quick render of the model I built for the most recent getting started video
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video here-
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Hi Kyle,
Great demo as always 
I do have one complaint though. On almost each model you present (at least, recently), you choose the SubD way.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a perfectly valid workflow and there are great things to learn here. I also understand that you want to emphasize the most recent tools available in Rhino.
But it feels to me as a cheat to quickly approximate shapes that are a nightmare to model in Nurbs for a beginner. I tried to reproduce this example starting from a sweep 2 as you suggest… and I’m stuck not long after.
I would love to see some training material where you don’t necessarily go as deep in the model details, but rather spend more time analysing the shape, identifying where primary surfaces are, where do the blends start and stop, where do you need curvature or tangency…
Knowing the commands is important, but not enough to get better at this.
Cheers
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check out this video, it shows an approach to a similar shape in nurbs
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I always get flamed for this but I don’t care…so here goes.
If you are doing anything less than class A automotive surfacing tangency blends are in MOST cases good enough.
Most consumer products are manufactured in asia, most molds are hand polished, and as such any inflection in the mold will be hand finished anyways. Killing yourself with g2 blends on a consumer product is very often a waste of time.
Are there exceptions? YES .
In those cases learn everything in Sky Greenawaldts primary surfacing video series
(here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABJCJR46itOX8XT3bd2dh590McA94W7k)
and then feel free to G2 Your brains out.
But for folks getting started, you can have a completely successful career as a professional modeler working to G1.
Does that mean you should never learn how to work to G2?
no…
Should you get a LOT of reps in first and deep dive into the whole toolset learning all the ways you can build something in rhino?
100% yes.
I worked in product design for 20+ years before I started here, I never once had a product where a surface inflection in a test shot part wasn’t able to be polished out with pretty low effort.
Worry less, model more.
you’ll figure out when you need to deep dive into G2 along the way.
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Well that’s easy to say when you
I’m trying to learn and find a lot of contradictory or unargumented information about these topics.
I’m not looking for the absolute truth, rather to good criteria to help decide which way to go. Your answer is helpful in that way, thanks.
I did watch Sky’s series (twice) on your recommendation on another thread. But unfortunately I’m unable to apply the principles on any example more complex that a “school case”, even only G1, so I guess I’m still missing something, or it’s too early to dive into that.
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just keep cranking… time (and this forum) is your friend here.
post your issues when you get stuck and we’ll all do our best to help nudge you over the barriers you are facing. I learned most of what I know from the old email list server rhino forums.
happy modeling
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A couple more words of wisdom (and glad you found my videos!) - Never lose sight of the fact that when it come to freeform modeling, what you’re really learning is more of a craft than a skill, if that makes sense. There was tons of feedback and guidance that I got early on that didn’t make sense to me at all - little nuggets of wisdom that months or even years down the road would click on like a lightbulb and I’d have an “ah ha!” moment. Really the best analog I can think of is learning to play an instrument - it’s a lifelong pursuit, and your knowledge and approach will constantly evolve. Might sound trite, but it’s truly about the journey when it comes to this stuff. I see people getting frustrated - and that’s very relatable! - but sometimes it’s a bit like wondering why after a year or two of learning the guitar you can’t play all the guitar parts to Stairway to Heaven perfectly. Stay curious, always be learning and evolving.
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I like use Rotary tool and this design looks very realistic
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in the rendering (image in first post) the gray materials have a bump or displacement map. the materials applied in the video don’t have that. would you share what bump/displacement map is used for the light gray material? thanks.
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in the default plastic material there is a setting to add a bump, I used speckle
I used cross hatch for the barrel of the chuck
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the dark gray material looks like speckle was used, though the light gray as well?
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yes, just different scale for the texture for each material
pro tip, convert the material to custom and you can increase the intensity and density of the texture
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