My student’s Audi A5 Coupe is progressing

Pictured below is an Audi A5 Sportback built by one of my students who is now a Digital Sculptor for GM.

Full HD video, just click the picture below

I am now putting some of my tutorials on YouTube, so whilst you’re there you may wish to check them out. There’s a full tutorial on how to create a Ball Corner to Class A Surfacing, Catia V5 spec.

Click Here for Videos

See just how quickly you can learn Automotive Modeling, with a Pro. Alias Trainer to help you

NURBS FROM MESH VIDEO click here

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make.

Check-Out my Customer Feedback,

Many of my students make it to the top and succeed in becoming pro. Alias Digital Modelers. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, USA, Brazil etc.

The level of design of Audis is very sophisticated

and it is impossible to make a model that accurately captures the full level of the styling, without having a physical reference.

This is how an Audi AG. Alias model would build it.

He/she would also have to have regular sessions with the Stylist, both sitting at the work station. In these daily  or twice daily sessions the Stylist would explain exactly what should be happening to various complex surface forms e.g. around the highly detailed front end: grilles, spoiler and lights. Also the exact form of the “C” pillar and blend to the shoulder.In addition to the stylist input, the Alias Modeller would have a clay model to refer to and he would look at the model, make sketches, take templates to get the cross section of the shoulder etc.He/she would spend a LOT of time studying the clay model.

Simply put this info is not on the Canvases and even photos. don’t shown the subtlety of the surfaces.

TIP: When modelling the cockpit sides and establishing the inner shoulder line:

Make a really accurate side glass (Be very careful to get the vert. and horiz. curvatures spot on. On the A5 the side glass accelerates inwards towards the C pillar. Don’t miss this subtlety.)Create the side glass in line with the sheet metal. NOW you can treat the side glass as though it were part of the body and build to it.When you have finished building the entire cockpit, including the C pillar and blend to shoulder, you can then Offset the Side Glass inwards by 5 – 10mm to the correct position for the glass.

This model has reached the stage where it has all the main surfs. established, but without the detail. This stage of modelling is referred to as a Slab Model and is sometimes required to reverse model back into a 1:5 or 1:1 Clay or Hard model. This level of Alias modelling would be used by a lot of manufacturers. However for a prestige car a lot more detail would have to be modelled before the file could be transmitted.

The side glass and rear Glass have been pushed in “Offset” by 10 mm, this saves the physical modellers a lot of unnecessary work.

More work has been done on the Rear Apron. Most manufacturers see this as just a piece of bent metal, but Audi started to input design into this component back in 2000/2, with the advent of the Audi All-road. A strong Audi styling feature is the panel around the twin exhausts tail pipes and the seductive form of the tail pipes themselves. When you are driving behind a top of the range Audi, you’re aware, that it’s a piece of dynamic sculpture, a lot more than just a car!

At the top end of the price range the Audi has a lot of architecture around the rear apron and exhaust tail pipes. Every part of this car gets aesthetic consideration. Also the rear apron and exhaust panel are ver aerodynamic.

This aluminium panel covers the otherwise unsightly exhaust pipes, but the tail pipes get the design treatment

To model the G3 blend which Audi require, between rear end sheet metal and bumper, all the relevant panels have been assigned to a single dedicated layer. This allows the modeller to work in an uncluttered environment. Also as success is reached at each stage of modelling the rear end surfs, the wire is “saved as” with an updated suffix, then the modeller continues to work on the NEW file. Personally, if I really mess up, I go back to an earlier save and export/import the replacement surf. I need.
OK! the problem here is that there is a BIG elegant double inflexion crv. at the Y=O, but it has to fade to the normal bodyside curvature at the corner of the car. HOW TO: Set a const.pl. in world geom. at Y=O and then align a blend curve to the plane. Using the blend crv. manipulator set to G2 (CV ON and Always use a curv. comb). Used G2 for the bumper and G3 for the upper blend and finally, build a square to form the surface. There is a complete step by step tutorial on building an A5 available on my website:

 www.learningalias.co.uk

In this pic. look at the surface conflict between spoiler and rear end sheet metal. The student had to trim it out and build a free form blend. The double curvature at the top of the bumper has worked out well. It has been kept sharp, but the real car has a softer curvature beneath the rear lamp you can see a tangent break. If there is no parting line going in there, a transitional blend surf. will need to be created.

