Src15: The Legend Continues

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Src15: The Legend Continues // Image Gallery

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Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:05pm

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From the diaries of a car spy photographer.


BIRTH OF A MYTH

For a few years now, rumours have been circulating about a mystery car maker that has been testing prototypes designed to rival the best from the like of Ferrari and Porsche. It all started in late December 2004 with the appearance of a little roadster dubbed the SRC7 on the test track at Nürburgring in Germany. The motoring world took little notice of this small event as the attention at the time was all on the Ferrari Enzo, the Porsche Carrera GT and the Bugatti Veyron. No figures were released for the performance of the SRC7, so no one made a fuss, and the SRC7, after a brief blip on the radar screen of the motoring world, slipped back into obscurity soon after. A check with the officials at Nürburgring revealed a short entry in their books indicating SK Garage as the owner of the car that was tested that December 2004.


THE MYSTERY DEEPENS

Early one cold morning in January 2006, the track maintenance crew at Suzuka race track in Japan caught the glimpse of a silver-grey car screaming past as they turned around to see what had upset the calm cool air around them. It looked like nothing that Honda had tested before, and Suzuka is Honda’s testing ground. Could it be the next generation NSX everyone had been talking about? Later that day, the mysterious car was seen parked next to the main administration building adjacent to the race track. Someone who worked at Suzuka reported seeing a badge that read SRC11 on the back of the car, but could not make out any mark that would betray the origin or the manufacturer. The assumption that the SRC11 was from the same stable that produced the SRC7 was entirely based on the SRC nomenclature!



THE MYTH BECOMES LEGEND

Frankfurt Motor Show, September 2007. Motor shows are the stuff a car enthusiast’s dreams are made of. You get to experience the most dazzling display of all sorts of cars, from vaguely familiar next versions of current production models to completely new concept machines. Meandering between various exhibitors’ pens, I came upon an almost empty stand under a 3 metre wide banner which read “SK Garage”. Instead of the usual display of shiny cars and mock-ups of future concepts, there were just a few display panels arranged in a half-circle. Among the haphazardly arranged sketches of concept cars, a particular row of photographs caught my eye, because they depicted something which looked pretty much like a finished production car. Just below the photos, stuck on the display panel with a couple of drawing pins, was a little card which read: “The SRC15: the next generation Gran Turismo sports car”. I looked around for a representative from SK Garage to ask about the car, but I could not see anyone who did not look like a visitor. I spotted on a little coffee-table beside one the displays a few brochures of various cars, obviously placed there for the benefit of prospective buyers. I quickly flicked through the pile and picked up everything that had SRC15 in the title.


The images of the SRC15 you will see later are computer-generated images based on the publicity material “found” at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:08pm

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SRC15 SIDEVIEW

Viewed from the side, the SRC15 exhibits a stance reminiscent of a pouncing cheetah. You’d be forgiven for thinking that with a simple curved line, the designer has in one stroke encapsulated the essence of an aerodynamically efficient machine on 4 wheels. You could mentally run a finger from the front bonnet, across the roof, onto the rear hatch and you would be hard pressed to detect a kink between panels. But far from being just an animal with a slender profile, the SRC15 imparts a feeling of speed through stylish five-spoke wheels through which you can see massive cross-drilled ceramic brakes: the car looks fast just standing still! The side-cooling vent, strategically placed behind the front wheel arch, lets you guess at the powerful V8, 5.5 litre engine sitting snuggly beneath the bonnet. At a quick glance, the SRC15 is so low to the ground you’d think it’s a mere straight line with a bump in it! Once you overcome the initial visual challenge, you can savour the design cues of a sports car in the Gran Turismo tradition.


(Hi-res: http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/56178/56178_1194204954_large.jpg )

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:10pm

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SRC15 FRONT VIEW

The SRC15 has soul: you can see it through the ultra-high intensity projector headlights inside oval housings on either side of the v-shaped bonnet. You sense the car is enticing you with those big eyes! You want to open the door and jump in for a ride, but you hesitate: that snarl formed by the grille flanked by the bumper air-intakes below the headlights reminds you of the dual personality of this beast: nice and aggressive.


(Hi-res: http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/56178/56178_1193337856_large.jpg )

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:11pm

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SRC15 REAR VIEW

The business end of a sports car. The rear hatch ends with a lip curved upward to form the main spoiler. Just below the spoiler, each corner is wrapped by a darkened housing made up of small LED lights. The mid-section between the tail light clusters is left deliberately clean to draw the eye to the name badge in the lower right corner. Below the mandatory bumper, a full-width cut-out accommodates the twin exhaust tail-pipes placed on either side of the ground-effect slats.


