I'm trying to model my motorcycle (Honda CBF 125) in Maya 2013 and i'm having difficulties modeling the engine as it's quite a complex shape when it comes to 3D modeling. Here is the reference image i took of my bikes engine:
I'm having problems where the beveled bit intersects the cylinder bit of the engine here's my model so far with the wire frame:
how would I model this in as much quads as possible? Is there any videos or tutorials on techniques for modeling this type of object?
I would probably start at the back of it, with the overall flat slice and extrude working my way forward and changing the topology as it got to the next layer. It's not a trivial shape to create, and would probably be quite a bit easier to make in something like 3D coat, or zbrush.
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3D Generalist and VFX Artist
I'd do it in subDs the creasing options are good for a lot of the join work.
Regarding quads - as a rule you need to be careful where you put tri's you can get away with a convergence like the top of a cylinder but if you stick one randomly in a mesh it messes up the math behind smooth functions or displacement. Not too bad on a solid object but on a character to be rigged it can lead to a mess
I have attached the way I might do it, with unfinished work of course. I left history on so you an see what I did. As you can see my geo is separate and I am extruding edges and adding edge loops in the process of joining it together. Hope this helps