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Capacity to Handle Frustration in the Design Process. By David Torres MA Pro. Alias Modeler.

Article No. 1 of 8.
Introduction:

As a transport and product designer, my role nowadays in the Audi Konzept design studio is to support and help the concept design team, as a member of the CAD modeling department within the studio. This means that we form work-teams including a designer-Alias modeler for each project. Sometimes depending on the project there can be more than one modeler/designer working on the project. The projects I have been involved in start from the very initial point of the design of the vehicle concept (first volumes, proportions and concept) to more restrictive projects, such as production models or show cars with Strak parts.
I have been thinking for a long time about writing this, what to say and the way to approach it.
In colleges we can learn the theory and tools for the work we will try to do in the near future. In this case, Alias modeling. This is important, of course, in fact is vital, the more you know the tools the more you can concentrate on many other aspects that are also very important to achieve the success and excellence demanded in a studio work environment !
You undertake years of hard study and preparation, then, one day, suddenly it happens. You have a job in the real world! With this article and those that will follow in the series, my intention is to explain some important things that usually you cannot learn on a Design or Modeling courses (mostly because they don’t teach this in my experience) and you probably will discover with the experience. Some of these things are difficult to teach to a student, without the right environment, but at least, I hope this will give you the basic tools, which will enable you to be prepared.
I will start with The “Capacity to Deal with Frustration.
I must say that I’m not an expert in psychology but I use this term as the capacity to overcome situations where the events, results, etc.. are not going as one would expect or the project is not going as well as you desire.
As in many other jobs, you have been dedicating a lot of effort, time and expectations modeling a design.
When you are modeling, I think that the Frustration can come from various different angles:

Change.
Quantic Design .
Mistake surprise .

Change:

Be prepared to make change, even when you are completely convinced that this is the best model you have ever made! I’m not saying that change is always good, but it’s part of the creative process and in the automotive design it’s really alive. You will find constant changes (and with constant I mean, every day or even more frequently), from the beginning, when you are just modeling big volumes and shapes, up until the point where you are just finishing the model full of detail and pieces!

The first ones are probably the ones that you would expect, these are usually better tolerated than the later ones. In the beginning you will be mentalized to explore and this implies change but when the model/product starts to be really closed and done or the deadline date to deliver the design is rapidly nearing, if you are not used to it, it may be frustrating to change. Sometimes these changes can be little movements of curves (maybe 1 or 2 mm) or they can be bigger than this. In this moment, even these “small” changes many times implies undoing a lot of work around the change, and then doing it again. In this case you could feel frustration. Train your capacity to overcome this, look for the positive side and try to learn as much as you can from each change and the origin of it!

Quantic Design!

I like to use this words when I start modeling a sketch that may seem to be impossible to do or understand. Sometimes, your experience can play a good or bad role in this situations. In the good ones it will help you to see in advance problems, ways to solve them or understand better the concept of the designer but in the bad ones, it can just block you in a position of negativity around it as your brain uses your experience to build an answer before things happen. In this case you can also

experiment with the Frustration. When you find a “Quantic Design” moment, try to use only your “good” experience and just do it, try it and then explain the situation to the designer and just get on and model something, maybe this gives a positive result, or a negative result so the designer can then explore new things or this can give a complete new unexpected design that could also be good for the project. I any case you should never feel that doing “Quantic Design” is a waste of time. It’s just another way for everybody to explore and learn!

Mistake Surprise!

Put in this situation, you have finished a task, maybe a complete body side and you feel happy with it and confident of the quality. Then you show this to the designer absolutely sure that he/she will just say “Wow” and after just 5 seconds of revision, he finds a silly beginner’s mistake that you are always looking not to do and you can’t believe that it is there, but it is! At this point, you can also feel Frustration, mainly because you had created some expectations about the work that are just instantly wiped-out before your eyes, after the discovery of the mistake.
It can be a thousand things but usually this kind of mistakes happens when you try to jump steps in the modeling process. Of course, you should have some flexibility in the process and modeling but there are some steps/rules that would be better to follow. Some of them are the ones that you have learned in the studies and others you will have learned through your experience within the studio. Usually everybody has their own methodological steps that work for them, try to learn as much as you can, listen and make your “rules and steps” in order to avoid basic mistakes and save time. Following this, will give confidence to you and also the designer will understand better your way of working.
I hope that this short article may help you. Remember to stay positive, have tons of high expectations and dreams, listen, learn, be patient and explain your point of view if the situation requires it. Analyze the feeling of Frustration and the situation that caused it and try to turn it in your favour not against you!

If you found this interesting, It will be an honour to see you again in my next article where I will try to reflect my point of view on Team Work.!

Regards

David Torres-Prats

Info. on Courses:

“Course #1”.

6 Months website access to all website based video tutorials, 167 Euros (225 USD equivalent Nov.2013)

“Course #2”.

167 Euros (225 USD equivalent Nov.2013) 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. 338 approx. Nov. 2013) 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.

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Here’s an interesting question sent in by a Brazilian student ( Gustavo):

Model by Mathew Tan (Malaysia)

Gustavo: Q)  Generally speaking, when I build transition surfaces (like blends, cant rail and pillars for example) I build them already putting the desired continuity with the master surface (g1,g2,etc..) and then balance the parameters to get the surf close  to the mesh, or should I first snap the surf to the mesh and then check continuity (provided the clay model data already solved the desired transitions between the master surfaces).

graham : (NB: for  master surface   please use Parent Surface)

General ans:

Use the FFB tool to achieve the desired level of crvtr cont.

An in depth explanation of how a model is built in an industrial environment:

Ans) Remember! that you are not always going to be copying the mesh data. You copy it where it flows smoothly and has good HL’s, but where the mesh can be improved upon, then you call the designer and advise him/her that, to improve the surfaces you need him to agree to you deviating from the 1.0mm mesh tol. So to ans. your Q, I can only tell you how I work: Cant-Rail, use FFB (Free-Form Blend) with crvtr. restraints set to suit the mesh condition eg. The cant-rail to theoretical side-glass  may require G2, BUT often the boundary with the *roof will be a panel joint with a 10mm wide plastic trim inset (even the Audi A5 is constructed thus), so here you could use C0 or G1, the choice is design dependent. Also just what level of srfc cvtr cont is demanded will vary as the project progresses from the first few months and starts to mature, so *C0 could be acceptable early on as long as the designer is happy with the look of the cant rail and then further down the line engineering constraints may be imposed forcing the modeler to achieve say G1.

So not a straight forward ans, but we have to grasp that the exterior starts life driven by Styling and then later on it has to conform more and more to Engineering specs.

Finally we must remember that not all boundaries have to be G2 eg: where there is a break like a panel joint or parting line G2 isn’t really relevant. A lot depends also on what your Modeling Manager demands, as he is the guy who has to sign-off your work. I can tell you at Audi during the first month of a project you have to work very quickly to develop the model and there isn’t always time to achieve pretty srfc boundary locators “Green Flags”. The designer will accept this to get te model into Milling, just so long as the surface flow (Highlights) look really good.

If I have time to model both edges of the Cant-Rail to G2, then I will, but often when there is a really tight deadline to transfer my data to Milling

Then I will model to C0 at the roof boundary and G1 at the theoretical Side Glass bound.

TIP: Often to get the cant rail to fall within mesh-tols, I will slide the srfc boundary of the roof using Extend with direct hist. on the blend.

As you can see srfc modeling is an ART and you are working in a close relationship with the designer.

kind regards

graham

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.

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Day#1,

Hi Graham, so you want me to take these concept surfaces and rebuild them to something a little more workable, more class-A, if you will?  OK!  I will give it a go.

As I can see it has a few surface anomalies in there, and the CVs are very un-editable.
These are things I will need to focus on to improve in my rebuild.

I have kind of built the primary theoretical model at this point in time.

Regards,
K
————————-
Day#3,

Hi Graham,

I finished this bumper pretty much! It’s not perfect but I’m pretty happy, I struggled before because I tried using to many curves and I kind of stepped away from that approach for this model and just started with degree 1 planes and banged them into shape.

Kind regards,
K

————————
Day#4,

Hi G,

I am taking this one step further, I want to stitch it together, import it into a solid modeling package and thicken it.

In reality this is going to happen! we can’t just turn a blind eye to what happens after our work has finished,  I believe anyway. You can see I am trying to stitch it, and that immediately shows me that I have a few gaps I need to fix up first.

For example these two fillet pieces don’t match up,

so I simply turn on the CVs and start snapping them together. I put curvature locators on the neighbouring edges also to check whether I don’t loose position continuity anywhere else by doing this.

Sometimes it’s a little trickier,

such as this region of the model! because the CVs don’t naturally line up with each other on these surfaces.

So what I do is, I turn off Perspective in the View Panel

and I zoom in as far as I possible can! then you can see the truth that is always with us: there is always a tolerance and unless CVs snap to each other with a one-to-one ratio it is never a 0mm gap!

