3D Modeling a Lotus Flower in SelfCAD

‘“Flowers always make people better and happier; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.’’ They are the beautiful creation of nature. However, the demand for artificial flowers is on the rise. 3D Designs of flowers are available in plenty.  3D designing a Lotus flower requires you to have a knowledge of a 3D modeling software. In this article, we are using SelfCAD in 3D designing the Lotus Flower. The reason why we are using SelfCAD is because it’s easier to use and it takes only a few hours to learn the tools and there are handy interactive tutorials that will guide you in your design process.

From the Designer’s perspective,  the Lotus is one of the beautiful flowers that have Petals arranged in a certain way that attracts anyone.

Let’s create a lotus flower!

Step 1: 3D Design a Lotus Petal.

We will start by 3d designing the Lotus Petal Shape with the help of the Plane tool. Definitely, we can use other tools too. Select the Plane tool from the 3D Shape Category (P+A). 

In the Tool Panel, set Local Position to False, Width to 100, Height to 40, Width Segment to 4, Rotation x to 90, Local Position to Undefined. Finalize the Plane.

Step 2: Modify the 3D Design with Edge Selection.

Click on the Edge Selection tool (Ctrl+2). Select the Edges. Just like Edge selection, there are other tools like object selection, Face selection. This selection tool enables us to select a specific region, edge, face, polygon.

Activate the Scale (S). Set z to 5.

For the following steps, deselect the region that we previously selected. But the Scale tool will be On. 

Now, again select the other edges. 

Set the z to 20 and then again deselect the regions. 

After deselecting, Select the other Edge.

Set Z to 30.

Deselect and then select the other Edge and set z to 50.

As you can see, the erection shown in the workspace guides to set the values as per the X, Y, or Z-axis. We have sent all the above values with the Z-axis as the object that we have created is a Plane that allows us to change the angles of Edges in the Z direction to design it in the desired petal shape. 

Step 3: Make the 3D design of the Petal

Select the Add Thickness Tool from the Modify Category (M+A). Set the Thickness to 2. Finalize the Add Thickness. 

Next, Select the Round Object Tool from the Modify category (M+R). Here set smoothness to 5. Finalize the Round Object.

Step 4: Modify the Lotus Petal.  

The Round Object tool is to Modify the Object in Round Shape. We can make the object or some region of it Round as necessary by applying the smoothness. We will use the Move tool to position the shape. For that, select the Move tool (M); here, on the left side,  set the position to Right. Set x to 0 .

Step 5: Bend the Lotus Petal.   

Choose the Bend tool from the deform Category (D+B). You can see the Advanced Setting; set the Bend we need to add the parameters: Set the Origin Position to Right, Plane to Left/Right. Set y to 20.

Step 6: Make copies of Lotus Petal. 

Select the Copy Tool (Ctrl+C) to copy the selected Objects. Then choose the Copy Offset Tool from the Tool Category (T+O). Here in Panel, Set the Operation to Pivot and choose the number of copies that are 4. Finalize it by clicking on Copy Button. 

Close the Copy Offset Panel. Now choose the Stitch & Scoop tool (B) from the toolbar and activate Union (B+U). Finalize the Union. 

Step 7: Make a Copy of Lotus Petal and Modify it. 

Select the object that is one Petal, and choose the Bend tool from the Deform Category. Then set the Origin Position to Right, Plane to Left/Right. Set y to 60.

Let’s create another layer of petals. So click on the Copy tool and choose the copy offset tool. Set the number of copies to 5 and finalize the copies by clicking on Copy Button.

Close the Copy Offset Panel. 

3D design the Union Objects with the help of the Stitch and Scoop (B) tool. 

Finalize the Union. 

Step 8: Position the 3D Design of the Lotus Petal. 

Select the Rotate Tool (R), set y to 20, and close the Transformation Panel. 

Select the Object and then activate the Scale (S) tool. In the Tool Panel, in the advanced setting, set the Proportion to True. Next, set y to 45. 

The petal object is selected now. Position it with the help of the Move (M) tool. Set the Origin Position to Right. Set y to 2. 

With the help of the Bend tool from Deform category (D+B), set the position to Right, Plane to Left/Right, set y to 50. 

Step 9: Modify the Lotus Petal.

With the help of the Copy Offset Panel Tool (T+O), select the operation to Pivot. Set Amount of Copies to 5, click on the Copy button and close the Transformation Panel. 

With the use of Group Tool (Ctrl+G), make the group of the petal. 

Step 10: 3D Design the Inner Lotus Bud.

Let’s design the inside of Lotus using the Sphere shape from the 3D Shape Category of Toolbar (P+S). Set Radius to 12. Finalize the Sphere. We are creating the Inner Bud shape of Lotus. 

Use the Taper Tool from Deform Category (D+T). Set x to -50, z to -50, and close the Transformation Panel. 

Select all the created objects (Ctrl+A). 

Then use the Stitch and Scoop (B) and choose Union (B+U). Finalize the Union. 

With the use of the Color Picker Tool, choose the desired color. Confirm the Color.

 Our lotus flower is ready!

Conclusion

We’ve 3d designed a beautiful Lotus Flower. We started by 3d modeling the Lotus petal, and basically, we kept on modifying it with the Scale and Bend tool. But we created the Lotus Petal just once and then copied and modified them as per requirement. We hope you find the tutorial illuminating and handy. Reach out to us if you have any doubts or concerns. We’ll get back to you in an instant!

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