A lovely shot of the C pillar. A very complex piece of modelling on the A5. There are no “make your life easy” tangent breaks/parting lines or appliques to hide lack of G3. It’s an Alias nightmare, but it’ll be in my tutorial. If you look carefully, you can see that the glass is all set in “Offset” 10 mm. Without the offset it would be impossible to resolve the C pillar modelling problem

Once again the A5 uses a really tricky set of surfaces for both fenders. There are n o helpers, like parting lines or features to break up the problem. You are in the world of seamless G3 curvature. The first time I built the side of the fender with, just 7 squares 5,5,1,1,. Having built onto a deg. 3 curve matrix, using direct memory, I was able to get good curvature by pulling the CV’s of the crvs. using Move CV, set to Step size = 0.001 XYZ. However as good isn’t good enough for Audi, I went on to build Free form Blends at several surf. boundaries in order to achieve an either higher standard. There are still some surfacing problems to iron out on this student’s model though

Rendered up and looking good “The Fender”, just one small part of an entire model______________________________________________________________________

Fast forward————–

The rear end is now nearing completion. There are areas where the surfs. can be improved. The next A5 this student builds she’ll know where the really difficult problems lay and be able to create really good curves to build her surfs. from

Alias Studio Parting LinePictured above is a 3 mm parting line. That’s the root width. Measured across the opposing points of tangency the overall width = 7 mm.This would be the spec. on an Audi, but some low priced vehicles have much wider and less consistent parting lines. Putting in the parting lines on a model is not at all easy and requires a lot of practice and experience. I always consider where the parting lines will be when I am planing out patch layouts at the early stage of the model.  In the case  above I joined my vertical surface boundaries on the center line of the sheet metal spot weld joint.

Rear Bumper and double curvature blend surfaces – The Alias Studio Curvature Evaluation tool is invaluable when we need to see exactly what our surfs. are doing. Where they are good and where they need some intensive care. Here the line points to an orange area where the double blend surface washes out into the body side. This is a problem, as where this surf meets the body side it must have lost all its double crv feature. Some careful CV tweaking is required

Rear Shoulder and C pillar blend. Curvature Evaluation tool shows us clearly how the highlights will run along the shoulder.The shoulder is a Secondary surfaces and thus we must make sure that its curves are perfect before building. If the curves are only 95% correct, then the chances of getting good highlights without time consuming direct modelling, has already been lost. The blends however are tertiary surfs. and thus can be deleted and replaced by new surfs

I am pleased with the way the highlights are running,

but if I am going to be honest, I can also see that the far corner of the shoulder has been affected by a small problem with the 3 curves accelerating too much at their ends. You can see the dark area at the corner, which is showing the defect. These type of problems MUST be spotted early on, before any dependant (child) surfs are built on, thus compounding the error. She corrected this by editing the end of the curve

Enjoy your Alias

To Learn Alias Automotive to Industry Entry level has been made easier.

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, USA, Brazil etc. I can only take a maximum of 5-7 students at any one time. I teach all levels right up to Post Graduates. I have never had a Private student fail to get an Alias Automotive job (Companies include Ferrari, GM, Lotus, Opel, Audi Seat etc. ). If you wish to apply for a place, please email me with all your details.
Why not visit my website and take a look for your self?
Over 100 videos on many, many aspects of Learning Pro. Alias
I show you how to build a Complete Audi A5 Sportback (ext.) . Over 50 Videos on that alone !

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012) 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”. You will build at least 3 complete automotive exteriors. The course also includes an intensive Reverse Engineering section, which required by most employers.

“#3 Full Pro. “Elite” Course”.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 200-250 Euros (USD. 260-320 approx. Sept. 2012) 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

NB: Typically students pay 50% of the cost of the “Elite” course by monthly installments settling the balance over time,  once they have an Alias Automotive contract.

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

Pictured below is an Audi A5 Sportback built by one of my students who is now a Digital Sculptor for GM.

Full HD video, just click the picture below

I am now putting some of my tutorials on YouTube, so whilst you’re there you may wish to check them out. There’s a full tutorial on how to create a Ball Corner to Class A Surfacing, Catia V5 spec.

NURBS FROM MESH VIDEO click here

Check-Out my Customer Feedback,

www.learningalias.co.uk

A BIG Surface. What’s That?

This is a typical comment from someone who has spent 3 years learning Alias as part of a Product Design Course. “I want to build an Automotive Exterior, but I don’t know how to control big surfs. Can you help me?”Ok! You’ve built say an electric drill, a micro wave and a cell phone and you have learned a lot, but nothing about surfacing a car and maintaining Catia V5 surf. boundary tolerances and critically INTERNAL surface Continuity i.e.G3.

“What’s that?”

Ok! Here goes: mastering building surfs. to close tolerances at boundaries is a great thrill, but we need eventually to learn a higher level of skill if we are going to make the center surfaces a car.
The above pic. shows G3 curvature conditions between 2 surfs i.e. the hood top and the front surf.The 3 curvature CV rows are not close to the boundaries, but have been  SLID manually in towards the center of each surface and this means that the curvature is GENUINLY continuous through the entirety of both surfaces NOT JUST AT THE BOUNDARIES. This is the surface precision demanded in the Automotive Industry and it’s called G3. There is an even higher level called G4.

