Here’s an interesting question sent in this morning by a student:

Hi Graham,
I have started on the mesh and immediately have a question, kind of a fundamental one. On the Audi design the bumper has positional breaks as it transitions up and down.

Knowing this, does the curve I just drew still want to exhibit this kind of acceleration towards the ends (like on a hood) or not?

(Pictured below)

[G

(pictured above)

This is better for the bumper, I think.

Regards,
K]

Answer:

Hi K,

Summary:

www.learningalias.co.uk

Here are just 2 examples of the courses I run,
which will take you up to Industry enrty level. I only have time to mentor a handful of students, so please if you are interseted in applying send me your CV and your latest .wire if you have previous Alias experience. If you have no Alias experience, but are experienced on other 3D platforms, I will still consider your application seriously. The main thing I am looking for is real passion and committment to make it in the Alias Automotive Industry

“Course #1″. 6 Months website access to all video tutorials
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) for 6 months website access. This is the most economical way to access my unique Alias Automotive videos, where you will learn how to build the Audi A5 Sportback. You will also gain access to the many videos on Alias Pro. technique.

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

(Your work will be reviewed every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally, modeling demonstrations from me on your .wire and I will supply Meshes to help you with difficult areas of your model. )
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) per month. You will learn how to build 2 complete vehicle exteriors: Audi A5 Sportback and the Virrage Concept Car (Overbuild modeling method) . You will also get access to my “Expert Private Student” videos, which are released to your personal email from YouTube,

Kind regards and enjoy your Alias

Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech.

As Alias modelers, we know all too well the added value of making our surfaces curvature continuous to each other.

As it is clearly and distinctly noticeable in the highlights of polished surfaces, and even to some extent matte plastics.

However, did you know it is not just an aesthetic thing?

Of course, we can plot a curvature comb on a set of tangent continuous surfaces and notice an abrupt jump and this tells us it is even from a geometrical standpoint not smooth.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the downstream process, when your Alias models go into a solid modeling package

to start fleshing out the model into manufacturing ready and fully detailed parts. Here topology is king, and even in the world of a mechanical solid modeler, curvature can be king, too.

Take this first example of tangency degradation when performing the additional fillet (shown in red) to round off the area where the cylinder meets the base surfaces:

Here in an excerpt regarding the above image:

“As picture shows, the contact curves (where the rolling sphere touches the underlying surfaces) often have puzzling corners. In fact, if the underlying surfaces are not G2, then the contact curves will not be G1. The corners are often surprising for users, and they then waste time trying to figure out what they did wrong. The algorithm is producing an answer that is “correct” (assuming we use the rolling sphere approach) but is often undesirable.”

Or perhaps take this excerpt from the Spatial (solid modeling kernel component) website:
“ACIS prefers that curves and surfaces generally be G2 continuous, but will allow G1 continuity at the knots of curves and surfaces. The C++ class discontinuity_info records discontinuity information. It is used internally by ACIS in the curve and surface extension and intersection algorithms. Certain iterative processes may converge slowly, or not at all, if there are significant discontinuities.”

Now to put that into a little bit of perspective,

the above excerpt is talking about a single surface or curve being G2 with-in, not multiple surfaces joined together like in the Alias image shown at the start of this article. In that case… to be honest, geometrically speaking a solid modeler won’t really care if they are merely tangent continuous across the edge.

Nevertheless, I hope this has given you at least a little bit of additional insight, and why (at least to some extent) curvature continuity is not just aesthetic!

Happy surfacing,
Kevin de Smet (advanced student at Learning Alias)

Kevin De Smet is currently modelling Electrical Harnesses for Bombardier
and continues to study Surfacing at an Advanced level with LA. We would also like to  thank him for his contribution to the LearninAlias Body of Learning Material.

www.learningalias.co.uk

Here are just 2 examples of the courses I run,
which will take you up to Industry enrty level. I only have time to mentor a handful of students, so please if you are interseted in applying send me your CV and your latest .wire if you have previous Alias experience. If you have no Alias experience, but are experienced on other 3D platforms, I will still consider your application seriously. The main thing I am looking for is real passion and committment to make it in the Alias Automotive Industry

“Course #1″. 6 Months website access to all video tutorials
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) for 6 months website access. This is the most economical way to access my unique Alias Automotive videos, where you will learn how to build the Audi A5 Sportback. You will also gain access to the many videos on Alias Pro. technique.

