Summer's in full swing, with festivals, concerts, and other events where loud music is played. But let's hear it now for those, who spend the scorching days in front of their computers, modeling. We play the blues on a cultural icon, the Fender Telecaster® electric guitar, modeled in ARCHLine.XP!
Professional articles
Back to articles
The Icon
The world's first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar's design is simple, but effective. With a revolutionary "twangy" sound, it has been a trendsetter in tone and in guitar manufacturing) ever since of its introduction in the 1950s. It can be found in the hands of excellent musicians from all kinds of genres - it's an instrument for the ages.
The Software
ARCHLine.XP is a design software targeted for AEC projects, however, it does have a wide range of features targeted for designing 3D shapes. We did a few riffs on it, to see if we can replicate the guitar as a 3D model, and we used its integrated rendering engine to get some nice visuals. Let's get to it, and-one-and-two...
Forming the body
The guitar's body is one solid slab of wood with a few cutouts to fit the electronics. We used ARCHLine.XP's Cabinet Door feature. This function not only allows to create a customized shape, but it also allowed to have the desired holes and cutouts to be placed in one single object.
fig 1 - alternative usage of the Cabinet Door tool
The neckThe neck was formed with the Loft tool. We need to add section profiles (in blue), through which a solid is formed along a path (in red). If the section profiles change along the route, so does the resulting solid. That's how we ended up a curved, gradually narrowing shape.
fig 2 Varying section profiles will distort the 3D shape accordingly.
The saddleThis piece of metal houses the bridge pickup, responsible for the distinct Telecaster sound. This cover also holds the strings in place. We formed it using the 3D shape tool: this feature starts with a 3D solid, and allows us to modify its 3 projection profiles (shown in red and blue). By modifying these profiles, and adding holes, we ended up with the piece pictured below.
fig 3 Covers, metal pieces with drillholes are easy to form using the 3D Shape tool
It comes togetherBy combining the above features, we soon ended up with a pretty library of magnets, pickups, selectors, potentiometers. It's worth grouping these to appropriate folders, so that you can always find what you are looking for.
fig 4 Careful organization of your content means efficient design
After finding the appropriate "Butterscotch Blonde" texture, and setting up the right materials, ARCHLine.XP's integrated render took care of the rest.
Rock on!
Find out more about the ARCHLine.XP modeling toolset here
Download trial here
Copyright ©2018. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Related articles
When the art of light and scenery meets the power of ARCHLine! - Interview with Cyrille Chabert
Meet Cyrille Chabert, an event professional who has been creating digital 3D plans and animations using the ARCHLine family for less than a year. ...
Read more
Rendering guide 2023
Capturing a photo-realistic image requires more than just pressing a button. It involves understanding how to handle lighting and shadows, be...
Read more
The Journey to a Successful ARCHLine.XP Reseller in Ecuador
Interview with Stalin Oleas Interviewer:...
Read more