“Well how do you build it?”

First you must build curves that are as light as possible.Try to use deg 2-3 crvs, but if the surf has a lot going on you’ll have to go up to deg.5 and very occasionally higher, but in all cases try to use only 1 span, both in the U and V.

You can’t build to G3 without spending a lot of time getting elegant , light crvs

and you do this by matching CV’c on opposite boundaries an ALWAYS HAVE THE CURVATURE COMB SWITCHED ON.Move your CV’s with the CV Move tool (bottom of the Control Panel )Set the tool to either XYX or NUV mode and the step size to. o.o1 mm and to o.oo1 mm for fine tuning of the internal Cv’s of a surf.It’s usefull most of the time to constrian the movement of Cv’s to just 1 or max 2 axes.Before launching into hand modelling an internal surface:SAVE OUT YOUR WORK WITH A NEW FILE SUFFIX and then open the new file for the trial attempt.In Industry you are expected to follow file naming protocol, so that everybody who might handle your work will understand you file hierarchy at first glanceHere’s an exampleaudi_a5_hood_top_roof_graham_12c.wireaudi_a5_hood_top_roof_graham_12c1.wireaudi_a5_hood_top_roof_graham_12c2.wireaudi_a5_hood_top_roof_graham_12d.wireIf your files go to a parallel engineering dept, anyone can see how to find stuff in your file hierarchy.An Alias workstation is like a FLIGHT DECK,  and when someone else jumps in your chair, they should be able to understand your filing system straight away.

“Tell me more about G3 surf. Integrity?”

Ok! so now you know that changing the surfaces characteristics with Re-Invoke is very useful to lighten surfs. always do this with both surf. boundary indicators on and curv. comb, but to try and improve the interior of surfs. Re-Invoke is just going to load up your surf. with extra geo.

“So what do I do?”

You stat pulling CV’s manually.In conjunction with what I’ve already told you, switch the diag. Zebra stripe on, just on the 2-3 relevant surf. Select them and hit Zebra and then deselect them.TURN THE TRANPARENCY DOWN VERY LOW so that you can easily see the CV’sIf you have built single span surfs. you wont have too many CV’s to pull

Never pull the last 3 rows.

You may slide them toward the surf. int, but NEVER pull them.Watch the surf. bound. indicators all the time.

YOU CAN’T RESOLVE A G3 PROBLEM BY YANKING ON 1 CV,

you must look at 2 or 3 surfs. and see how the Zebra flows across them. Move each relevant CV just a touch and leave your work unsaved until you have improved your Zebra flows to some small degree and then save that change. If you really —- up, and Ctrl+Z fails to get you out of the hole you’ve just created, then just open the earlier version of the file.

Some Rules for G3 Crv. Cont.

To get G3 surfs, you must first build G3 ready curves(I try to use deg.3 crvs with 2 controllable CV’s for manual builds and when I’m using Align tools I use deg. 5 with 1 span, this leaves no controllable Cv’s once you have dual aligned, so if you want a controllable Cv you must use a deg.5 2 span curve)Try always to have CV’s opposite each of their counterparts on the opposite crvMake sure you have clean crvs. with no spurious edit pointsOnce you have your immaculately tangent aligned balanced 4 curve set build a quick simple Square and look at the internal structure of that Sq. any non-sym. isoparms/ diagonal spans that have appeared are telling you that you’ve —- Up! So go back to your curves and correct any dissimilarities between North and south or E&W.The flow of the Curv. comb should show progressive curvature acceleration towards both adjoining boundaries. The thin red line should be smooth with no breaks or HORRIBLE angles.

To Learn Alias Automotive to Industry entry level has been made easier. Why not visit my website and take a look for your self?

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (200 USD equivalent Nov.2011)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (200 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”. You will build at least 3 complete automotive exteriors. The course also includes an intensive Reverse Engineering section, which required by most employers.

“Course #3”.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 250 Euros (USD. 300 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

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

Please donate just 1 Eur/1.3 USD. Why not take 2 min to do it now?
Learning Alias sponsors the Education of children in Nepal. This is Deepana and we need to raise money to put her through Nursing College in Kathmandu. Learning Alias Blog is a free service, but if you would like to show your appreciation, please make a small donation. 100% of your money will go directly to pay Deepana’s and other  children’s college fees. Without the help of sponsors in the developed world, Deepana would receive no education whatsoever, as she comes from a remote Himalayan village.  Thank You for your kindness. 1 Eur/ 1.3 USD will keep a child for an entire day. Thank you.  graham bullock.
PayPal or Credit Card. NB: US Credit Card accepted. Charity credentials: BUDDHA MEMORIAL CHILDREN’S HOME TRUST. Registered Charity No: 1115373 .

Reader’s comment:Hi Graham,Great site and initiative taken. God knows how sparing Autodesk are with giving away trade secrets on how to master Alias. I´m postgraduate in industrial design from Sweden, trying to get a grip on how to model in Alias. I’ve some knowledge on a conceptual level, but have difficulties embracing the idea of patch layout and planing surfs layout in its most fundamental parts. When to breakdown an area to many smaller srfs. What “tension” a patch can handle before I should consider starting a new surface etc. I hope u get the idea :-)Some do´s and don´t s, would always be nice.Thnx Alot!/Eric

How Do I Find Tutorials to Take me to Industrial Level?

I get asked this all the time by my private students and my answer sadly is always the same:

You don’t!

Once you’ve done the basic Alias Studio set of tutorials, Autodesk have some first class tutorials on their AliasDesign site. and they are very helpful, but you need a much greater range of experience if you are going to even begin to understand Alias to the extent where  modeling solutions come to you naturally.However unless you can afford to attend a REALLY good Uni or pay to go on Residential courses you’ll never learn enough Alias on your own to last even one week in Industry. CAD modelling is a profession and like other professions it takes several years of hard work to become competent. It’s very difficult to do it on your own, but if you are REALLY committed and have an unshakable desire, it can be done, but even so you are going to need some coaching if your going to succeed.

“What’s the answer then?”

In my experience there are very few people who reach a professional standard in Alias without going either to a university or a private Industrial Design college. The only people I have met who have managed it without doing a full time course have been Clay Modellers like myself, who have had the advantage of working in the same studio as Alias Studio modellers. They have still had to put in many, many, many hours of hard work to make it.It’s really a question of how much you want to become an Alias Modeller. We have to remember that nobody in the Alias World got their skills for free, so we definitely shouldn’t expect more than a little bit of free help here an there on the journey. Autodesk Alias produce learning materials and run the best forum there is. Once you’ve put in say one years really hard work, you’d be competent enough to ask sensible questions on the Alias Learning Community forum and you will get some great help there, but eventually if you are really serious you will have to put your hand in your pocket and pay for some teaching.When my son wanted to learn guitar, I paid 30 euros an hour for a teacher and many years ago when I wanted to learn web graphics, I paid 30 euros per hour for lessons. That would be 40 – 50 euros today. I had to give up things like new clothes and holidays, but I went on to get a Web Design job in London and recovered my investment in the first month and it was becoming an expert in Photoshop that lead me on to set my sights much higher towards reaching a good standard in Alias. To put things in perspective IMHO to reach just a respectable level in Autodesk Alias Studio is about 20 to 30 times more difficult than mastering PhotoshopDo EVERY tutorial you can find. Practice making models every spare minute you get and find and also try to attend some courses if you can. Alias courses are not cheap, but remember you are investing in your future. How much do you value yourself and your future?If you put in the hard work and find a teacher to help you along more quickly and stop you from wasting time by getting stuck, you’ll reach the Industry entry level a lot quicker.This is just my opinion, based on my own experience. I should love to here the opinions of other experienced Alias modellers on this topic.

Kind Regards

graham bullock B.Ed. Des & Tech.

________________________________________________________________

To Learn Alias Automotive to Industry Entry level has been made easier.

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, USA, Brazil etc. I can only take a maximum of 5-7 students at any one time. I teach all levels right up to Post Graduates. I have never had a Private student fail to get an Alias Automotive job (Companies include Ferrari, GM, Lotus, Opel, Audi Seat etc. ). If you wish to apply for a place, please email me with all your details.
Why not visit my website and take a look for your self?
Over 100 videos on many, many aspects of Learning Pro. Alias
I show you how to build a Complete Audi A5 Sportback (ext.) . Over 50 Videos on that alone !

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012) 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”. You will build at least 3 complete automotive exteriors. The course also includes an intensive Reverse Engineering section, which required by most employers.

“#3 Full Pro. “Elite” Course”.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 200-250 Euros (USD. 260-320 approx. Sept. 2012) 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

NB: Typically students pay 50% of the cost of the “Elite” course by monthly installments settling the balance over time,  once they have an Alias Automotive contract.

For more info,

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

*** Special 25% Discounts for US students (Message me on my website for details)

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

Hi to everybody out there on the tough road to LearningAlias

I want to show you how to model an A5 front fender (radial wheel arch) and I was going to build my fender onto Andrea’s hood top and fender top, but as I always do, I downloaded a lot of great fotos of A5’s and REALLY studied them and soon realized that just like any big Audi, the A5 surfaces are very subtle and even tough her model is pretty sound, I needed the basic curves to be absolutely sound, in order to buld a sucessful model, so I would have to build my own model from scratch.

