See the green wire-lines that start to form the outline of the body in these renderings?

Just wanted to record the day that work shifted from chassis to body.



Bala Wire render

[img][/img]

a bit worried about the axles tho' won't the corners 'round off'?

There ya go.....

Bodywork is easy...

Good start.....

Looking fantastic , very impressive!

BTW what CAD software are you using and what are you rendering it in

David

Just stopped by for some virtual tire kickin'

ROCK ON!!!

Steve,

I don't know If I like the body or not... I can't see it ;-) However, your modeling skills have me in a drool. Fess up... what program?

Well thanks ya'll. I've made some more progress on the skinning, but will wait to post an image until something more to my liking is achieved.

Everything you see was modeled in 3DS-MAX 6.0.

I built just enough of the frame to allow me to place the bodywork on top of it.

It's coming along well. Slow, but well.



Side Render Low Front

And this one's still a little rough, but coming along...



Body Render Front 1/4 view

Comments about the shape of what is visible now? before I get too far along?

"Comments about the shape of what is visible now? before I get too far along?"

Um... looks better than my car ;-)

quote:

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Comments about the shape of what is visible now? before I get too far along?

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Rescued attachment Rear.jpg

Thanks Pete.

The front end designwork hasn't really been started yet. But good points! I will probably get a lot more finished this weekend.

The Ferrari taillights are a good idea. I am currently leaning towards the taillights from a Jeep liberty, rotated 90d. I have seen some nice looking aftermarket units on ebay for decent cost.

Later,

Graber

I've not been an active participant in this forum so far but I'm a very avid lurker.

Graber, I've been following your work on this car for about as long as you've had it on the internet and I wanted to say first of all I have a lot of admiration for what you've done.

Take my critique with a big chunky grain of salt...

I feel like the design of the La Bala as shown in your avatar has too many straight, nearly parrallel, lines defining the side plan view. This kinda sucks character out of the design in my opinion. I also feel like the flat surface around the perimeter of the wheel well has become a design cliche lately, showing up on too many concept cars.

I gave a gentle arc to the crease in the middle of your side intake to add some movement to the design, and made your wheel-perimeter-frame-surface-crease kick out in front of the wheel.

Just little suggestions...

-James

Thanks for the critique MazdaJim. I appreciate and understand what you are saying. I may try to rework that side strake after all.

Here is another, more complete rendering of the front end. This look is just one of several concepts I have underway for the front end. I'm thinking that the black nostril area will be created out of Carbon Fiber/ Kevlar... Something stronger than Fiberglass.

What do you think?


Body Render New Grill Opening

Steve, it's coming on well..

Question...how easy it is it to extract sectional views from 3DS in order to create your station templates?

I know in Mech Desktop it is very easy (as in other solid modellers I'd guess), but with 3DS being more a visual/artistic kind of tool I wondered if you can pull views/sections out of it..

Alan, although MAX does not have any tools for outputing to print. It has a "section" tool that allows me make section outlines across my entire model into new shapes. I will then render these section outlines as images and print them from photoshop.

Kinda convoluted, but the modeling abilities of Max make it worthwhile IMHO.

Like this for example. This is 3 sections taken 6" apart on the front of the hood and viewed from the front.


Section outline sample

How do you like 3DMax? I have been playing with Solidworks which looks great for modeling parts. However, it isn't exactly what I would call intuitive when it comes to modelling complex shapes like car bodies. I think it would probably take me as long to model it in solidworks as it would to produce a physical model. How easy is 3DMax to use? and how much does it cost?

Hats off to you Mr Graber - I know the work that this takes and you are to be fully comended on your efforts. Getting this far alone is NOT easy.

The software you're using looks good, but I know of something that is used for surfacing in the auto industry called 'Rhino'. This is a highly intuitive program that is available for trial download from the company's web-site. You're allowed to save 20 times before it blocks you.

It can read all manner of file types, including AutoCAD and seems to be THE new choice for styling professionals over Alias Wavefront. If only I could remember the company's web-site...!

Still, I'm sure a quick look on Google will throw it up. It may be worth using to get past 'tricky' bits, then saving for use in your own 3D program?

I'm sure it'll be useful to others, though...

Steve.

P.S. Watch out - it's a BIG download on 56k...

Interesting, Ron Tyler and I just had this conversation. (about what software I use)

I can't help you with comparisons to solids modeling programs. I don't have any experience with them. Of the 3D modeling programs I have used (Maya, Lightwave, MAX, Strata) I always seem to come back to 3DS. I am familiar with the interface, the rendering engine is superlative and the help and tutorial files are great.

You can download a complete functional version of 3DS Max (30 day timed) from the discreet website at http://www.discreet.com/3dsmax/ Choose 'Free Trial' from the left side menu. Also provided for free are a huge number of tutorials and help files.

MAX is a professional product with a professional sized price tag. $3,500.

Email me off-list for alternatives... <wink>

Steve, you posted while I was typing this up! I was an early adopter of Rhino and used their beta version quite extensively. But I haven't messed with it in years. I'll be sure to take another look...


[Edited on 3/16/04 by sgraber]