Video tutorial: How to make a car wheel

Video tutorial: How to make a car wheel

Posted on 01. May, 2009 by Andrew Price in Tutorials

The ultimate guide to creating a sexy car wheel in Blender.

Ever since 3d software was created, artists have hated the car wheel. The intricate detail combined with the circular shape make it one of the most difficult shapes to master. The tire in particular is so difficult that artists everywhere have invented new ways to fake it, like using a bumpmap, making it extra dark, applying motion blur, tilting the wheel, and the list goes on. But I think we can all agree: nothing beats the real thing. And that’s exactly what this tutorial is about: creating a wheel that is not only passable, but sexy.

I have broken this tutorial into two parts. Part 1 covers modelling and texturing a tire, and Part 2 is all about the rims.

Each part takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.

You will learn how to:

  • Use arrays effectively
  • Save time by mirroring
  • Make an object bend to a curve
  • Quickly unwrap a complex object

Part 1: Modelling & texturing the tire

You will need:
Tread texture
Sidewall texture (mirrored from cg-cars.com)

Ready? Let’s begin…

Well that’s the hard part done, now on to the shiny stuff :)

Part 2: Modelling the Rims

You will need:
BMW i325 wheel reference
BMW emblem

Let’s begin…

Finished! You now have a car wheel that you can proudly show in whatever scene you choose.

Download_the_sourcefile

If you got stuck at any point in this tutorial, drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to help!

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49 Responses to “Video tutorial: How to make a car wheel”

  1. Nismo

    02. May, 2009

    Great tut, now my Aston has decent wheels :D

    Thanks

  2. Andrew Price

    03. May, 2009

    You’re very welcome Nismo, I’m glad you got some use out of it. I’d be very interested to see finished result of your Aston model if you’re happy to post it :)

  3. Lars

    07. May, 2009

    Very nice tutorials. Thanks.

    One small thing; during making the tire (around 4 min) you use the vertex selection tool to raise the rubber. You could better take the face tool and only select those needed. That saves a minute in fixing. :)

    The commercial looks great. Was it a long render time?

  4. icounter

    07. May, 2009

    Beautiful!
    is the movie rendered with blender internal ?

  5. Iqwar

    07. May, 2009

    Excellent work, thx a lot

  6. Nismo

    07. May, 2009

    Sure it’s a bit rough around the edges but i’m happy with it

    http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r25/speedy191/DB4Renderwip.jpg

  7. johansrk

    07. May, 2009

    as mentioned you use vertex a bit to much. You might as well use just 2 edges and click F, to make the face instead of choosing 4 vertexes.

  8. degentd

    07. May, 2009

    Great tut. Thanx for sharing it!

  9. eomc40

    07. May, 2009

    Hi,
    Is it possible to have the videos for download…

  10. Andrew Price

    07. May, 2009

    @eomc40: If you log in to Vimeo you can download the original .mp4 in HD 720p :)

    @Lars & johansrk: You’re right! I don’t use the edge or face select tool nearly as much as I should. I guess it’s just one of those habits I’ve picked up.
    Thanks for the tip guys! It would definately have made that step a lot quicker :)

    @Nismo: I like it! Nice car modelling too! The tires are a bit dark, but that could just be the lighting setup. It’s really good to see your results. Keep up the good work!

    If anyone else has a finished render they’d like to share, feel free to do so!

  11. pole

    08. May, 2009

    Great Great tutorial! Got a question: how can I move the camera like the prospective view? I saw Andrew do that at min 20:31 of the rim tutorial (1st one), I usally achieve that by positioning my prospective view, then apply the view to the camera by ctrl + alt + 0numpad, but the way Andrew does is pretty handy!! Thanks!!!

  12. Andrew Price

    08. May, 2009

    Hi Pole,
    You can move the camera sideways by selecting the camera and hitting G. Or to dolly the camera back and forth press G then Middle Mouse click. To pivot the camera press R then middle mouse click.

    You can view the full list of camera controls here:
    http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual/3D_interaction/Navigating/Camera_View

    Hope this helps!

  13. Jack

    08. May, 2009

    Excellent, very clear and straightforward tutorial! In the 1st video (at 15:04), the gap of the tire is closed by scaling. How do you scale in increments of 0.0001?