Audi Produce a Lot of 1:1 Clay Models

From the clay the Alias modeler can see where all these subtle surface changes are and then go on to incorporate them into the virtual model.

However even with nice well lit fotos I couldn’t be sure exactly what the A5 surfaces were doing,

so I did what I tell all my students to do, I went into a BIG supermarket car park and studied an A5 coupe. I shot a load of black and white pics. and all this will give me a better chance of making a model which is loyal to the Audi Styling.

Private Students

I’ll show you how to start-out and then if you a really serious about learning Automotive Alias you may want to subscribe to my website and follow the 200+ videos on building the A5 Sportback + other projects.

www.learningalias.co.uk

Just like anybody else, I don’t earn anything from tutorials. I love creating them and helping Alias fans who can’t progress because they are lacking help and support, but my income comes from my private projects and a few students on line, whom I supervise . They are all very serious about LeraningAlias and are all working hard to become good enough to become Product Designers/ Automotive Des. Modelers or Auto-Conceptual modelers and Class A Surfacers. One of my students recently landed a job designing fashion shoes and although she is finding it hard, she tells me that she works with really great people who are helping her a lot to improve further. The same goes for students who start at Entry level in Automotive Studios.

Look closely at the Hood Top

I want you to look very closely at how hood top curvature accelerates just a very small amount towards the edge. This is a design change and on the new model the feature has moved from being part of the hood top to being translated into a fillet at the edge of the fender. This acceleration is critical, as it runs down the side of the grille. On this model the grille is abhout 25 mm prominent. Audi nicked the idea from Bentley.You can see what I’m describing clearly in the ref: Foto. Please don’t take on a complex design like an aAudi, without preparing LOADS of reference pics and dimensions first:I’ve included a model I made of Audi’s older design hood top, so you can see the difference.Always start by setting your Construction Options. Mine will be Catia V5 (G0 “Position” = 0.001 mm etc.) Next set your reference planes VERY, VERY precisely. In the Left view, I have set the ceter of the front wheel at the origin (0,0,0). This is industrial std. practise.Next create your 0Y curves. Use small degree curves as they are easy to control. I have used some deg. 1 crvs. but mainly 2_3_4 and occasionally a deg. 5 where necessaryYou’ll notice that where the Hood Top and Radiator Grille curves join I have establised G3 continuity. This is evident for 2 reasons:

• The outer RED line on the Curve Combs meet exactly
• The 2 Combs flow smoothly with no sharp points indicating that continuity goes beyond the intersection, into the curves interior

You need both these criteria for G3 to be achieved

[sorry this picture is not available]

I’ll be showing you how to build parts of this model. This pic. I downloaded from You Tube.

If you don’t have scan data or a Stylist to define the exact shape of the model you MUST look at a real car and work out how you are goin to layout your patches. You can see here I was planning to break the surf. to the left of the grille, but eventually I made it as one larger surf.
Have a look at the markers, which point out the concentric ellipses indicating that your surfs. have good highlights. I actually scrapped this surf. and made one single surf. for the Fender top.
Notice how you must use curve combs to show exactly what your surfaces are doing.
This is the new sharper styled Audi hood top
I have too much acceleration where the main hood top meets the fenders, so I need to sort that out and I also need to put some negative curvature where the fender meets the hood top. It’s not possible to get all this detailed info from pics. you need to go an find an Audi A5 and really look at it. A template former is a good tool to take out with you. Just put a strip of masking tape on the car and then push in your template taker, then draw the shape quickly before you loose it.It’s VITAL to start your first curves and your center surfs. very precisely. I am happy with the Hood Top, Radiator Grille surround and the Fender Top. Now the rest of my model will start to flow from these accurate foudation curves and surfaces.
This is pretty much the standard Patch Layout for modelling the main front end slab of an A5
It’s nice to see a car being born. but I do like to stick a bit of detail in early on, so I cut out the grille hole and offset the surface 40 mm back. It’s just how I like to model. It breaks up the intensitity of having to really concentrate on the extremely precise work of building the curves and surfaces.Getting started with a model is always very demanding, but it gets easier the more complete your model becomes.

The tutorial on this model will start real soon.

Cheers,

graham

Pictured below is an Audi A5 Sportback built by one of my students who is now a Digital Sculptor for GM.

Full HD video, just click the picture below

I am now putting some of my tutorials on YouTube, so whilst you’re there you may wish to check them out. There’s a full tutorial on how to create a Ball Corner to Class A Surfacing, Catia V5 spec.

Click Here for Videos

See just how quickly you can learn Automotive Modeling, with a Pro. Alias Trainer to help you

NURBS FROM MESH VIDEO click here

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make.

Check-Out my Customer Feedback,

Many of my students make it to the top and succeed in becoming pro. Alias Digital Modelers. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, USA, Brazil etc.

