Modeling an Electric guitar

I posted a thread similar to this one in the works in progress section, and I thought that it made more sense to post it here. So the problem I am having is; I am attempting to model Eddie Van Halen’s guitar (Frankenstrat) and everything was going alright until I tried to render it. The render looked like picture #1 and another problem is that around where the body goes in ward there are weird little…I don’t even know how to describe them, but they are in picture #2

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looks nice, but a bit too smoothy
its no organical material, you know? its wood or plastic
but the overall shape is really realistiv

So can you help me with the problems in the render? Or is the problem the material?

EDIT: Oh yeah, and what should I do for the strings?

It could be subsurf or smooth giving this result.
You could try bevel-center instead for the rounded edges.
It does seem like it is over smoothed on the entire instrument, even the pick ups seem smooth.
I think each object would need to be individual, (you can group them later), that will also give you greater control.
You can select the faces/verts near the edges and subdivide them for a smoother bevel & bevel center also has a built in smoothing function for edges.
Just some ideas.
m.a.

For the strings, in top view, add a bezier curve, Convert to poly, then adjust the thickness in the curve tools. you can delete the bent parts for a straight line then scale along axis for length, for the extra bent ends (for bridge/tremelo) select the end vertice, hold down ctrl on windows then left click to add another point. (that way you can move only that section into place so it looks like a bend over/towards bridge/tremelo/tuner pegs.
m.a.

You could try bevel-center instead for the rounded edges.

Instead of what? Subsurf?
And can I separate things like pickups so that I don’t have to remake them as a different object (Not just separate the pickups though, I would need to do it with other things, since I have it all as one object)
Thank you for your help.

yes, instead of subsurf, it will give you sharper edges/greater control, for bevel depth without affecting the entire model. Then press Set Smooth for a nice flat body & nice rounded edges.
Test the Bevel Center script on a proxy similar thickness rectangle, to try out settings for the type of bevel you need.
m.a.

Ok, a few questions about it; can I still do draw creases, or something like it? And after I try it, I still get the weird shapes around where the body goes in (as shown in the picture)

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That is in my experience normal… blender doesn’t handle creasing faces on complicated objects well at all. You could do it manually, just add 2 loops cuts at like 10%from the edge, select the edge and shrinken/fatten (alt-s) them until creased to your delight.

starting to get beyond my realms, but yes you still can use other tools, I am unsure if you could use retopo to fix those edges, I think so. it seems like the mesh is messy (lots of artifacts) in those areas, try flip normals? Or you could manually move the verts back into place in edit mode. If you could post a wire frame I may be able to help more.
m.a.

Ok, I beveled it and got all the verts in the right spots, but with beveling alone, it isn’t smooth enough, I try setting smooth and it just goes crazy on me with those weird black lines EVERYWHERE and I try to recalculate the normals inside and out but it dosn’t fix it. So is there anything I can do?

I am unsure if you could use retopo to fix those edges, I think so.

what is retopo?

Wire Frame:(the first 2 are before when I used subsurf, the third is when I beveled and moved verts.

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Hi again, I managed to find a workaround, I made a guitar body with poly’s extruded x4 (4 levels of Poly’s) convert to mesh then scale the middle two levels larger to mimic a bevel. Then I
hit subdivide a couple of times, convert tri’s to quad’s, then I ran the Poly Reducer script, then subdivided again, subsurf x2, set smooth turned off, still artifacts, so I thought f*** this & hit the entire mesh with the Smoothing tool in Sculpt Mode, standard sculpt settings, I went around the entire mesh several times. It’s still not perfect but clever textures hide whats left. There must be an easier way. Anyone?
Here’s the results. m.a.

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I made a guitar body with poly’s extruded x4 (4 levels of Poly’s) convert to mesh then scale the middle two levels larger to mimic a bevel.

I’m not sure what you mean. With polys? what does that mean?

so I thought f*** this & hit the entire mesh with the Smoothing tool in Sculpt Mode

What is the smoothing tool in sculpt mode?

clever textures hide whats left.

Well, I am not very experienced with textures, and eddie Van Halens guitar is stripped like the picture so I was going to UV map the textures from maybe a picture of Frakenstrat(the guitar) or just make on in Gimp or somethin’ that will be pretty uhhh…un…detailed, or what ever you want to call it. So does anyone know if there is ''and easier way" of doing this?

