Vehicle Design

As part of my vehicle design module, i was asked to look at the top selling games of 2012 and what influenced the design ideas reflected in the vehicle models within the games. Of course the top selling game of last year was Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 where the vehicles were based upon updates of existing military technology. Where this appealed to the little boy who used to build, paint and display model planes susspended from his bedroom ceiling it all feels a bit Team America (F*%k Yeah!) to me. Particular areas of interest for me were the vehicle designs of the Mass effect series (I love Sci-Fi!) which in turn were heavily influenced by Syd Mead.

Syd Mead is a futuristic Sci-Fi concept artist born in 1933, he designed the concept art for films such as Tron, Blade Runner, and Aliens during the 80s, and his style has influenced Sci-Fi and concept art style and presentation since.

As a tribute to Syd Mead, part of my own research, and personal practice of modeling and presentation i decided to mimic the iconic 'Tron Light Cycle'. The modeling took about a day however i messed up the first render as i didn't realise 3DS Max added enabled lens effects until after the render had finished and the glare effect obscured the bike. It's a subtle effect that I'm glad i persevered with to get the effect i was after.