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

(Your work will be reviewed every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally, modeling demonstrations from me on your .wire and I will supply Meshes to help you with difficult areas of your model. )
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) per month. You will learn how to build 2 complete vehicle exteriors: Audi A5 Sportback and the Virrage Concept Car (Overbuild modeling method) . You will also get access to my “Expert Private Student” videos, which are released to your personal email from YouTube,

Kind regards and enjoy your Alias

Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech.

Here are some videos from GM. USA, showing the design process, from Sketch, Thru Clay Model to Digitally Sculpted Model

http://www.facebook.com/GMDesignEducation?v=wall

Manohar Mahale

LearningAlias wishes to thank our graduate Manohar Mahale now at GM, for providing the link

David Torres

We also wish to announce that LA. graduate David Torres, is now with Audi Design in Munich and we would like to wsh him great success in his new career and thank him for his contribution to the LearninAlias Body of Learning Material.

Yair Sharim

Yair Sharim is currently modelling at Ferrari . We would also like to  thank him for his invaluable contribution to the LearninAlias Body of Learning Material.

Kevin de Smet

Kevin de Smet is currently modelling Wiring Harnesses for Volvo and continues to study Surfacing at an Advanced level with LA. We would also like to  thank him for his contribution to the LearninAlias Body of Learning Material.
www.learningalias.co.uk

Here are just 2 examples of the courses I run,
which will take you up to Industry enrty level. I only have time to mentor a handful of students, so please if you are interseted in applying send me your CV and your latest .wire if you have previous Alias experience. If you have no Alias experience, but are experienced on other 3D platforms, I will still consider your application seriously. The main thing I am looking for is real passion and committment to make it in the Alias Automotive Industry

“Course #1″. 6 Months website access to all video tutorials
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) for 6 months website access. This is the most economical way to access my unique Alias Automotive videos, where you will learn how to build the Audi A5 Sportback. You will also gain access to the many videos on Alias Pro. technique.

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

(Your work will be reviewed every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally, modeling demonstrations from me on your .wire and I will supply Meshes to help you with difficult areas of your model. )
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) per month. You will learn how to build 2 complete vehicle exteriors: Audi A5 Sportback and the Virrage Concept Car (Overbuild modeling method) . You will also get access to my “Expert Private Student” videos, which are released to your personal email from YouTube,

Kind regards and enjoy your Alias

Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech.

A lot of beginners in the realm of Alias tend to get enslaved to the boundary continuity locators,

and will enforce continuity along all edges when building surfaces. Hoping to see those locators turn green. And when they do, your surfaces have a good flow… don’t they?

Well they don’t. Necessarily.

Just like putting tangent fillets on every sharp edge and calling it a day, asking for curvature does not make the surfaces smooth either, it is a false sense of trust in the software. The software can not know what the surface to be aligned to the other surface is doing beyond the boundary.

The boundary is an artifact of surfacing, it can cause seams in our surfaces and we can’t have that. But it is not something magical, continuity at the boundaries is necessary but certainly not the whole story.

This is a cross section with curvature combs of an a-pillar blend, notice the green locator for G2, but still the transition is not smooth.

You will want to have the general flow of the two surfaces along their entire length have a matching character first,

and worry about the specific tolerances at the boundary (i.e. tangent 0.05, curvature 0.1) later.

You may notice a visible seam across your surfaces,  

and you may think to yourself it is horrible! but we know from the curvature comb cross section that we are 95% of the way home.

Now is the time to put on that boundary locator, and dial in to those very tight industry tolerances.