My New Website is now live!

I am a top flight Alias Trainer/Modeler, specializing in taking students who are either currently studying or who have left college/university and want to learn the skills they need to reach Alias Automotive Entry Level. I offer the best value Alias training deal out there!

To Learn Alias Automotive to Industry Entry level has been made easier.

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, USA, Brazil etc. I can only take a maximum of 5-7 students at any one time. I teach all levels right up to Post Graduates. I have never had a Private student fail to get an Alias Automotive job (Companies include Ferrari, GM, Lotus, Opel, Audi Seat etc. ). If you wish to apply for a place, please email me with all your details.
Why not visit my website and take a look for your self?
Over 100 videos on many, many aspects of Learning Pro. Alias
I show you how to build a Complete Audi A5 Sportback (ext.) . Over 50 Videos on that alone !

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012) 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”. You will build at least 3 complete automotive exteriors. The course also includes an intensive Reverse Engineering section, which required by most employers.

“#3 Full Pro. “Elite” Course”.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 200-250 Euros (USD. 260-320 approx. Sept. 2012) 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

NB: Typically students pay 50% of the cost of the “Elite” course by monthly installments settling the balance over time,  once they have an Alias Automotive contract.

For more info,

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

*** Special 25% Discounts for US students (Message me on my website for details)

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

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.

Fees include regular feedback on your work with comments, tips and advice from me
www.learningalias.co.uk

At LearningAlias you learn how to make Top-Flight

Professional standard models

Nothing is swept under the carpet. You learn how to model evry single detail

of  prestigious exteriors like the wonderful A5 Sportback, dsigned by my personal friend Satoshi Wada of  SWdesignTokyo.

With Alias Automotive models of this pro. standard

to show at interview, 95% percent of my students walk into jobs

as the Automotive Industry is crying out for guys who have these

advanced modeling skills

Alias Tutorial CROWNING SURFACES Preview

Alias Tutorial C Pillar Blend -PREVIEW

I have had some good feed back on my Alias Wheel Tutorial

In the Automotive Industry the wheel is not part of the main Alias Exterior work flow. Alias Modellers use light weight file size “Styling” Wheels on their models.They can import a heavy wheel when the Designer wants to see a high quality rendering.When I worked at Audi Design, they had a  very talented female Alias modeller, who’s current project was designing and Alias modelling,  just wheels. They are a specialist item.I’ve had a question about how to achieve Catia V5 tolerances on this model, which I’ll answer on this site soon. I have several students to look after and of course their problems have to come first.

Hi to All My Fiends Trying to Learn Alias 

Understanding Audi Surfaces

The Audi Design budget is one of the biggest in the industry and they are consequently able achieve very high quality surfaces. Audi surfaces are more accurate and more complex than many other manufacturers.If You Can Build an Audi Model Well, You Can Build Any Vehicle, but you wont be able to build an A5 coupe correctly on your own, just from tiny canvas imgs. To build even a reasonable model which includes the subtle styling lines of an A5, you’ll have to find one in the street/car park and study it and photograph it from every angle and then when you’ve done that zoom in a capture all the intricate surfaces. Just one example is how the hood top flows down the side of the protruding “Bentley style grille”. All this detail was worked out on a 1:1 scale model with the Stylist. Then it was scanned into Alias Surface and modelled, so You can’t build the real thing from canvases.

This is how my students work:

They model the exterior to the best of their abilities from the canvases and photographs that they have taken from a real car (Often the local Audi dealership will let you shoot your pics. as long as you explain why you need them). Students get started and then send me a copy of their .wire I then study it and using my experience from working at Audi Design, I mark up screenshots pointing out where they have misread the surfaces and suggesting work flows for difficult areas etc. Working with my support students don’t get really stuck and stressed out. They complete the model with me coaching them and then go on to make a second model with far less help from me. They may not realise it but they are well on the way to becoming competent CAD modellers.I’ve been helping Andrea in Rome with the most difficult surfaces on her A5 Coupe; the front fender and the rear “C” pillar.I will be writing a post on these problems very soon.

www.learningalias.co.uk

Rendering in Alias

To Learn Alias Automotive to Industry Entry level has been made easier.

For student’s who have the objective of finding a CAD job in the near future, I still teach One to One students and all of these students get Automotive Modeling or Design/Modeling jobs, so it’s a great investment to make. The hourly rate is very high and there are vacancies in UK. France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, USA, Brazil etc. I can only take a maximum of 5-7 students at any one time. I teach all levels right up to Post Graduates. I have never had a Private student fail to get an Alias Automotive job (Companies include Ferrari, GM, Lotus, Opel, Audi Seat etc. ). If you wish to apply for a place, please email me with all your details.
Why not visit my website and take a look for your self?
Over 100 videos on many, many aspects of Learning Pro. Alias
I show you how to build a Complete Audi A5 Sportback (ext.) . Over 50 Videos on that alone !

