WIP - 350z (my first car)

[ironiC]

I started this model a while back, got stuck and stopped working. Well now i've started again and have made a lot of progress. This is my first real big project in 3ds so any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

Here are some pictures:

http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP.jpg

http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%202.jpg

http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%203.jpg

I also have some questions:

1. how do I create the edges around the door? like the outlines?
2. how do you use hdri's with Brazil in 3ds Max 6? i've looked for tutorials, but have become realy frustrated with it because the tutorials are for early versions of 3ds Max or aren't very clear with directions and i end up spending all the time looking for the settings. if someone could explain or give me a link to a good tutorial i'd greatly appreciate it. I've already looked through the tutorials on this site about materials and rendering.

[Kujoe]

Hi this may help you...This is how I cut things in

http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7416&perpage=15&pagenumber=3

[g69]

man i love the arc's you have on ur wheel wholes
dont know what they call them exactly...

keep posting man!!! :)

[ironiC]

Thnx for the comments and the help

I followed ur tutorial and it works, but I'm having some problems

This edge here looks a little strange:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%204.jpg

Another view:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%205.jpg

Also the edges or cuts do not look even all the way around the doors

I'm also having some problems on this chamfered edge
The chamfered edge does not last all the way to the end of the chamfered edge I made, it just starts to blend into the rest of the body till it disappears
This is what it looks like:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%206.jpg

It is chamfered, but it's not really visible unless u zoom in a lot
This is what it looks like w/o the edge smooth:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%207.jpg



After all of there problems i did have some progress, i cut out a vent hole lol, that's about it... :(
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%208.jpg
(bah i just saw the error on the headlight, i'll fix it later)

[Kujoe]

Hi,I worked on your wire .When working with wire you cann't just stop anywhere you have to take it to the end of the wire mesh.
If you can post more wire.I can help maybe;)

[ironiC]

well when i create new faces it creates these edges that get all messed up when i apply the mesh smooth, but when you extrude faces it creates faces but there are like invisible edges that aren't outlines in white, is there a way to create those with create face?

i tried to fix the edges you told me to but when i try and correct it i just keep creating more edges, really annoying, is there another way to fix them?


here are some dumb dimples :togo:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%209.jpg

here's the mesh
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2010.jpg


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
here are some more wire pictures, yea i noe it's really messy :o

- from the front:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2011.jpg

- from the rear:
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2012.jpg

- here's the mech smooth
http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2013.jpg

[g69]

well i am not a good car modeler...
but i think you try this out...

try removing the two edges you have circled...
they are not required as far as i think.

and yeah do remove the vertices after you remove the edges!

[Kujoe]

lets see if I can get you to understand ..I'll be back.How do you model.Do you grab and edge,? click down the shift key on your keybroad move the mouse.Thats a new edge.Then I yous the 3d snap tool to line up the vertex.
I'll be back to show you how to fix it.:D

[Kujoe]

I'm back.If you don't get it.You send me your max file.hope its max5.then I'll fix somethings send it back to you and you can fix the rest..;)

[Kujoe]

:)

[Kujoe]

;)

[Kujoe]

:)

[Kujoe]

I hate when that happens.The order is not right.But I hope it helps:o

[ironiC]

cool thanks i'll start fixing up those splines
expect to see an update in a day or so

[ironiC]

i understand what you mean, i've fixed some of them, but now i'm having a problem with a vertex when i meshsmooth the car it comes apart and i'm positive i welded them together, i can't figure out why it is doing this.

i would like you to take a look at it if you could, all there vertexs are giving me a headache :grr:

i zipped up my 3dsmax files, i'm using 3ds max 6, hopefully it will work for you, i'll put a exported version of the file there too, and blue prints.

i noe i can open older version of max files with max 6, maybe you can open my files, but i exported them as 3ds files just incase

Get The File Here (http://firedragon.no-ip.org/3d%20models/350z/350z.zip)

-sorry i took the file down

[Grifty_Mcgriff]

All i know is to try stay away from Tri's!

[ironiC]

i'm thinking about remodeling it, my mesh is giving me a headache, does neone think it's possible to fix it or is it better to just remodel it all?

