Green Toaster's Car Sketches

GreenToaster · 18 Jan 2008, 22:58

. . . more fiddling with today's vehicle . . .

GreenToaster · 19 Jan 2008, 03:59

. . . what would the ultimate rock crawler look like . . . not really a car . . .

jenujacob · 19 Jan 2008, 04:39

GT! that rock crawler is amazing!!! looks like u are raising ur standards to new heights!! awesome!!
ur cars are as always marvelous! have u tried this yet??? it might even help u in ur class!

solo · 19 Jan 2008, 10:17

That rock crawler...um...Rocks!!

GreenToaster · 19 Jan 2008, 14:58

Thanks for the kind comments.

I'd really like to finish this but there are so many other things I have to do today . . . maybe I can finish it Monday - I'm off on Monday because of MLK holiday.

GreenToaster · 19 Jan 2008, 22:22

. . . today's car for the day . . .

GreenToaster · 20 Jan 2008, 04:26

. . . took the notebook with me & as wifey went shopping, I sat in the car and created another blah, blah, blah . . .

ely862me · 21 Jan 2008, 19:07

i don t know what to say,to me isn t so hard here is my first concept car http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=c08810ef646e17596bc31dd4cacd32eb and this is my before last concept car http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=662484398c0f9ea712d7dab77a6f289

GreenToaster · 21 Jan 2008, 20:03

@unknownuser said:

i don t know what to say,to me isn t so hard here is my first concept car
WOW!

Did you do both of those using only SketchUp? Do you have any suggestions - a description of your workflow, perhaps?

Amazing cars - thanks for posting.

GreenToaster · 23 Jan 2008, 00:38

. . . I'm taking a hiatus from this thread. After seeing ely862me's cars & others, I realize I'm stuck and I'm not making any significant progress - I'm not getting where I eventually want to be.

Of course, I'm certainly not giving up - I'm going to figure out how to create the really cool stuff - just takes some folks longer than others, I guess.

We all need a good kick in the pants every once in a while - I got mine. Ouch!

CraigD · 23 Jan 2008, 03:04

Hey GT! Did you end up buying the book "How to Draw Cars Like a Pro"? It was a MonsterZero recommendation, so I went out and bought it!

IT'S AWESOME! Get it! I think it will give you some really good inspiration!

Model well!!

Cheers,

 - CraigD

ely862me · 23 Jan 2008, 14:44

people i told u for me (and i don t know why but i like it) is verry simple (almost),all concepts that i have are mine(except the concept e002 wich is a modified bugatti veyron) and is no import and are build up in sketchup i can t make a tutorial because i make them in different and manny ways depends from what i start

GreenToaster · 23 Jan 2008, 16:50

@unknownuser said:

Hey GT! Did you end up buying the book "How to Draw Cars Like a Pro"? It was a MonsterZero recommendation, so I went out and bought it!
Yes! I got it from Amazon and yes, I like the book, it's very good - inspirational.

@unknownuser said:

You can't just stop now...?
Ha! I'll post again - I just want to have something new - something fresh & different to offer. I'm a bit frustrated getting to the next level - for me, with my limited skills and "dang-near-zero" creativity, it's quite challenging getting there.

This journey began a few days ago as I started poking around the menus and there are several tools I've never used - perhaps that's obvious from my cars. I also realize - as others have mentioned - there are other s/w programs out there that are probably better suited for drawing amorphic shapes like body parts for cars. I'd still like to find out how far I can go with SU - looks like there will be lots of enjoyment as I continue.

@unknownuser said:

most important is to watch the wireframes to see how are done

for having good proportions u can use temporary the position of the weels of a desired form of car
This is great advice - thanks, I'll investigate this more and try it - I'm sure this will be useful - will help me figure this stuff out.

GreenToaster · 23 Jan 2008, 21:12

Well - here's one point where I'm "stuck". The attached file contains a wireframe for a body part - like a hood, for example. I have no clue how to turn this into a nice, good looking surface. When I use the From Contours tool the surface ends up with weird, pointed areas that I don't understand. I'm sure someone could take this handful of curves and turn it into something "beautiful" - but how?

Thanks a whole bunch,

GT

bw_hood_wireframe_01.skp

GreenToaster · 23 Jan 2008, 21:45

. . . here's almost an exact same wireframe model with a surface added using Concepts Unlimited . . . I have no idea how to do this with SU. :clueless:

GreenToaster · 24 Jan 2008, 00:42

Thanks for the suggestion - I tried it but it's substantially different from the original wireframe model and the model I did using another program which has a flat surface on top with variable radius tangent arcs or conics bordering a perimeter of different sized ellipses.

I can keep working with it - I'm not used to modeling this way - with these tools. This is not a complaint, but just an observation that it looks like I'm going to have to (1) learn what SU can do, then (2) model what I want rather than modeling with a limited understanding of how to get the job done.

CraigD · 24 Jan 2008, 04:46

A quick tip GT, that you probably already know... but when you select the Circle tool, you can type in the VCB (Value Control Box) and hit Enter, to add a higher number of edges that make up the circumference of the circle. This will give you a smoother curve to work with in your geometry.

Cheers,

- CraigD

GreenToaster · 24 Jan 2008, 10:28

Thanks Craig - when I begin some serious modeling I'll work with changing that value. I've tried it before and it works great - like when I intersected two stretched spheres and removed material - higher number = smoother edges at trim line = higher regeneration time.

BTW - I used to ride SV-650, CBR900RR, GSF-400, Ducati 900SS, plus 38 others. After my last two crashes I gave it up completely. I'll always want another bike. (snif)

Brad

GreenToaster · 24 Jan 2008, 13:54

@unknownuser said:

depending how much wire u want to use u can make different qualityes, here a use medium quality
So, did you use the Sandbox --> From Contours tool, or what? I don't remember seeing a means of adjusting the quality - is this done before the surface is created - when the arcs were created?

Sorry to be so clueless - thanks for the help.

ely862me · 24 Jan 2008, 21:39

i didn t use the sandbox i use the hand
i alway do this i fit them with hand the sanbox isn t precise
i said medium quality because i wasn t use too many lines how do u expect to sandbox made a nice hood i use sandbox only for two lines two arches or something like that(i was using sandbox for the windows of my concept cars)