How do I build a complex medallion sign in Aspire: circular plaque with 3D relief, stone texture, detailed clipart, and a horizontal banner crossing the disc?

What This Project Is

This is a multi-layer medallion sign: a circular stone-textured plaque, a high-detail 3D skeleton relief, a foliage texture, and a sculpted horizontal banner that appears to cross in front of the disc. It is a general example of how the Component Tree, combine modes, imported clipart, bitmap components and sculpting work together in one project. It is a suggested approach to adapt, not an exact recipe, so test heights and settings on your own model. The tools used (Create Shape, Two Rail Sweep, Sculpting, Create Component from Bitmap) are Aspire tools.

---

Component Breakdown (Bottom to Top)

Think in terms of the Component Tree, built from the bottom up:

---

Step-by-Step Build Workflow

Step 1: Job Setup

• Set the job size just large enough to hold the medallion (for example 18 by 18 inches for a typical wall sign)
• Make the material thick enough for the banner depth plus the disc relief (1.5 to 2 inches is a typical starting point)
• Modeling Resolution: Standard is acceptable for many parts. This project has fine detail across a large area, so choose a higher setting such as High (about 3 times slower) and the Highest (about 7 times slower) only for very large parts with small details.
• Z Zero: top of the material

Step 2: Draw the Base Vectors

1. Draw Circle: the main medallion outline, centered on the job
2. Draw a second, slightly smaller circle for the interior panel inside the border ring
3. Draw Rectangle: the banner shape, wider than the circle and centered horizontally. Rotate it slightly if you want a diagonal banner.
4. Group and organize the vectors onto named layers (for example "circle-outer", "circle-inner" and "banner")

Step 3: Build the Circular Disc Base

1. Select the outer circle vector
2. Use Create Shape - Round with a low Profile angle for a gently domed disc
3. Choose Scale and set the Height to the material thickness minus clearance (for example 0.5 inch for 1.5 inch material)
4. Name it "Disc Base" with combine mode Add, then click Start New Component

Alternative: use the Flat tool with a specific Base Height for a flat, coin-like disc.

Step 4: Create the Border Ring

Option A: Two Rail Sweep (best quality)

1. Select the outer circle and the inner circle as the two drive rails
2. Draw a small rounded or angled cross-section for the ring (a half-round or ogee works well)
3. Apply Two Rail Sweep. The ring follows the circular rails.
4. Combine mode: Add

Option B: Create Shape with nested vectors

1. Select the outer and inner circle vectors together
2. Use Create Shape with a Round or Angled profile
3. The tool builds a ring between the two vectors
4. Combine mode: Add

Step 5: Apply the Stone Crack Texture

Method A: Sculpting (most control)

1. With the disc base active, open Sculpting
2. Use Deposit at low strength to add subtle bumps
3. Use Smooth to blend
4. Use a narrow Deposit brush to drag crack-like lines across the surface

Method B: Create Component from Bitmap (fastest)

1. Find or create a stone or crack grayscale texture (high contrast, white cracks on dark)
2. Use Create Component from Bitmap with no bitmap selected so you can pick the file directly (keeps 16-bit data)
3. Set a low Shape Height (a small fraction of an inch is enough for visible texture)
4. Resize it to cover the disc
5. Set the combine mode to Merge, which keeps the higher of the texture and the disc dome at every point
6. Optionally run Smooth Components (one or two passes) to soften harsh pixel edges

Method C: Clipart: browse the Clipart tab for stone or rock texture components and apply one over the disc with Merge.

