The Retro

[DanCBradbury]

Here's a small project i've been workin on for a few hours. If anyone's got any suggestions for a better paint job, let me know.

[Bruce Del Porte]

"Better" is relative. Car finishes are usually highly reflective and specular. To take advantage of reflectivity you need something in the image to be seen in reflection, like a girl draped over the hood. I like the car.

[lazz]

Woa, thats pretty cool dude. Nice job! As for paint jobs, reflectivity is definately big, but also especially with that car some decals might look cool too. Alright, great work!

[MikeSanderson]

Dan you should Post the other shots here that you put on my Radiocity string!

 

.............. they give another angle of view.

[DanCBradbury]

Thanks guys. It's already very reflective... i'll put some lights above the car so you can see the level of reflection. Would a camillian paint job look better? It's currently dark navy blue with mid blue spectrality. Here's a pic to show how reflective the car realy is.

 

And sorry for hijacking your post Mike.

[luckbat]

Also, be sure to desaturate your colors a little, as CGI colors tend to be quite a bit more saturated than colors found in the real world.

 

I much prefer the red one. My dictionary doesn't list "camillian" incidentally--did you mean "vermillion?"

[DanCBradbury]

Oh, sorry Luckbat. I spelt it wrong, it's cameleon... and here's an example of a paint job with a cameleon style candy paint.

[NancyGormezano]

No, the spelling is: chameleon

[DanCBradbury]

REALY!? dang... then that means a bunch of people havent got a clue on how to spell it... google shoots out pictues for all of the wierd spellings (chameleon,cameleon,kamillian,camillian) lol

 

either way... do you think that style of paint job would look better? and by the way... i havent got a clue what those are

[Kamikaze]

Nice work there Dan, should look extra cool with that paint job too..

 

Michael

[Dhar]

Mirage distributes this paint in cans. I painted my motorcycle with that color. I don't know how you're going to duplicate that paint's characters in A:M. The reflected light changes color as the angle changes. The paint is an irridescent paint with different reflective qualities to get different colors.

 

This will be a challenge.

[DanCBradbury]

Ya... that motorcycle's pretty sweet. Here's the candy iridecent paint i applyed to the car... and! i made it a stereo.

 

Stereo Instruction:

 

Cross your eyes while looking at the picture until both cars are on top of each other. At this point there should be 3 cars on the screen, you need to focus on the one in the middle. Hold your eyes crossed for a while. After a few seconds or so it should start to focus and the image seems to leap from the screen! isn't 3d and animation master amazing!

 

K enjoy the car, and give me any suggestions for the body and or color.

 

And then... with all my cars... i crashed it. "I swear! He came out of no where! How was i supposed to know it was a red light, hu!?" lol.

[Dhar]

For a still model it shouldn't be too hard to do the paint. I thought you wanted to animate it, that's where the challenge lies.

 

The car's bad ass

[gschumsky]

Excellent car design, very 1920s-30's. Reminds me of a Cord or Stutz Bearcat. Lots of streamlining and chrome.

 

I'd almost go with something that's more reminiscent of that era...creams, beiges. Yes, blacks were used, but only on the "economy" cars, i.e. the one's everyone could affoird (Model A's and T's), while the luxury cars were painted in whites and other light colors.

 

Greg

[DanCBradbury]

Hey guys! I made another stereo... this time it's black with "real" pearlecent paint that will move and change due to angle changes, well so did the last one... but hey! If you want to know how to do it just let me know, and i'll give you the tutorial. This one gives you a better sence of depth then the last one. ENJOY!

 

BTW: the car was designed to be a cross between a 1963 Corvette, and a most rare car... the 1938 Corsair. Very different styles, but they came togher quite nicely. Let me know what ya think.

[Kamikaze]

I'd like to see a larger image ,looks very cool..

 

Michael

[DanCBradbury]

I pulled out the old model, and thought i'd spruce it up a bit. I designed and built it in v6, and now that i have v12 the modler is way more easy to use, and fast. Here is what i came up with on the new and improved Retro. Hope you guys like it.

 

One of them has radiosity, but for some reason whith the addition of radiosity it takes reflectivity away from the object, making it duller. I'll have to talk to one of the techy people here to find out why that is.

 

Enjoy

[ddustin]

Dan,

That finish has to be one of the smoothest I think I've ever seen on an AM car model.

 

Can we see a wireframe?

 

Very nice!!

 

David

[Kamikaze]

That is one beast !!!Great job !!!!

If I may, could you use that spin rig to make a little animation of it "spinning" that would look sharp...as if it doesnt already..

 

Michael

[DanCBradbury]

It's been a while since i did anything with this post. I redid the hood and grill entirly, i added side mirrors, and i gave it a silver paint job. Let me know what ya guys think.

