Brandy Ryan
August 2, 2023
2 min read
If you’ve been following our blog (and/or our VRED YouTube channel), you know that Senior Designer Mike Turner has been creating several video series about his work with VRED.
Self-described as an “Alias pilot for the last 23 years,” Mike was relatively new to VRED when he started these series and wanted to share his experience showing VRED workflows, scene setup and rendering techniques.
Working with DG Design, Mike has 24 years’ experience primarily in automotive and non-automotive design sectors—passenger rail vehicle, motorcycle, construction machinery, off-road vehicle, to name just a few.
We asked Mike to do some production testing on Alias 2024 during the development beta cycles to prove the software in production use. As a result, you may notice small variations in User Interface style and layout in the released version of Alias 2024.
Out of that testing comes a Masterclass on modeling in Alias 2024. This content equates to 6-7 hours of modeling condensed into 30 minutes, which are spread out over 4 episodes.
Each of the episodes in this series takes on a part of the Alias design workflow – establishing the basics, refining the form, details and final rendering. There’s also a bonus episode with summary content. Each episode includes commentary and visual prompts on the key stages of the build.
If you’d like to look under the hood at the Wire file Mike created for technical details or inspiration, you can download the Alias Wire file here:
This model is provided for educational purposes and is not for commercial use.
You can watch the full video here, or scroll down for specific highlights.
1:06: Mike gives us context on his off-hours work and introduces an older design (2020) that he’s revisiting in Alias 2024
3:03: Setting-up, canvas image planes, capturing key lines in curves/wheels/tires, developing NURBs volume
4:41: Modeling tip: get all volumes in place before working up the details
5:00: Designing around ergonomic CAD envelope, developing volume and form, adding transitional surfaces, starting to play with color
6:12: Using skin, CV adjustment and freeform blend to build a surface network with a flick at the end
7:25: Adding windshield and hood, shaping front end and adjusting curvature
8:02: Wheel-arch flares and nose plan-shape softening
9:10: Softening the theoretical model, using freeform blend and fillets to develop transitional surfaces, applying chordal fillet runs, tangency alignment on connecting surfaces
10:40: Rear graphic details, including color splits and recessed chamfer feature (tubular offset and freeform blend)
Stay tuned for more of Mike Turner’s Alias 2024 Masterclass.
Mike’s first series covers a Fifteen Eleven case study, data import, intro to backplates, other rendering techniques, and his ideation of the DeLorean car.
His second series focuses on off-highway vehicle design, including a Liugong case study, working with large data sets, digital shadow plots, adding decals and dirt to your designs.
His third series turns the lens on public transportation, with episodes on industry insights, interior rendering and VR set-up, raytraced interior rendering, and exterior rendering.
If you’re not already an Alias or VRED user or would like to expand your skills at home, get started by downloading the new Alias & VRED 2024 Learning Editions:
For Alias Learning Edition, click here.
For VRED Learning Edition, click here.
Stay tuned and check out our Autodesk Automotive on LinkedIn, subscribe to our Alias and VRED YouTube channels, and follow us on Facebook.
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