Yeah, you know what this car is..or you better

[pixelmech]

Have you noticed I have a car fetish? But I digress. So this is my 3rd attempt to model this car. It's one of the favorite things from my childhood, I watched all the episodes as a kid. (And I just bought them all on DVD whoohooo!)

 

It has been extremely difficult due to the converging curves. I suppose I could have made the three components of the front end separate, but I didn't want to. I do want to see if I can cut out the hood. I think I did a good job of keeping spline count down - but I'm not sure how good my approach is, but like I said..3rd attempt so, I've failed miserably twice already! I'm trying to keep Colin's lessons in mind on this one.

 

The "m" is just a rough cut decal so I could see it on there. Not sure how I will handle the lights either, but the coloring is off. There is one thing missing - there is a type of ram air duct under the front end. I found it impossible to add the component, even as a free floating item.

 

I found on most die-cast versions of this car, it isn't included most of the time either. Add to the fact there are no real true front end views of the car and it made it hard, but I don't know that anyone will really miss it.

 

If I can finish this I hope to do a bunch of cars from the series - since I have the DVDs I have all kinds of reference material!

[starwarsguy]

Looks great! I won't spoil the which car it is for people after me...

 

Although it isn't that hard.

[Mega]

Speed Racer...I love that show! Looking real good. Can't wair for more. Will you have the buzz saw jutting out of the front!?

[Scottj3d]

Nice economy on those splines!

[HeadlessBill]

I think I recognize that car, but I'm used to only seeing it's rear.

 

Looking forward to seeing it done. Someone should do Racer X's car.

[KingSalami]

are Sprittle and Chim-chim in the trunk eating candies?

[pixelmech]

Thanks for the comments - I'd need a trunk before they could be in it LOL! hehe. I would like to do the Shooting Star too (Racer X's car). That car will be tough because it looks so different in every shot. Probably would have to buy one of the bigger die-casts and take photos of it for rotos.

 

I don't know if I am going to model all the add ons or not, we'll see how the main part comes out first.

[JoshB]

Well that's one way to get out of modeling a grill.

 

Seriously thought it's coming along nicely.

 

J

[pixelmech]

Well that's one way to get out of modeling a grill.

 

Seriously thought it's coming along nicely.

 

J

ROTFL yeah Josh, I knew you would show up and pin me on that one! See, every car I do - something appears on the front of it - grille, air scoop - that eludes me. I'm cursed!

[Mr. Jaqe]

Dude! it looks awsome! post more! POST MORE!

[pixelmech]

Thanks Joakim Here's the latest. Going the low spline method is working well for the shape but is providing some challenges. I don't know how I'm going to connect the bottom of the front wheelwell for example - probably a separate piece for the inside. The back headrest and trunk probably won't be connected to the two rear 'bumps' either. This is tricky, but fun!

[Mr. Jaqe]

VERY nice! and so tidy! Only the required amount of splines and CP's, as faar as I see. Great job and keep those posts comming!

[gschumsky]

You might think about buying the model kit. This might give you some ideas on your model, parts to build, measurements, etc.

 

Or, you can buy one of these!! But the shipping is going to kill you.

 

And they're just down the street from my work...hmmm, no shipping.

[pixelmech]

Yah Polar Lights makes great stuff! I remember when the real car came out, it was a big thing. "Purists" criticized it a lot for not quite being close enough but its got to be a hard thing to build. The shooting star actually looks pretty bad from the doors back, but the front end looks good.

[pixelmech]

Here's today's update. I broke out one of the doors and built it up, which is getting really hard...hard to keep things matched up exactly. I had to modify the air intake on the back part, it was supposed to be wider but I could not make it wider and have everything meet correctly. (which aggravates me because it looked better).

 

Not sure where to go next..have to think about it.

[aen916]

That's awesome!!! I can't wait to see the finished work. Are you gonna do the Shooting Star and one of the Car Acrobatic team also?

 

Andy.

[aen916]

oh I forgot to add if you need reference pics - check out http://www.speedracer.la, they build and sell Mach 5 replica's, and have completed a Shooting Star as well.

 

Andy.

[pixelmech]

That's awesome!!! I can't wait to see the finished work. Are you gonna do the Shooting Star and one of the Car Acrobatic team also?

 

Andy.

