https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnEWjuigTUU&t=2337s
At 38m57s in the CGCookie video above, Jonathan is telling that he has met a great difficulty to model the tire for the motorcycle. The method he has chosen is to manually draw the pattern in the Edit mode and shrinkwrap on the surface of the tire, and then connect all geometry by hands. He said that this took him a long time and very tedious.
This prompts me to think some questions:
Question (1):
Can the pattern on the tire be done by using skin alpha in the sculpt mode? Is creating the skin alpha for the tire very time consuming and difficult please?
In this method,
Step 1: Create a mesh for the bulk of the tire with all quads;
Step 2: Use a Multiresolution modifier to subdivide the quads;
Step 3: Use draw brush with skin alpha to paste the pattern on the tire.
But you need to create those skin alpha first, before the step 3 can happen.
Also, the size of the pasted skin alpha should be consistent. If some skin alpha appears larger or smaller than the others, then this method can not be called successful.
Question (2):
Following the previous method, can the skin alpha be created by using Geometric nodes please?
I am sure that the whole tire can be created 100% by Geometric nodes, but here what i am interested in is whether the skin alpha can be conveniently done by the Geometric nodes or not.
Questions (3):
Can the pattern on the tire be done by using mask with curve strokes in the sculpt mode? Will it be easier than the Jonathan's method please?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8xoUkPY4e8&t=34s
At 00:34s on the video, it suggests a new method:
Step 1: Create a mesh for the bulk of the tire with all quads;
Step 2: Make a copy of the mesh;
Step 3: Make the pattern by using the curve stroke method as shown on the video;
Step 4: Remesh the whole tire, and use the Mesh Filter to make the edges smooth;
Step 5: Retoplogize the whole tire with all quads.
(Alternative Step 5: if do not want to retoplogize the whole thing, then we can bake the geometric pattern on a displacement map;
Step 6: Apply the displacement map on the copy of the mesh from the Step 2.)
I would say these are all valid methods, what we're looking for is speed and good end results. Yet I think what sets them apart is the optimization. You could do the tire pattern with multires and alpha brushes, sculpt it, etc... but the resulting vertex count should be insanely dense, then having to remesh, you loose control over your topology, not very controllable is not that cool if you ask me, not easy to make changes and redesigns and a lot of wasted geometry and memory, etc, etc. So at least I wouldn't go about modeling a tire with sculpt mode in mind. Not to say it isn't valid, of course you can.
I think it is best to approach the modeling with good old box modeling. It would definitely result in the most optimized and controllable mesh, and for me that trumps most of the approaches that tend to want to make the job very easy and quick. As Jonathan Lampel says, it can be tedious, but for me, that I can have mastery and authority over me loops, it's worth it.
When it comes to geometry nodes, I wouldn't know, I've never used them. Though I doubt right now it would be better than modeling the tire. I believe they are most useful for motion graphics and procedural patterns. You could create the alpha with geometry nodes, but again, I find it too much of a hassle to go through geometry nodes just for that. Creating the alpha in an application like Photoshop or Krita or Illustrator should be the best way.
Thank you for your comment, Omar!
"loose control over your topology, not very controllable "
I think that we can bake the geometric pattern on a displacement map, and then apply the displacement map on the low poly model.
"So at least I wouldn't go about modeling a tire with sculpt mode in mind."
Approaching this problem with the Sculpt mode is the first thing coming into my mind, after watching the video in my Question (3).
nnaiad , it depends on the pattern, what the best method is, but what I'd recommend, to always do for tyres, is;
model the threads on a flat plane.
Then use a Curve Modifier (for the U-shape) an Array Modifier and a Simple Deform, set to Bend and 360° .
Yeah in the end all the approaches are good an valid, I guess it comes down to your goal and preference.
In this oldie but goodie and timeless video, I think there is a good method:
