[WIP] 2005 Renault Clio RenaultSport 182

SimonAlbon3D

Hi everyone, I haven't posted for a while, I've been taking a break away from all things computer related so I'm nice and refreshed for my final year of university. But I have started a few projects, the main one of which being a replica of my Clio.

It's in the early stages, but seeing as my goal is to be a vehicle artist, I want this to be my most accurate vehicle yet whilst keeping very clean topology etc.

I'm just looking for some feedback to see where I can improve, I'm doing this mostly by eye and reference images so it's not as accurate as I would like it to be but I'm really trying my best. My workflow is to create each part as separate elements, creating the shape, defining the shape and turbosmoothing. Currently, the turbosmooth is causing me some frustration in areas where it needs to be a smooth chamfer as turbosmooth really doesn't like chamfers, so if anyone can offer advice this is what I need to know most right now. (Main affected areas are around the front grill and fog light housing).

SimonAlbon3D

Bump.

No one have any feedback at all?

garriola83

So far it looks your front side fenders aren't matching with your doors and it's not curving enough to meet the front hood. There's a huge gap. The front hood also has some modeling issues, like long pinches and that symmetry line (it looks like a cross when when i dont see it on your reference). Just keep building, good luck!

Quack!

The issue of no feedback is that there isn't much to critique. With cars the wireframe is the most important part of feed back because it allows us to see the poly flow.

From what I see you have a whole lot of uneven surfaces and edges that become CRAZY noticeable when you add a car paint material to it. I can highlight areas that are wobbly or inaccurate, but using your own critical eye you can do the same.

I would take a look at the poly flow of the latest car games and check out their wireframes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=3d+car+wireframe&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=4rj8U5WuE8W_igKn74GwAw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=1075

BeardyDan

Aside from what's already been said. I think you should block this out first, and determine your setup, it's always good to know beforehand how your headlights, taillights and interior etc will snap to it (ideally you'll want these snapped up, rather than welded). I'll try to get you some technical shots to illustrate the vehicle base better, but I'm at work at the moment.

As for your current model, I recommend you model the outer shell of the car as one, and then seperate out after, that way all your exterior components will match up correctly.

Try to use edge loops/connect instead of chamfers, then optimize after.

Quack!

BeardyDan wrote: »

Aside from what's already been said. I think you should block this out first, and determine your setup, it's always good to know beforehand how your headlights, taillights and interior etc will snap to it (ideally you'll want these snapped up, rather than welded). I'll try to get you some technical shots to illustrate the vehicle base better, but I'm at work at the moment.

As for your current model, I recommend you model the outer shell of the car as one, and then seperate out after, that way all your exterior components will match up correctly.

That's a great point. I'll add also that many modern game cars are probably modeled at 1 or 2 subdivisions lower then the triangle count they want and then subdivided to their final in game smoothness.

BeardyDan

This is correct. Also you need backfaces on all your separated exterior meshes.You might not plan to do the full dev workflow on this, and that's fine, but it's something you should consider when making this. Adding backfaces to your fenders, bumpers, hood, trunk etc is crucial for when the vehicle gets damaged/flips. Do this after you've seperated out your body meshes, but before you add guide wires/chamfers for sub division.

SimonAlbon3D

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Really is helpful as I still haven't figured out my workflow completely, it was only last year at university when I took to my modelling more seriously.

As for the door not matching the wing, that is because I have only briefly shaped the wing and due to the complex shape that they tend to be, I was going to use the door/body as a reference as to the shape of the wing rather than the other way round.

It is interesting that some of you have said to build the body as one and then shape it out later, this is a technique I have used on vehicles in the past and I found it more difficult to work with as the edge loops start to become messy and you have loops running all over the place, unless part of my workflow is failing in this respect. I do often look at other artist' work and try to figure out how to get such a clean edge flow, I feel I'm slowly improving but I still can't help but feel a little hopeless.

Here is a wireframe of the Clio as it stands now, I have spent some time tweaking the shape of the front bumper to try and achieve greater accuracy. (Also I have since removed the crossing crease on the bonnet).

(With Turbosmooth):


(Without Turbosmooth):


For reference of my ability, here is two vehicles I have made in the past using the two methods, the Clio 197 (Yellow car) is made using the same method I'm using for the 182, and the Mustang is made by shaping a single box and then building detail from the basic shape.

BeardyDan

EDIT: Your geometry on your mustang in particular looks pretty messy, especially at the front. Make sure you nail down the main design on all the body components before subdivision. Try to ensure that geometry is as clean and as even as possible beforehand, and also try to make the edgeflow descriptive. There are a lot of lines that you can miss if you don't pay attention to your initial edgeflow. The front fender in particular looks crumpled. I don't have a mustang to compare but your initial low poly should look something like this:



Also, are your windows crumpled as well? Good idea to get those windows in before turbosmooth as well.

Your materials and texturing need a lot of work as well, but first we need to nail down the modelling.

Separate before adding edge loops if that makes it easier, as long as your low poly is sound and matches up it won't be too difficult to ensure the geometry flows perfectly.

As for what I said previously (vehicle base, backfaces. and flowing geo), here's some shots that hopefully you'll find useful. I need to do a proper breakdown of all these cars for my new portfolio at some point, but for now I've made some quick shots. The base itself for this particular car isn't mine (it's an old RTW asset). The car is low poly and unlicensed but the principles remain:

SimonAlbon3D

Thanks for your help BeardyDan.

I really am striving to be as good as some of the artists on here (such as yourself), it's not easy but I never expected it to be, frustrating is the word I would use 80% of the time.

I have taken what you've said and will apply it into the rest of the Clio model, and indeed my future work. I need to be strict with myself, nine times out of ten I get carried away with perfection and keep adding subdivisions until I'm happy which in turn makes life harder for myself.

The car model you posted is very clean, that's the quality I am aiming for, but it will take time I'm sure. If it's not too much trouble to ask, do you mind if you share with me an overview of your workflow as to creating that car? Just short steps so your not spending your (valuable) free time explaining something to me.

Thanks again for your help so far, this website is proving to be fantastic in improving my theory on all things modelling.

Javibcln

Hi Simon! I can see this is what you were talking about when you replied to my thread, the shelby cobra one.

What I can see here is that your geometry is not as clean as it can be. Focus on making your polygons squared and try to make very regular topology such as this:



The front part (which is the one I focused on the most, I should admit) has a clean sqared polygon topology, which helps the turbosmooth to actually make it look smooth like this:



I am not saying this is perfect, because it is not, but I do think it is a good start.

SimonAlbon3D wrote: »

I really am striving to be as good as some of the artists on here (such as yourself), it's not easy but I never expected it to be, frustrating is the word I would use 80% of the time.

Dont frustrate, modelling is a hard to learn skill, it takes time and patience, let me say that the Shelby Cobra is like the fifth car that I have modelled, and it´s still not perfect.

I hope you can learn from this. And don´t forget to have fun while you model your stuff, otherwhise you will frustrate and you will not finish any model you start. It has happened to me loads of times.

SimonAlbon3D

Thanks for your help everyone! Its been incredibly helpful so far but I'm not done picking your brains just yet.

For now though, I'm jetting off to Lanzarote tomorrow for a week as a final rest before my last year of stress and frustration before heading off into the big wide world of a career in games.
So I'll be back in touch with you all when I get back!