Modeling the 2010 World Cup
‘Jabulani’ Soccer Ball Football
(Ed: Corrected by Matt!)
By William “Proton” Vaughan
www.pushingpoints.com
Layout, Matt Gorner
www.pixsim.co.uk
“We are continually faced with a series of great
opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.”
- John W. Gardner
FOREWARD
Years ago, I was tasked with creating a detailed
soccer ball for a client and knew that I would
need to model in all of the seams, since a bump
map just wouldn’t hold up for any close-up
shots. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to come
across an amazing tutorial that took what could
have been a difficult task and simplified the
steps for me, resulting in a perfect final mesh.
Visit this url to access the tutorial that walks you
through creating a traditional soccer ball:
www.panebianco3d.com/tutorials-3d-soccer-ball.htm
Over the years, I have used this technique
anytime I have been called on to create a
traditional soccer ball. Recently, I was tasked,
yet again, with creating a variety of soccer
balls -including one using the traditional black
and white pattern. As the tutorial suggested, I
started with a tessellated sphere and ended up
with a sharp looking, fully-detailed traditional
soccer ball. I then started on the next soccer
ball on my list which was the 2010 World Cup
Jabulani Soccer Ball.
Unfortunately, starting with a tessellated sphere
produced questionable results. It was time to
head back to the drawing board.
After a few hours, I was able to create the unique
pattern of the ball. As with many models, my
first pass was acceptable, but I was convinced
there was a more refined solution that would
produce a cleaner result. The steps that follow
are the result of a day’s experimentation with
the goal of creating easily reproducible results
when modeling a 2010 soccer ball.
By going back and breaking down the model
into refined steps, you truly become a better
problem solver in my opinion. I’d suggest doing
the same on your own projects from time to
time.
GETTING STARTED
I started by gathering reference material and
carefully studied the design of the ball. The
Jabulani ball is comprised of eight panels that
are spherically molded. There are two distinct
shapes that make up the eight panels and it’s
important that these shapes are exact so that
they connect perfectly together.
Follow these simple steps to create your very
own 2010 Jabulani Soccer Ball:
Although it will seem like we’re starting off
heading in the wrong direction, stay with me
on this first step. I found that starting with a
either a segmented or tessellated ball produced
undesirable polygon flow so start by creating a
Tetrahedron, using the Platonic Solid Primitive.
Create > Primitives > More > Platonic
Next we need to split the tetrahedron into
several sections. Instead of measuring or
guessing where to split the polygon faces, we’ll
subdivide the object into smaller faces that will
make it easier to work with. Use the Subdivide
operation set to Faceted three times.
Multiply > Subdivide > Subdivide
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
GETTING STARTED
To keep the object manageable, let’s give the
tips of the tetrahedron a different surface.
Bottom Menu > Surface
Now that we have the tetrahedron sectioned
off, we need to remove the excess polygons
that make up each section. Simply select the
polygons that make each section and merge
them into one.
Note: Only merge polygons that are on the same
plane and not the entire tip. Use the reference
image as a guide.
Detail > Polygons > Merge Polygons
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
HOUSE CLEANING
I like to keep my work area clean as I go, so I’d
recommend removing any points that are not
connected to any polygons after you’ve finished
merging.
One easy way of doing this is to open the Point
Statistics window.
Bottom Menu > Statistics
Then click on the + next to “0 Polygons”
With the points selected, press the Delete key
to remove them from the object. There are still
a number of points that we need to remove
from the tip portions of our object. Select the
12 unneeded points per tip (total of 48 points)
that are located along the edges.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Your object is now clean and should now be
ready for the next operation.
Select the four points that are located at the
very tips of the tetrahedron.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
With your Action Center set to Selection (Bottom
Menu > Modes > Action Center: Selection).
Use the Size tool (Modify > Transform > Size) and
scale numerically by a factor of 50% to move
the points so that they become flush with the
points that make up the base of the tip portions
of the mesh.
I want to end up with the cleanest polygon
flow as possible, so we need to reconfigure the
geometry that makes up the tips.
To do this, we’ll need to split the edges that make
up the base of the tip sections. Working on one
tip section at a time, select the bordering edges
and add a point in the center using the Connect
operation (Construct > Combine > Connect).
Do this for all four tip sections before moving on
to the next step.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Pick one tip section to work with and select the
three new points you just created as well as the
center point.
With the points selected, use the Connect
operation to add new edges that will connect
the outer points to the center point.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Now all that’s left for the tip sections is to merge
the polygon pairs so that you end up with a
diamond shape configuration.
