[UPDATE] Dunno I]if ill finish, this crap is hard. is this too many polys? First week of blender so its kinda shitty looking, any way to shape it up a bit more? (images below somewhere) You guys are going to hate me for posting here... So i have the hood.... kind of. I know Im going to catch alot of crap for this. If there is something that you think I have not read youre welcome to share. But I cant find anything about haw to make cars. I mean, but theyre not in language that someone just starting modeling and/or coding can understand. Literally just started playing SLRR a month ago, modded the hell out of that, man i felt like a badass hahaha, this is unreal though. If anyone can give me anything on making a car that would be great. I have a few main questions: 1) I have some previous experience with endorphin: natural motion, and took tech ed at my school where we used inventor, and i have used a bit of sketchup to design an exhaust manifold for my car (easiest program ive used in my life). But WTF is a node?!?!?!? Its like points at which stuff happens right? Crumple zones or something right? and if i were to make them are they something thats coded or made with a tool in the world editor? i dont understand their state of being, i guess. 2) In my model im working on, i dont need high def or anything i just want a working model. I was wondering if it was easier to build each panel one at a time or build a whole shell then divide them somehow. and if i were to build one at a time how would i position them in a way that they are flush and look realistic. 3) Once im done with the models of panels and whatnot, do i put them directly in to BeamNG and add nodes of thats a possibility. or just mess with the softbody in Blender. atm thats all i can think of but ill post when i think of more. but really if someone could post a video of them creating a.....idc....a...rolling turd trailng toiletpaper, from beginning to end, frame of the feces to the feces axels and suspension. that would help so many people, you would be a legend!
First of all, the 3d model and the jbeam are 2 separate things, so I will speak about them differently. It seems like you have made a good start with the model. I would suggest you build the entire shell first, then go about adding detail. When I say adding detail, i mean things such modeling in trim pieces, door handles, lights, adding more polyrows (as opposed to a hard edge) and so on. You should build the poly density to that of the final model. Also remember not to use too many polys, as it's not nessisary. ~5000 should be enough for a basic shell without wheels or internal bits, although this will vary from car to car (my MA61 Celica XX is ~3000 triangles at the moment without wheels). I would advise you to have a look at the mesh structure of Gabester's cars that come with the game and make your car in a similar manner. For a car to work well in BeamNG, you will need to model the interior, chassis/suspension and the engine+engine room. You will also need to make any part that can detach from the car in a crash, or can be exchanged for another part as a separate group. Animated parts like the steering wheel, pedals, gauges and handbrake will need to be separate too. The jbeam is a structure made of points in 3d space with a mass (nodes) connected to each other via beams with a given strength. Think of the jbeam as a collision model for the vehicle, with advanced deformation. Naturally, the jbeam has a lot less poly density than the main mesh, sort of like an LOD. The jbeam takes care of the physics side of things, which is basically how the car should deform, as well as the performance characteristics. Many modelers are often put off by how complex it seems, bot it's rather simple when you think of it. At this stage, I would advise you to solely work on the 3d model. You can learn to make a jbeam while doing so, and usually someone will offer to help with jbeams, provided you have a good model. You will need to make the model yourself, as most people won't model for you, so that's what you need to work on. Modeling will also help you to understand the structure of the jbeam and how to fit it to your vehicle.
Thank You! I just needed a set place to start, ill get to making the whole shell then repost at a later date, hopefully itll be good enough to get someone to help haha
Very rough sketch ive made of one side. this is going to take a while. I dont think its too bad for my first like 4 days of blender but im still really slow, so maybe done by Friday depending on how much time i have. any tips anyone can give me just by looking at the pic? - - - Updated - - - 464 views, im famous haha. but really come on reply more, please. tell me it sucks, idc. i just want some feedback
I applaud your effort so far, you seem to be able to make a car that has a reasonable shape to it, as opposed to just extruded boxes and such. Even so, the poly structure of your model could be a lot better, and I would suggest starting again, or at least the hood you posted before. For a start, you should use far less triangles/faces. At the level of detail you are at now, 4000 triangles is plenty. The poly density should look something like so: The Impreza is a "little" more round than the Z10 Soarer, so you could perhaps have a slightly higher density, but a good model will both look good and use minimal triangles. You also need to control your polyflow better. it's a lot easier when you make the car in each individual part, whereas it looks like you have made the whole body as one piece and cut out the body parts, which does not work all that well. The best thing I think for you to do is to go bach to your original bonnet, which looked rather nice, then add on separate parts such as the headlights, grille and bumper. When you're happy with them, move on to other parts of the car, and eventually, you end up with a basic, accurate model. That's what I think you should aim for now
Could you have possibly meant "more " triangles? Your model looks very good but it appears to have far more triangles. Where mine is a lot of boxes, possibly too many faces though, I see what you mean there. I know you use sketchup and its been a while since ive used it, so idk if this is an option in it. but if i restart .......*sigh*...... i plan on using a mirror modifier down the centerline to keep from having to do like 8 panels and just do 4. would the panels still be individual, or would the front right fender always be tied to the front left even during collision?
A face, or quad is just 2 triangles to make a square with the diagonal omitted from the render. In theory, if you could make a model entirely from quads, 4000 triangles = 2000 faces, seeing as there is 2 triangles to every quad. Also, if you can add a mirror to other side tool, I suggest you use that, as it saves a lot of time and ensures the model is symmetrical. When the main part of the body is done, you can join the 2 halves so it doesn't mirror anymore.