It makes no sense to do this at any earlier stage than right at the end, because who cares if it is tangent and curvature to within industry tolerances… if the general flow is not good? it would be just a waste of time.

The result should look this this and it was, truthfully, less frustrating than just using boundary locators because we get (from the combs) more insight into our surfaces, which in turn yields a more intelligent means of achieving continuity and a smooth surface-set!

The Above Xsect is demonstrating that the modeler has the entire width of the surfaces under control

This is the level you need for an Automotive Entry level job and the best place to learn it is right here on line at LearningAlias.co.uk I personally have now made it into the Elite Student group, which has 100% success rate for finding Automotive Modeling jobs. LearningAlias feeds these students into OEM’s where they will start their career in a very supportive environment

Have fun surfacing!

Kevin de smet, advanced student at Learning Alias (Elite Student group)
www.learningalias.co.uk

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

WIP

Watch This Space

Dex Woodard celebrated Chopper Designer and OEM (former LA student), from Denver CO.

Lets us into his secrets on how he designs amazing break through Choppers

 I-ROBOT BIKE

Designed by Dex Woodard Denver CO.

fig.1

fig.2

Fig.4

Fig.5

My final decision was to use what I had learned about Alias surfacing with LearningAlias and to model all the big smooth srfs. in the Alias platform. In my opinion Alias is the supreme 3D package for this type of high quality surfacing work

Too Cool for School

Dex Woodard

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

WIP:

Automotive Digital Sculptor and Designer Bradley Ratajczek

talks about how to sketch Automobiles (Interior and Exterior) and gives us some of his HOT tips

Hi, I am 

Bradley Ratajczek

 These are quick 5 minute sketches

that i use as either underlays to tighten/clean up or for rapid idealization for future themes. I find by being loose in the thought process, laying out long sweeping brushstrokes help define the overall shape and theme. I mostly draw on A4 bank paper with either black Art-liner or Bic pens. Art-liners are good as they do not bleed when you apply copic markers. The rendered images of the SUV are drawn with a Bic hence the bleed.

 Do not worry about getting the perspective correct

as it take several passes by flipping the pages and drawing over the reverse till the perspective is correct. The main fundamental is to get the idea onto paper. Remember these “quick” initial concepts are usually only for my own eyes. The beautiful renders you see are drawn from many overlays with many hours spent rendering them. Another technique I use is by using underlays- do not think of it as cheating, it helps you understand proportion. Proportion is the most critical for a designer. For example a Sport car needs a longer wheelbase with short front and rear overhangs to define aggressiveness.

I will be posting a progressive blog including interior & exterior design from sketching to rendering using Alias Automotive paint suite.

including interior sketching

Cheers

Brad

If you are interested in learning Exterior/Interiors , please email me for course details

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

This is a component which was set as an interview test for one of my students.

He is know working for a Major OEM.

It may look simple, but there is nothing easy about surfacing this type of complex volume.

Where to Start?

Always start with a Y=0. curve-set, which has G3 crv. crvtr. and then from the Sectioned crvs. project draft srfs. in the +Y direction.

Spheroid in Shape

Analyse the nature of the form and you will realize , that it is basically a Non-Prop. Scaled sphere, which merges into a cylindrical base. I know that to avoid any triangular patches I need a Cap-Surface, which will give me a true surface to run my Blend crvs. from.

Once I have the Cap-Srf, I then trim it to the shape I need in F5, then I mold a Planar Srf. 5,5,1,1, to exactly fit it. this gives me my first surface, which is also Bezier.-

This view shows a student’s work

but whilst it’s a great concept model, only 2 of the 7 srfs. are Bezier, so if your end-user wants A Class srfs. there is loads of work to be done, to get it from what is shown here to Bezier.

Below are 2 shots of my own Bezier model

This would be made with Nurbs srfs. in Industry.