Thanks Andy. I'd like to do a bunch of cars from the series but who knows if I'll have the time, it's merely for fun. The short list of cars to do would be:

 

Mach5

Shooting Star (Racer X's car)

Car Acrobatic Team car - probably the lead car (Snake I think)

 

There's a bunch more that would be cool...maybe the 200mph car... the X-3(?) car... I'm watching all the original episodes right now on DVD so I'll be making a list for future reference!

 

I'm aware of that site already - it's actually not that useful for reference, but thanks.

 

Tom

[Eos]

Nice work!

 

I think sometimes you should let your creations create themselves, if it somehow looks better even if it doesn't match your first plans, then go for it. It is a cartoon, so most of the times the views of it doesn't match each other accurately...

 

Maybe the best to do next is to build the car bottom and the wheels, I think.

 

Eos

[pixelmech]

Good points, Eduardo - I had been contemplating that very issue. That it isn't a real car, only a cartoon and I should be allowed some artistic license! Bottom and wheels actually sounds like a good idea. I may go that route. I also have an idea I want to try with the rear trunk/flares that might allow me to get that wider intake I'm wanting, I'll have to see if it works.

[agep]

Nice work Looks like you have a perfect amount of splines

[Sevenar]

Don't forget the hatch for the homing bird-robot...or the wells for the spring jacks and saw blades...

[pixelmech]

I haven't decided if I am going to do all the bells and whistles just yet, there's also the fully closed cockpit with a periscope, high traction wheels (with 5,000 hp to each wheel - yeah that's right five THOUSAND) 2-way radio...it would be a lot to do! I'm still trying to figure out if I can get the hood/trunk modeled to open and still look smooth.

 

Stian - Thanks - how's the McLaren coming?

[Mr. Jaqe]

Dude, this is comming along great, perfect amount of...well, everything, from what I can see. Hope you figure out how you're going to proceed soon, so we can get some more updates on this baby

 

Stian - Thanks - how's the McLaren coming?

Im wondering about the same thing.

[gschumsky]

oh I forgot to add if you need reference pics - check out http://www.speedracer.la, they build and sell Mach 5 replica's, and have completed a Shooting Star as well.

 

Andy.

That's the same site I linked to earlier in the thread...

 

They're right down the street from my office...thinking of going by and taking a look around. Maybe have them check out this thread.

 

 

Btw, the first one they built for auction had a lot of the cool accessories: saw blades that spun, hydraulic lift, periscope, and even a remote bird with a Futaba controller.

[pixelmech]

Yeah, that's awesome Greg... I forgot you said they were right there. I noticed on the video when the guy steps in the car, the door is really really short, like 2.5 feet tall or something, seems odd but they probably had no choice. They did an awesome job though, I mean how cool is it to see that thing rolling on by - it was every kid's dream of my age to have that.

 

Greg if you do go down there, it would be neat if you could find out how they made their plans. I mean some engineer must have sat down and had to do something similar to what I am doing to get stuff done - either that or they simply did everything by hand fabrication like they do on these TV shows.

 

Either way, I'd be curious to know. Wonder if they have any screenshots of plans lying around...

 

Joakim: I really appreciate the comment very much. I'm going to work on it some more tonight so...should be some updates then!

[agep]

Stian - Thanks - how's the McLaren coming?

Im wondering about the same thing.

Thanks for asking. Still working on it, and I'll post an update in a few days. working on the interior for the moment. I did comment your amount of splines because the amount on my mclaren gives me a headaqe (have about 10.000 patches , yeah you heard right!!!!)

[pixelmech]

Thanks for asking. Still working on it, and I'll post an update in a few days. working on the interior for the moment. I did comment your amount of splines because the amount on my mclaren gives me a headaqe (have about 10.000 patches , yeah you heard right!!!!)

10,000! Wow! Well it does have a lot of parts. Well my first car I did (which is in cold storage right now) the musclecar, was very spline heavy too, and I found it very hard to retreat from that. So I went into this one with the mindset of keeping it simple. But the McLaren looks great, so hey - whatever works.

 

I did find at the end of my musclecar that A:M started to bog pretty bad. I'll have to see how many that one has.

[pixelmech]

Ok, I'm getting bogged down a little now - lots of hard stuff left! Got the tires and rims done, pretty happy with how they came out. Stuck on getting the texture on the tire but at least they are there. Base dashboard on, a bit of the bottom (can't really see it).

 

Took a first pass at the front wheelwell and it was a total disaster, will have to revisit that.

 

1789 patches right now.

 

I'm a bit concerned about the door lines showing so much, not sure if that is the side where I broke out the door or not.

[agep]

Great progress! I like the rims very much!