So I move one CV one a little bit in, the other a little bit out as so forth,

until I find a balance which satisfies the gap tolerance for all the edges in the model. Notice the tolerances here are as such, with a gap of 0.01mm and some people go down to 0.001mm which of course makes life that much harder!

Eventually you will want to work towards having one shell with one boundary, the outer perimeter of the shell.

Now let’s export it to our solid modeling system!

First of all, I understand IGES is still heavily used in industry or perhaps even VDA but I think you really can’t go wrong with STEP and am looking forward to the new AP242 protocol due to be supported by many software in the near future! for now I would recommend AP214. I simply selected my shell and File > Export > Active As.

Now let’s import this in CATIAV5!

As you can see, it comes in as a valid, single and watertight open shell surface. CATIAV5 has a gap tolerance of 0.001mm, but allows for a thing called “tolerant modeling” which allows it to increase this distance where and when it makes sense. In this case, because we stitched it first in Alias and the STEP file supports the notion of a “stitched open shell” CATIAV5 is smart enough to understand our model’s intent, and does not give us any problems.

Now we can perform a thicken operation of say around 0.7mm to give it a volume,

and we have a solid! now not all models will be this easy to thicken, sometimes it can be a real battle! it needs to be discussed at that point whether the surface modeler will change his model, or whether the engineer will go ahead and attempt to manually thicken it which usually works but takes time!

Just a note to those of you who are really driven to reach Alias Automotive Entry Level:

When I first met Graham Bullock, I suppose I was just like most of the other aspiring wanna be modellers out there, trying very hard to understand how to build a vehicle and unable to find any help at a reasonable cost. I wasted so much time trying to learn a very skillful profession, on my own. Now when I look back on it, I can see that I had zero chance of succeeding, without having a pro. like Graham Bullock to help and guide me every step of the way. He has worked in the Automotive Industry since 1970 and not only has he taught me so much about Modelling and Reverse Engineering, but what I find really useful and confidence building, is what he has taught me about how Design Studios work and I now I definitely feel that I have a really clear concept of what to expect when I walk into a studio, to work for the first time. I am very proud to have been promoted into the Elite Student Group, where I get a fantastic level of support for my modelling. If I am stuck, Graham sends me notes on the correct work flow and when required he sends specimen srfs and meshes.
In my day job, I am currently working with a CAD package, designing wiring harnesses for trains and my dream is to get into an Automotive Studio as an Alias Digital Sculptor. Since I have been in the Elite group, I have seen students taking up jobs with Lotus, Fiat, Ferrari, Audi etc. and I know that if I carry on working hard, I will make it too! Wish me luck!

Regards, Kevin: Elite student with LearningAlias

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.

Hello Gustavo,

I am Kevin de Smet. I have been forwarded your question by Graham and thought I’d give you a few pointers.

Good luck with your Alias

Kevin de Smet (elite student at LearningAlias ).

A Smart Rendering Tool. Check this out!

www.learningalias.co.uk

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.

Follow Me.跟我来:

Follow Me.跟我来:

Here’s just one example of the many emails I receive from Post Grads. who cannont find Entry level Alias Modelling, Des./Modelling jobs:

“Dear Sir, I have recently graduated in Transport Design and I am very happy with the course that I chose to follow, with one exception. The Alias teacher on my course was a great guy, but whereas he was brilliant at 3D Max, he didn’t seem to have been trained in Alias and as a result we didn’t learn much more than the basics. I am an average designer, so my chosen career path is Automotive Alias Modelling or if I’m lucky Des/Modelling.

Various major OEM’s have head-hunted the 3 or 4 outstanding students from my year, all of whom have parents who paid for expensive Alias courses for them. The remainder of us had to rely on the limited amount of Alias taught within our course and in adition to this, we had very few Alias hours per week on a workstation.

I have had a few interviews for Automotive Alias jobs, but so far have had zero success. In all my interviews I have been asked:

• Which exteriors I have built to Class A principals (ie. showing an understanding of Bezier surface modelling)
• How much Reverse Engineering do I know
• And in several interviews I was given a mesh and asked to surface part of it to a tol of <1.00mm.”

Like most of my student group, I know very little about Nurbs from Mesh and I am very slow at it, so those Interviews were Absolute Hell!

Can you please tell me how I can get a job, when the level of Alias I have been taught is way below Industry Entry level requirement.

Yours sincerely

Vijay Desai“

Before I answer your question, I feel it only fair to commend the college lectures worldwide who work very hard for their salary and do a great job. The reason that there are so few lectures who have Industrial competence in Alias Automotive, is a matter of simple economics. An Alias modeller earns 50€ per hour/60USD. whereas a highly skilled college lecturer earns just 15-18€/18-20 USD, so it is unreasonable to expect a lecturer, who must have knowledge and skills across a wide range of platforms, to have Industrial level Alias skills. If you want to become an Alias specialist, you must do the hard miles in your own time. To all college lecturers out there. RESPECT!

