Another blueprint question

[cb4]

Greetings,

I have been working with blender for a couple months now, mostly doing logos and such to familiarize myself with the program. After some reasonable success at that, I decided to try out my hand at modeling a vehicle. My issue is with the blueprint setup. I have tried a bunch of different methods and vehicles and the results always come out the same. Originally I was trying going to do a Ford S-Max because I have a couple of those I can go out and look at but after sending a PM to Tom and trying his blueprint setup I have decided on a Ford F-250, mainly because there is four views and it seems to fit his tutorial well(Thanks Tom!). I believe my initial setup is correct, I pulled the dimensions right from Ford. The problem is with my very first line(and I assume all the rest). I make a centerline down the middle of the hood and it only fits in one view. Looking at the other two applicable views shows it doesnt line up. Obviously going from the top view to the front the z-direction doesnt line up but my main concern is the y-direction. Why doesnt this work in all three views? If I line it up on front view it doesnt work in top but it is pretty close on the side. If I line up in side it doesnt work in top or front.....I thought it may be the perspective of the picture but I get the same results with line drawings and different vehicles. Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong?

Thanks
Curtis

[tom120934]

You're doing nothing wrong. You just discovered the main issue with blueprint : many of them just don't match from one view to another.

What I usually do to solve this issue is, I draw a wireframe cage for the whole car. The goal is, to have a 3d model that is complete and coherent. Once you have it, no more need for the blueprint. This is what I explained here : Illustration of my modeling process with Aston Martin DB9 - Pixels or Atoms ?

To create this cage, gather as many good refpics as possible, and study them before drawing every single bodyline.

[cb4]

Tom,

Thanks again for the help. I have a decent model-in-progress now. I guess if it were as simple as tracing lines, anybody could do it.

[tom120934]

You're welcome

There is some blueprints that perfectly match. They usually come from 1/ a 3D model 2/ a CAD program. Most famous "perfect" prints are Audi's, as you'll find many of them here. A 3D model by a CG artist is also a good start : it's a pretty common move for modelers of not-well-documented cars to post orthographic views of their own model, like you'll find here (e.g.) the wide RX7 from Fast'n'Furious 3 or my own Ariel Atom II.

I have a decent model-in-progress now

Now it's time for you to post a WIP thread ! Move, move, move !!!