Modeling a remote control with Rhino 3D - tutorial p4

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On the right objects, use boolean difference to cut away the extruded shape from the main body.

On the left, use boolean intersection to create the inlay piece.

Fillet the edges on the inlay, and also on the main body.

Using grid snap and ortho, move the inlay back into place. Place the inlay on another layer.

Now the buttons. Create a small ellipse and use mirror or rotate-copy or array polar to make the other 3.

Draw a straight line like this and mirror it:

Trim away the inner parts.

Blend the top opening.

Turn on control points and select the middle 2 points. Move them up a bit. Because we don't touch the other points, the transition of the blend to the ellipses will still be good.

Mirror the blend and join everything.

Extract the top surface:

Hide the main body part.

Select the 3 button curves and the top surface.

Copy it like before (ortho+grid snap or a fixed distance).

Extrude the 3 button shapes

Boolean difference them away:

Fillet the edges:

Result:

Extrude the copied button curves:

Move them a bit upward:

Unhide the main part and join the revolve to it again. This is the result:

And in grey shade:

As you can see, we spent quite some time creating the base curves for the main part. But once you get them right, creating the main shape is easy. The result is a shape that is organic in every direction, without having to use unprecise methods like deforming a sphere with control points.

The method for creating buttons and the inlay is very effective, and it makes sure that the top surfaces follow the main surface exactly.