[WIP] Pontiac Aztek

[R3W1ND]

After some time, I decided to abandon the hatchback. Why? Because modelling a real car is a real challenge. We need to adjust this poly, create lines, and modify that to make a car-in-a perfect rendition to the real life one.

 

But because its my first time, I feel very slow only to detailing some parts.

 

The worst part is..there are no Azteks in my country. So the only thing that helped me now is Google, and.. @Carface80 ( thanks for that link )

 

So this is the only two finished part :

The front door ( but sadly without glass, keyhole, and wing-mirror )

 

 

 

and the 85% fender...

 

 

Front door, fender, & hood combined

I need a top view blueprint. If you can help me to get one, I'll be very happy.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2015 by erwinnwijaya_

[unbid]

Of all those cars that can be converted, you decide to convert Walter White's crapmobile...

 

LOL, JK. Looks good so far.

[R3W1ND]

I don't know why its categorized as one of the worst car ever. I actually like its design, especially the large grill that looks like a shield.

[Nik.]

Good start, will be following this since you work in zmodeler, many people use mostly maya and 3d max. ( started with with Zmodeler aswell but then moved to max.)

[Carface80]

You're learning fast, keep it up, maybe later on you should try 3ds max, you can get the student one for free. The advantage of 3ds max, you can start with low poly so you can adjust the shape easier, then you can gradually increase the smoothness and detail once you get the shape right. 3ds also have deform tools so you can reshape high poly object easily.

 

Just like you I started with zmodeler, most of my vice city cars are made from zmodeler.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Carface80

[unbid]

I don't know why its categorized as one of the worst car ever. I actually like its design, especially the large grill that looks like a shield.

 

Popular beliefs. Hell, I even think AMC Gremlin and Pacer are gorgeous looking cars, even though people think that they look like crap.

[R3W1ND]

@Nik. @Carface80 Thanks. Maybe I'll move to 3DS after I make about 4-5 cars.

@bundi2408 ah! the lemon cars!

 

Ugh..anyways the difficult part is to make body lines as accurate as possible. Blueprint is in bad quality too, so here it is :

Ignore the wheels. Its only for vision purpose lol

 

 

Any critics ?

Edited January 27, 2015 by erwinnwijaya_

[Carface80]

make sure the polygon lines flows according to the body shape, bumpers and grille are pretty tricky, so make sure you study a 3d mesh of a similar looking car.

 

Don't rely too much on blueprint, it can mislead you. Always compare it to your reference photos.

[universetwisters]

Don't rely too much on blueprint, it can mislead you. Always compare it to your reference photos.

This.

 

Not only in cars, but buildings if you choose to go that route and other 3D modelling in general. Blueprints are always good to have for a reference, but nothing is better than an actual physical photo, scale model, or even owning whatever you're fixing to make. Especially since blueprints are 2D and don't always show the alignments you'd see in person.

[unbid]

Like Carface said, use reference (or perhaps scale model) to create that flows of the car, especially the sides and bumpers.

 

Anyway, you should also scale it properly so it doesn't ended up unrealistic in terms of size. Use a player model for height reference or internet for knowing the proper dimension of the car.

[R3W1ND]

Sure. Blueprints helping me on proportion and basic shape of the car. But after I saw many pictures, there are actually not flat. Small flows can be seen from certain points.

[unbid]

Sure. Blueprints helping me on proportion and basic shape of the car. But after I saw many pictures, there are actually not flat. Small flows can be seen from certain points.

 

That's the one weakness of blueprints, my friend: it only shows many geometrical sides of cars but in flatted form, which could make your car ended up like cardboard if you depend on it too much.

[R3W1ND]

Slowly but surely its coming to our life......

 

[R3W1ND]

Smoothing up the back a bit

 

 

 

 

Does anyone knows what is wrong with shading if the flat shading is turned off? But if its on the shading is okay,

 

 

FYI, I'm using ZModeler 1.07B. Yep, the older one.