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It looks like your mesh has gotten more complicated than necessary. You may think this is dumb, but as a test open a new file and try to model just the top of the body with subsurf, with as few verts as possible. Once you have the whole top shape, then select non-manifold and extrude in z, or perpendicular to the main top view - only slighty, and possibly don’t move it yet-scale it outward a little to make the ‘bevel’ and then extrude again to get the thickness of the body. At this point, determine where the pick up holes need to be, and loop cut to get the areas blocked in, then move verts and extrude the general aarea, pushing it in afterward. You can get a shape like you want with very low poly count. Look for threads onelectric guitars and acoustic guitars, and you will see what I mean. I see your effort and it is good, but your mesh looks too heavy for what you want it to do.

Hey Van Halen Man, I’m not really a tutorial guy, but this is helping me also, so I’ll try to continue, I hope I’m not Overwhelming you with info, as in all 3d there are often several ways to achieve similar results.

Anyone feel free to jump in & correct anything I do wrong.

I’m not sure what you mean. With polys? what does that mean?

Press Spacebar, Add Curve, Bezier Curve. In F9 (Editing) In Curve Tools, Convert, Poly.
A Poly is very basically a group of Vertices, Verts are in turn, basically the little yellow dots in edit mode. You can select each Vert individually with Right click then move it into place. If you select the end point Vert, then hold Control & left click you can add another vert.
Before I answer your next Question, I should explain that I used a script called Transparent Reference Plane, to add a semi transparent guitar image to the background. (similar to adding a tracing image in flash.) So I could Quickly Trace around the image using verts Control & left click.
I will explain using the script later if you need.

What is the smoothing tool in sculpt mode?

I was frustrated at this point with the artifacts (weird results, bumpiness, creases.)
Where it says Edit Or Object mode press the arrows to open up more options.
In here you will find Sculpt Mode. Sculpt mode lets you paint over the Verts. It has a variety of functions. When you enter Sculpt Mode (still in F9) next to Multires, there’s a button called Sculpt, Press that to open up the Sculpt Options. Then press Smooth.
When the mouse is in the 3d view (window) a + with a circle around it now arrives.
Holding down the Left Mouse activates the Sculpt. So In this case I held down the Left Mouse & moved all around the Guitar, doubling moves or paying particular attention to the areas that had artifacts, in an attempt to Smooth them.

Well, I am not very experienced with textures, and eddie Van Halens guitar is stripped like the picture so I was going to UV map the textures from maybe a picture of Frakenstrat(the guitar) or just make on in Gimp or somethin’ that will be pretty uhhh…un…detailed, or what ever you want to call it. So does anyone know if there is ''and easier way" of doing this?

It would be best if you searched for UV Mapping Tutorials for this.
I used for the body, multi layered Blender Textures mapped several different ways, as I like to think this is a strong area of mine, much stronger than modeling.
UV mapping at the moment is on my ‘to learn list’.

craigomatic,
Thanks for the input, on mine I can still poly reduce a couple of times to bring it right down in size, still holding shape, so that’s ok. Thanks for the pointers tho, I never intended to model a guitar, I think VHM’s mesh looks much cleaner!

VHM, Thank you for inspiring me to test out these problems, I have played Guitar for many years and seeing your model was very inspiring. Thank You.
If I can be any more help, let me know.
m.a.

Quote buy craigomatic:

Once you have the whole top shape, then select non-manifold and extrude in z, or perpendicular to the main top view
What did you mean "select non-maniflold? What is that and how do I do it?
Quote by Meta-Androcto

VHM, Thank you for inspiring me to test out these problems, I have played Guitar for many years and seeing your model was very inspiring. Thank You.
Thank you.
Another Quote by Meta-Androcto

if I can be any more help, let me know.
And… Thank you again.:smiley:

Okay,sorry, I forgot to point out what that is. When you are in vertex select mode, with all deselected, you can hit space bar/select/non-manifold, and the outside most vertices should be then selected- a ring around the outside, then. I use this to get the verts that don’t necessarily make a vertex loop :slight_smile:

Artifacts like that are most likely caused by having big flat areas next to sharp edges. Also check for duplicates.