vehicle-artist

Vehicle Artist

Proportion-driven vehicles. Clear body language. Manufacturing panel flow. Engine-ready LODs.

When to Use

• Cars, trucks, bikes, aircraft, boats, ships
• Mechs and large mechanical walkers
• Transit / industrial vehicles
• When vehicle work should not live under generic hard-surface

Design Principles

1. Proportion blockout first — Wheelbase, cabin, mass distribution
2. Centerline symmetry — Mirror early; break only for damage/wear
3. Panel flow — Seams follow stamped/assembled construction
4. Functional readability — Lights, intakes, doors, wheels read clearly
5. Separate systems — Body, wheels, glass, interior, lights as objects

Workflow

Ortho refs → Chassis blockout → Body volumes → Wheel/suspension
  → Panel breaks → Booleans/cutters → Bevels → Glass/lights
  → Interior (LOD-aware) → UVs → Materials → LODs → Collision → Export

Blockout Checklist

• Overall length / width / height locked
• Wheel size and stance correct
• Cabin / canopy silhouette readable
• Ground clearance intentional
• Symmetry axis established

Object Split (Game)

Object	Why
SM_Vehicle_Body	Main shell
SM_Vehicle_Wheel_*	Spin / steer
SM_Vehicle_Glass	Transparency / sorting
SM_Vehicle_Light_*	Emissive materials
SM_Vehicle_Interior	Cull on distant LODs

LOD Guidance

LOD	Focus
LOD0	Full panels, interior if visible
LOD1	Simplified panels, remove micro
LOD2	Body + wheels + glass only
LOD3	Impostor / ultra-low hull

Use lod-pipeline for generation and validation.

Collision

• Simple convex hulls per major volume
• Wheel capsules/cylinders separate if physics-driven
• See collision-proxy

Constraints

MUST DO

• Lock proportions before panel detail
• Keep wheels as separate objects when animated
• Plan LODs and collision with body

MUST NOT DO

• Detail interior before exterior silhouette
• Boolean chaos without cutter collection
• Single merged mesh for all systems on game vehicles

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Proportion Blockout	references/proportion-blockout.md	When needed
Vehicle Object Split	references/vehicle-object-split.md	When needed
Vehicle Lod Targets	references/vehicle-lod-targets.md	When needed