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (215 USD equivalent Sept. 2012) 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”. You will build at least 3 complete automotive exteriors. The course also includes an intensive Reverse Engineering section, which required by most employers.

“#3 Full Pro. “Elite” Course”.

Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course with weekly reviews and coaching 200-250 Euros (USD. 260-320 approx. Sept. 2012) 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

NB: Typically students pay 50% of the cost of the “Elite” course by monthly installments settling the balance over time,  once they have an Alias Automotive contract.

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

My New Website is now live!

I am a top flight Alias Trainer/Modeler, specializing in taking students who are either currently studying or who have left college/university and want to learn the skills they need to reach Alias Automotive Entry Level. I offer the best value Alias training deal out there!

Special Winter Discount Package

Courses in order of cost:

“Course #1”.6 months Website Access

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

Courses, including reviews and coaching:

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

167 Euros per month (228 USD equivalent Nov.2011)
(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).

“Course #2E” 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 website videos

“Course #3”.  Fast Track Full Pro. “One to One” Course

250 Euros (USD. 339 approx. Nov. 2011) per month. One to One Private tuition with weekly reviews of your .wire. 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

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 Bullock B.Ed.(CNAA)Des.Tech.

Alias Studio Wheel Tutorial – part – 5

Important Note:

Please consider registering on my new site:

www.learningalias.co.uk

I hope to see you there!

cheers

Professional Alias Trainer Graham Bullock

Alias Wheel Tutorial – part – 5Author: graham

Objectives:

• Projecting and trimming bolt hole

• Building internal surfaces for bolt Hole

• Filleting surface edges

• Mirroring the 36 deg half segment accross the YZ plane to form the first segment of the 5 segment wheel

• Create an eliptical, conical, curved spoke

• Learn how to allow space for the creation of fillet surfaces later on in your work flow

• Create curves on surface using the Tubular Offset Control tool

• Repair c-os that are short of the relevant surface edge

• Cretate freeform fillet surfaces

Here goes:

Here’s our half segment comprising the Rim, Hub and Spoke geometry

Check that in creating the curve in the spoke you haven’t moved it in the X axis

Zoom in very close and check that the vertical surf. edges of the spoke are still absolutely placed on the YZ pane where you created themIf anything is wrong you must reposition the half spoke so that it is sitting in the right place (if you have moved it or rotated it by mistake and can’t recover position, then delete it and build a new half-spoke surface)

If all is well >edit >duplicate>mirror and mirror the half spoke accoss the YZ plane

Now you have created one segment of the 5 seg. wheelAll you have to do now is >edit>duplicate>object

>edit >duplicate>object.

Set up the options box to create 4 copies and rotate 72 deg. each copy. This will produce your complete wheel geometryHere is the rim rendered in “Powertracer”

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Kind Regards

graham bullock B.Ed. Des & Tech.Pro. Modeler & Alias Trainer

________________________________________________________________

Alias Wheel Tutorial – part – 4

Alias Studio Wheel Tutorial – part – 4Author: graham

Objectives:

• Projecting and trimming bolt hole

• Building internal surfaces for bolt Hole

• Filleting surface edges

• Mirroring the 36 deg half segment accross the YZ plane to form the first segment of the 5 segment wheel

• Create an eliptical, conical, curved spoke

• Learn how to allow space for the creation of fillet surfaces later on in your work flow

• Create curves on surface using the Tubular Offset Control tool

• Repair c-os that are short of the relevant surface edge

• Cretate freeform fillet surfaces

Here goes:

Top view, select only the left half of the Hub segment and hide the rest of your model >Object Display>hide unselected>Create an ellipse on the Y axis which represents the cross section of your 1st Spoke >keypoint curves>ellipse>>and set the attributesMake sure that you leave 13mm clearance around it on the center surf. of your hub (This space will be needed to create the fillet between the Spoke and the Hub)Detached the ellipse on its major axis and delete the part shown as highlighted.>object edit>detach tool.
Left view copy and paste the half ellipse twice and move 2 of them upwards. Place copy N0.1  in the vertical center of the spoke and then copy N0.2  just above the Rim levelMove the 1st one down inside the Hub
Scale the 2nd and 3rd half ellipses up in size, so that your spoke will get thicker towards the topAs an aid for scaling the ellipses in the Left view I placed a keypoint curve at an angle representing the outside edge of the spoke. You can see this as a short line on the minor axis of the ellipses in my pic.


