The Eyes Have It
[Page 7 of 7]

But before you move the "Iris" onto the "Inner" object, you should align the "Pupil" right behind the "Iris" so that it blocks the hole in the "Iris." Then parent the two together using the same hierarchy tool we used to put together the three pieces of the eyeball. (Make sure the "Iris" is the parent, not the "Pupil.")

Now move the "Iris" into position. Since it is now the parent of the "Pupil," the "Pupil" will move along with it. Once the "Iris" is in place, you should link it to the "Outer" object. So unhide the "Outer" object in the timeline and make sure that "Iris" is the only object selected. Use the hierarchy tool called Link to Parent (as above) to link the "Iris" to the "Outer" object.

The hierarchy of all the objects
in the timeline window.

Lighting
Now we'll do a little three-point lighting on our eye so we can get a decent render out of it. Unless you're doing medial illustrations, you're never going to use three-point lighting on an eye, but, what the heck. We're going to use three spotlights: two in the front, one in the back. Our main light will be offset about 45 degrees to the right and 45 degrees up (as in the image a little further down). Give it a slight rose color, and leave its intensity at 100 percent. (You can access brightness and color controls by right clicking the light in the timeline and selecting Properties.)

Click Image To Watch!

The Fill Light's color and intensity properties.
Click image to watch it in action (534 KB QuickTime).

Our fill light will be on the left side, with angles that mirror our main light. Put a slight blue tint on the light, and set the intensity to 50.

Our back light will stay white at a 100 intensity. Angle it so that you just get a slight crescent at the top of your eye when looking at the front view.

Do a test render. If you don't like the results, you might need to do a little tweaking. I found the biggest challenge to be in the indentation of the "Inner" object and how it lines up with the iris. You might have a similar problem.

The final appearance within the Composer window.

Once you've worked out any flaws, you're good to go. You can now rotate and move the object (using the "Outer" object, which is the ultimate parent) to create animations. Or, if you just want a still, you can render that too.

Click to see a quick animation

Well, that wasn't too tricky. In future installments, we'll get into eyelids and eyelashes. In the meantime, let me know of any ideas you come up with for creating eyes in Amorphium. If you have any further questions, visit me in the Digital Media Designer or Creative Mac forums.