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I want to make a car... How do I start?
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I want to make a car... How do I start? // New Users
Post by trueSpaced // Jun 21, 2007, 3:49pm
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trueSpaced
Total Posts: 544
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The title pretty much explains it: I've made a few cars before, and they've all turned out very badly... I think I can get the texturing just fine, but the modelling is a mystery to me. I just need to know how to start. I currently own TrueSpace 7.5 and 6.6, so suggestions in either of the two would be greatly appreciated (I guess I could just go to TS 6.6 in the Model tab of 7.5...)! I've tried starting with NURBS curves, I've tried starting with a box and sweeping, beveling, and moving edges and points around, I've tried making a curve then sweeping it, and.... I think that's about it, but does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks for any help!!
-TrueSpaced:banana: |
Post by Burnart // Jun 21, 2007, 4:42pm
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Burnart
Total Posts: 839
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Any old car or something specific? Pre-existing or your own design?
Whichever of the above is the case my point is ultimately the same - start with reference images - orthographic if possible and close ups of tricky detailed bits. |
Post by trueSpaced // Jun 21, 2007, 4:47pm
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trueSpaced
Total Posts: 544
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I don't know; just an average every-day car for now, I guess. I'm trying to make a small shopping strip (haven't started yet, though....), and it's not a shopping strip without cars (pre-existing or my own design; doesn't really matter to me). I was thinking maybe a couple compact cars (something simple, like a Nissan Altima or something like it), an SUV or two (probably something basic and boxy); something like that (it's probably easy to see that I haven't put much thought into it yet...). Is there a general way to begin when you make a car? I always use reference pics! I save them to the textures, put them on a plane in my scene so they're right there while I'm working! Thanks for the response! :D
-TrueSpaced:banana: |
Post by trueSpaced // Jun 21, 2007, 5:08pm
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trueSpaced
Total Posts: 544
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Here's an EXTREME ROUGH DRAFT of what I want to do. I put it together in like ten minutes. Hopefully it'll give you an idea of what I'm trying to do. I'll have to make people too.... Maybe I should start another thread asking how to make people....
-TrueSpaced:banana:
P.S.: Lol, yes I know the cars are about twice the size they should be....
They're taller than my flagpole, too...... |
Post by Burnart // Jun 21, 2007, 6:05pm
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Burnart
Total Posts: 839
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Personally I would go for the box method and extrude, quade divide, move, add etc etc - the polygon approach only because a) I don't get nurbs! & b) the polytools in 7.5 are so nice!
If realism and mega detail isn't the thing then maybe you can just start with a box and make it up as you go along but you should at least do some sketches or gather together some sample photos - how detailed do you want it? how detailed does it need to be?
If you want more control then you should map same scaled orthographic photos/drawings onto some planes as a guide. I'm sure there are some relevant threads on how best to do this in the archive somewhere - anyone have a link? |
Post by spacekdet // Jun 21, 2007, 6:17pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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If you want more control then you should map same scaled orthographic photos/drawings onto some planes as a guide. I'm sure there are some relevant threads on how best to do this in the archive somewhere - anyone have a link?
Sure,
One here, (http://forums.caligari.com/discus/messages/1585/9582.html?)
and one here (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=1474)
Some people find these tools (http://ckgamefactory.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index-e.html) (Polytools) just the ticket for modeling cars in 6.6 |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Jun 22, 2007, 3:31am
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
Total Posts: 858
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Spacekdet's right:
Get your blueprints/plans and set them up on reference planes.
Grab a copy of the Polytools.
Model car.
I struggled like crazy with regular box modelling and SDS. Got myself the Polytools and was able to do this (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=1309). If I can do it, anyone can! And there's some great car modellers on these forums who will be more than happy to offer advice when you want it.
Good luck. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Jun 22, 2007, 9:50am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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The poly tools plugin is useful, but save your model often because they can create bad geometry and cause Model side to crash.
If you want to do "Edge modeling" in Workspace, you can create the basic shape with box modeling, use the cut tool to cut your mesh into separate pieces then use the polydraw tool to add edges.
-Jack. |
Post by 2much4U // Jun 22, 2007, 1:10pm
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2much4U
Total Posts: 430
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Here are some car models that I found online a few years ago......just click on the link below. |
Post by dave_k // Jun 23, 2007, 3:21am
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dave_k
Total Posts: 81
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I must concur with WWW. Polytools is the best way to model the complex shapes used in car bodies. The edge extrude function is a life saver.