Reconfiguring the tip sections may seem trivial
right now, but it will drastically change the way
the final polygon flow for the better. Trust me!
Make sure all four tip sections have been
reconfigured before moving on to the next step.
We need to split the center sections into smaller
components so we can control the polygon
flow of the final mesh.
Start by selecting the two points that will allow
us to split one of the center section right down
the middle.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
With the two points selected, use the Connect
operation to create a new edge.
Select the new edge that we just created, and
add a point to the center using Connect.
Select the points that are on the edges that
border the section we are working with as well
as the newly created point.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Use the Connect operation to create edges
between the selected points.
We’ll repeat the steps on the lower portion
of the mesh. Select the center point and the
points bordering the tips on the other side of
the triangle.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Use Connect to create new edges.
Using the Connect tool, Complete this section
so that you end up with 12 polygons in the
same configuration.
Repeat the steps until all four of the center
section are identical. One quick way to tackle
this portion of the model is to start by selecting
the edges that that surround the tips.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
Once selected, use the Connect operation to
generate a new edge loop.
Repeat these steps for all four tips and you’re
done.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
Believe it or not, the tedious portion is now
complete. What we now have is the magic
configuration that will allow us to create the
soccer ball I promised.
To speed up selecting individual sections in
future steps, let’s go ahead and give each of the
center sections their own surface.
Before we convert this geometric shape into a
sphere, we’ll need to increase the geometry a
bit.
Use Subdivide > Metaform twice to increase the
geometry. Multiply > Subdivide > Subdivide.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
Now that we have some polygons to work with,
let’s perform a little magic shall we?
To turn this odd shape into a sphere, use the
Spherize command. Modify > Transform >
Spherize. The Result will be a perfect sphere.
We need to increase the tip panels so that they
are in proportion to the center panels. Select
the polygons that make up the tip sections. One
easy way to do this is to select by surface using
the Polygon Statistics window. Bottom Menu >
Statistics
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
Expand your selection four times using the
Expand Selection command. Selection > Modify
Selection > Expand
Change the surface of the selected polygons
so that they are all sharing the same surface.
Bottom Menu > Surface
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
If you’re wanting to keep the polygon count
down on your model, feel free to skip this
next step. I want my soccer ball to be higher
resolution so I’m going to Subdivide it one more
time using the Metaform option.
It’s also a good idea to apply the Spherize
command after you Subdivide to insure that the
mesh is still perfectly round.
To create the seams on the ball, we need to
create a beveled edge around each patch.
Since we created a different surface name for
each patch, this will be an easy task. Select
the polygons that make up one of the center
patches using the Polygon Statistics window
and bevel it using Multishift. Multiply > Extend
> Multishift
Use 2mm for the Inset Amount and 4mm for
the Shift amount. Before committing to these
settings, click the Quick Store option so that
we can quickly use these settings for the other
patches. Now that we’ve stored these values,
commit to the Multishift operation.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
FINAL STAGES
Deselect the polygons and select the polygons
that make up the next center patch. Select
MultiShift and use the Quick Restore option.
This uses the last value we stored and can speed
up the shifting of the remaining patches.
Repeat this process until all eight patches
(triangle centers and tips) have been beveled.
To tighten up the seams, let’s add four more
edge loops that border the tip sections. Select
the loop of polygons that border one of the
tip sections and use Band Saw Pro to split the
polygon loop 10% away from the inner edge.
Note: Make sure each new edge loop that you
create placed 10% from each seam and not on
the outer edge of the polygon loop. You may
need to use a value of 90% to accomplish this.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
GOAL!!!
Repeat the steps for the remaining three
patches. Activate Subpatches by pressing the
Tab key, or using the menu option Construct >
Convert > SubPatch
Change the surface of your object to solid white
so we can get a better look at our handy work,
or change the color of your existing surfaces
which would allow you to go back and edit each
patch independently at a later time.
There you have it! We’ve successfully created
the eight panel design that makes up the 2010
World Cup Jabulani Soccer Ball.
By taking a little extra time, we have not only
successfully completed what we set out to
create, but we have set ourselves up with clean
polygon flow and patches that are identical.
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
THE CHALLENGE
I hope you have found these steps to be useful and I look forward to seeing your version of this
unique design for a soccer ball. If you’re looking for another challenge, try modeling the 2006
Teamgeist Soccer Ball.
It’s not as challenging but it’s a fun one to tackle. Here’s a hint to get you started… The first step
involves another platonic solid. You’ve gotta love geometry!
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Modeling the 2010 World Cup ‘Jabulani’ Football | William Vaughan
“If the only tool you have is a hammer,
you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
- Abraham Maslow