Help turning picture into a cut file

[adbuch]

Personally speaking that front view is too sweet not to draw.

Very nice work and generous use of time

I agree Tim! Super nice work! I'd like to learn a bit more about how Ben went about tracing/drawing this one. I expect he used a mirror line down the center, so this saved some time. But some of those small details in the lights, etc. - that's the difference between a straight manual trace and adding some artistic flair to the piece. Were these drawn specifically for this piece, or perhaps something he has on hand for use in different projects?

Ben - if you see this post perhaps you could tell us more about your process. Thanks!

David

Mikeys Garage Ben de lappe.jpg

[acourtjester]

Well David using a mirror line never popped into my little head, great time saver. Will be great to hear Ben's method too. The collective knowledge of PS expands again.

[ben de lappe]

Thanks guys! I take your questions regarding my methods and overall style as a huge compliment. I thank you for noticing and will gladly share any knowledge I possess.

The very first thing I do when I pull a pic into cad is see if the object in question is symmetrical. If it is I'll begin by drawing the perimeter starting at the12 o'clock position on top and working my way clockwise to the very bottom 6 o'clock. Then you guessed it I pop guidelines both horizontal and vertical, duplicate the line segment I just created, vertical mirror, rotate 180, drop into position and connect the nodes. If the object being drawn is indeed symmetrical the the outer profile is now complete. If however one does not end up with a perfect overlay as in this front view then things just got a little more complicated.

After performing the above operations and dragging my outline over the pic it was glaringly obvious this pic is nowhere near symmetrical. Not even close. Straight on dead level shots are imperative to this process. From here we can go a couple of ways. One is to draw it as it lays which means each and every profile is different and therefore cannot be duplicated saving precious time.

Another way, also the method I chose here is to make it symmetrical. Still takes a lot of work but the end results to me are more than worthwhile. I achieved this by by drawing half the profile, duplicating, flipping and connecting to make the whole outer perimeter. Now here's where things get tricky. With the profile in place I dropped a vertical guide directly in the center and began drawing details on the right hand side only. Once pleased with the profiles created I can now successfully duplicate them, vertical mirror, rotate etc. Be prepared as NOTHING will line up on the left hand side when overlaying the pic so at his point I'm relying on guidelines as well as simply what looks good. No longer in the realm of the exact our piece is now truly an artistic representation.

Once I've got those minor details out of the way and I'm 100% sure the design can successfully proceed I scale the entire project pic and all to the final overall dimensions and save. This allows me to draw each profile with correct spacing now and not wait until the last step to ensure proper spacing etc. Basically on the fly if you will.

Once I've taken care of all the "easy" details such as the sun shade, rear window, hood, grill and the like it's time to round her out with any finishing touches such as headlights and marker/signal lights. I have two rat rod designs with shared headlights, the rest are drawn to suit by zooming way in to pick out any reflective detail within. If one looks closely often wavy reflective patters may be observed. Unfortunately no such reflective patterns exist in this image so I made them up. I like the headlights but honestly think they could be better. If I were being compensated for the drawing I'd have put a little more time into them.

Finally to my favorite part, the marker lights/turn signals. Here it's all about representation. As can be seen in this screenshot framing the light above and below brings out the contours. While not drawn in the traditional sense of exactly how the lights look I take advantage of how the opposing cuts make the lights stand out. This is why I like art and not parts. It only has to look perfect, not perfectly adhere to a set of rules.

I hope this explanation helps. Any and all questions welcome.

[ROKCRLER]

Ben thanks for sharing your method especially on the lights and details... your drawings always stand out!

[tinspark]

Wow! Great explanation.
And I also have never thought about mirroring a front view like that

[ben de lappe]

Ben thanks for sharing your method especially on the lights and details... your drawings always stand out!

No problem whatsoever. Truly an honor and thank you so much.

Wow! Great explanation.
And I also have never thought about mirroring a front view like that

Thank you, very glad you liked it and if you gleaned something from it that you can apply towards your drawings all the better.

[adbuch]

Ben - thanks for your explanation! Most definitely some artistic skill involved, particularly with the lights and unique details. Thanks for sharing your workflow and thinking on the reflections. This is great stuff!!
David

[acourtjester]

Thanks Ben I is like to old saying "you can't see the forest for the trees" when someone explains how to look at the trees (method) you can enjoy the view better. One thing about PS is the members are willing to share their knowledge/skills to help others.

[ben de lappe]

Ben - thanks for your explanation! Most definitely some artistic skill involved, particularly with the lights and unique details. Thanks for sharing your workflow and thinking on the reflections. This is great stuff!!
David

Thanks Ben I is like to old saying "you can't see the forest for the trees" when someone explains how to look at the trees (method) you can enjoy the view better. One thing about PS is the members are willing to share their knowledge/skills to help others.

Most welcome guys! Always glad to help out. Anything symmetrical can be done this way and is a massive time saver. I've just recently taken my first stab at making a video and it wasn't as easy as I thought it SHOULD have been.

Merry Christmas ,

[adbuch]

Ben - I would love to see an instructional video on your drawing/tracing techniques. On the details you create which are unique to your creation, what drawing tools are you specifically using to create them? For example:

test for spline trace.jpg

This one is easy enough for me to duplicate from your drawing, but when you are coming up with these from scratch - what is your process?

Thanks,
David

[ben de lappe]

Ask and ye shall receive David. At your behest I created a short video and a youtube account to go with it. Here's the link to my channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@benjamindelap2411/videos
please don't laugh too hard at my southern accent.

[Joe Jones]

Ask and ye shall receive David. At your behest I created a short video and a youtube account to go with it. Here's the link to my channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@benjamindelap2411/videos
please don't laugh too hard at my southern accent.

Perhaps a bit quicker than DesignEdge, but still cool!

Joe

[Joe Jones]

This shows how one simple tool can make a BIG difference. DesignEdge does not have the fancy ARC EDIT tool that Ben uses.

Joe

http://youtu.be/4oUjY7hTMis

[ben de lappe]

This one is easy enough for me to duplicate from your drawing, but when you are coming up with these from scratch - what is your process?
Thanks,
David

My process is nothing more than plotting nodes manually until I'm pleased with the outcome. Nothing scientific. More akin to throwing mud on the wall and seeing what sticks, then molding it into shape. I'm currently working on another video where I'll be going into much more detail.

Thanks to my subscribers thus far!

This shows how one simple tool can make a BIG difference. DesignEdge does not have the fancy ARC EDIT tool that Ben uses.
Joe
http://youtu.be/4oUjY7hTMis

There are two drawing tools I consistently use. Arc edit for specific shapes as in the video and node edit where I plot corner/curve nodes on the fly so to speak. As stated a more in depth video is in process and I thank you guys for your patience as I get accustomed to this recording business.
Nice job on your videos Joe, very professional.

[Joe Jones]

It would be nice if PlasmaCam added a function where you could convert a straight line to an arc by selecting the midpoint (using CTRL-M or ALT-M?) , and then pull the bulge up to the desired arc.

Joe