It might start life as a clay model and then be developed between the Hard Modeler in plastic and the Alias modeler. The designer would want to make changes until He/She got the shape and the highlights exactly as required. I modeled an Audi door mirror for a Czech. Republican designer and he asked for it to be modified 30 times before it met both Design and Engineering criteria

Highlights are looking really nice

but there is still work to be done on the nose, where as you can see the HL’s are not perfect. A prototype or a Styling model would be made and the faults removed by a highly skilled Hard Modeler, then the Alias modeler would be fed back the scan data.

Of course this component would be finished in hard wood

or leather and not as I’m showing it in Car Paint or Chrome, which really shows up all the faults

Students following my Alias training course, learn all this workflow from my unique video tutorials.

Hallo all Alias students,

OK. I will show you my points. I have been making 9 surfaces on the LHS. of the model and they are all Bezier.

I am modeling this in single span, so that I’m really learning how to control Bezier srfs, to the extent that I can get them to comply to any shape with Catia V.5 tolerances. It has taken me a long time to get this right and Graham is helping very much, with videos and tips. I think in a Design facility, this would be made from the scan coming from a hard plastic model perhaps and being made B4 that in clay and my job will be to make a Nurbs model of it , which is also incorporating the Designers changes.

Finally : I have learned so much about how is making precise Bezier srfs. to CV5. and I am now much more confident about taking on any Automotive surfacing challenge. B4 signing-up with Graham, I never had any clue about working to this high level in Alias

Enjoy your Alias.

Regards.

Karen Mayer (Advanced student LearningAlias.co.uk)

Hi, I am Kevin De Smet

Here’s my model of the same gear knob. What makes this shape interesting for study, is to model it all bézier and make it 1. smooth and 2. closed, I have found an even better understanding of how control vertices influence the tension of a patch. In the middle it is also easy to be lazy and make an “S” shaped surface, but as best practice dictates, it was a nightmare to control! Finally, the zebra plot I think gets a lot of discredit sometimes just because it is so liked by beginning modelers but I disagree as it shows the flow (remember: i said flow, not highlights) and strakness of the surface quite well, together with double horizon and visual curves for highlight analysis I get a lot of feedback on the quality of the surfaces.

In industry I would model this as 6 nurbs surfaces, and considering it will probably be covered with cloth, there is no need to bring it to this high of a level in a production environment where time = money.

Regards.

Kevin De Smet (Advanced student LearningAlias.co.uk)

Students often ask me if Interiors are easier than Exterior to Model

Well you dont have to worry about getting good highlights on large surface-sets, but on the other hand, you do have to work on forms that are more difficult to conceptualize + you have to be very good at building complex fillets quickly. I don’t think one is easier than the other.

Q) Once you have committed to be either an Iterior or Exterior digital Sculptor, aren’t you stuck in that discipline forever?

Ans) No not at all Exterior Modelers are often given Interior projects and Interior modelers, as long as they have built a few Exteriors (At Uni or by practicing at home ), can make the change to Exterior work

If you are interested in learning Exterior/Interiors , please email me for course details

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

الكورس الأول

لمدة ٦ اشهر إمكانية الوصول للموقع لمشاهدة جميع المواد التعليمية بمبلغ ١٦٧ يورو ( ٢٢٨ دولار أمريكي معادل نوفمبر ٢٠١١

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 100 Euros (135 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

About Me

Hi Guys, I’m Mathew Tan from Malaysia and also an Alias enthusiast!

This article will talk about my experience and what I would like to achieve in the coming years. Currently I’m working as an Engineer that provide 3D Digitizing, CAI & Reverse Engineering services for various industry such as consumer products, Aerospace and of course the AUTOMOTIVE industry. I’m graduated in Mechanical Engineering and my job involved Solid Modeling, 2D Drafting and CAI, but what interest me the most is Surface Modeling.

