Further down the line.

Just some quick designs I did earlier on in the project for what I previously wanted to go for, now however, I'm more interested in doing a legit Dodge Charger with maybe a little added on. The thing with a post-apocalyptic car is that it wouldn't be shiny or reflective due to all the scuffs, scrapes, rust and generally poor maintenance; whereas one of the objectives of this brief is to use a cube map.

Progress 12th November

Worked on the front mostly and added some placeholder wheels to get a better feel for the model as a whole.

Although these are just placeholder wheels they're not nearly as high in tri-count as I anticipated, so I feel more comfortable spending tris elsewhere. I'm hoping to have at least 1k tris left over to add a cow skull with horns on the front.

Rear

Though I'd add a rear shot. 

I'm going to focus on getting the wheels done today and then I'll look into doing the boot end of the car.

Also got some interesting things to add like the fuel cap, logo and exhausts. I quite like the chamfered edges that run alongside the car's shoulders.

Progression

Here we are:

Fleshed out the bumps and trims as well as adding the windows. I'm unsure whether I should have the windows as a separate object as necessary topology for the windows is giving me unnecessary geometry for the body. I'm not liking how I'm already near 4000 tris and I havn't even done the wheels yet. Then there are the wing mirrors, exposed engine and underside to do. 

Progress

This is a few hours into the modelling process. getting the base shape down was easy enough, however maintaining efficient topology is strenuous; as I spend half my time noodling with verts.

The underside of the front bumper is looking a little complicated so I'm likely to have that as a seperate object where I can cover up the seam with the front bumper itself.

Idea review.

Sadly, my plan to create Syd Mead's Hypervan in 3D was shot-down by my tutor as it was too simple on both a material and model level. Which I knew already but as it was a shader project I figured it was fine. I'm really dissapointed they didnt want to get behind me on this one as it would have looked really nice with that sunlit driveway, foliage and water feature all reflecting off the vehicle.

Ah well, can't win 'em all. So now I'm just going to do a 1969 Dodge Charger.

Still a pretty simple vehicle material wise however the geometry is more complicated. I'm still considering the scene in which it will be placed.
If I finish this project early I MAY take the model further and add some Mad Max style post apocalyptic craziness.

Vehicle choice.

Given that this project isn't about the vehicle, but the final renders and use of materials and shaders; I didn't want to go through designing a vehicle from scratch. Instead I want to get to the shaders as soon as possible so I can practice with them and so I have decided to go with something that already exists.

I'm a big fan of the illustrator Syd Mead and after spending over 6 hours watching him paint and craft his Hypervan I really wanted to make it myself and use the scene he put it into with this particular painting.

What I really like about this is it's simplicity and elegance. The reflective surface will be a really good opportunity for a cube map along with it's rounded body which will warp the surroundings and catch interesting lighting. 

It's a very simple vehicle for both modelling and texturing, however seeing as this project is about the shaders and NOT the vehicle I believe this is perfect. If I'm done too early, which I most likely will be, then I'll probably change the design a bit to enable the addition of varying materials. Preferably some matte areas to contrast the glossy, reflective body.

Environment wise, I'm torn between the two in the above paintings. I really like the complimentary colours of the red and blue and their contrasting temperature. However I find the polished, garden area in the top painting more interesting as there is a mash of foliage, hard surfaces and an interesting water feature.