Akira Motorcycle (Noobie needs advice/criticism)

Dirty Frank

My first post!

Hi guys.

I'm fairly new to 3D modelling and have recently started a project modelling the motorcycle from Akira in Max.
As Im not that experienced Id really appreciate any advice or constructive criticism you guys could offer, be it on my process, topology, suggesting techniques to use etc

One thing I did notice after gathering a load of reference images was that there doesnt really seem to be a consistant design to the bike. It even changes throughout the film itself! For this reason I guess I can take some liberties and use a bit of artistic license. But should you spot and glaring errors please let me know.

Anyaway heres where im currently at:



Am I right in assuming that I should be modelling it in lower poly pieces and then applying a turbo smooth modifier, collapsing the stack and then altering/deleting any unwanted edge loops? Or would you suggest a better method?

Also, is it right that what with it being a vehicle (and thus smoothy and shiny) I want to be doing my best to avoid tri's?

Thanks for your input!

TehSplatt

Don't collapse the stack. And its hard surface to tris dont really matter unless they kill your edge flow and make it look like shit as long as it looks good then meh lol

Aga22

As long as your topology is good, adding or removing loops is an easy job. However i would advise against collapsing the stack AFTER turbosmooth... keep it all low poly with turbosmooth on top. hard surface ubdivision modelling has to do a bit with experience... you'll figure out what works and what doesnt. If you wanna look at a relevant tutorial, this guy has great skill: (a preview) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLo-n9ccXGU"]Hard Surface Automotive Modeling in 3ds Max with Howard Lincoln - BMW S1000RR - YouTube[/ame]

i clicked on the page where the tutorial is supposed to be, but it was dead...sorry

Dirty Frank

Thanks for the feedback guys.

So i dont ever want to collapse the stack?
What should I do then in regard to any unwanted edge loops that are added as a result of turosmooth that dont affect the silhouette? Delete them via Edit Poly modifier?

Hang10

When hard surface modeling you want to keep your low poly model as a control cage for your subdivided model.

Add the turbosmooth on top of your edit poly but don't collapse, switch back to the edit poly below and alter the shape and this will change how the turbosmooth affects your model.

Don't ever collapse the stack with a turbosmooth on top or you'll end up with too many vertices to handle and it becomes very nightmarish to work with, not too mention long...

Dirty Frank

Thanks for the tips.
I havnt had as much time to work on it as id like but its slowly coming on...

Im still a bit confused about how i should handle the unwanted edge loops created by the turbosmooth modifier.
Should i add a Edit Poly mod on top to delete them? Or do i collapse the stack at the very end of modelling and delete them then?

Anyway, any comments or criticism is welcomed:

Notes

instead of using the turbosmooth modifier try binding a key to the toggle instead...its a quick way to toggle the turbosmooth on the fly...


Be careful of the edge control...some of your edges are too sharp while others are too soft...try to keep your edges the same thickness...
as far as modeling a vehicle, when I had to model my first car I bought the 1:12 scale model and used that as reference. gl

Hang10

Agreed with the above comment, also you have some pinching on the side of the center console.

Dirty Frank

Thanks for the input guys.

Im having a bit of trouble with the pinching on the console.
I have two edges running along to keep the definition on the top of the console when turbosmoothed, but these edges create the pinching on the side. Im not sure how to arrange the topology to fix it. Any tips?

Dirty Frank

Also, could you tell me when/how i should be removing unecessary edge loops resulting from the turbo smooth?

JonathanLambert

You don't. You model a mid poly mesh and apply a turbo smooth modifier in order to get your hi poly mesh. Then, copy the mesh and remove the support loops that you had to put in place to control the turbo smoothed result and start optimizing the mesh by getting rid of geo that doesn't contribute to the silhouette.

ETA: Check out this link for more http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap#Modeling_The_High-Poly_Mesh