Das Auto

I always admire the shapes or the exterior surfaces of a car and wondering how they can be done so beautifully. I’m not so particular about the technical aspect of a car but it’s exciting to look at the car proportion, its character lines, graphical presentation, etc. I had scanned quite a numbers of Clay Models, 1:1 Scale Cars and exterior body panels. These scan data will later on passed to designer or engineers and my job just stop there. When I ask them what they are going to do with these data, they will mention Class A, G2 & G3, nice and smooth surfaces.

Learning Alias

So, I started to look for info about Class A and found that it is challenging but interesting. Alias is my choice because it provide best-in-class Class A capabilities. Also, I found LA website where I can learn surfacing technique from Graham. I did try to learn by myself but sometimes you are stuck and I need someone to evaluate or comment on my work. Graham is a professional in this area, so there is no doubt I can learn a lot from him.

Below is my first work from mesh.

My next Project!

Modeling Car Exterior up to Class A standard is not easy,

it is challenging, but with hard work and passion it can be achieved. Hopefully I can be Alias Modeler and work together with great Designers and Engineers.

Cheers and Happy Modeling!

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

الكورس الأول

لمدة ٦ اشهر إمكانية الوصول للموقع لمشاهدة جميع المواد التعليمية بمبلغ ١٦٧ يورو ( ٢٢٨ دولار أمريكي معادل نوفمبر ٢٠١١

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 100 Euros (135 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

Many vehicles today have ergonomically designed steering wheels

making the modelers job challenging. This steering wheel dims. are: Major axis = 356.4mm, Minor axis = 330 mm.

Egg Shaped Xsec

this means that geometry for the rear half of the wheel cannot be symmetrically created. The front half is itself elliptical in xsec. and the rear half is elliptical but has a lot more peak, in order to make the wheel more ergonomic  to grip

Fabric Trim Seams are used to catch the eye and gain asethetic quality.

These align with the central hub of the steering wheel (not shown here)

Seams are important to the Interior Designer

and must be modeled as accurately as possible

Lattice Rig

Just in from Karin Mayer today this nice pic of her WIP. Bezier Steering Wheel

The entire Yolk (Hub & Spokes) employ Bezier srfs. apart from the tertiary blends. I teach my students to work to Class A “Principals” as much as possible. The reason being that there are a lot of young modelers looking for entry level Automotive jobs and very few who can work reasonably quickly using Bezier srfs.All my Private students manage to get jobs and the feedback I get from employers, is that students who understand the principles of creating an A Class model are valid a lot more.

Karin has used the Lattice Rig to fine tune the proportions of the 3 spokes

Bezier Blend Patches

After employing the FF Blend control to create her original transitions , Karin has deleted the Nurbs patches and replaced them with Bezier Square surfaces. This is what is demanded on most Automotive projects

Transition Surface Looks Smooth 

BUT, this is still a WIP and the Designer would want a softer look to the transition. We can see that the xsec of the trans. srf. looks flat, so either the curves need to be adjusted or the patches need to be direct modeled to add more peak. Nevertheless, the steering wheel is a beautiful piece of Bezier modeling

 Pic just in from Karin

She has completely re-built the transition using Nurbs crvs and Square patches. She used deg 6 crvs. which provide

a spare CV to adjust the peak of the blend

Videos showing this workflow come from the video library I have been creating for the past 2 years, now standing at some 250 individual, unique videos and can be accessed by students who subscribe to my website. We are proud to say that we have LearningAlias students in many OEM’s, including: Lotus, Ferrari, Fiat, GM and perhaps soon at Audi too! We also train Alias Modelers, who are in the first year of there Automotive Career

www.learningalias.co.uk
graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

الكورس الأول

لمدة ٦ اشهر إمكانية الوصول للموقع لمشاهدة جميع المواد التعليمية بمبلغ ١٦٧ يورو ( ٢٢٨ دولار أمريكي معادل نوفمبر ٢٠١١

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 100 Euros (135 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham

What is the difference between an Interior and Exterior Digital Sculptor?

Is there any cross-over between the 2 disciplines?

WIP: This is Karin Mayer’s early concept model.