A thought does come to mind, however. If these cars are secondary objects to your architecture work, would it be acceptable to just model the cars as modified boxes with no details? ...........just a thought. |
Post by trueSpaced // Jun 23, 2007, 6:12am
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trueSpaced
Total Posts: 544
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Thank you everybody so much for your replies (and I apoligize for the long delay; yesterday was a busy day....)! Okay...
Burnart: Thank you for the reply, and I would like the cars to be as detailed as I can get them without my computer crashing... I'm thinking about first creating a still image, then if I have the time and my computer is still alive, I'll try an animation.
Spacekdet: Thank you so much for the links! I had no clue how to use UV Mapping (hopefully I'll get better next year; I'm taking a class called Graphic Design II, and I hope it'll have more advanced techniques than Graphic Design I...), and I've been wanting to learn how because I see so much TS artwork made with UV Mapping!
WickedWitchOfTheWeb: Thank you so much for the reply! Hey, I've seen that car before in... I think it was artist spotlight?:confused: That's a very nice car, though! How much is this plug-in? Does it work with 7.51 or does it have to be in TS 6?
Jack Edwards: Thank you for the suggestion; I need to work on that; I tend to never save my work, then as the computer is crashing, I try to, and it never works... And the computer I'm working on isn't really a good graphics computer....
2Much4U: Thank you for the reply, but for some reason when I tried to open the 3ds file in TS 7.51, it gave me an error... I appreciate your reply, though!
dave_k: Thank you for the suggestion, and this isn't my architecture, it's something that already exists (right down the street from where I live). I want a good amount of detail in the cars because I might want to make an animation, or have multiple renders of the scene. I'm going to have to look into this polytools plug-in.... How much is it?
Thank you all for your replies!
-TrueSpaced:banana: |
Post by dave_k // Jun 23, 2007, 6:47am
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dave_k
Total Posts: 81
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Polytools is a $20 download at http://ckgamefactory.hp.infoseek.co.jp/tsxe/polytool.html. Money well spent IMHO. |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Jun 23, 2007, 7:35am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Polytools is a $20 download at http://ckgamefactory.hp.infoseek.co.jp/tsxe/polytool.html. Money well spent IMHO.
DITTO: I bought it and couldn't live without it now! Grab "Cloth Motion" there too... that's on my to do list soon!:D
IMPORTANT: When you purchase CKGamefactory Plugins - Chikara (the developer) will send you your Registration Code by e-mail ~BUT~ he doesn't speak English so there's one thing you will need to know...
...to enter your CKGamefactory Plugin Registration Codes you need to right-click on his icons until one of them pops up a Registration Code Dialog Box... once done you won't need to do it again unless you uninstall it - but DO keep your Code in a handy place. Chikara makes great plugins but his e-mail responses are largely non-existant in my experience! Don't let that stop you though!
Enjoy !
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by dave_k // Jun 23, 2007, 8:38am
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dave_k
Total Posts: 81
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I think there is still one open question..............
Polytools will work in 6.6, 7.1 and 7.5. (At least all the ones I have loaded.)
Of course in the release 7 versions, Polytools are used on the Model side vs the Workplace. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Jun 23, 2007, 6:16pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Until 3ds import/export gets added to Workspace, to open the 3ds files you need to do that in model side from the TS6 Files menu at the top right of the window bar.
Hope that helps!
-Jack. |
Post by Nez // Jun 25, 2007, 6:31am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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If the cars don't need to be all your own work, there are planty of models available for free online - one of the better sources being http://dmi.chez-alice.fr/models1.html
I've a whole bunch from this site, mostly downloaded as lightwave format but useable in TS, although you may have to adjust your shaders etc. Some are better than others for sure, but there's some nice models there.
Of course, that's not actually answering the question 'how do I model a car', but is an alternative, depending on the nature of the final piece... |
Post by trueSpaced // Jun 25, 2007, 10:13am
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trueSpaced
Total Posts: 544
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Thank you all very much; now I'll have to find time to actually do this... I can't buy polytools yet, I'm trying to save some money.... I'll try to keep updated what I've done so far, but as of now, I haven't started. Thank you so much for your replies, though, and if anyone else has any suggestions, please feel free to suggest!
-TrueSpaced:banana: |
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