Model this: 3D Connexion Space explorer

dedmin

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=152&pagenumber=4
http://metku.net/index.html?path=reviews/spaceexplorer/index_eng2

pilou

Funny thing of this design model is that is like a shoe!

Yes maybe the new Tig plug sweep 2 rails can help you on this shoe under the hand

Ultimatez 32

tried using sds.. result better then expected

basic side view outline

basic top view outline

after intersection and erase

erased bottom, and sds 3 iterations

solo

I gave it a quick try using Bool tools, Poly reduce and SDS.

EarthMover

Nice Pete. What did you use to reduce the mesh before SDS?

Nevermind, I see you used Polyreduce. Nice trick to get a clean mesh!!

jeff hammond

a not so quick try... a lot of manual stuff with

definitely not impossible to do in sketchup but i would put it near the bottom of the list as the go-to app for doing it

i'm not sure how much further i'll be able to go with this one (i'm already 2.5 hrs in) but i'll clean up some of the mesh and post it here incase someone wants to add on to it..

a couple of bumps in there and the nose is too pointy but it shouldn't be too hard to correct..

solo

Okay, now for a different approach, I made a thumb sucky proxy (as I do for making cartoon characters, by trial and error)

It's not accurate but definitely looks better and smoother.

I have added the basic SDS model if y'all wanna play.

proxy

SDS of proxy

Intersect plane for bottom

SDS version model

Solidseal

My work so far
Not perfect but thats all I know about this programm

No plug ins used
and the big knob is a tad to big

jeff hammond

ok, here's my stopping point.. i might draw it in rhino eventually for practice but i'm already burned out on the SU version

feel free to use the mesh to take it further though i'm not sure it's at the best point for that..

the attached skp looks like this

i used tig's Extrude Edges By Rail.. the hardest part for that was getting the curves to have an equal number of segments (which isn't necessary for the plugin.. it's just that the poly count can go through the roof if it isn't done like that.)

navigator_JH.skp

ely862me

Here is my try..got lazy at the finish and i didn t pay much attention to the keys ..
Tools used...hmm:line,move,scale,ffd,joint push&pull,sds..
Take care!

Elisei

remcon.skp

jeff hammond

awesome job ely!

that's a big time SDS ad right there

[edit] seriously impressive.. i didn't think anyone was going to get that close.
a few years worth of modeling cars in SU really pays off huh..

Solidseal

@ely862me said:

Thanks!
Sorry i didn t kept the model without subdividing ..Maybe other time!

Elisei

Elisei .. I have seen your vids @ tube making that supercar (posted there also )
I was just wondering. What kinda system do you have ?

ely862me

It s not that good.. trust me..
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core 2.80 Ghz
1 Gb ram
nVidia 8600Gt 1 Gb video card

Why are u asking!?

Elisei

stefanq

Bravo Ely!

ely862me

Thanks!
Sorry i didn t kept the model without subdividing ..Maybe other time!

Elisei

@unknownuser said:

a few years worth of modeling cars in SU really pays off huh..

yes sir,it does

Rich O Brien

Jaysus this is tough....... after Ely's excellent model i'm somewhat embarrassed by this attempt

Space Explorer I.jpg

Space Explorer II.jpg

Think I need a different approach

alpro

Great job Ely and Adam!!, niether one of you guys mentioned how much time you got into it, just curious cause I started but after about an hour and half with nothing acceptable, I said thats enough. Again all I can say is hats off to you guys.

Mike

kwistenbiebel

Thanks Solo for starting this thread. It turns out to be the most interesting modeling thread in a long time here on SCF.
Especially because the subject is a bit out of the boundaries of Sketchup's strenghts.

I like the latest efforts of Pete, Ely and Adam.
The most difficult trick would be to get a clean mesh, which is difficult for a polygon modeler to achieve.
Especially when using a render engine to visualize stuff like that, a clean geometry is crucial.

It would be interesting to see a MOI3D user post a version using Nurbs so we can compare and learn.
Lately I am interested to see if a Sketchup + MOI workflow would be a good approach to cover the whole modeling spectrum.

I vote for NURBS FOR SKETCHUP!

avariant

I'm having a hard time creating a beveled edge that doesn't completely destroy the model...
I don't have progression screen shots, but I started with a rectangle and used intersect to shape it. I used intersect to create an outline for the buttons too, so they follow the body contour (but made it a lot more work!)

I know the scale and body shape is off... I just eyeballed it.

Solidseal

@ely862me said:

It s not that good.. trust me..
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core 2.80 Ghz
1 Gb ram
nVidia 8600Gt 1 Gb video card

Why are u asking!?

Elisei

wel because when I create a sphere with 2 circles with 100s my pc has serious problems also when I take your model and I copy/move the upper layer of the connexion explorer it needs like 20 seconds to think cuz of the high polys I guess.
but I think your models are high polys also but it goes way smoother .. or are they low poly ? ( dont know all about polygons though)

Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core 2.80 Ghz
2 Gb ram
Ati Radeon HD4870 1 Gb video card