Hi Vijay,

First of all there is no need to panic about your lack of Alias skills!

Whilst it is true to say that with your current skill level nobody is likely to offer you a job in this economic climate. However to raise yhour Alias skill level, is an achievable task.

I deal with a lot of  Post Grads. who are in your position.  Some are talented Designers and other want to become Alias Modellers.

I offer a very comprehensive Alias Automotive course, which includes a high level of Reverse Engineering (you get to surface and entire exterior using Nurbs from Mesh ).

As regards modelling to Class A Principals , on the this course you get to build 2 more exteriors, one of which is the Audi A5 Sportback 2009/ 2012 face-lift.

All students who have completed my course find Alias jobs, without exception.

Interviews panels are always impressed by students who have 3 complete exteriors modelled with Bezier surfaces to show and who can surface a mesh quickly and acurately. It is quite normal nowadays for an interviewee to be thrown a mesh of say the front corner of a car or a complete but relatively simple exterior and given 5 to eight hours to surface it. All graduates from LearningAlias are equipped with these skills and feel comfortable performing, such interview tasks.

I have trained Trans/Des. post grads. who were working in Gfx. studios or worse still, in shops and trained them to entry level, reulting in successfull employment in the Automotive Industry.

As many students cannot afford even 167€ /200USD. per month , I allow them to pay 100€ / 120 USD. and then pay the outstanding balance once they have an Alias job.

Timing: Post Grads. need between 3-9 months to complete the LearningAlias course and have all the skills that Industry is demanding.

kind regards
Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. 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.

Follow Me.跟我来:

“How do I arrive at an x-sec, which is not given on the blueprints?”

www.learningalias.co.uk

Here are just 2 examples of the courses I run,
which will take you up to Industry enrty level. I only have time to mentor a handful of students, so please if you are interseted in applying send me your CV and your latest .wire if you have previous Alias experience. If you have no Alias experience, but are experienced on other 3D platforms, I will still consider your application seriously. The main thing I am looking for is real passion and committment to make it in the Alias Automotive Industry

“Course #1”. 6 Months website access to all video tutorials
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) for 6 months website access. This is the most economical way to access my unique Alias Automotive videos, where you will learn how to build the Audi A5 Sportback. You will also gain access to the many videos on Alias Pro. technique.

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

(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. )
167 Euros (228 USD equivalent) per month. You will learn how to build 2 complete vehicle exteriors: Audi A5 Sportback and the Virrage Concept Car (Overbuild modeling method) . You will also get access to my “Expert Private Student” videos, which are released to your personal email from YouTube,

Kind regards and enjoy your Alias

Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech.

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Nepal: Please Join my action to raise money for people sleeping rough in Nepal following the devastation of the Earthquake. Please donate just 10-30 GBP/ 15$ to 45 $ Why not take 2 min to do it now?
Learning Alias sponsors the Education of children in Nepal. But right now we need to raise money quickly to send to her village Khiji Chandeshwori, which is in the foot hills of Mount Everest. 7 homes in this small village 2 days walk from the nearest road, have need completely destroyed and the families are sleeping under plastic in the rain and cold. However much is collected up to 1000 GBP ,LearningAlias will double. Thank You for your kindness, graham bullock.

Why I chose a career in Alias Automotive

I had to research all the main platforms,

Hi I’m Kevin De Smet advanced student at LearningAlais.

I want to talk a little about the advantages of Alias over Rino.

Kind regards,

Kevin De Smet (Advanced student and resource creator at LearningAlias).

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 GBP

“Course #2”.

167 GBP 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 GBP 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.

Follow Me.跟我来:

a href=”https://blog.learningalias.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Nepal-appeal.jpg”>

Nepal: Please Join my action to raise money for people
sleeping rough in Nepal following the devastation of the Earthquake. Please donate just 10-30 GBP/
15$ to 45 $ Why not take 2 min to do it now?
Learning Alias sponsors the Education of children in Nepal. But right
now we need to raise money quickly to send to her village Khiji Chandeshwori, which is in the foot
hills of Mount Everest. 7 homes in this small village 2 days walk from the nearest road, have need
completely destroyed and the families are sleeping under plastic in the rain and cold. However much
is collected up to 1000 GBP ,LearningAlias will double. Thank You for your kindness, graham
bullock.