 

by the way i made a spinning movie... but it was gunna be huge, 19mb or so, and it was only 380x285. what's the best settings for .mov compression?

[robcat2075]

what's the best settings for .mov compression?

Fine looking Car!

 

try this. raise the data rate until the image quality becomes acceptable.

[Clone Reject]

i think the model is awesome. its a nice break from the cartoony ones that come with the program. i cant wait to see it in action!

[DanCBradbury]

Thanks clone.

 

i primarily deal with stills cause you can supe up all the quality and render settings, so you'll probably only see this car in stills If i were to do it in animation it would take forever to render. I did an animation once... and it took about 3 days to render all of it... and it was just simple objects and post effects. (2 minutes of animation) = (holy cow that's a long time) lol

 

[genius loci]

 

BTW: the car was designed to be a cross between a 1963 Corvette, and a most rare car... the 1938 Corsair. Very different styles, but they came togher quite nicely. Let me know what ya think.

 

I always LOVED the corsair, thanks for pulling out that pic. As for your design it's looking really good. However (there's always one isn't there) I think the shortened bonnet loses the grace that bothe the Corvette and the Corsair had. It looks too "stumpy" at present (IMHO) but I'd love to see updates on ANYTHING based on a Corsair (drooool)

[DanCBradbury]

Hi guys. I've been working a little more on my retro model. I put in some logos (one on the side, and the symbol on the head ornament), some windshield wipers, i fixed up the bumpers (they had originally been all contorted and bent out of shap, and i connected the line that runs from the tip of the hood, to the back tail of the car. I also added a new paint job complete with metal fleck, courtesy of Colin Freeman, THANKS COLIN! YOU'RE THE BEST!!

 

let me know what you guys think.

[oakchas]

Dan,

 

I really like the additions! The paint looks like an old "lace" paint job, very "retro!"

 

It looks like you've added a bit more "crown" to the hood (based on the warping of the reflection). But I still think it needs a bit more. If the side edges of he hood came down to just above the Retro marque on the side, and the nose came down about 1-2 grill "slats" I really think it would be much better...

 

But hey, it's your car. And I like it alot.

[DanCBradbury]

Thanks for the tips Charlie, BUT MORE CHROME!? lol. half the car already looks like chrome because of the silvery paint job. lol I'll see how it looks with the decorative hood piece going all the way to the winshield.

 

Here's the back shot. I need to make a revolving movie of it now. I think i'm just about done with it though. Any other suggestions for a paint job? My favorites so far are navy blue and grape.

[Eric2575]

HiYa Dan:

 

I gotta agree with the rest of the comments here, you did a SUPER job on getting the splines to lay flat!! If my car can be half that smooth, I'll be really happy. Great job.

 

Btw, since a paint job for your car is relatively cheap, try a deep pearlescent purple. I saw an AC Cobra with that pain, and it was awesome. Wait, let me check if I have the pic on file....Yeah, but the pic doesn't due the paint job justice.

 

Oh, yeah, WIREFRAME:-)

[oakchas]

BUT MORE CHROME!? lol.

 

Not more chrome, more crown to the hood. Side edges of the hood should wrap around to just above the marque (the lip of the hood should be along the side rather than the top). The nose of the hood should wrap down in front to around the second slat in the grille. There should be a bit more "dome" to the hood.

 

Check out Rodger Reynolds' old green pickup truck. No, I'm not comparing a fine retro coupe to a pickup truck, it's just that the hood either needs to be inset inbetween the fenders as is the cobra's or the vette's or most other cars of that vintage, or it needs to wrap over the fenders like the old pickup truck and many newer vehicles today.

 

At speed, with the lip of the hood "on edge" like that, a gust of wind will rip it off and risk breaking the windscreen.

 

Adding very poor, quick and dirty PSing to try to show what I mean.

[attachmentid=11844]

[DanCBradbury]

Not more chrome, more crown to the hood. Side edges of the hood should wrap around to just above the marque (the lip of the hood should be along the side rather than the top). The nose of the hood should wrap down in front to around the second slat in the grille.

I'd have to see a reference photo... not sure if that would work for my car though... everything on it is stream lined... and having the hood curl over like that would break the smooth look i think.

 

Oh, yeah, WIREFRAME:-)

here ya go.

[Eric2575]

What the heck? Is that a double spline running down the center of the car??

[oakchas]

Dan, I'm gonna say it again... I really like your Retro.

 

But, I guess I'd really like to drive the beast.. and I don't think I could do that above 65-70... no fun in that.

 

Why?

 

You say:

everything on it is stream lined

 

At speed, the hood would fly off, peel back and hit the windshield. Or at least, flap around considerably. Unless you had speed pins (60's-70's through-the-hood pins with cable attached to a snap ringed through pin. Ecch!)

