This is Pointer, a two-seat, high speed, sci-fi flying vehicle capable of vertical take off and landing.

It is my first finished original concept created by using the subdivision modeling technique. My main purpose with this project was to build knowledge in the process and methodologies that bring quality 3D assets into reality.

There were countless technical and design challenges along the way. What guided my decisions when facing a problem related with the concept shapes and mechanics was to keep the vehicle believable and functional. The fundamental rule I followed was to never miss an opportunity to learn.

The end result represents my best of knowledge so far. And despite not fully finished, I had to draw the logical line somewhere that will allow me to reflect, collect feedback, improve and only after continue forward with the next steps. In the future I will work on adding the UVs, the textures, the take-off and landing animations and also experiment with Unreal Engine for enhancing the story of the asset.

First, I would like to thank my mentor Maximilian Jonas for his support in the initial phases of the project with his constructive feedback, knowledge sharing and encouragement. I am also grateful to professionals like Andrew Hodgson who are willing to make their invaluable experience accessible to learn from. And the large 3D community in various platforms from which I drew inspiration and know-how.

Software Used

Maya | Arnold

Gallery

Exterior

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Cockpit

Pointer is a two-seated vehicle. Each of the seats is highly specialized.

Image Outside view at the pilot’s seat

Image Pilot’s seat

Image Sensor and communication officer’s seat

Close-Ups

Image Front rotor mech

Image Cockpit seat

Image Back lading leg

Breakdown

This section provides an insight into the vehicle’s geometry, the project structure and a view to the many inspirations that influenced the final result.

Wireframes

Exterior

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Cockpit

Image Outside view at the pilot’s seat

Image Pilot’s seat

Image Sensor and communication officer’s seat

Close-Ups

Image Front rotor mech

Image Cockpit seat

There are 3 independent from each other back legs positioned on each side of the vehicle. Each one is designed to support horizontal and vertical rotations. There is a piston controlling the vertical extension of the leg as well. Image Back lading leg

Rotors’ Mechanics

There is a front and back side rotors which support vertical take-off and landing of the vehicle.

Once Pointer is in the air the rotors are retracting for the benefit of better aerodynamics.

The image below shows the four main stages of the rotors - retracted, extended, folded, unfolded (from left to right). The latter unfolds the engines, five in each rotor, allowing bigger area of impact.

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Project Structure

To facilitate the workflow and for better maintainability I kept the nodes in the Outliner well organised in a hierarchical structure. There are three main groups - C_grp (Center), L_grp (Left) and R_grp (Right). The latter group was created at the very end by duplicating the Left group.

It is also essential to follow same naming convention for all the nodes:

  • Camel case is used for concatenating the words
  • The _grp suffix is used for all the groups
  • The _geo suffix is used for all the geometry nodes
Center, Left and Right node groups Nested nodes
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References

In the initial stages of the project I have used PureRef for collecting and grouping all reference images which inspired me along the way.

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