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       All preparements are concluded in preparing photos and blueprints to be used in ZModeler. All blueprints should be cut to Front, Side and Top, centered whel laid on 512x512, 512x1024 or similar canvas.
       This task have been made and according files can be found in Files subfolder of this tutorial:
Front.bmp (512x512):

Rear.bmp (512x512):

Side.bmp (1024x512) (50%):

       Reset the scene in ZModeler by pressing New button or hitting CTRL-N keys.
       In main menu choose: View\Textures Management\Search Paths.... A dialog box will appear. Press Add Texture search path... button. Locate this tutorial directory, select Files folder in it and hit OK.

       Then checkmark this path in list of paths; hit OK to close dialog box and restart ZModeler.
After you have restarted ZModeler, open Search Paths dialog again to make sure that this path is still available.

       Open this file. You will see that Front view is prepared and has an image inside.
       In Right view right-click over a small rectangle in upper-left corner of the view. In popup menu choose Background...\Image\Load Image...:

       You will see textures browser:

       Push Add... button. Locate a Files folder of this tutorial and choose Side.bmp file. The image will appear in textures browser and after you hit OK it will become a background for the side view.
       To remove grid you should remove checkmarks on Mini Grid, Normal Grid, and Axis in view's popup menu.
       Since I have no blueprint of cars' top - we shall create a car without it. But it will be much easier to create a car with this blueprint.


       There are certain things you have to be sure about before you start modeling a car. The most important are:

  • What is the average amount polygons you are restricted?
  • Will this car has mesh damages in game? (this forces to make more detailed front and rear and less detailed sides and top of cars).
           The first question (about polygon count) is the most important, since the game that will use you car in might run very slow on high-detailed cars. There are some typical levels of detail:
  • Minimal detail: 100-200 polygons per body (cars' body) and 32-40 per wheel.
  • Average detail: 200-500 polygons per body and 50-100 per wheel.
  • Good detail: 500-800 polygons per body and 100-150 per wheel.
  • Excellent detail: 800-2000 polygons per body and 100-300 per wheel.
  • Superfluous detail: more than 2000 polygons per body and more than 300 per wheel.
           Well, we are aimed to create "Excellent detail" car, so we shall keep polygon count in track.
           As for the second question (about mesh damages), we suppose, the car will not have mesh damages in game and thus we shall lay the polygons proportionally.

           Well, this chapter is a sort of professional tips. Some professional car-designers suggested me to write about this step.
           You need several photos of cars front+side+top view and rear+side+top. It helps to find fundamentals of cars' shape.
           If you have a color printer then it's recommended to make these photos bright and print them (A4 or A5 format) to keep these photos on hands.
           I have the photo of BMW form rear+side+top:

           If you have printed such a picture, you can take pencil and draw sharper lines that makes the individual shape of that car or forces the car looks like this car but not like any other. I've drawn some of these lines over the photo. They are black:

           You can even draw polygons over it. While drawing, you can make some other decisions, which details of car will be modelled in 3D and which will be planar (painted with texture). For example, on the following image I've shown how polygons can lie over the car's shape. As you see it was decided to make 3D-modelled bumper details and not to make 3D-modelled license plates well.

           This drawings can be saved for later use when modeling, but we shall not use them here. I've just shown one of approaches in modeling 3D cars. We shall use blueprints, since most of fundamentals lines that makes the shape are drawn there.


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