We are flat out at learningAlias both with meeting our personal modelling deadlines and with reviewing our students work. Any spare time is devoted to developing new learning materials and helping “Elite” students who have completed their learningAlias course to prepare their CV’s and digital portfolios, so that they can set off on the task of finding themselves a good Entry level Automotive contract. For these reasons we simply cannot respond to questions sent in by non-subscribing students, however Kevin de Smet has kindly agreed to make an exeption and answer the following questions. If you are not a subscriber, the correct place to ask your questions is on the Autodesk Alias Modelling forum.
I would like to thank Kevin for making time to answer this particular set of questions.

kind regards

graham bullock

Dear Learning Alias,

As I am new to alias design, I want to ask you 3 questions, and I would be thankful if you answer me:

1- How can we draw precisely in Alias design, like parametric software (Solidworks etc.)?
2- How can we give thickness to surfaces and make them solid?
3- How can we use the output of Alias design for technical drawing?

Thanks in advance

Farshid

Hi Farshid,

Graham has asked me to make time to answer your questions.

As for your first question, how to draw precisely in Alias, is a really good question. I had the same question when I started out. The thing is, there actually aren’t that many “dimensions” on a car body. Nor are there that many prismatic shapes (i.e. planar, cylindrical, etc…) because every shape blends into the other, they all have subtle influence where one shape stops and another begins. Even if it looks almost like an analytical form at times! To describe that shape, is freeform. And we use nurbs surfaces to do that, defined by control vertices. That’s it, no more.

Now, there is something that may help you out, if you go to Window > Palette and open up the Curves tab then use the “kptbx” tool. It opens the Keypoint Curves box which allows you to draw analytic shapes, if you draw for example a line you can select it like any curve and go to Windows > Information > Information Window, open up the Attributes and you can key in a numeric value. Now there is no constraint solver in Alias, like in SolidWorks you can make lines parallel to each other or tangent etc… but you can use the Align tool for this, it’s under the Object Edit tab in the Palette.

Your second question is one of thickness, this is more complicated than one would think. Usually thickness is given when the data is passed over from Alias to the solid modeling tool (CATIA or NX) you can give a thickness in Alias by using in the palette Object Edit > Offset but why this is not preferred is that this does not create a true offset surface. It’s just another surface with control vertices, no more. And it merely simulates being offset. In the solid modeling tool it is a procedural surface explicitly defined mathematically as offset. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s a pretty big deal! I do think Alias handles an offset differently if you stitch your model first using Surface Edit > Stitch. But it’ll never be quite like a solid modeler can crank out offset geometry.

Thirdly, Alias does not have a drafting environment as you would know it from SolidWorks. Typically the Alias data would be transferred over to the solid modeling engineering tool and the drawings are made on that system. During the past decade it’s become pretty popular to annotate the 3D model directly in the solid modeling system with 3D PMI (Product Manufacturing Information) with dimensions, text, surface finishes, geometric datums and modifiers all as per ASME Y14.41-2003, you should definitely look that standard up on Google! it’s, pretty cool.

In the end it will require practice but things will start to make sense as you go through.

Kind regards,
Kevin

www.learningalias.co.uk

Here are just 2 examples of the courses I run,
which will take you up to Industry enrty level. I only have time to mentor a handful of students, so please if you are interseted in applying send me your CV and your latest .wire if you have previous Alias experience. If you have no Alias experience, but are experienced on other 3D platforms, I will still consider your application seriously. The main thing I am looking for is real passion and committment to make it in the Alias Automotive Industry

“Course #1”. 6 Months website access to all video tutorials
167 GBP for 6 months website access. This is the most economical way to access my unique Alias Automotive videos, where you will learn how to build the Audi A5 Sportback. You will also gain access to the many videos on Alias Pro. technique.

“Course #2A” Private Tuition Package

(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. )
167 GBP per month. You will learn how to build 2 complete vehicle exteriors: Audi A5 Sportback and the Virrage Concept Car (Overbuild modeling method) . You will also get access to my “Expert Private Student” videos, which are released to your personal email from YouTube,

Kind regards and enjoy your Alias

Graham bullock B.Ed. CNAA. Des. Tech.

Follow Me.跟我来:

Here’s an interesting question sent in this morning by a student:

Hi Graham,
I have started on the mesh and immediately have a question, kind of a fundamental one. On the Audi design the bumper has positional breaks as it transitions up and down.

Knowing this, does the curve I just drew still want to exhibit this kind of acceleration towards the ends (like on a hood) or not?

(Pictured below)

[G

(pictured above)

This is better for the bumper, I think.

Regards,
K]

Answer:

Hi K,

Summary:

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.

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