CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #7 (July 5, 2018): BC3-1806 is officially over! The Class Wrap stream recording is available to watch and the closing post is on page 63. Please take a minute to fill out the Questionnaire 🙇🏻♂️
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #6 (June 20, 2018): Week 4's stream recording has been edited together - curse you computer freeze! - and is available to watch. This is the final week of the class! Spend some time sculpting a wild and crazy vehicle design and let's finish strong 💪
Also a reminder that we will be having a 5th stream to wrap up the class on July 3rd, so don't miss that.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #5 (June 20, 2018): Check out Week 3's stream recording if you missed the broadcast! I also updated Week 3's homework for those of you that want to finish your vehicle exterior.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #4 (June 13, 2018): Week 2's stream recording is now available to watch if you missed the broadcast. Also the additional timelapse video mentioned in the stream is available here.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #3 (June 11, 2018): Week 1 is done! Thanks for getting your homework submitted on time. Here's a link to the report card if you'd like to keep track of your grades throughout the class. Onward to Week 2!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #2 (June 6, 2018): Week 1's stream recording is now available if you missed it. Also I've secured a concept car blueprint thanks to the talented 2D/3D artist, Milen Ivanov (see page 9 of this thread to download it). This is the vehicle I'll be modeling and you're welcome to model it as well if you don't want to find your own!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #1 (June 4, 2018): Class is in session! Today officially begins the BC3-1806 class. Please check the syllabus below for Week 1's focus and assignments. Begin watching the pre-recorded courses if you haven't already and begin searching for a cool vehicle you want to model. The first Live Event is tomorrow at 2pm EST - SEE YOU THERE! 😎
Vehicle model by Chris Kuhn on blendwap.com
Welcome to the CGCookie Class: Vehicle Modeling with Blender! Here by popular demand, this class is designed to be a holistic learning experience about the art of modeling vehicles. If you’re diligent in watching all content and hitting homework deadlines, by the end of the class you'll be prepared to build digital vehicles to your heart's content! This is an intermediate-to-advanced class which means you’ll do best by having some experience with Blender and 3D modeling before committing to this class.
This is the third "Class" format where Citizen members are invited to focus together on a particular topic/skill for a month. Participation looks like this:
WHEN? The class will take place from June 4th through July 2nd (ish)
Abstract: Vehicle modeling is pure hard surface modeling. Therefore it's important to be proficient with general polygon modeling techniques. This first week we're ramping into this particular modeling skillset to prepare us for the vehicle modeling extravaganza to come!
Goal of the Week: Level-up and/or dust off your hard-surface modeling skills.
Pre-recorded course to watch:
Week 1 Live Event (Remember to RSVP!)
Homework:
Abstract: When I say "Imagine a vehicle" I'll bet a million dollars you're thinking about the exterior. And that's why the exterior is important. It defines everything about a vehicle's visual perception: Style, utility, purpose. This week we're going to build a vehicle exterior based on concepts like building to scale and building from blueprints.
Goal of the Week: Build the exterior of your chosen vehicle based on blueprints. This will be good practice in strict adherence to orthographic front/side/back/top view modeling.
Pre-recorded courses to watch:
Week 2 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
Model by Neubi on blendswap.com
Abstract: The insides of vehicles involve more organic, soft shapes as well as opportunity for lots of fine hard surface details. Often vehicles renders focus on the exterior where the interior can be hidden or approximated. But not in this class!
Goal of the Week: Model the interior of your chosen vehicle to gain experience with fine hard-surface details in a confined space.
Pre-recorded courses to watch: Admittedly we don't have much in this context specifically...
Week 3 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
Abstract: There's another facet of vehicle modeling that doesn't involve strict adherence to blueprints. Instead, Concept Sculpting is about designing a vehicle from scratch using the artistic approach of digital sculpting. This can be an extremely fun, experimental method for creating unique vehicles.
Goal of the Week: Sculpt a vehicle exterior from scratch; Practice hard-surface sculpting techniques.
