Setting up the reference images for the time machine

For this workflow, our first step is to get our reference images set up. Download the reference images for the time machine from the Blender3DByExample_Chapter03-04 folder from https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Blender-3D-By-Example-Second-Edition. If you would like to learn how to set up these reference images for yourself, keep reading this section. If you would rather dive right into modeling, open the TimeMachine_Start.blend file and skip to the Box modeling the main section of the chair section. There are six reference images:

• Back_Exterior.png
• Back_Interior.png
• Front_Exterior.png
• Front_Interior.png
• Side.png
• Top.png

The two "Interior" images will be helpful in modeling the inner parts of the time machine such as the chair and the clock, while the "Exterior" images will be more useful for everything else:

If you don't already have a fresh Blender scene, then open one. We won't need any of the default objects, so let's delete them:

1. Go to File | New | General.
2. Press the A hotkey to select all of the objects.
3. Press the Delete key or the X hotkey to bring up the Delete menu.
4. Click Delete to confirm.

Blender 2.8 has streamlined the way we import reference images. Unlike previous versions of the software, reference images can be brought directly into the 3D Viewport and live in 3D space like any other 3D object. The easiest way to set this up is to turn on the Quad View:

1. Click to open the View menu in the top-left of the 3D Viewport.
2. Go to Area | Toggle Quad View.

This will give us three orthographic views—one for the top, front, and right side, as well as one perspective view. Each of the four quadrants is labeled in the top-left corner, for example, Top Orthographic, as you can see in the following screenshot:

Next, we will take advantage of Blender 2.8's new drag-and-drop feature. Simply drag and drop the images from your computer's file browser into each of Blender's Viewports:

1. Drag the Top.png file into the Top Orthographic view.
2. Drag the Front_Exterior.png file into the Front Orthographic view.
3. Drag the Side.png file into the Right Orthographic view.

As you drag each of these images into the Viewports, they will automatically be added to the scene as image planes. Be careful not to drag the images on top of each other as this will replace an existing image plane instead of creating a new one. Don't worry if the alignment of these images is out of whack; we'll fix that in the next step.

1. Press the A hotkey to select all three image planes.
2. Press the Alt + G hotkey to reset the positions of the selected objects.

Once the images are all in place and their positions have been reset, your scene should look like this:

Let's rename these images so they are easier to find in the Outliner:

1. Select the image in the Top view.
2. Either press the F2 hotkey or double-click the name in the Outliner to rename it.
3. Rename it Top.
4. Repeat these steps to name the front and right side images Front_Exterior and Side, respectively.
5. While we're at it, double-click the collection in the Outliner called Collection and rename it Reference Images.

Good, now let's go to the Properties panel to fine-tune some of the settings for our image planes: 

1. Select the Front_Exterior object.
2. Go the Object Data Properties tab in the Properties panel.
3. Set the Offset Y to -0.175.
4. Set the Depth to Back.
5. Set the Side to Front.
6. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.
7. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned:

The offset has lifted the reference image up so that the base of the drawing aligns with the grid in 3D space. The depth will ensure that the reference image is always behind our 3D objects so it won't block our view of the model. The side option means the image will only be visible from its own front side, and the display axis-aligned and display perspective options have made it so that the image is invisible when we aren't looking directly at it from the Front Orthographic view.

Now, let's set similar (but slightly different) settings for the right side image:

1. Select the Side object.
2. Set the Offset Y to -0.175.
3. Set the Depth to Back.
4. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.
5. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned.

Now, let's change the settings for the top reference image:

1. Select the Top object.
2. Set the Depth to Back.
3. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.
4. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned.

Very good, but we have three additional reference images for this project that we also need to set up. One goes in the "Front" view, and the other two go in the "Back" view. Let's set them up one at a time so we don't get confused: 

1. Hide the Front_Exterior object by clicking the eyeball icon in the Outliner next to its name.
2. Drag the Front_Interior.png file into the Front Orthographic view.
3. Press the Alt + G hotkey to recenter it.
4. Set the Offset Y to -0.175.
5. Set the Depth to Back.
6. Set the Side to Front.
7. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.
8. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned.
9. Rename it Front_Interior.

Good! If you haven't figured it out already, the exterior reference image of the time machine gives us a nice view of the front, but the details of the chair are blocked. We need to see the interior of the time machine when we model the chair, so this second reference image is going to help us a lot. We have a similar situation for the back, so we need to add both our interior and exterior images of the back. However, the Quad View doesn't include a back view, so we need to use the perspective Viewport to look at the back.

We're done with the Quad View feature for now. If you prefer to keep it active, you can follow the rest of the instructions in this chapter by interacting with the top-right quadrant of the quad view. The other three quadrants take up a lot of space on the screen, so for the rest of this project, we will assume you've turned it off. We can turn Quad View back off by going to the same menu as before: View | Area | Toggle Quad View.

Now, let's go to the back view and add the last two reference images:

1. Press the Tilde (~) hotkey to bring up the View pie menu.
2. Choose Back from the pie menu.
3. Drag the Back_Exterior.png file into the Back Orthographic view.
4. Press the Alt + G hotkey to recenter it.
5. Set the Offset Y to -0.175.
6. Set the Depth to Back.
7. Set the Side to Front.
8. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.
9. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned.
10. Rename it Back_Exterior.

Good, we have just one left:

1. Hide the Back_Exterior object by clicking the eyeball icon in the Outliner next to its name.
2. Drag the Back_Interior.png file into the Back Orthographic view.
3. Press the Alt + G hotkey to recenter it.
4. Set the Offset Y to -0.175.
5. Set the Depth to Back.
6. Set the Side to Front.
7. Uncheck the box for Display Perspective.

9. Check the box for Display Only Axis Aligned.
10. Rename it Back_Interior.

Excellent! Whenever we need to toggle the visibility of the interior and the exterior, we can click on the eyeball icons for the reference images in the Outliner.

One last thing before we move on: let's disable the selectability for the Reference Images collection so we don't accidentally click on it during our modeling phase:

1. Go to the Outliner.
2. Click the Filter button to open the pop-over menu.
3. Activate the Selectable button under the Restriction Toggles: section (it's a button that looks like a mouse cursor).
4. Move your mouse away from the pop-over menu to close it.
5. Click the new little mouse cursor icon next to the Reference Images collection to disable selectability for the collection.
6. Click on the Scene Collection collection in the Outliner to highlight and activate it.

Excellent! Now we can use these reference images as a guide for modeling the time machine. We're going to take this one piece at a time and learn several important modeling techniques along the way. Let's start with the chair, and we'll tackle the rest in the next chapter.