We both are very happy about our good teamwork and progress in the 3D industry, and it was a long journey to get our skills and experience and to know that we fit perfectly together. There are several reasons for this, like our passion for photo-real rendering, and the fun we have every time working for productions. We also know that we are reliable and ambitious and we take our job very seriously. After several years we created our own company and started our way in the 3D industry. One of our strong points is our passion for learning and understanding different render systems, and developing material and lighting setups for photo-real rendering. But the most important thing is, that we love to do 3D "stuff”, and this keeps you "alive” if something goes wrong in a project. You can see the car in action at: http://www.mazdausa.com, simply by clicking on the Mazda CX-9.

Getting started

Welcome to the project overview about the Mazda CX-9. A good start is always to collect as many reference images as possible. It is very important to have many pictures of the car from different views, to make sure that the car is modelled as accurately as possible (Fig.01).

Setting up the blueprints

The first step is setting up the blueprints, therefore we have to make sure that all blueprints align. You can check this easily in Photoshop, just drop the side and the front view in one sheet and follow the major car lines. Don't panic if your blueprints are not 100 percent correct. Do the same comparison with the other views (top-side, back-side, and so on) (Fig.02). After that we align the different pictures to planes in 3DS Max. Make sure that their measurements are the same as their dimensions in Photoshop (Fig.03).

Modelling

There are many different ways to model a car. A good way is to start modelling in front view. Make a plane and align the major lines with the hood of the car. After everything is correctly aligned, add a symmetry modifier on top of it. The next step is to chamfer the edges where a sharp seam is necessary. Last but not least, add a Turbo Smooth modifier to it (Fig.04-05). With this technique you can do the whole modelling process. Always start with a rough shape of the car, and then add more and more detail (Fig.06).