[martin]

I loved Speed Racer. I was the president of our local Speed Racer club, which I set up at my grandma's house. My brother, Marshall, was in the club, but he wasn't too excited about it. That Mach 5 brings back old memories.

 

Keep it going.

[pixelmech]

Thanks Martin - lots of SR fans out there! Local SR club - wow! VERY impressive Martin! Here's my latest. Added exhaust, seats, new dashboard and windshield, doors open. I need some help on materials, windshield is way off, but its a start.

[pixelmech]

And some closer views..

[John Bigboote]

One of my favorite pieces of animation...of all times...is in the Speed Racer credits when Speed jumps out of the Mach 5 and freezes while the camera rotates...the 'Matrix' effect circa 1961!

[Mega]

This is coming along quite well. I really like the exhaust and the "rear swoop" of the back end. Sheesh...wish I could walk down and buy the Mach 5 from a local car dealer ship...ah the memories.

 

Tony

[HeadlessBill]

It's looking really good, pixelmech. I'm assuming you are going to build some wheel wells? Also, what kind of material are you looking for? If you need a car paint finish, there is nice one here. The one called Bodywork would probably work fine if the color is changed.

[pixelmech]

John, that's circa 1967 And you are right about that matrix move - I always thought it was the coolest thing! Thanks for the tip on the material Bill - maybe someone can show me how to use those as I have already tried unsuccessfully. But I am getting to that point. (I posted a request for that in the Mat Lab)

 

Note the missing headlights - applied a metal texture to the body and covered them up...oops.

 

Added taillights - which the original actually does not really have. Front wheelwells but no back ones yet. They are far from perfect and the bottom is a mess...

 

The glass doesn't look right but not sure how to set it. It might be too thin being only one spline thick.

[JoshB]

I think it's your nicest work yet. Sorry I didn't comment on the trunk issue--I had no idea what to do there. Definitely coming along nicely.

 

J

[pixelmech]

Not a problem josh, and thanks! I've learned a lot doing it, I tell you. If I were to start over I'd do things differently. One thing I would tell a new user of A:M would be to just model some things they like and the skills will develop.

 

T

[pixelmech]

Just a quick update to show the steering wheel and shifter. No decals or anything. Tried some materials but having some trouble. Applying the material to the body leaves some patches without a material - no idea why. (maybe because I broke the doors out?)

 

I'm wondering why the M on the hood comes out so fuzzy at the front..anyone know? It's scaled down a bit..does it have to be exact?

 

Working on the tire, Roger and his VW bus has been helping. Getting there on that. Not sure how much more I'll model.. couple gauges, a glove compartment, rear wheelwells. Not going to do the special features just yet.

[pixelmech]

A little update before my trip to Texas. I rounded the window back part, so its not just a straight up and down. Added some metal wheels, black wheelwells, rubber material to the wheels.

[Eos]

Every time you post some update about that car it gets better and better!

 

Congratulations! I can almost hear the Speed Racer theme. The window looks better now, although the metal wheels have a strange reflection.

[pixelmech]

Thanks Ed. The reflection is odd, part of it I think is the brown reflecting, but it also looks wierd too, I'm not sure why, if anyone has any suggestions...

[nf1nk]

one thing you could do is tilt the top of the wheel in 1 or 2 degrees, so you get a little more sky reflection. also many real racers do this although its name escapes me. it provides more traction at the expense of tire life

[JoshB]

Woohoo I actually can contribute to the mach 5--right one.

 

Add a slight bump (if you could paint a bump map with "brushed" strokes that would be perfect) to your chrome this will change the reflection slightly. Change the color of the ground plain--with some variance in color--like a blacktop road, surrounded by grass, with a cloudy blue sky. Also, add some (very little) reflection to the body itself to give you that radiated light feel--without having to wait around for photon mapping. This will give a more consistant lighting/coloring across the model.

 

Hope that made sense and helps.

 

J

[pixelmech]

That makes sense Josh, I'll try it when I get home

[pixelmech]

Well, here is where it's at. I added some mirrors more to my liking than the original (formula 1 type) and some tire lettering. I'm forgoing the tread and some details that won't really be visible. Added the letters to the steering wheel.

 

Here's a render, I chose 35mm and not sure why I got such a 'soft' look although part of it I like. Anyone have any pointers on making a good still? What settings and so forth? I added one light above but you can't seem to add the type of light you want in the chor, only a light in general, which seems odd.

