Hey guys, I should preface this by stating that I’m not an excellent modeller. I’m starting out a new project based off of a Peugeot EX 1 (google it). I’m not going for a replica, just something similar. Anyway, here’s my progress after a few hours today.
If anyone has any tips on smoothing out 3D surfaces (see door panels), I’d appreciate it. I’ve spent a lot of time just trying to line up the vertices, but I can never get it so that you don’t get any of that ripple effect. I am using subsurf as well.
the best way to smooth it out is use less edge loops and get it smooth then add more loops as you want and it should stay smooth. so keep the mesh simple and smooth then you can detail it later!
Work on your lighting rig, i think that is what is letting your render down at the moment.
Make sure you are not using full black or white values for anything, the reasons being that cycle doesn’t read those and nothing is totally black/white anyway in the real world.
Check the material on the wheel…
Also don’t be afraid to do some light compositing at this point.
But the main thing is lighting.
Oh would you mind posting a close up screenshot in edit mode on those sharp point you don’t want?
Dont take screenshots in wire-frame mode, it is really hard to see ehat is going on with you mesh from those.
DDD - What is a good method for setting up lighting in cycles? Honestly, I just have two rectangles that are emitters right now. I just started fiddling with materials, so they still need a lot of attention. The wheels are just flat black at the moment
Below are some screenshots in edit mode. Still trying to smooth out the wheelwells, and do something where the windshield hits the hood. I know my wires are kind of a mess… I never was good at keeping them arranged nicely!
Ok yeah, imo you have a bit too much on your side door.
Also do i see triangles on the door as well? they should not be there.
A good rule of thumb for good topology is not to have triangles, why? b/c they cause weird deformations when sub-surf is applied, and stop the flow of edge-loops.
Are you using both edge creasing and edge-loops to sharpen your mesh?
It is up to you of-course, but my recommendation would be to just use edgeloops, but that i think is a matter of preference, i could be wrong about that point.
So the best thing for you to do about your mesh right now is to get the topology worked out. That is very importaint if you want a nice clean smooth model.
Now the lights… I doesnt exactly matter what render engine you use, lighting rigs in general is what i mean. you cant just have 2 planes emitting light from both sides, well you can but your render would look 10x better just from a good lighting rig, so go and look up tutorials about lighting.
Here is a very good tutorial/article to get you started: http://bensimonds.com/2010/06/03/lighting-tips-from-the-masters/
As for the windsheild the best way to see how that area is constructed is to go outside and look at a real car, or go to google…
as far as smoothing it out. if you are using 2.57 you can just enable the loop tools addon (built in) and use the relax and it should help out. Or if that won’t work, just hide everything but what you are working on, and look at it from the side and do vertex by vertex. the press O to engage proportional editing to keep thinks smooth, use the mouse wheel to change the radius of influence.
I think you need to play around with the materials a bit more, the car looks like glass now lol
have you tried using the sun sky? Looks like you are going for a studio setup here but still i encourage you to try the sun sky option in the world anyway (click on the dot next to the color)…if my memory serves me right.
why are you screwing around with materials when you mesh has serious problems? It’s lumpy and bumpy like the car has been in a fender bender. The idea and concept of this car is really good 5/5 but your modeling of it is a major let down at the moment because you rushed through. 2-3 hours is not enough to block out the body of a car like that not if you want to do a good job, you are looking at more like 15- 30 hours depending on how complex the car is. You’ve got to get it 100% right and smooth looking. Cars have really smoothed body so you should aim for the same.
Right now with the mesh you have you won’t get good reflections. Reflections will reveal all the lumps and bumps that are in your mesh. There is already some distortion that you can spot if you take a closer look.
This is a bit of an out there request but can you post a blend file as I would like to take a look at it closer and perhaps clean it up a bit.
I’ll keep working on it… although cars can be quite glossy with a glass like reflection.
Keep in mind this is the first bigger model I’ve done. I’m probably not familiar with the best practices for car modeling… I just went at it for fun. Since the car has very few areas that stay the same for more than a few inches, it’s a very hard one to smooth out perfectly. Besides, you can always play with materials, and come back to finishing the mesh in a bit.
Thanks! I’ve had many hours since the first post now.
I have done enough car models to know when am looking at rushed modeling, its not hard to smooth a mesh out its just time consuming and boring, which is why most newbies tend to skimp over it but its actually the key to getting good car models. And in your case you compounded your problem by going too dense too soon without ensuring your car was smooth. You need density for car modeling but you have got to build it up.
And materials are not going to save you, people who say that probably say it to soothe their conscience because they suck at modeling. If I had my tablet on me at this moment I could circle all the places on your reflective material render where you are getting wonky reflections because your mesh is has bumps. Look really carefully, this is how I pick out bumps on my own models I use reflective materials or ones with a high spec value.
surface defines normals, normals define shading so you see why you can’t get away with wonky modeling. If you normals ainn’t right you model don’t shade right.
Here is my deal to you
Post your blend and lets make a bet if I can’t smooth out your car without adding more polygons to it than I donate U$20 to the Blender Foundation or any other developer of your choosing. If I win you get a smoothed out mesh and perhaps you learn a few things about smoothing and hard surface modeling.
I said it before very good design and concept that is been let down by not so good modeling, so post that blend and lets do this:ba:.