 

Glass surfaces are now moved outboard on the same plane as body skin as much as possible. This eliminates wind noise. With the recessed glass on the Retro, Wind noise would be ferocious (well, maybe not, but it would be extreme, and unneccessary).

 

So, you asked for pix of what I was talking about as re the hood.

 

I was looking for vehicles that had the same type of look... the Excalibur came to mind but didn't really fit... Besides which, it has side luggage latches on the hood... a faux classic look but not what the Retro seems to really be going for. So, for pix, you'll have to settle for some late model Chrysler products.

 

Look at how the hood wraps to the cowl in both instances, and how the glass is nearly flush with the paint on the Cruiser.[attachmentid=11868][attachmentid=11869]

 

 

All that said, it's your car... In the end it's just a bit of CG. And it sure is pretty, sittin' there. I just want it to be a plausible and pleasureable ride with a V12 under that long hood.

 

Disclamer: I am not an automotive engineer, and I don't even play one on TV. But, as badly as I'd like to drive a Retro, I'm afraid the ride would bear me out.

 

Still a good lookin' sled!

[DanCBradbury]

What the heck? Is that a double spline running down the center of the car??

na... that's just a decorative chrome trim that runs from the hood of the car to the back bumper.

 

Oakchas, to fix this it would probably take a considerable amount of time... and i'd have to ask the cars designer first. But i will definatly bring this up at our next meeting. Thanks for the tips 'n pix.

[DanCBradbury]

oakchas, i talked with the designer, and i'm probably going to be making the windows and hood much more streamlined.

 

What do you guys think of the new plans for the retro?

[oakchas]

Dan,

 

Great! I like the new design... I have a few pointers here... Gosh, I forgot how hard it is to draw with a mouse! (and MS "Imaging" stinks, too!)

 

Lookin' Good! Wanna see it take off!

 

[attachmentid=11886]

 

Have FUN!

[DanCBradbury]

Here's the finished back window. Let me know what you guys think.

[Zaryin]

This car has turned out beautifully. Nice job.

[DanCBradbury]

Thanks jeff. I still have to send it off to the designer for an ok... and then... i'll probably do some more with the car. It seems he's never happy. lol.

[oakchas]

lookin' good! (near as I can tell from top view)

 

Keep it up!

[Eric2575]

Looks great Dan! More renders, drool, drool!

[DanCBradbury]

Erics continued work on his car made me want to work some more on my car... so i'm bringing it back into the sun

 

Here's the latest update with the car. I added chrome strips around the windows to make them more classic looking, a crome strip around the back lights so they dont look like their just floating there, i shortened the hood a little, and i spruced up the geometry overall. I just went over 4k patches... mainly the grills fault, and i realy think i'm almost barely done this time. I KNOW IT!

 

i've also included a spining video... filled with spinning goodness for the spin-spinterific spin cycle. Matte white all the way!

Retro03Spin.mov

[Dhar]

Sweeeeeeet

 

What happened to the irridescent paint job?

[DanCBradbury]

Sweeeeeeet

 

What happened to the irridescent paint job?

lol. that died the second i got v12 lol. the spectral color doesnt work the same way as the realy old version i had. But, v12 is much better, and a lot cleaner looking than my old one.

 

i'm sure i could probably come up with a gradient that would replicate the old iridecent look i had.

[spikerthree]

That really is a beautiful model, I especially like the dark paint witht the gold highlights and the other light colored paint job. Very well done.

[Eric2575]

Dan,

 

when I get my ride done (5 years or so, haha), I'll race ya for pink slips

[DanCBradbury]

lol. I'm sure the saleen could kick my car's a$s up and down the track. lol

[luckbat]

Should you ever decide to do a tutorial of the modeling of this car, you'll make a lot of people very happy.

[oakchas]

yeah, what Mike said!

 

Looks alot better! I see you brought the glass out a bit, that's great! The hood appears to have a bit more crown to it, that's better (not quite enough, but thats okay, too)!

 

great job!

 

Now, here's a real chalenge for you! Open one of the doors, on hinges, at least 80°, without it hitting any other body panel. I think it's gonna take some engineering!

 

Dan, I keep telling you it's your car, and it is. But you have real talent for modelling, and while the car's a fantasy, someday, when you (and your designing partner) get real jobs... you are gonna have to deal with this type of stuff all the time... It seems, out there in the real world, that perfect, many times, is not good enough!

 

I've really enjoyed watching the development of the Retro, and if you don't do one more thing to it, I'll understand. I'm just sayin'.

[DanCBradbury]

Here's an update on the retro. I've completly redone the front hood so it's a lot more rounded and matches the rest of the car. I also got rid of that very odd pointy thingy thing-a-ma-bober and made it just have a crease their instead.

Retro07Spin.mov

[teh1ghool]

That's amazing... Nice job.