 

I'm going to render 2 versions, one like the cartoon and one is going to be a 'formula 1' version with sponsor decals and such for fun.

[JoshB]

The main reason for the soft look--that I can see--is that the models are not directly under the spotlight. They are in the falloff of the light. Reposition the spot so it is more over the two models and then tone down the intensity a little. And you should get a really nice look.

 

Also, for the headlight shields you may want to add another layer to give it thickness.

 

Other than that great model. Nice rework of lighting--no more basic chor. And, a nice render.

 

J

[pixelmech]

Thanks for the tips Josh - falloff makes sense. So is 35mm a good choice for a final render? Is there somewhere that explains all the formats...vga, 35mm, panavision etc?

[JoshB]

I've never found one specific to 3d. The problem is that 3d simulates actual camera lenses--however you cannot capture every subtlety there is. Also, there are two measurements you typically get when dealing with photography. Lens size, and film size.

 

35mm?? So, the question becomes are you saying you used the super 35 render option--which mainly has to do with image size ratios (length to width). Or, are you saying that you changed the focal length to 35. Given your image I'm thinking you meant that you used the super 35 resolution option?

 

I've said this on a different post. To the best of my knowledge these output options only deal with aspect ratios. For instance, super35 is an aspect ration 4:3. Which means for every 4 pixels you have in width--you only get 3 in height (same as low, mini, and VGA). Where as say DV has an aspect ratio of 3:2 getting only 2 pixels in height for every 3 in width.

 

Now if that wasn't confusing enough--pixels aren't square.

 

Now the simple version:

 

Basically using the super 35 to render is fine--depending on what you want to show--and how you want it framed. However, you could just as well use the mini, low, or VGA render output options, because the aspect ratios are the same.

 

Now, changing the focal length of the lens of the camera gets mighty tricky. Because, you change the focal length (zoom in and out) you are also changing the angle of the lens. This can create/destroy depth where there wasn't any. Have you ever heard of a vertigo shot (so named because it was used extensively, and I believe for the first time in a major film by Alfred Hitchcock in his film Vertigo) where the actors seem to stay the same size--but for some reason the background seems to get closer or farther away (Goodfellas, Lord of the Rings, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Vertigo, and many more) that's done by changing the focal length/zooming, and dollying (< edit: almost put a hex on the whole thing) in or out depending on the desired effect. For example, I have attached a little animation for demonstration purposes.

 

Focal length in the beginning is set to 10 with the camera really close to the models. Notice the distortion in the petal at the top of the screen. Now, no animation except on the camera--none. The focal length goes from 10 to about 80 by the end of the animation and the camera is shifted backward. Notice that the forward flower doesn't move much (well actually it doesn't move at all but you know what I mean) while the others do. That's focal length.

 

Hope that didn't confuse you I know I have a tendency to get a little out there.

 

J

 

edit: consequently this is why movies are formatted to fit your screen. Basically what they are saying is "We shot this with an aspect ratio for 16:9 but your TV only handles 4:3 so we had to chop a couple inches off either side to make it fit" (buy letterbox/widescreen then you get to see the whole movie). Also, you may have noticed sometimes you watch a movie and the screen slides in a way that makes you uncomfortable--this is scanning. The scene was probably shot initially with a still camera with one character on one side of the screen and the other character on the other side. But, to make it fit and "flow" on TV they had to shift back and forth between the characters. And, to even add some more babble. You know when you are looking through the default camera you see these two little rectangles. The outer one is the camera view (what the camera sees), and the inner is the TV safe marker (meaning TVs shouldn't chop anything). Basically different TVs handle broadcast slightly different from one another--but not enough to notice a huge difference. So even TVs may chop something. But, the only place you may really notice is in the titles/text sequences--because let's face it if you were watching Mad Max starring Mel Gibso you might know there's a problem. If you get the chance--watch a brand spanking new movie on REALLY old TV--even some "cheaper" commercials have this problem. Or watch a REALLY old (before tv because they didn't care) film--that has been converted and you'll notice one of two things the fonts seem squished (because they are) or in some cases letters are missing (because they are). There's even this one old moive--a western--that has this handdrawn map. In the theaters you could see what this guy was talking about because you could see both sides of the "army" on the TV they could only show one side of the map. That's what those rectangles are--in case you didn't know. Keep your credits within the inner one, your main image within the outer one and you should be set to go.

 

edit: how many times am I going to have to edit this--brain not connecting to hands too well on this. Many slubs and zools knew what it was like to be roasted...nevermind.

flowerFL.mov