Modeling a Sci-Fi Motorcycle in Blender & How to Build Complex Assets

The full behind-the-scenes breakdown of how I created a badass sci-fi motorcycle in Blender, from blocking out the basic shapes to the final hard surface detailing. Along the way, I'll show you how to problem-solve and deal with challenges that you'll probably face when modeling more complex objects.

Intro Music - Let Yourself Be Huge by Cloudkicker

What we'll cover:
00:00 - Introduction
00:42 - The Block Out
03:42 - First Detail Pass
06:27 - Technical Correctness and Creativity
08:55 - The Importance of a Good Workflow
11:03 - Perfect vs. Finished
11:47 - Finding the Path Through Practice
13:56 - Organizing As I Go
16:49 - Deviating From the Concept
18:27 - When to Use Addons
20:35 - Adding a Human for Better Proportions
22:34 - Incorporating Feedback
24:59 - Second Detail Pass
27:18 - Final Polish
30:03 - Keeping the Mesh Density Consistent
31:18 - Final Polish Continued
33:51 - Improving the Design
38:56 - Modeling the Tire Treads
41:35 - Preparing for UV Unwrapping
42:10 - Modeling Gears
43:28 - Final Thoughts

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[guldham]

I can't stress this enough this style of tutorial is much better than anything I've seen, I already know my way around blender whether it's topology, edge flow, etc... what I'm lacking is the thought process, and you go into great detail about it here, genuinely this video has been eye-opening

[mamunmilos]

what ive learnt from seeing blender tutorials for months: boolean, mirror, inset, reference images, and youre on your own

[pri_yan_shu_raj]

This is one necessary tutorial for any 3D Modeler. Must watch just after basic modeling. Hats off to Jonathan.

[DestroyerOfAglets]

15:38 THE RECYCLE BIN IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA... i never would have thought of that on my own

[tomoyaogawa]

Thank you so much for sharing this Jonathan !! I’m character artist but it was very interesting to see how professional approach making something I usually don’t make. I might try to do hard surface modelling sometimes in the future too.

[travisyee]

I'm finally getting into making bigger projects and these videos are so useful. I need to start blocking things out more! I have no self-restraint and just start modeling details immediately. T_T

[g-kems]

Thank you for modelling several times before showing us the best workflow. I believe is the best way to teach all the possible notions of the object you make

[TheOz]

I was an engineering major, so a lot of stuff we do with CAD is defintiely the same as we do it for general computer graphics like using Blender (despite that CAD tools are all about dimensioning, though people with a CAD background can start learning Blender and use some addons like CAD Transform to do some precision modeling stuff). I should definitely block out large details than worry about minutae that I can add later, and thanks for this workflow video.

And I definitely should brush up on some of the tools like the array modifier, screw modifiers, the like. I plan to have another watch just so that I can encode what is shown and said in the video much better.

[HomeWithDrew]

Watching this and seeing the qorkflow has been great!

I slowed it to 25% at about 35mins to see the technical part by the chain and was funny to hear you explain like you were drunk. 50% speed really sounds like your giving a demonstration whilst intoxicated 😄
Good work on the model!!

[theinventor]

One thing I might do to help with the "too thin" issue is import Mr. Default-Man in his standard dominance establishing t-pose (or whatever). Having a human shape to reference really helps shave down the time needed to get the proportions correct.

[clemsondriver]

One thing that helped me out when i started blocking out my cyberpunk themed motorcycle was to first look up irl reference pics of real bikes. For me it helped to know the vague differences in types of bikes like choppers, cruisers, crotch rockets. This way i didnt put a feature commonly associated with one type of bike on a different type. The one i was making was a hybrid of a cruiser and crotch rocket. Before i started blocking anything out i looked for motorcycle frames matching the outline of the bike i wanted to make. Once i found one i recreated it Blender and i pretty much blocked the rest of the parts in and around that frame. Engine sits here and is bolted to this part of the frame, radiator goes here and is bolted to that part of the frame, transmission goes behind the engine and has a path to the rear part of the frame which connects to the wheel, seat goes on the top of the frame and so on. I was stuck for like a week because i was just trying to block out parts of the bike but it didn't match up with the rest. Once i did the frame of the bike first everything else fit pretty well around it.

[shadowflar]

The wheels are an excellent challenge for any 3D modeler. There are many approaches to make it work, and depending on the exact pattern it can really vary which one you should go for. Extra points if you aren't having second thoughts on your chosen approach, though I have never personally succeeded in that :)

[snhimyx]

I've found only one other channel as good as yours. Slow and easy, detailed and very thorough.

[dhirendrapsingh]

Informative. Useful. Calming. Inspiring. Life-changing. Enjoyable. Heart-warming. Other.

[unclejacksimulations]

This is like those super effective 1 minute tutorials but for a whole hour. Golden knowledge!

[benolson]

This is one of the most helpful videos I've seen about 3d modelling. Wow. Thank you so much! :O

[CaiAllinx]

What did I learn from this? My blender needs updating!
Great guide though.

[MrSorbias]

That is a really beautiful model. Thanks for sharing. :)
I today learned the importance of that recycling file thing in a hard way. I accidentally applied bevel modifier to the whole hard surface object and that's the end of that object... Found it easier to start modeling it again, because I was not able to fix it even with mesh machine.

[chanruzzi]

Thank you very much for sharing your modeling process for this concept. Your comments, instructions and tips were detailed yet simple and very straightforward to follow along with the timelapse! Cheers 🥂

[giosgio]

tbh this feels so much better than sitting through a tutorial thats rather slow, really enjoyed this vid keep up the good work!