friends, I need to model this tiretrack but after 2 full days of struggeling I finally cave in and ask for help.
I think I tried nearly every method that I know in trying to model this thing but all give me too much distortion or bad result.
Jokes aside, I see where you were going with the pattern strip, which you would then bend into a 360* loop, correct? Continue down that path with the mesh in the last image. Then model out the tire shape (smooth, without the pattern) and shrink wrap the pattern to it. You can play with the x scale of the pattern mesh until it hugs the tire shape correctly. You may also need to add additional supporting geometry to work out some of the kinks in the mesh. Once you’re satisfied with the shape, apply the shrink wrap, fill the grooves with geometry and extrude them inward.
Alternatively, you could do the same thing on just one section of the pattern, than create an array around the tire.You’d just have to work out the angle of one section.
I actually tried your method several times (shrinkwrap) but it gave me too much distortion. A friend told me to not make a “tetris form” but keep it more squarish to allow for easier topo. This is what I have so far. Updates soon:
The method has been pretty tried and true for me in the past. It could be even better given more time on the topology, but I just wanted to give you a quick example.