Pre-recorded courses to watch: Again we don't have much in this context specifically, but we have a couple courses that cover hard-surface sculpting in general:
Week 4 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
This thread is reserved for CG Cookie Citizens that are participating in the "Vehicle Modeling with Blender" class. Its purpose is to serve as central communication for all participating Citizens (excluding Hobby plan Citizens) to ask Kent and fellow participants questions and to post homework. As the instructor of the class, Kent will be monitoring this thread on a daily basis (especially Mon-Thurs) throughout the month of June to review homework and answer questions.
Free members are welcome to observe the thread but please respect that communication is reserved for Citizens.
louhikarme I tried adding some holding edges, but it gives me some pinching. Not a whole lot though.
https://sketchfab.com/models/cd8217044701437785564a5e54532888
baukepost did you try having a face loop that wraps around the corner? Like the topology on the mouth of a character, that might help.
Try something like this. Blue loops will have to be sacrificed. Topology gods demand it. 
Thank you for your reply's, this is really helpful feedback! I'll try to improve it and please the topology gods :)
baukepost This is exactly the kind of thing I'm going to cover during the class. In fact if you're willing to wait, I could use your model and this specific part of the vehicle to demo functional topology for such shapes.
@theluthier That would be awesome! You can download the .blend file on sketchfab if you want to. I think what I'll do is save my current car on a different layer and continue working on it in my "main" layer. That way, I'll gain some more experience on vehicle modeling and when the class starts I'll be able to learn from my mistakes.
Edit: there are still some parts of the bumper that weren't completely finished, so I'll upload another one on sketchfab when it is.
I uploaded an improved model, also available for download: https://sketchfab.com/models/0efb1b31e94a4d76a85ef4311f98079c
Really wanna model a Reliant Regal but can't seem to find any consistent blueprints, I'll have to reserve that one for when I get more experienced and can fill in the blanks a little bit.
Excited! I see one of the model's is by Chris Kuhn, I always loved his stuff! I think one of the first things I did as a CGC citizen was Chris's "Animated Sci Fi Hatch" video.
williamatics Utilizing the shrink-wrap modifier method is the key! ;)
aarev Great choice. I love seeing the variety of picks already, from tank to sports car to classic roadster. June is going to be a lot of fun.
I'm going to take part, too! Can't wait to try something completely different!
This class looks seriously challenging to me. I did less well in the character creation course than I had wanted to, but then I had a few distractions that month. I anticipate fewer problems in June. I am on board for this one.
Now I just have to decide what vehicle I want to model. I've got a bunch of different ideas but I also want to be able to take advantage of both the exterior and interior portions of the class; I may not decide until right before the class begins. Actually since Week 1's homework includes choosing the blueprint for our modeling, I guess that means I have all of that week also! But I think I'll decide before the class begins.
jakeblended If it's any consolation chances are I'm less experienced than you and expressed the same concern, but @theluthier told me earlier in the thread about how the course will be a welcoming environment for a wide range of skill levels.
If you haven't already, check out the Fundamentals of Hard Surface Modeling and the Mesh Modeling Bootcamp to get you up to speed. I've only finished the fundamentals but I'm already feeling more confident in my abilities.
Hey guys!
I'm definitely not a car person, so sketching the interior was very new and difficult for me. Not having any blueprints for this specific interior didn't help either. I'd like to get some feedback on the size and spacing of things, that would be very helpful.
baukepost I'm not a car person either so take this with a grain of salt, but I feel like the dashboard is too far away from the driver, especially in the top view. Usually I don't need to fully extend my arms to reach the steering wheel. I also feel in most cars the dash is even with or even extends past (further back on the car) the side mirror, and the wheel wells usually just barely protrude into the cabin down by the pedals. All that is pretty close to what you have in the side view, so I would favor that over the top view. I would also increase the width of the center console. Smash everything in close laterally. The gaps should be just big enough to drop your keys in, but too small for your hand to retrieve them.
Going to model this car if i find good enough referance photoes.