Rainy day Delorean project

[Kenny_Z]

With TS Lee attempting to drown the gulf coast and me without a garage I can't work on Red this weekend.

I figured I'd dust off my 3d skills and see if I can make a Delorean over the weekend.

http://uploads.m-cgi.com/kennyz/Renders/Delorean/01.jpg

[Kenny_Z]

Finished up a couple of rims and tires.

http://uploads.m-cgi.com/kennyz/Renders/Delorean/03.jpg

[Karin]

I have been working on my project, too, in Max. Unfortunately, while I was working on mine, we had a sweeping blackout and it destroyed my file. I was able to finish the top part of the fascia before the corruption and I had that and all of the stainless steel finished. All those weeks for nothing for me and I feel tempted just to start over. The other file I have that's closest from my corrupted one was when I finished the doors.

[Kenny_Z]

That's what has been killing my progress on this one. TS Lee keeps causing brownouts. My PC is on a battery backup but it isn't a long term battery so I keep having to save and shut down. Eventually I just gave up and read a book or three.

[Kenny_Z]

I realize this thread should probably be in the picture zone area.

I've been working on this project whenever I have a spare time in front of a pc, which is not often. I've been trying to get that fender right for a long time. It has a lot of complex shapes. It still isn't right and I may tweak on it some more.

http://uploads.m-cgi.com/kennyz/Renders/Delorean/06.jpg

[Domi]

Great job so far!
What software are you using?

[Kenny_Z]

Thanks, I use 3dMax 9.

[Shep]

Wow, nice! I've always liked these 3D DeLoreans. I remember back on the .com not to long before it became .org, some guy posted a 4-door version. I saved the pictures, but sadly I don't know if the 3ds file still exists. I don't know if any 3D file exists for DeLoreans.

Do yourself a favor and email the file to yourself every now and then. That gives you something to fall back on in case something drastic happens. I also happen to name files "DMC_01", "DMC_02", "DMC_03", etc. as I make progress. Yes, it takes a lot more hard drive space, but not only does this prevent drastic loss of progress if a file gets corrupted, it also allows you to go back to a previous version and copy-paste that nasty component that keeps getting worse and worse the more you tweak it.

As for the LFF, I believe the bumper actually sticks out from the LFF, so don't necessarily follow it to the letter. It looks like it slopes vertical more than it should perhaps? Going from memory here, but great progress so far! :wink:

[Kenny_Z]

I keep backups on a memory stick and my work pc. I've got tons of files. When I did my Akira and NX Enterprise models I think I ended up with about 50 files in various states of construction. The Delorean model is currently running file v1b but I have a lot of hidden objects that are clones of what I altered. I usually only make a new file if I'm about to delete or alter a major portion of the model.

Yeah, the bumper hangs out a bit. I haven't capped the end so it blended with the fender in the lighting. I think when I get the front spoiler on there it might show a little better. The area round the headlights and the top of the fender is still nagging at me. They aren't even close to being correct. At least I like the hood.

[Kenny_Z]

Thank you EMDF! You gave me the idea to look into an old email sent folder for a model I lost in a hard drive crash. I remembered emailing it to a fellow artist and I found it!

http://uploads.m-cgi.com/kennyz/Renders/Nova/01.jpg

I may have lost all the maps, materials, and lighting but the model still exists. I am excited :D

And yes, red renders horribly. Especially when you save it at 60% quality.

[Shep]

Nice model! I've always wished I could replicate real-life objects, but frankly with that many faces/edges/vertices, it's a LOT of work. Unless of course you use nurbs or subsurfacing or something similar, but I never got the hang of nurbs and subsurfacing is quite tricky with Blender. Maybe when I retire...


red renders horribly. Especially when you save it at 60% quality.Try playing with the lighting a bit. I've noticed bad renders tend to result from lighting with incorrect intensity or with better placement options. Usually all those car magazine shots are done at less than an hour before dusk or less than an hour after dawn, but this is more for glare. Yours looks like it's almost directly overhead, giving the top plenty of light, but the sides not as much. You might also want to play with how glossy or flat the textures are.

By the way, I tend to save 1024x768 images at whatever quality is closest to 100 KB. Quality number is irrelevant, it's high enough that the difference isn't terribly noticeable, but the filesize is low enough that bandwidth isn't an issue. Usually it's around 85% to 95%.