Inferno [ArtStaion Metropia 2042 Vehicle concept] [Breakdown]
I would like to share my latest concept i made for the Metropia 2042 ArtStation Challenge - vehicle category.
You can check out full progress in the AS challenge thread HERE.
Fully autonomus luxury mean of transport. Designed for long travels with fast speeds.
- Software: 3ds Max (Modeling), Moi (Detailing), Photoshop (Logo and color correction)
- Renderer: 3ds Max Arnold
- Geometry: ~9,7 milion
- Textures used: 1 (for light) 1500x1100px (see breakdown)
Breakdown:
Final base model was created as 100% subd mesh with 100% quads. I went this way because for detailing i wanted to use Moi, and Moi subd import script accepts only quads. It took a bit more work, but i think it was worth it in the long run.
I use nurms in 3ds max when modeling subd, because i can see smoothed result without having turbosmooth modifier applied, which goes in the way when you are jumping between different pieces. Here is few images from Max and Moi.
After adding details i went back to Max for final assembly, assinging materials, setting up the scene and lights. There is quite few lights added in the scene - i used them for different angle shots so some of them were turned on, others off.
Lights are just regular Arnold quad lights with texture assigned to them - this softens the reflection and gives slight color variation than just flat color I also wanted reflections in specific places thats why i addeed planes with (very subtle) emission material assigned to them.
The light Texture is free and can be taken from Here.
For environment i used basic standard surface shaders.
For exterior i used car paint shader with flip-flop gradient applied. This means that camera paralel color will be a bit different than perpendicular one. I set it up to be more orange-ish facing camera and to have slight dark purple tint in the perpendicular surfaces. I also added a bit different shade to the light facing color.
For copper-like elements i used metalness property.
For windows - regular standard surface shader with transmission.
For wheels i added procedural noise texture and assigned it as a bump with small value.
Head and rear lights were done with 3 separate parts: mirror, emission and a cap.
Mirror uses basic shader with 0 roughness and metallic cranked up to 1.
Emission has standard surface shader with emission, but color of the emission is driven by mixing 2 colors using curvature mask. This causes effect that edges are slightly different shade than middle - it is important to use one smoothing group here for the element, or apply turbosmooth so there will be actually curvature present. (It is not obvious on the screenshot when emission element is separate - but it is visible when it is under the glass cap).
Glass cap was also done using standard surface shader. I used 2 different tile generation nodes - one with small squares and second one with larger stripes. Then i added triplanar projector to both and mixed them together. Added bump node and assigned result as a normal map. Because i couldn't find fake 'refracion' slider like it is in Keyshot (i used Arnold for the first time so maybe there is a different way) to deform what is under the glass, so i made it double sided and that did the trick. When i assigned normal map i didn't get the effect that i wanted - bump should be inside and glass should be smooth on the outside. I resolved this issue applying clear coat with slight red tint and bumped a bit roughness.
For the interior i used basic standard surface shaders. Wood uses procedural Maple wood node plugged as a color, specular roughness and normal map. Leather uses noise map plugged as a normal map. Rest of the shaders is pretty straight forward.
Equipped with four 5th generation Magneto electric engines that are able to generate up to 500kW each, Inferno can maintain high speeds over long distances. For the comfort of the passangers it has 42 inch omnidirectional wheels. Middle rim logo spinner was mounted on gyroscope, so it always stays in the same position, no matter how fast wheel is rotating.
Inferno has very low suspension and there is a reason for that. In 2042 highways will have special lane where induction wires will be under the surface. This will allow for induction charging while driving. If you will be using only highways, range of travel will be infinite. If you will drive on roads without access to induction charging, Inferno can drive you up to 600 KM on internal batteries capacity.
In the proces of induction charging there is fair amount of heat generated so cooling of the vehicle will be required. Cooling stripes were incorporated into the vehicle design. Made out of iron based alloy they use magnetic field to change refrigerant's temperature without coolant gasses that are associated with global warming. This thermodynamic phenomenon is called Magnetocaloric Effect. This system is used not only for charging but for interior AC system as well.
Interior is designed for four passangers. All seats are equipped with personal console, which is controling seat position adjustments, massage programs, heating, AC, access to personal screen and quantum computer. Each seat has personal table and small induction charger for smartphone or laptop. Each of passangers has cabinet on the door for personal things and a compartment between the seats for VR system and blanket with a pillow. There are 2 compartments for cooling champagne/drinks and holding glasses.
I decided to not go super sci-fi and proceed with simple, fairly possible design, because 23 years is not that far away. I hope that till then we will have thermonuclear fusion technology popular enough that will generate power for charging electric cars instead of nuclear or coal plants.
Thank you very much if you read this far! 
Cheers!