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[GeniusAtWork]

hi i have asked this question before but i was just wondering how to make a good looking car. is it just done with lots of lines or just the drag lines and then filled. i have tried a few times at creating beleaveable vehicles but they have not worked out. and also, do you have to use a reference drawing or is there a more simple way.

[mcheccyb]

reference images help a lot.

i don't pretend to be that good at moddeling cars so i won't give too many tips.

basically you need to develop your own style, it seems to me that you are a bit of a newbie(no offence) at anim8ing. so maybe it isn't the best thing to start off with.

when i tried making my first car i did it with box modelling, and after that (on more complex cars) i drew each line manually and filled it in.

http://www.the-blueprints.com/index.php?blueprints/ (a good website for reference images)

[Dosser]

I haven't tried cars before, but I think the reference drawing would be easiest. Just get a front view and a side view (maybe a top view too), and trace the outline of the car with points. You could probably go pretty low poly and still get a good looking car (depending on the look of the car), as long as you used good textures.

The reference drawing is a remarkably simple technique: far easier than remembering or imagining the shapes of cars. There's plenty of good photos of cars out there, just google image search your favourite car and you should manage to find some photos from the right angles.

[hihosilver]

Edge looping!
That's the key here, at least as long as you're going for highpoly cars.  Lowpoly is different, though not too much.
Some people may think that edgelooping is only needed for organics, but that's not true.  It's very important with making cars as well, you just tend to use more edge reinforcement with cars.
So I'd recommend you find tutorials on edge looping.  Also, don't just search for car tutorials in anim8or.  Any car tutorials should work, since all you need is the method.  You should be able to translate that method to anim8or pretty easily.

[GeniusAtWork]

okay, thanks guys. i am still learning anim8tor so am still a bit of a newbie. i will try the blueprints site and have a go at edge looping.

[GeniusAtWork]

I have had a look at edge looping but it still seems somewhat of a mystery. is there a more simple way of explaining it. i have seen it done on a mouth but am not sure where i would use this method in a car e.g tube shape of body or curved shape of the hood.

[hihosilver]

Let's see if I can give a shot at describing edge loops...  Edge loops define the "flow" of a model, they tend to follow the flow of muscles, this is especially helpful with animation including morph targets.  They tend to form complete loops which flow around the model.  I don't feel I'm doing a very good job of explaining edge loops so check all these out:

A wonderful explanation is here:
http://cube.phlatt.net/home/spiraloid/tutorial/modeling.html

I would recommend looking at these images:
http://www.bunk.cistron.nl/plaatjes/poly_regions.jpg
http://maxrovat.sns.hu/subdiv/edge_loop.gif

A very useful site:
http://maxrovat.sns.hu/subdiv/


Subdivision modeling forum, section discussing subdivision modeling:
http://www.subdivisionmodeling.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

Another good tut:
http://e2-productions.com/repository/modules/tutorials/files/Edge%20Loops%20for%20Faces/edge_loops_for_faces.htm

Hope those help a bit!

[GeniusAtWork]

cool thanks now i know what they are. i have not tried it yet but when i do i have a good idea of what to do. i have one more question though. what is a good program for drawing the paths for the edge loops? i have pixia but it is not very compatible with anim8tor so i need a new free paint program but do not know where to get one that draws edge loop starters

[hihosilver]

You don't always need to draw the edge loops before you create them, but you're right that it's a good idea.  If you're looking for free ware I'd recommend Gimp.  Remember drawing the loops doesn't have to be perfect, just something you can use as a good personal reference. 

[GeniusAtWork]

so do you just delete lines in the model to make bigger faces which are easier to work with? There is no special trick for doing it in anim8tor is there? anyway, thats what i have pieced together about it. it seems a difficult way of modeling. but i am still learning all the tricks to anim8tor. So i guess it will become more easy to do as i progress.

[hihosilver]

Well, as said in some of the links I showed you.  There are two main forms of modeling.  That's box modeling and poly-by-poly modeling.  Box modeling mainly consists of extruding and using the cut tool, but there's also poly-by-poly modeling, which is my main method.
You need to use the 'add-edge' tool which you can read about in this section of the manual.  That's just for that method though.  It's always good to be comfortable with both though.  I'd advise trying both methods and deciding which you like better.

[GeniusAtWork]

k. thanks for the help. i am now working on a box model and am quite liking this method.

[almost cool]

I was about to make a car for a flash game and i saw this here t--o--p--i--c  . So i couldnt help but poster-up

[thecolclough]

looks quite lowpoly, but i guess that's good for a game model.  *question about the possibility of posting a wireframe?*  also i'm just curious about the blue rear lights - never seen that one before... 

- colclough

[almost cool]

Blue lights make it unique!neway look at the front