BMW Vision

Been working on a car model for class, it's a bit slow though, each piece is pretty painstaking work due to the vast number of organic curves. Getting each one just right takes forever, but so far, it's been worth it. Each piece is near perfect, regardless of how complex they were to make, and I'm quite pleased with such.

Here's a quick screenshot since I'm not sure how to add wireframes to a render just yet.



Further info on the car model:

Based off a BMW Vision concept car, I've noticed a few key traits to the design which should help in modeling significantly. Primarily, it's that the car itself seems to be comprised more of a central main chassis that's pretty much the shape of a 'normal' car, but has the nice looking side pieces attached like armour plates, more or less. Much more elegant than bulky armour, perhaps, but the concept seems to be the same; just excess 'stuff' bolted onto the sides.

This makes it a bit easier to model, however, since it means I've been able to isolate a few key sections which are physically distinct from the rest of the car. The front hood section is one such example; the lower fender area that covers the side of the car and part of the back (seen in the picture) is another, then there's an upper part that trails from the rear to the hood of the car but is thin and narrow, tracing along the entire length of the car. The inner main car itself seems more like a rounded bubble with these extra pieces merely stemming off of it. The side doors, and several other pieces can be easily separated into their own sections as well.

For the amount of effort it's going to take to get this thing just right, I'm a little annoyed at the stickfa having wasted so much time. I suppose I could've jumped ahead of the class's suggested pace, but didn't realize it was going to end up so complex, even with having simplified the issues alot.

Car'll be done by the end of the quarter on time, that much I'm not worried about; rather, what I'm worried about is what's going to have to be sacrificed to get it out in time and done right.

Something's going to have to be sacrificed somewhere, there's only physically so many hours to work with. Quality on the car is one thing I'm not willing to sacrifice, however. I want this one to be nearly perfect... it's going to be the showpiece of the demo reel this quarter, the #1 prized possession, to show the top end capacity of what I can do.

Problem is, this means that quality elsewhere is going to have to drop... I'd really wanted to learn flash inside out, but with how much of a ridiculously disproportionate time sink it is, I'm afraid that's looking like the main area that's going to have to suffer. Photoshop's pretty easy and fast, haven't had any issues breezing through there. Maya's the main thing that NEEDS done, since it's the whole point of the course in general. I can't skimp on the mini-movie opener for Mike's class, since I have a partner there who's relying on me to get my stuff done, and I refuse to drag someone down with me.

So... chances are flash is not going to have remotely the time left over for it that it deserves. Suppose that's how it goes though. It'd be nice to know it inside out, but something has to give, and flash just sucks up way too much time for the end result. It's hours upon hours of busywork, just stuff to get used to practicing the motions, and that makes perfect sense considering... and I value the course, but it's going to have to be turned into quick scribbles instead of carefully done stuff from now on I think.

They weren't kidding when they said the flash homework was going to kill us. Oh well, can't let one secondary course absolutely ruin every other main course that means more.

And of all things of value, that car is going to have to take center stage, so most of my time is going to be devoted to perfecting every tiny piece of it.