Eternal semi-noob's Porsche Cayman S

I’ve never been a huge Porsche fan. But the other day a 2006 Cayman S overtook me and I was literally blown away by the beauty of this beast. My Blender skills are somewhat intermediate (but improve millimetrically every day)… For this project, I’ve decided to focus my attention on texturing and materials.

My basic strategy for making cars:

  1. Start off by buidling a low poly modeling mesh and refine it.
  2. Freeze the shape, break off parts if/where necessary
  3. Convert the modeling mesh into a cutting mesh and carve out the details.
  4. Build other items: rims, tyres, logos, etc.

Here’s my modeling mesh. I’ll post an update later on today, so you’ve got more stuff to chew on. :evilgrin:

Attachments




Very nice start :slight_smile:

Looking good.
I’ve tried many times to model a car using refernce pix but to no prevail. Can never get the sides to wrap around the front corners.
What do you mean when you say you “convert the modelling mesh into a cutting mesh”? Is there an easy way to add cuts to a model or something?
And could you please explain your 1st strategy a little about setting up the low poly mesh and the best way to do this.
Thnx.
Hope i haven’t asked too many questions :slight_smile:

What I mean by converting the modeling mesh into a cutting mesh is that I densify it in order to cut out finer details. To increase the mesh density, you simply click on the apply button in the subsurf modifier. Regarding the cuts, I’ll explain them with images when I make them (several methods are possible), so keep reading this thread. For an idea of how to make a clean and very nifty low poly mesh, try Speedtiti’s tutorial here:

http://perso.orange.fr/speedtiti/tutoriels.htm

Below I’ve attached a picture of a cutting mesh (it’s also called a collapsed mesh). Hope that answers your questions.

Edit: check out Blenderart mag no. 8. It explains another manner of modeling cars and has plenty of great tips.

Attachments


This is my method for detaching big parts (doors, trunk, etc.) from a modeling (non-collapsed) mesh and making the seams. The following instructions refer specifically to how I cut the hood/bonnet out. I’ve attached a composite image below which should help you understand this mumbo-jumbo a bit better.

  1. Select the faces of the hood area and separate them from the main chassis with the P with the key. Move the resulting object (the hood) to another layer for the moment.

Note: Steps 2 thru 5 should be performed without deselecting anything in between each step.

  1. Select the inner edges of the hood opening on the chassis.

  2. Extrude downwards once by 0.003 btus. This first extrusion is to make the cut sharp. It will create an edge loop that can be adjusted afterwards.

  3. Extrude downwards again by 0.1 btus. This extrusion is to give the cut some depth so it can be picked up at render-time. For finer cuts make the depth shallower.

  4. Hit the E key to extrude once again and then hit S immediately afterwards. Size the resulting extrusion inwards a bit towards the center of the car. This will create an L-shaped form under the hood opening.

  5. Switch back to the bonnet/hood. Move the lateral edges of the hood towards the center of the car by 0.01 btus. Do the same for the front edges of the hood. For finer cuts, make these distances smaller.

  6. Select the edges of the bonnet. Extrude them downwards by 0.003 btus and then again by 0.1 btus as you did for the chassis.

The result of this can be seen in the image below.

Note: If you end up with rounded parts that don’t seem to fit together properly then you need to lock them down with edge loops. See Blenderart no. 8 for explanations on how to do that.

Attachments




very good start!

Very good indeed, you are modelling well. But the A-pillar (or how it is in English, simply the part in between the windshield and side window) is strange, too the thin at its base. Also, you have there too many loops, maybe you could try to redirect them onto the roof. the minitutorial you posted closely resembles the method I use when making edges of separate parts of a car body.

Nice work!

Thanks for your comment. You’re absolutely right about the A-pillar. I have’t interpreted my blueprint correctly at the bottom and at the top it has strayed off a bit due to subsurf… It shouldn’t be too difficult to fix.