Perspective view: with the skin tool selected click on the bottom ellipse, then the middle one NOW hold the shift key as you click on the top ellipseAs you can see your new spoke’s skin surface has loads of spans. Go to the control panel and reduce them to say 8Perspective view: Move the middle elipse out along the Y axis, this will create an attractive curve in the spoke’s surface, as the surface updates to the curves movement. This is the magic of Alias at work!You’ll also need to move the top ellipse in, so that you have space on the Rim’s surf. to create a really attractive 25mm fillet
Front view: We can see that we have created a really beautiful shaped spoke just by one, scaling the ellipses and two, moving the center ellipse.Now we are going to create the milled rebate surface where the wheels center (hub) locates onto the wheel bearing/disc brake hubSkin a surf. to form the bolt hole milled through the hub, as shown
Select the verticle surface at the rear of the wheel hub and move it about 15mm forwards along the Y axisPerspective view: Create a skin surf. to complete the milled rebate and trim off the redundant part of the wheel’s center hole surf.Now intersect the spoke surf. with both the Hub and Rim surf. and trim off the excess
>surface> fillet flange tool>Tubular Offset tool. Set the tool up as shown.Where the spoke and hub intersect, select both C-O-S (curves on surface) this will produce a tubular surface which intersects both your surfaces with an offset distance = to the radius you have set. whilst creating c-o-s on the relevant surfs.If you don’t get c-o-s on both the spoke and the hub, just intersect the tubular surf. with the surf. that is missing a c-o-s.i.e. with the intersect tool >the spoke > go > the hub > go.Now delete the tubular surf. as it has done its job

IMPORTANT: make sure that your c-o-s reach the edges of the relevant surfaces. If they don’t, extend them with >object edit>extend tool (with merge and extrapolate switched on). If this doesn’t work create small curves and project them, Top view for the Hub and Front or Back view for the spoke to continue the c-o-s to meet the edges of your surfs.

Here are the C-O-S selected and ready to create the fillet surf.

Perspective view: >surface>freeform blend control. Set as shown
Congratulations you have created a really tricky surface set, that looks beautiful !!!________________________________________________________________

Alias Wheel Tutorial – part – 3

www.learningalias.co.uk

Alias Studio Wheel Tutorial – part – 3,Author: graham bullock B.Ed. Design and Tech

Objectives:

• Projecting and trimming bolt hole

• Building internal surfaces for bolt Hole

• Filleting surface edges

• Mirroring the 36 deg half segment accross the YZ plane to form 1 segment of the 5 segment wheel

Here goes:

In the Left view create a circle. Snap it to the edge of the segmentScale it to  r=10mm. Use the information window and type in the Z and X dimensions (>windows>info.window. I have mine on my mouse menu)Copy and paste the circle and scale the new one to your bolt dia. say r =5mm.Project and trim divide to get your “C” shaped milled surf. as we did earlier. Delete the 1omm dia inner bolt hole circular trim surf.
NB: The skin surface has a lot of spans, which makes for a heavy surface, so for this model we are going to reduce its spans:Go into the control panel and with the surface selected change the number of spans down to say 4. You will be warned that you will delete the memory >OK and then at the bottom of your monitor >accept (if you forget to click accept, your changes will be undone.)


In the perspective view create a duplicate curve on the inner edge of the “C” surf.Move the trim divided “C” surface inwards along the Y axis, the depth of your wheel nut or bolt head, say 25mmCreate the skin surf shown from the original hole to the outer edge of the “C” surf..Copy and paste the “C” surf. and slide your new surf. back along the Y axisNow skin the inner surf. of the bolt hole. If this is difficult to follow, don’t worry  everything you need to do is shown very clearly in the pics.
Using the >surface>round tool. Create your fillets as shown

NB: For Beginners. The Round Fillet Surfacing tool won’t give you accurate surface joints for much of the time,

but the quality it produces is fine for the purposes of this aesthetic model. There are work flows that experienced Alias folk apply after forming a fillet with the Round tool, that will tighten up the fit and curvature to meet high tolerance specs. These work flows involving the: untrim, project normal and align tool can be learnt further down the line.

I am working to tight tolerances

and maintaining G2 (curvature continuity) wherever I can and settling for G1 (tangency) when I have toOn a Styling model like this you don’t need to work to these tight tolerancesIf you want to work to Catia V5 you can, but if you haven’t been doing Alias long then there’s no need to beat yourself up on this particular Styling model, trying to get G2 which is 0.001mm. Work in a lower Construction Option. >preferences>const. options.e.g: >preferences>const. options>general constr. settings

We have built our 36deg. half seg. of our wheel to the right of the Z axis in the Left view.

Turn on the rim layer>edit>duplicate>duplicate object. and rotate 1 copy -36 deg. and delete the original.

>edit>duplicate>mirror>duplicate mirror tool and mirror back across the Z axis

Congratulations! You have made the first 72 deg. segment of the wheel rim and hub

________________________________________________________________