Step 1a
Create a NURBS Sphere.

Use either the Sphere shortcut (shown at left) or the NURBS:Sphere menu item to invoke the Sphere dialog.

Step 1b
Create a NURBS Sphere.

Click the OK button to accept the default NURBS sphere

Step 2
Switch to FreeForm mode.

Use either the Edit NURBS:FreeForm menu item to switch into the FreeForm NURBS editing mode

Step 3
Switch to V Column selection mode.

In any of the four 3D views, control + click to invoke the contextual menus. Select the Select V Columns menu item by clicking on it. You may have to click on it twice.

Step 4
Select the front CVs.

Click on the very first row of CVs to select them.

Note: Because the sphere pinches closed at this point, the entire first row of CVs will look like a single CV.

Step 5
Set the v Flex.

In the FreeForm tool options widget (upper right corner of the screen), set the v Flex slider to 0.420.

Step 6
Move the CVs.

Click on the z constraint widget (the blue arrow). It will turn yellow when selected (as shown at left). Hold down the mouse button and push the CVs into the sphere as shown.

Step 7
Change the v Flex

In the FreeForm tool options widget, set the v Flex slider to 0.1.

Step 8
Move the CVs.

Click on the z constraint widget again. Hold down the mouse button and pull the CVs out of the sphere as shown.

Step 9
Create a Shader.

Switch to the ShaderMaker view (command + 2). In the ShaderManager, click on the New button to create a new shader.

Step 10
Create a surface node.

Locate the newly created Object node. Control + click on the Color input (the little white box to the right of the word Color). From the contextual menu, select the basics:surface menu item.

Step 11
Render.

Select the File:Render menu item to render the scene.

Step 12
Add an ambient_occlusion node.

Locate the Surface node. Control + click on the Ambient input. From the contextual menu, select the raytraced functions:ambient_occlusion menu item.

Step 13
Render.

Select the File:Render menu item to render the scene. Not very pretty, is it? Don't worry. It will look better soon. There's still a couple settings that we need to change.

Step 14
Set the ambient color.

The white, blown out surface is caused by the ambient color. It is set to pure white. Click on the ambient color box to invoke the Apple color picker. Switch to the HSV color picker and set the Value to 50%. Click the OK button to accept.

Step 15
Set the ambient occlusion bias.

Click on the Bias value in the Ambient_Occlusion node. Set the value to 0.3 and click return to accept.

Step 16
Render.

Select the File:Render menu item to render the scene. That looks better.

Step 17
Enable shadows.

In the Attribute Manager, navigate to the Shadows attribute group inside the Light attribute group. Set the Shadow Type to Raytraced. Change the Shadow Bias setting to 2.

Step 18
Render.

Select the File:Render menu item to render the scene.

Compare

This image is identical to the image above, only it was rendered without ambient occlusion. Notice the difference.