About the loops, are you referring to those which crawl up from the back of the wheel area? Initially I had them crawling up through the roof, but I ran into problems at the back of my car (too many loops making “hard” edges near the trunk). That’s why they look a bit weird now. I’ll play around a bit and see what I can come up with…

Looks like I’m gonna have a lot of work… :wink:

Edit: I just went back and looked at my the intermediate versions of my mesh. Actually it was in a former car that I tried to rerout those loops via the roof and ran into trouble (because I started off with way too many vertices for the initial fender).

Thnx alot for your reply.
I’m modelling a Boeing 747 ATM and was looking for a way to get detail as to make cuts for the windows. I would subdivide more but this would give me an ugly mesh. I knew about Applying the subsurf modifier but didn’t know it left finer detail afterwards which is exactly what i wanted. I now have the points to add windows but the mesh is still smooth and clean! So thnx alot for that.
Also, thnx for the link.

Following Myn’s comments I’ve… backtracked a bit and reworked my base mesh. I fixed the A-pillar and reworked the loops a bit. Here’s what I’ve come up with and I think I’m going to stick with it, otherwise my brain is going to start melting down…

@Floorplay: try UV mapping for your 747. It’s simpler than making the cuts and can look great too. Just make sure you build an ortho image…

Attachments


Although I’ve put in about 30 more hours of work on this, I haven’t progressed that much visually, but Floorplay asked me for an update so here goes. There are still some mistakes which I am painfully aware of. But I’ve decided to move forward anyway. A good something is better than a perfect nothing… And it’s going to be semi-noobish anyway…

I recut almost everything. For the hood I tried a different technique to make the cuts. Basically I made a groove between the hood and the chassis and extruded the region downwards. An explanation is provided below for those who are interested. The measurements given are indicative…

I’ve got to the cutting stage, so I’ve included a picture of my mesh too…

Attachments





Can’t wait till this is finished. It’ll be perfect i rekon. So neat. I love your explanations oh how to do things as well. Keeps us newbies well informed :slight_smile: 30 hours, I’ll call you Mr Technicality.
I’ll be waiting another few weeks for the next update :slight_smile:

I’ve progressed a bit with my car so I thought I’d post a blurb as the point is to share the process.

  • I’ve made the letters for “Cayman” using bezier tools as described in the tutorial at Blendernation. A tip if you want to do this: “pull” the bezier arcs as much as you can (using the handles) rather than putting too many control points. Also, don’t be overzealous with the shapes… It took me 2 hours to make the word Cayman. Um… I still need to find a good ortho picture of the letter S somewhere. If I don’t I’ll just use good old guesswork…

  • The disk brakes were made using bezier tools. I followed the mini-tut provided by Wolf elsewhere on this forum. It works very well but I still need to find the appropriate materials and make the calipers. For the Porsche letters on the caliper (see below) I’m going to try stenciling as it’s a technique I haven’t used in Blender yet.

  • For the tires I made a single tread, mirrored it, and then spin dupped it 72 times. I determined the number 72 by counting the treads on a few cars in my friendly neighboorhood parking lot. The tires are a bit “winterish” at the moment so I might remake another set of “slicker” tires. I also think that the tire walls are slightly too “squarish” so I’ll be playing with those a bit too…

My main focus now is on finishing the car, even if there are a few glitches here and there… I plan to model the interior too. Um… I just noticed that my car looks a bit weird floating up there in the last image. Oh well, it’s a WIP…

Attachments







This looks very promising, you want it detailed and that’s nice. The tires looks really like used on snow, but that is a detail. You should make some reflective material and nice light setup to see if the car body is smooth enough (it seems to me so now, good job).

Keep up the good work!

Well, what can i say? You are a perfectionist, which is what i really like about you. I think i can sort of understand where you are coming from when you say you have hit the intermediate barrier. Would be nice to hit it as well head on some day but your porshe is really looking fine. One of the best cars i have seen in terms of precision, finess and articulation.

i like the little fin thingy in the back that says Cayman… very nice detail in the tires too.