2007 June archive at Arno Villard

Archive for June, 2007

StudioTools tutorial: Techniques | Art to Part: An Iron!

15Jun07

This official tutorial name is:

StudioTools Techniques™’ | Art to Part.
Skill Level: Advanced
Format: DVD , [120 min]
Date Published: Oct 2003

Well…Let’s say it’s not the sexiest tutorial in the world: Modeling…an iron!

But I think it was a really good tutorial, an interesting intermediate exercise, also a good introduction to blend curves, evaluation curve tools , surfaces continuity, and also a good way starting modeling with a sketch basis.

On today’s date, this tutorial is no more available on the Autodesk/Alias website but:
THE TUTORIAL CAN BE ‘FOUND’ WITH THESE LINKS TO THE ZIP FILES: (lucky you!)

The tutorial itself (.html files and images):
StudioTools - Techniques Art To Part - Iron -docs.zip (37.5MB)
The support files (.wire files)
StudioTools - Techniques Art To Part - support_files.zip (16.2MB)
The completed iron (.wire file) , included in the support files package
StudioTools - Techniques Art To Part - Alt-iron-complete.wire (1.8MB)

…isn’t the life beautiful ..

Well, beautiful, I don’t know: I spent hours and hours to model with the more accuracy I could: do, redo, do redo… to finally decide to redo it from the scratch.
But here is the first version:

Here are the different reasons I redo it (but basically once rendered the differences won’t be visible)

1- Do cleaner surfaces (Body, handle, nozzle) and transitions
2- Replace the pinch surface in the nozzle part
3-Find a way to do a cleaner corner on the back part
4-Upgrade the general

The way they can get such nice surfaces,nice spans, still mysterious for me, … I see only one option, they use the rebuild tools! But in my mind it’s not good (you loose history)…

The re-done version post: StudioTools tutorial: Techniques | Art to Part (#2): A Ferrari Iron!

Advises, suggestions or questions are welcome.

Filed under AliasStudio-Studiotools, Done tutorials and Tutorials. |2 Comments

First studiotools’s automotive modeling: Audi TT

12Jun07

So…after a few month of Alias Studiotools practices, time as come to see how I behave aproaching a car modeling (Here’ are the links to get the blueprints ). I won’t browse the problems I encountered during this exercise, the the list could be endless. However I think the Audi TT was a good car choice for a first automotive modeling : It’s shape is clearly ‘readable’ and there is not many ‘tricky’ parts (…and that has for ending point… the modeling a legendary car!)
The renderings are done with imagestudio (A first experience to me to) .

Here is the modeling itself. Sure there is a lot to say about it. I’ll be happy to hear about it

Filed under AliasStudio-Studiotools, Arno villard's work, Automotive and Practices. |4 Comments

Book: learning design with alias studiotools

11Jun07

Amazon: Learning Design with Alias StudioTools This book , one of the few available tutorials book, is a good beginner’s introduction to the software .
Introduction to the environment and the best ways to organize it, the basics tools and concepts with nicely and useful commented quicktime files videos.
The following subjects are covered: custom menus, cV’s, projection,rail tool, skin, fillet, shader, bump map, basics rendering.

The approach to draw without scale (or units) is a little bit disappointing at the beginning, but the goal of these exercises is not to measure every curve you draw but to sketch nicely and make clean surfaces.

However, one important software tools isn’t covered: the blends curves (constrained direction curves) which is to my point of view a mistake, because the learner is inconscientiously looking for this tools to construct his model.

This book is coming with dvd that contains:
- instructor-led overviews to guide you through the project in the book: 4 well commented quick time videos (about 1 hour each)
- Scene file (.wire files) and material (bump images, textures,…)
- A 90-day trial of Alias StudioTools, and Alias ImageStudio (renderings)

Here’s an overview of the main chapters and lessons plus their contents to help you deciding if this is a right learning tools for you. Following shots: Copyrighted material

Up to me a very good tool for an introduction to run the software that allowed me, once all the exercises of this book were done, to do by myself (it’s not included in the book) the modeling and rendering of this Audi TT. I hadn’t any 3D skills before.

Filed under AliasStudio-Studiotools, Books and Tutorials. |2 Comments