Step 6: Add the Skeleton Relief

A skeleton this detailed is not hand-modeled. It comes from one of these sources:

Source A: 3D clipart (V3M or 3DCLIP)

• Import it from the Clipart tab, position it inside the circle and resize it with the transform handles
• Combine mode: Merge, so it sits on the stone texture without creating spikes

Source B: an STL file

• Use Import a Component or 3D Model, orient and scale it in the import window, and import it
• Scale it to fit inside the disc, and use Scale Model Height or Shape Height to reduce the height if needed
• Combine mode: Merge

Source C: Create Component from Bitmap (advanced)

• Convert a side-view skeleton illustration to a high-contrast grayscale image and use Create Component from Bitmap, then sculpt and refine

Tip: use Level Clipping on the disc's Level to keep the skeleton inside the outer circle. Select the circle vector, then right-click the Level and choose Clipping > Apply. Anything outside the vector is removed from the level's result.

Step 7: Create the Foliage Section

1. Find or create a high-contrast grayscale foliage illustration
2. Use Create Component from Bitmap and set the Shape Height for good tactile detail
3. Position it in the lower part of the disc
4. Put the foliage component on its own Level and clip that Level to the inner circle vector (Level Clipping)
5. Combine mode: Merge

You can also use foliage clipart from the Clipart library.

Step 8: Build the Horizontal Banner

Banner base shape:

1. Select the banner rectangle vector
2. Use Create Shape - Round with a low Profile angle for a gentle cushion dome
3. Give it a specific height that is HIGHER than the disc so it appears in front of it
4. Name it "Banner" with combine mode Add
5. Put the Banner component on a separate Level above the disc Level in the Component Tree

Why a separate Level: the banner can then sit above the disc components in Z without being merged into the stone texture. The Level's combine mode controls how the banner interacts with the disc below.

Organic banner surface: use Sculpting. Use Deposit (medium size, low strength) to push gentle hills and valleys, Smooth to blend harsh transitions, and Smudge to pull material in flowing directions. Soften the rim with a small Smooth brush.

Banner frame edge: either a separate Create Shape - Flat rectangle slightly larger than the banner with a small Base Height, placed below the banner in the tree (Merge), or Two Rail Sweep along the banner's outer and inner rectangles for a profiled frame.

Step 9: Z-Height Management

This is what makes the banner look as if it passes in front of the disc:

1. Disc Level: holds all the disc components
2. Banner Level: holds the banner components, with a banner height greater than the disc's peak Z
3. The Banner Level sits above the Disc Level in the Component Tree
4. Where they overlap, the banner's higher Z shows in front
5. No cookie-cutting is needed because the height difference does the work

If the disc shows through the banner: increase the banner height slightly, or use the Merge combine mode on the banner Level so it takes the maximum Z at the overlaps.

Step 10: Final Sculpting and Cleanup

1. Run Smooth Components (one or two light passes) on the stone texture component to remove bitmap pixelation
2. Optionally sculpt subtle depth variation into the disc around the skeleton
3. Use Create Component from Visible Model to capture a snapshot of the full composite if you want to sculpt across several component boundaries
4. Check the 3D view for any flickering or odd surfaces where the banner meets the disc

Step 11: Toolpaths (a suggested strategy to test on scrap)

1. 3D Roughing with an end mill, leaving a small machining allowance
2. 3D Finishing (large areas) with a ball nose or tapered ball nose and a small stepover
3. 3D Finishing (fine detail such as the skeleton and foliage) with a smaller tapered ball nose, limited by a boundary to the detailed zones only
4. Profile cutout of the circular medallion outline, with tabs

Reaching leftover areas: to find the areas a larger ball nose could not reach, use Create Component from Toolpath Preview with the Ctrl key held. This makes a component that represents the difference between the model and the preview. You can then use it to create a boundary vector and limit a toolpath with a smaller tool, which saves time on fine detail.

---

Key Techniques Demonstrated

• Component Tree layering with separate Levels for the disc and the banner
• Level Clipping to keep the skeleton and foliage inside the circle
• Create Component from Bitmap for foliage and stone texture
• Sculpting for the organic banner surface and stone texture
• Two Rail Sweep or nested Create Shape for the border ring
• Z-height management to create depth between overlapping elements
• Imported 3D clipart or an STL for the skeleton, not hand modeling