appearance you desire.

More "Secrets"

These secrets may be helpful as you experiment with these techniques,

Distortion – This experiment shows that the image is actually "projected" onto the sphere from the front, rather than wrapped around it. I used a checkerboard as the image:

The front view shows that the paradigm is not wrapped. When the sphere is rotated, y'all can meet how the epitome is stretched around the sphere (the red line separates the Height and Bottom bevels). The fill is distorted; this is visible when the sphere is rotated. The golf ball example below shows this effect:

NOTE: the "earth" in a higher place doesn't appear to have this problem (note North America in the second case. The reason is that the image is distorted (a map projection). Lucky.

"Back" Image – The fill up appears on the Meridian bevel and you tin can't separately make full the Bottom bevel. So what does the "back" of the sphere look like?  The images beneath respond this question:

As you can see, the "back" is also difficult to light.

Shape Effects – Many of the shape effects don't employ properly to 3D objects, peculiarly when they are rotated; hither are some examples:

This gives yous a chance to create some of these furnishings by hand; here'south an example using a divide semi-transparent Oval with a Soft border:

Artifacts – You may see artifacts on rotated objects like the calorie-free patches on these objects:

These are because the fill (a movie) is slightly smaller than needed to make full the object. This can be corrected using the Offsets in the Fill up pane (ready to -1 or -two percent until the antiquity disappears).

Blitheness

Often, PowerPoint features are not well integrated with other features – the 3D tools are no exception. The Shape effects (shadow, etc.) mentioned to a higher place are an case of this.

In that location is also an issue with animation; here's an example:

Every bit you tin can see the reflections and shadows on the ball "roll" with the ball – since these features are not part of the ball but are a upshot of the static lighting source, this is incorrect.

NOTE: This mail on vehicles shows how to create a rolling object. Briefly, a move path is combined with a spin and the path distance is set to a multiple (π) of the diameter of the object to avoid "slipping." The Smooth first/stop choice for the motion path is zeroed.

You can better this by using 2 split objects to correspond the brawl – the ball rolls but the reflections practice not:

Hither are the two objects:

The first object is made like the other examples – a solid circle with the advisable Bevels; the color is light grey with 67% transparency and the material is Clear. The second object is a "flat" (no 3D) version of a puddle brawl.

in the animation, the transparent object is positioned In Front of the ball. The objects have identical move paths but the transparent object does non Spin.

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If you want to run into more than details, use the link beneath and click on the PowerPoint icon to download a "source" PowerPoint file containing these objects:

Powerpointy blog – spheres, planets and balls

See this folio for more on downloading files.

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Source: https://pptcrafter.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/drawing-in-powerpoint-spheres-planets-and-balls/

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