Automotive Design: PT Two. Texturing and Rendering

Okay, so now the vehicle was more or less modelled all that remained was to set up render passes, light the scene and texture the vehicle. 

I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I used a very basic HDRI of a studio set up, added some reflective objects and set physical camera exposure accordingly. There are three lights, one above (the key light, and two aimed towards a separate tyre from the side cam view. 

Texturing is all pretty straight forward. I used a Falloff map to create a subtle blue/green pearlescent effect on a VRay Car Paint Material. 

Finally I've only set up three render passes, AO, Beauty and ZDepth. I will add a few more between this stage and compositing and will most probably tweak the light set up. 

But for now, check out the final image to see how one of these shots is currently compositing. The car really seems to be coming on! 

Fig.1 Frontal Skew Cam

Fig.2 Rear Skew Cam 

Fig.3 Side Cam 

Fig.4 Front Cam

Fig.5 Elements Composited. 

Automotive Design: PT 1. Modelling.

In my latest project I've decided to model a car from scratch, inside 3DS Max. 

In the initial stages I studied a lot of reference images of cars to make sure I got my design right. To create a realistic sports car design the car needed to follow certain patterns and an overall design language so all elements could exist cohesively. (If the rear looked a completely different design from the front of the car I would fail to create a sense of realism in the model). 

The two images below show my drawing designs I used as image planes inside of Max. Normally I would tidy these images up, make sure all edges are perfectly aligned and use a block black brush to make the lines stand out; but since this was my personal project and I was still undecided on certain parts of the car, I used this these images as a mere guide to figure it out in Max. 

Fig.1 Aerial Orthographic 

Fig.2 Front Orhtographic

The next step was to start blocking in the shapes and model the car. I started with the side panels and worked outwards. I also made the tyres inside a separate file and imported them in. This helped to keep the viewport clean. 

The general rule of thumb here is to create utilise a non destructive workflow, using an edit poly modifier for your Low Res, a turbosmooth to round the mesh and a symmetry modifier down the middle to speed the process. (A lot like a the modelling process for a character). 

Fig.3 Car Model Mirrored

Fig.4 Car Model (Half)

Fig.5 Car Model Rear

To finish up modelling I posed the car, with a light set up and cameras, ready for the texturing and rendering processes to follow... By rendering I was also able to pick out certain parts of geometry and improve my mesh, by adding division lines in the panelling for example or sharpening edges so I could meet that design language I had spent a long time thinking about at the drawing stage. 

Fig.6 Camera/ Light SetUp

Fig.7 Modelling Improvements