[g69]

Originally posted by ironiC
i'm thinking about remodeling it, my mesh is giving me a headache, does neone think it's possible to fix it or is it better to just remodel it all?

from the screenshots you have posted...
i dont thinkso you should remodel it.
according to the wire i see...
you dont have many errors...

ask yourself, if fixing would take time... go ahead and fix em.
or else: Remodel!

it was a going good as far as i can see,
anyways keep it up! :)
& Keep us updated...

[ironiC]

after taking a really really long break from any 3d work due to the fact that I changed videocards and 3dsMax wouldn't run, I've finally decided to take up where I left up sort of. Once I got 3dsMax running again I looked at my progress on this 350z, it just gave me a headache and fixing it from where I had left off would take forever because I had already chamfered before I fixed my mesh. Goo thing I saved my progress along the way, I opened up the file where I had just saved before chamfering and started to fix the mesh. After about an hour and a big headache this is what I have got.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2014.jpg
http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2015.jpg

As you can see I have a much cleaner mesh and am now ready to make some real progress...first thing tomorrow ;) .

[ironiC]

I just started chamfering the edges and I have a few questions, first is this normal?

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2016.jpg

This is what the mesh looks like after it's been smoothed, I'm just not sure if all models look this this when they're smoothed, am I doing something wrong? I'm just selecting the edges I want more rigid and I chamfer them by 0.1. All that work fixing my mesh and now it's messed up again. Is there an alternative to chamfering? All chamfering does is add more splines so that the mesh smooth has less effect on edges, so are there other tools in 3dsMax that will have the same effect? The only affect chamfering has is I get a headache and I feel like I want to throwup :( .

This is what it looks like so far...
http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2017.jpg

Also I'm not really sure where or how to start with the detailing, any advice would be helpful thanks.

[ironiC]

well woke up today and my head was clear and i felt great, so i started again. i was able to fix my mistakes yesterday by just applying the same rules i had used for my mesh: stay away from triangle and every spline has to end at the end of the model. i hope this is how you are supposed to fix it, if not please tell me so i won't have to dump my work later when i find out i was doing it all wrong. anyways, here's the new mesh so far, just touched up the errors yesterday.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2018.jpg

[ironiC]

went ahead and detached the hood, i extruded the edges down and chamfered the edges, but it looks a little strange and i have an errorin the mesh that i can't figure out. the errors are circled.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2019.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2020.jpg

the edges look really choppy and the corner of the hood looks strange also

[Brin]

DONT GIVE UP ON THIS ONE!!

It has a good shape and the mesh looks very clean now.

There is one stray vertex at the back wheel arch again, I think you just need to weld to target the one I have circled to the blue one. (Hope this makes sense.)

The "Problem" near the window is just the smoothing moving the corners away, you just need to tweak the vertexes, (Or maybe the chamfer a little to stop it moving away. The bonnet (Hood) looks good around the edges so your technique is correct.

(PS if you want to see a bad mesh checkout my old Girly CLio thread! I collapsed the mesh and had no way to get back to the unsmoothed version!)
http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2748&perpage=15&highlight=girly&pagenumber=3


Keep posting your progress :)

Brin

[Brin]

oops forgot my helpful image!

[zuc]

this is what I would change! The mesh looks much better now:)

Hope you understand from the pic !

[Hagar]

Check out Daniel's site he's a legend. Great tutorials.
URL]http://www.danielbuck.net/#[/URL]

[Hagar]

OOPS! Try again.
http://www.danielbuck.net/#

[mr_demon]

i would just chamfer ALL the edges first, then extrude, and u have to PLAN out how it's gonna be for the whole car, this way u don't end up in dead ends as much. simply think a bit ahead of ur next chamfer

[ironiC]

Ehh I'm back to my old self again, I just took a long break from 3ds Max I really want to finish this model and it looks pretty good, but when I go in and try to do the detailing I'm just lost. I try a few ways but I'm never happy with the results, am I expecting too much outta my first car and first real big project or what? I'm just getting discouraged.

How do you make the detailing lines like these?
http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/scene_25.jpg

I just need a method I can follow, if someone could give me a step by step way I'll try it and stick to it.