I asked her to fillet it, just for this presentation. In order to build it she had to learn some new techniques. It is modeled on local axes, which means setting up a Master Construction plane and setting the layer symmetry. None of the axes are common to the exterior model, as the wheel is inclined in 2 directions (in simple terms: It is inclined forward and also transversely). The flat areas are for various buttons and switches. This is a First Concept model and is not meant to be realistic, hence the rim is square in xesc. A< steering wheel is not as symmetrical as you might think eg, the lower haalf of the rim has a different xsec. and is not merelt a symmetrical instance of the top half.

Karin is a competent Exterior Modeler

but she wants to widen what she can offer and make herself more employable. She loves Colour and Trim Design and over the next few months at LearningAlias.co.uk will be designing and modeling a complete Interior with interchangeable color and texture schemes. I have asked her to exaggerate the colors and textures here for effect.

Zen and the Art of Interior Design Modeling

Above: Zen inspired Interior, where Less is More

This is the work of one of my Transport Design Masters Post Grads.

who after several years as a top Product Designer has been studying with LearningAlias.co.uk and will shortly be starting a contract in Automotive Design/Modeling

The water feat. center has been adopted by a German prestige car OEM

(For the moment I won’t publish the students name until the new contract has been signed)

Students often ask me if Interiors are easier than Exterior to Model

Well you dont have to worry about getting good highlights on large surface-sets, but on the other hand, you do have to work on forms that are more difficult to conceptualize + you have to be very good at building complex fillets quickly. I don’t think one is easier than the other.

Q) Once you have committed to be either an Iterior or Exterior digital Sculptor, aren’t you stuck in that discipline forever?

Ans) No not at all Exterior Modelers are often given Interior projects and Interior modelers, as long as they have built a few Exteriors (At Uni or by practicing at home ), can make the change to Exterior work

If you are interested in learning Interiors , please email me for course details

cheers

graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech

Learning Alias News: Big Discounts on Courses

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1″.

6 Months website access to all video tutorials, 167 Euros (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

الكورس الأول

لمدة ٦ اشهر إمكانية الوصول للموقع لمشاهدة جميع المواد التعليمية بمبلغ ١٦٧ يورو ( ٢٢٨ دولار أمريكي معادل نوفمبر ٢٠١١

“Course #2″.

Economy Private Tuition Package 100 Euros (135 USD equivalent Nov.2011) per month. You get your .wire reviewed by me every 15 days and you will receive : feedback, instruction, tips and advice from me personally. Access to all videos including my ” Private Student Training Videos”

الكورس الثانى

الحزمة الإقتصادية للدروس الخصوصية ١٠٠ يورو فى الشهر، سوف يراجع ملفك كل ١٥ يوم مع التعليقات والتصليحات والنصائح منى شخصيا، والوصول لجميع ملفات الفيديو بما في ذلك ,,الفيديوهات الخاصة,,

“Course #3″.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition. You will receive specific geometry and meshes and modeling from me personally where required, to help you to complete your exteriors quickly to an Industry entry level standard. This means a bigger investment, but once in an Alias modeling job you will get back what you invested many times over and be able to work anywhere in the world

الكورس الثالث

المسار الكامل للمحترفين، ,,واحد إلى واحد,, مع استعراض لملفات الطلبة اسبوعيا وذلك بمبلغ ٢٥٠ يورو شهريا. فى هذا الكورس سوف تستلم ملفات من المدرس إذا اضطر الأمر لستهيل استكمال الواجبات الخاصة بالأصطح لمستوى قياسى المصانع. هذا يعني استثمارات اكبر، ولكن مرة واحدة في وظيفة النمذجة الاسم المستعار سوف نعود ما كنت استثمرت عدة مرات وتكون قادرة على العمل في أي مكان في العالم..

For more info,

Just register on my website and I’ll send you all the details

www.learningalias.co.uk

USA:

If you are in the USA, just register and login, then go to Profile and you can pay your subscription with your US credit card. Absolutely no extra charges for currency conversion.

Regards

Graham