[Bumper3D]

Does anyone knows what is wrong with shading if the flat shading is turned off? But if its on the shading is okay,

 

 

Yes, it's the normals what's wrong. In 3ds Max you'd have to set up smoothing groups, but since you're in Zmod it's a bit harder. Basically you need to detach faces from either side of an edge where you expect sharper shading. Then you need to calculate (surface>normals>calculate) the normals for both your original model and the detached piece. After that you can combine the two pieces again via uniteselect and use the same tool to "weld" any unconnected vertices. Do NOT reconnect the vertices around the edge where you wanted your sharper shading, or it will mess up the shading again.

 

It's a bit hard to explain, but I'm sure there is a proper tutorial with images somewhere out there.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Bumper3D

[Carface80]

1. One way like Bumper said earlier is detaching the face, just study some of the low poly cars (vanilla GTA cars) and if you try to move the vertices along the hard edges you can only move one part of it.

 

select the faces you want to detach, then go to submesh -> detach then go to modify -> attach and select the detached faces to combine them together, then re calculate the normals.

 

 

 

 

2. The poly whore way of doing it, just add more lines like the picture below, then recalculate the normals. In 3ds max you can easily draw the lines, in zmodeler is a little complicated, you have to go modify->insert and you have to clean up the excess geometry

 

The distance between lines determine the roundness or softness of the corner edges.

 

Edited February 5, 2015 by Carface80

[PhillBellic]

The Aztek is a strange looking car. I wish you the best in your endeavor.

[R3W1ND]

@Bumper & @Carface

Thanks for the help. Actually some time ago I tried the detach thing but I forgot to re-calculate both part. I only calculate the newly detached faces so there are no result. Thanks again!

@PhillBellic Will do my best

 

This is the result on license plate holder :

 

 

 

And the differences between front & rear claddings :

 

 

 

I've gain more interest in this car. I hope I can finish this car in a few weeks later.

Edited February 6, 2015 by erwinnwijaya_

[R3W1ND]

Excuse for my slow progress. But, here is what I've got so far :

 

[Oldsmobile_85]

Excuse for my slow progress. But, here is what I've got so far :

It looks like it was in a MVA

Edited February 14, 2015 by Oldsmobile_85

[R3W1ND]

 

Excuse for my slow progress. But, here is what I've got so far :

It looks like it was in a MVA

 

I may be dumb, but what is MVA?

[Oldsmobile_85]

I may be dumb, but what is MVA?

Motor Vehicle Accident

[R3W1ND]

Ugh Lol dont know about that.

[Carface80]

More likely bashed by an angry driver in a road rage. Looking good, obviously you haven't got a chance to straighten the roof.

 

the tough thing about zmodeler is if you want a higher poly cars, then you have to put all the required polygons right away. When you want to make some adjustments, you have to move a lot of vertices. The advantage of program like 3ds max is you can start with much lower polygon, get the general shape of the car then gradually add more details and smoothness to it. When i was using zmodeler my mouse button worn out pretty good doing a lot of clicking

Edited February 14, 2015 by Carface80

[R3W1ND]

Well. Yes. Vertices confusing me up a lot. Ive done dozens of hide and unhide only to get the right proportions. I wonder what is your first car made in 3DS @Carface?

[Carface80]

Not from 3ds, but from a similar program, i made a 2002 ford F-150,

[R3W1ND]

I know that. The one converted to SA by SeaNorris right? Whats the difference you feel after moving from Zmod?

[Carface80]

Back then when I am not able to convert cars to san andreas I let seanorris, Brendan and Nik to convert most of my vice city cars.

 

a little easier, even easier if you have an ambition to create high poly Forza quality cars were talking 300,000 poly cars. in recent version of zmodeler you can also edit the mesh in quads and a split faces like 3ds. If your fender arch is too blocky you can add more lines and makes it smoother easier in 3ds than in zmodeler.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Carface80

[Nik.]

Haven't heard anything from either Brendan and SeaNorris, wonder what they are up to nowadays...

[Carface80]

Brendan dropped by to say hello several months ago... everyone we know since 2004 had move on.