(Hi-res: http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/56178/56178_1193252539_large.jpg )

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:12pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: GRILLE

One would be tempted to use just elongated cubes, and group the whole lot in a criss-cross manner. However, I wanted to get light to reflect in the joints between the diagonal lines, so I modeled the grille as a single solid object, applied 1 level of SDS (the face count just hit the roof with only 1 level!), and then used Boolean tools to cut the extracted sds object to fit inside the front of the car.

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:13pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: HEADLIGHTS

Realistic glass lenses for the headlights are one of the hardest parts to model. Previously, I used spherical objects with Boolean tools to get the shapes I wanted, but the finished rendered look was far from convincing. So, the lens was modeled from the ground up with SDS as a final step to get that “moulded glass” look.

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:14pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: ENGINE BAY SIDE-COOLING VENT

The opening is part of the front wing or fender. For the mesh, I used part of the grille (see note on grille above), after scaling it down a tad. The horizontal strake is basically a cubic polyhedron, but optimised for SDS. I applied 1 level of SDS just to get that all rounded look.

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:15pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: WHEEL

Modeling wheels is one of the pleasures of modeling a car! It is just like working out a geometric puzzle at the beginning, when you start with a basic pattern, then having to work out how to optimise the shape for SDS purposes. I love the look of a wheel modeled with SDS: you can see the play of light reflecting in all those crevices, from subtle sheen to bright highlight right across the various parts of the wheel. Anyway, I have shown you all how to model a wheel using SDS, see this thread: http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=864

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:16pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: DISC BRAKE

The brake disc is also modeled using SDS. If you have understood my tutorial on wheel modeling, you will realise that I used a variation of the wheel design technique here. The key is to position the drill holes in the right place before applying SDS. Isn’t SDS amazing????

Post by i_maker // Nov 4, 2007, 1:17pm

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SRC15 IN DETAIL: EXHAUST PIPES

Surely, a couple of boolean-subtracted cylinders would do the trick??!!?? No, not the purist in me, sir! They had to be modeled with SDS. So, instead of cylinders, I used hexagonal solids, again using the same technique as in the wheel design. A couple of edges were added on the lip of the tubes (on the outside AND the inside) for that rounded look.

Post by hemulin // Nov 4, 2007, 1:19pm

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WOW! Words surpass. I'm glad to see you are still creating these stunning images though.

Post by Nez // Nov 5, 2007, 12:36am

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Fabulous model, with amazing detail. Poly count must have been horrendous!


NB - I'm assuming the whole SK Garage/SRC aspect is your own 'backstory' for your images rather than fact - in which case you are also a very talented designer! Presumably there are also no proper 'blueprints' for you to work from, so did you make your own reference images to use as blueprints to then model from in 3d? Outstanding (again!)

Post by Shike // Nov 5, 2007, 2:39am

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The images truly show off a great design, and the story was a nice touch! :D

Post by jamesmc // Nov 5, 2007, 2:51am

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wicked cool and spectacular!


Nice touch to bring all up to speed on the background. It made the visualization all the more enjoyable.


Great work and showcasing!:banana:

Post by splinters // Nov 5, 2007, 3:23am

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Amazing work, and I thought this was a 'real' car design you were working from. If this is your own design then please tell me you work in the automotive industry; this is just too good for a hobby...:D


I envy your work very much, I tried photorealism a few years ago and got fed up trying to recreate what I could photograph better in seconds.


However, this is design not just recreation and what a design. Much talent here and a great showcase of tS as a tool for car/product/industrial design.


I think it can be improved though...a model like this really deserves a nice HDRI/white room render along with some nice paintwork courtesy of BDRF sampling....:D

Post by trebs // Nov 5, 2007, 3:47am

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Some stunning modelling here. Piece for piece, lovely illustrations.

Splinters is right, the next step is to take that illustration feel a step higher and get it rendered in a way to totally convince anyone.



You've clearly mastered the modelling skills and shown that tS can indeed produce the goods. I've never doubted that either.


Don't be afraid to engage the skills of someone who is more dedicated to rendering either. Take the model, get it rendered in a mouthwatering way and then pimp it to the industry.


Respect.

Rob.

