ok so im at a loss to how to do this and will be posting pics of examples of what im talking about at the bottom here. so how do you model a complex object like a vehicle or space vehicle with things like wheels or canopys or legs? are each of these seprate objects and just positioned in the right spot (i call this kit bashing)much like you would make the indiviual peice? or are you actually making the bubble from the same object as the body. same question with things like wheels or legs. seprate objects or extruded from the base.
ok next question. cockpits. in seethru canopies. (IE tom cruise’s movie oblivion or other similar concepts) i have to assume the cockpit (floors, controls, seats, consols) are seprate objects. whats the easiest way to make them into the ship(or agaisnt the glass if thats what the goal is and not have it look like its “in” the glass i.e internal geometry within the thickness of the glass) is there any good vehicle tutorials that touch on these concepts? i have not been able to find any. thanks in advance
I am not really experienced enough to even think about modelling this but i would suggest to Treat it like a real world object and model multiple pieces and join them together.
Parenting might work nicely for moving parts and joining for none-moving parts (modeling objects separately and then joining them also makes modeling much easier and faster)
As for modeling, start with a base to get the basic shape right and then redo a “clean” version over it (the original can serve as a guide). You can also clean up the original but it takes more time.
After you have a clean base you can just model things like doors, pipes, legs, wheels etc separately and either join them or parent them and rig them.Details can also be added to the base afterwards where needed (make sure to safe a copy)
For thinks like control sticks and the like, I parent them to an empty and then parent the empty to the model as a whole. For me at least it keeps rigging the model to be slightly less problematic.
But as for modeling complex things, Start simple and trick it out with details slowly. You have like 20 layers you may as well use them.
For many vehicles with blended forms and contours that fit smoothly, I’ll model it as a singular mesh and have edge loops define things like windows and hatches. Edge split on those loops and separate into individual parts, and then use the solidify modifier to give the glass or door panel the desired thickness. Now if it’s a clunky blocky vehicle or something with a lot of greebles, then yes - kit-bash away.
(For some examples of models made like that, stuff like my ToonJet on ShareCG or my BD-5J on Blendswap.)
For modeling things high detailed, I typically keep them separate objects. Some things like external paneling (like on an aircraft or spaceship), you can model grooves into a single object to mimic the look of panels, or do it with texturing, like with a bump or displacement map.
When you keep most things separate objects it can make it better for rigging moving parts. So with the moving parts on your model you have controllers, then a local/global control for the whole model, then group it all. Materials/texturing can sometimes be a bit more organized that way too, so you’re not stuck with a single object with 20 different materials and 60 textures.
There may be some cases where you want objects joined together, like a rotor with a numerous amount of nuts/bolts on it. Combining the bolts and rotor into a single object might make it less likely to lose some bolts while parenting things, exporting, or grouping the model and linking it into another blend file.
This is where your layers come in handy, First use your default mesh shapes to block it in, Cubes, spheres and the like, Then begins to add in more detail as you go on. You have a crapload of tools to use, explore them.