As for right now I'll put in some more work and see if I can do anything I like. I feel like that guy in the GMC commercial keeps drawing blueprints and designs for the cars and keeps throwing them away, then the commercial cuts to this desert scene with these crumpled up cars that fall from the sky. (Good Commercial)

------------------------------

Small update detached door and window

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2021.jpg

[ironiC]

Ok I finally found out how to make those detailing lines, which is great because I've finally passed my greatest hurdle, this problem has kept me from doing any modeling for a very very long time. Well I had to stop for the day because all the squinting at little verticles was giving me a headache, I'll start again tomorrow or later tonight, I spent the most of my time trying to figure out the best way to make these detailing lines, so I only was able to spend about half an hour or so on actual modeling. Here's a small update.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2022.jpg

I just got my Brazil RS up since my system crashed, I was too lazy to install it again, now I have it up, here's a quick render.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2023.jpg

[Nitro boy]

heh. wow. i read thru the thread real quick. your modelling skills have improved greatly from when you started!

[ironiC]

Thanks Nitro, I would hope so huh after spending so long on it :o .

Ok here's another smal update, small but took a while to do had to remodel the door seem because I was getting double edges, anywho here are some quick renders.

All I did was put in the rear window and the rear seam that runs from the window to the taillight.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2024.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2025.jpg

[ironiC]

More small little edges, next up will be the hood or the trunk.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2026.jpg

I know the edge curves a little, it'll be fixed when the model the rest of the taillight.

[ironiC]

Hood
http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2027.jpg

[NoZTeK]

nice work... i made a hdri video tutorial for brazil..

go here to get it and you also need the techsmith codec
HDRI Video Tutorial (http://www.smcars.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11248)

[ironiC]

cool tutorial, i'll check it out

Windscreens go bye-bye

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2028.jpg

[ironiC]

ooooooohhhhh...hdri

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2029.jpg

[NoZTeK]

nice perhaps you should try different hdris :)
like the one i used in the tutorial.. google it.. its called
beach_probe.hdr

[ironiC]

with the beach hdri i'm getting a bunch of funny reflections because i still haven't completely finished the mesh on my car, i'll post some updates of hdri's when i'm done, this is vrey cool though thanks for the tutorial

[Nitro boy]

once again, very good progress.

[ironiC]

Haven't been able to do any work the last two days because i've been busy, but today i had a chance here are some updates

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2030.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2031.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2032.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2033.jpg

I'm done almost just a few mesh fixes and the head and tail lights which i have no idea how to go about doing. If anyone has a link to a tutorial please post it.

And some wheels and tires.

[NoZTeK]

nice
I suggest you cut a edge along the red line to make that sharp

[donnie@brasco]

i think u need to get a copy reference of ur car to see the proportion.. and to be honnest i think this car is a bit complicated for ur first trial even if u did a good start i think its fine to start with a simple car...anyway like i said its a good job keep it going.
and good luck.

Donnie...:)

[ironiC]

The edge that's straying off just needs to be chamfered, i'm going to do it when i start modeling the tailight and headlight. I think most of the car is in proportion, i'll double check my blueprints though.
This car was pretty difficult to do as my first time attempting to model a car or anything really for that matter, but for me if it isn't challenging it won't keep my attention, this one was a bit too challenging and drove me away for a little, but I'm right back at it :D.
Thanks for the comments guys. :)
On another note:

Here is a rim i just made, the material is not final nor is the rim, i made it just to see what modeling a rim is like, i'm not sure if this one is the one for the 350z.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20RIM.jpg

-----------

Ok i just got back from checking my viewports everything is lined up, and the model looks similar to the reference images I have.

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20Viewport.jpg

The only think missing is the lights, the rear spoiler and ofcourse some wheels ;).

[ironiC]

how should i import my rim into my 3d model to see how it looks? i tried to export my rim with the meshsmooth but it wouldn't let me because of too many faces or polies or something, so i have to export w/o meshsmooth but when i importit into my 3d model of the 350z and apply the meshsmooth it gets all messed up and fragmented, so do i have to make my rim on the same .max file as my 350z or is there a way to import it? please help me with this one thanks.

[novoAlias]

if ur using max for both just merge (file>merge) and align the wheel ;)

your doing just great, keep it up :D i like the blue car+hdri too

[ironiC]

thanks for the help, here's a render of the 350z with the rims

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2034.jpg

[ironiC]

First tire ever, i'm not happy with the tread right now, most likely i'll post an update a little later

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20Tire.jpg

[ironiC]

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20Tire%202.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20Tire%203.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%20RIM%202.jpg

http://ironicdesigns.no-ip.com/3d%20Models/350z/350z%20-%20WIP%2035.jpg