Post by jayr // Nov 5, 2007, 5:24am

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Send it to Top Gear and see if they fall for it ;)

Post by i_maker // Nov 5, 2007, 1:00pm

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You are all too kind with your comments, thanks very much.


Hemulin

I enjoy the process of creating something from nothing and see it take a life of its own in rendered images! This is the magic of 3D of which I will never get tired.


Nez

Car designers design concept cars. I like designing “real” cars, or at least cars which look like they are from the present, with proper tyres, brakes, wipers, etc. The SK Garage/SRC storyline is entirely fictional: any similarity with real entities is purely conincidental. I do not use blue prints because the SRC cars are all my creations. Some time, I wish I had a blue print to follow: I could go on tweaking a feature ad infinitum until I was completely happy with it! That’s the price you pay for being too much of a perfectionist!


Shike/ Jamesmc

Thanks, guys! I thought of selling the story of the SRC15 to Caligari as a one off feature for the Caligari newsletter, but couldn’t bear the thought of being rejected, so here it is in this forum!


Paul/Rob

I promise I’ll pay more attention to lighting/rendering on my next project. First thing though, I’ll have to upgrade my PC!



JayR

Not a bad idea! I certainly could do with extra cash for that PC upgrade…

Post by Nez // Nov 6, 2007, 12:03am

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That's cool - I figured that if they were fictional (which I assumed they were) that there wouldn't be any real blueprints - but I wondered if you crteated som eof your own - i.e. whether you worked up reference orthogonal views for your design before starting in 3d (or concept sketches) that you could use as guides from your modelling - or whether you worked purely in 3d without any specific prepared reference?


You're clearly a talented car designer either way.

Post by rj0 // Nov 6, 2007, 7:17am

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Love your beautiful, detailed cars! The story is good too:).

A fine car designer by any definition. Keep up the great work!


rj

Post by i_maker // Nov 6, 2007, 1:20pm

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Thank you, rj. By the way, it’s nice to hear from you. I hope you are keeping well, and are still trueSpacing, or at least still creating your stunning 3D work.


Nez

Although I do not have blue prints as such, I make rough sketches of what I want on paper at the beginning. When working with SDS, it pays to know before hand what the main parts of the car would look like. You need to envisage “problem” areas, these usually are the “nooks and crannies” of the more complex shapes (such as fenders, roof, any opening on the main panels, etc.), then work out ways to address those problems before you even start. I usually start with a “seed” low poly cob object which has been shaped using boolean tools into something that resembles the skectches. From then on, it is just slow painstaking point-editing all the way.

Post by Dragneye // Nov 6, 2007, 7:01pm

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I_maker... you maker Beautiful!! Awesome work you're creatin'. Kudos!!

Post by i_maker // Nov 8, 2007, 8:35am

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Thank you, Dragneye. I am so overwhelmed by the positive reactions to the SRC15 that I am now more than ever motivated to push the creative envelope further with my next car. Project SRC-XX is well under way. I have found that with each new car, I learn so much more that I had not known about with the previous one. I intend to do better with my next creation, even for no other reason than to see how far ts can be pushed...

Post by butterpaw // Nov 8, 2007, 10:47am

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oooooh pretty!!! :jumpy:

Post by i_maker // Nov 8, 2007, 11:40am

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It is, isn't? Just take 1,200,000 polyfaces and press "eye-candy" render button to get that.

Post by Methusela // Nov 19, 2007, 6:38am

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I'm astounded once again. This is easily your best car yet. Up until now the SRC 7 was my all-time favourite. I showed it to a few friends, one of whom said that it was his new favourite car ever, and was devastated to find out that it wasn't real.


Speaking of which, please, please, please, get a contract with an automotive manufacturer (Or better still, start your own. :D). I can't bear to see such incredible design stay conceptual! If I had a million dollars, the SRC 15 would be just about the top of my list!


Looking forward to SRC XX, and I'm sure you'll blow us away again!

Post by i_maker // Nov 19, 2007, 10:04am

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Thanks, Chris. I'll try not to disappoint you with the next one!

Post by i_maker // Oct 25, 2008, 9:32pm

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The SRC15 is truly legendary:


http://www.lightworkdesign.com/news/3rd_Quarter_Image_Competition_Results_announced/210


http://www.lightworkdesign.com/gallery/competitionview/3

Post by i_maker // Oct 25, 2008, 11:00pm

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Project SRC-XX progress report: very close to final production launch:

Post by Methusela // Oct 25, 2008, 11:40pm

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Woo! I'm excited!
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