Part I: Create an Animated 3D Poker Chip

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Drawing Our Shapes

This section shows how to create the heart, club, diamond, and spade shapes. You could easily find these shapes online, but for the purposes of this tutorial, we'll learn how to draw them from scratch. If you would prefer to use pre-existing shapes for this step, you can skip to the next section called, "Create the Poker Chip".

Create Our Heart Shape

Draw a circle, as in the image below.

Use the Convert Anchor Point Tool (SHIFT + C) to create a point at the bottom of the circle, and a point at the top. Then click each point once.

Select the top point with the Direct Selection tool (A), and drag it down until it begins to look like a heart.

Now scale the shape horizontally. After doing this, you may have to adjust the top, or bottom points, to make it look right. Hide the shape in the layer palette. We will return to it later.

Create Our Club Shape

Draw three circles, as shown below.

Group the bottom 2 circles and align them to center with the top. Then take the Pen Tool, and cover the middle area with some kind of shape.

Now we will create the stem. Draw a rectangle. Then align it with the center of the other objects. Then grab the bottom right point with the direct selection tool, and drag it out a bit.

Now click the top right point with the Convert Anchor Point tool and use it to create a curve.

In order to make the shape symmetrical, we're now going to delete the left half of the shape, and replace it with a copy of the right half. We will do this by finding the shape's center. Then using the Scissors Tool (C) divide it in half. I do this by creating a guide at the center. Then I select the Scissors Tool, and make points where needed. Now we can delete the left half.

Once that is done, duplicate the right half. Then select the Reflect Tool. Make sure to rotate it around its center axis by first clicking the bottom left point.

Now we have to combine the two shapes. Use the direct selection tool to grab the bottom two mid points. Then to go Object > Path > Join (or CTRL + J) to combine them. When the Join Menu opens select corner for the bottom point and smooth for the top. We are now done with the club. Hide this layer.

Create Our Spade Shape

For the spade we will use a combination of some of the techniques we used for the heart and club. First, draw a circle.

Use the Convert Anchor Point tool to create points at the top and bottom of the shape.

Now drag the bottom most point up until you are pleased with its position.

Now stretch the shape vertically

Now we will draw the stem just like we did for the club.

Now combine the shapes with the add to area tool in the pathfinder palette. After that repeat steps we covered in the previous section. We reviewed how to make a shape symmetrical. Hide this layer.

Create Our Diamond Shape

Thankfully, the diamond is easy to do. We'll create it using the rectangle tool. Draw a square.

Rotate it 45 degrees.

Go to Object > Transform > Reset Bounding Box. This will allow you to scale the shape horizontally. Now squeeze the sides together until you have a pleasing diamond shape.

Scale the Shapes Proportionally

Now that we have drawn all our shapes, unhide them, and scale each shape to be exactly the same height. To do this open up the Transform palette, and select your first shape.

In the transform palette, select the little chain next to the width and height. This will allow you to constrain the proportions numerically.

Scale everything to 65 px tall. To do this just type 65 into the height field. Do this for all the shapes.

Now that we have all of our shapes scaled, we can now start working on the poker chip itself. Hide all the shapes. We will return to these shapes soon.

Create the Poker Chip

Creating the poker chip itself is the most challenging part of this tutorial. Our first step will be to create the 3D shape that will become the chip.

Create the Poker Chip Shapes

Draw a yellow rectangle 275px by 75px. This will create a rather large chip. If you would like a smaller chip, use a smaller rectangle.

Now we will want to cut out some grooves. Draw two small rectangles on top of our large yellow rectangle. Group them, and then align them vertically, and align them to the center of the yellow rectangle. This will ensure that the grooves on either side are identical.

Select the yellow and black rectangles. Then select subtract from shape area in the pathfinder palette. This will punch out the grooves.

Convert the Chip to 3D

Now we will convert this image into a 3D object. Select the shape and go to Effect > 3D > Revolve and use the following settings: x axis:-90, y axis: 0, z axis: 0 and for the time being select wireframe as the surface. This will let us see what we are doing.

For alignment purposes, we are now going to Duplicate the 3D shape, and Expand its Appearance. This will allow us to align our shapes perfectly with the 3D shape.

Position the Poker Shapes

Now we want to unhide the shapes we created in the previous section. In this step we'll make sure that they are sized and positioned appropriately.

Start with the diamond. Duplicate it and place as shown. Then group them, and align them both vertically and horizontally with the wireframed object, as shown below. Hide this layer.

Continue this process with the other 3 shapes; However, it will be necessary to flip the bottom shapes vertically.

After you complete this. Unhide all of the objects we just created, and position them as shown in 45 degree increments.

Decorate the Poker Chip with a Dashed Line

Our next step will be to create a dashed line. This will eventually be inset into the grooves we created on wireframed poker chip. We will do this by creating a pattern brush, and then by applying that brush to a circle.

To do this, draw a rectangle as shown. In the brushes palette create a new brush and select the pattern option. Use the following options.

Now draw out a circle, and apply the Dashed Lines Brush, as shown below.

Place Your Branding

This is a good time to place any objects you want in the poker chip's center. For this tutorial we'll use the AiBURN logo. You can use any object you like, but I would recommend that you use a vector graphic.

Decorate the Outer Edge

The last object we will create will be a line of circles that will follow the outer edge of the chip. To do this, we will use the blend tool.

Draw two circles, and space them out very far apart. Select them both. Then go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Select Specified Steps and enter 18. This will give us 20 circles. Now go to Object > Blend > Make.

Map Our Shapes Onto the 3D Poker Chip

Now we will need to convert all the Objects we just created into separate graphic symbols. We will then use these symbols to map onto our 3d object. Remember, each different set of objects will need to be their own symbol.

NOTE: You may also need to create duplicates of the suited shapes and dashed lines symbols. These duplicates will be flipped horizontally, and mapped to the back side of the chip. If you do not do this, you will see a jump in the animation, which is covered in Part II of this tutorial. If you don't plan to animate the chip, you will not need to do this.

Once that is done, go ahead and delete all of those instances. Then hide the poker chip lines we created for alignment. Now open up the appearance palette. Then double click the 3D Revolve Effect we had created earlier. Check the preview box and change the surface setting back to Plastic Shading.

Click the map art button. We can now begin to map the artwork to our poker chip. To do this select the appropriate symbol from the dropdown box. This part may take a bit of tweaking because some objects will need to be rotated. Also, make sure that you put objects on both sides. This will come into play later on when we animate the chip. For reference, screenshots of each surface are below. I left out the surfaces that don't need to be mapped.

Poker Chip Image Preview

Your chip should now look similar to this. I have set its rotation so you can see what it looks like.

Lighting Adjustments

Now let's adjust the lighting, and adjust the rotation. Double click on the 3D Revolve Effect in the appearance panel once again. Click more options. Use the below settings. Notice that I added an additional light source in the bottom left. This is not necessary.

Ready the Graphic for Part II

Now the chip should be facing right at you, as shown below.

Animating the Poker Chip

We're now done with this portion of the tutorial. If you don't want to animate it, then you can stop now. Your 3D poker chip is now complete. If you would like to learn how to animate it, then come back for Part II, which will be released shortly.