Building a 1966 Bonneville in Softimage

One of the biggest challenges this month for me was getting a grasp of the program Softimage in my Software Technology class. I was always hitting the wrong hotkeys and to model a car seemed nearly impossible. But about half way through the month, I couldn't wait to show up to class every day and start working. My view on the program shifted entirely. So let's see what I came up with.

The method we were taught to model the car with was curve modeling. This is where you get a simple outline of the volume with curves and then snap points to it to crate the polygons. This was a new concept to me because I was used to box modeling where you start with a piece of geometry and just keep expanding off of that. This was the curve setup I made.

Before I go any further I should also provide some reference to what I was modeling.

Building the side of the car wasn't too bad once i got the curves in. What really puzzled me was how I was going to get the edge flow to wrap around the headlight and the fins in the back.

I decided to work on the back first. The main tools I was using was the Add Edge Tool, Add Smooth Edge Loop Tool, Extrude Along Axis, and Weld Point Tool. The Weld Point Tool was especially helpful because it was a quick way to grab extruded edges and merge them where they needed to be. T create the polygons I was using the "N" key which was a shortcut when combined with the snap function, I could easily place polygons along the curves I created.

I finally built up the confidence to move on to the front of the car (that and there was no other part to work on.) As soon as I realized how and where I can reroute the edge flow it became a lot less intimidating. Making the decision to build the headlight as a separate piece was also helpful because that way I could hide the excess edges behind the headlights.

This is a good time to mention that I was building this car for 3 mode or smooth mode, but in Softimage the smooth function is not the "3" key, its the "+" on the num pad. If I remember correctly the day I built the headlights was also the day I started to gain some confidence in the program. I could finally start seeing the model come together.

I went back to add more detail to the back as well as the necessary holding edges so the model held it's shape properly. Going back to the back fin also proved to be a challenge because routing all the edges toward the top got pretty messy while also trying to make it look good in smooth mode. Here is another real life reference I was using to get a better idea of the shape.

At this point I've also learned some new more effective tools and hotkeys. Instead of the Add Smooth Edge Loop, I now used the "]" key this will allow you to add a vert with the click of the left mouse, but using the middle mouse would add an edge loop, one that wouldn't compromise the shape like the smooth edge loop. Instead of the Extrude Along Axis Tool which took your selected edge and pre-extruded it. I switched to "Ctrl+D". This duplicated the edge without moving it so I could adjust it however I wanted. It saved me a few extra clicks, but in the long run that really matters. Just switching to those two tools made me faster and more efficient, allowing me to reach my next milestone.

The next step was just adding more detail and the tires. The tires weren't that bad because I had modeled tires before in Maya, and the same rules applied.You want to make one piece of the tread and then duplicate it a bunch of times and the revolve them to get the circular shape. Seeing the final product really got me really excited because I had never made a full car in Maya, so doing it in Softimage really increased my confidence in my ability with the program.

Now to have some fun with it! Until next time.