    So far I’ve been able to increment scaling by .01 by CTRL+Shift to find the approx no., and then use the N to key in a number to a higher precision.

    How are you able to increment to the 0.0001 continuously? Thanks!

  14. Andrew Price

    08. May, 2009

    Hi Jack,
    This is done by holding down the Shift key whilst scaling. The more zoomed in on the object you are, the smaller the increments are.

    Hope this helps!

  15. LURKEN

    08. May, 2009

    Awsome! Looks real good!
    A small tip: In the “View & Controls” tab(hidden above the top meny bar) you can select “View name” to easier see how your camera is aligned in the 3D view! :)

  16. SeeY

    09. May, 2009

    Very nice :-)

  17. Mike

    10. May, 2009

    Thanks a million.
    I learn hands on so why not start with a great example of the toughest thing you can do.

    Just one thing. Unfortunately being in the UK the ISP’s are dead slow at best of times. I wish I could view the instruction clips off line if you wouldn’t mind putting DL links on those vids.

    Thanks

  18. M

    10. May, 2009

    Sorry got so excited I missed the Vimeo link above :)
    This surely is a kick start I just watched 10 minutes and learned more about blender than browsing manuals for days. :)

  19. Nick

    10. May, 2009

    On the rim when i do the control-a thing on the rim mesh it negates my mirror but the array thing works fine…umm help?

  20. Andrew Price

    10. May, 2009

    Hi Nick,
    I’m not sure what you mean, could you go into some more detail? What part of the video are you up to?

  21. Nick

    10. May, 2009

    Im right at the part when im done with the basic model for the rim and you add the empty in the top view..you then say hit control-a and select scale and rotate to OBdata..that works fine on the empty but when i do it on the rim mesh it somehow negates my mirror because although i still have my mirror at the top of the stack my mirrored side of the rim mesh vanishes.

    thanks for the quick response

    P.S. Ive already completed the tire and it looks great

  22. Andrew Price

    10. May, 2009

    Hmm… that’s very strange. Are you pressing Ctrl+A from the top view for both the rim and the empty?

    If you already have I’d suggest going back to the start of the video and double checking to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Pay close attention to the order of the modifer stacker as I’d say that would the problem.

    Let me know how you go.

  23. Nick

    10. May, 2009

    I found the problem in the mirror window. it somehow changed it to the z axis mirror. Fixed it and now its done. it looks crazy good

    thanks for the help

  24. Ron

    12. May, 2009

    I love the tutorials, keep them coming!

  25. dambs

    21. May, 2009

    Thanks very much…
    Definitely the most professional blender tutorial site…!

  26. Craigsnedeker

    22. May, 2009

    Awesome tutorial! I loved it

  27. DoctorSalt

    30. May, 2009

    Hey, any idea how black lines will happen on the uv map of the tire Heres an example.
    http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss267/Doctor_Salt/glitchy2.jpg
    http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss267/Doctor_Salt/glitchy.jpg
    http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss267/Doctor_Salt/yesh.jpg

  28. Andrew Price

    30. May, 2009

    Hi DoctorSalt,
    This is probably due to your array segments not lining up properly, therefore the vertices are not merging as they should. Try altering the array offset numbers to more than they currently are, until they are merging.

    If you are sure that they are already properly lined up, try going into edit mode, selecting all vertices (A) then hitting Ctrl + N to recalculate the normals.

    Let me know how you go.

  29. Cody

    04. Jun, 2009

    I used this for my Ferrari I made.
    check it out, tell me what you think.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pXYmJpw59g

  30. ghyselsguy65

    05. Jun, 2009

    You should put these on youtube, if u haven’t already (have you?) Oh, and what about texturing the bolts in the hubcap and the logo to make it shiny like in your other video?

  31. ghyselsguy65

    06. Jun, 2009

    uhhh aroudn the 14th min. in your first part when you curve the tred mine gets all messed up. I can’t curve it right, i mean it goes around, and on the right axis. but it seems smooshed together and too thin and i have to have like 40 arrays to close it. How can i fix this?

  32. Ellis

    07. Jun, 2009

    How are you suppose to move the handles on the plane, when you havn’t explained what your pressing etc..?

  33. Andrew Price

    07. Jun, 2009

    Hi Ellis,
    I’m not sure what you mean by handles? Do you mean the vertices? They are selected using the RMB and moved by pressing the G key.
    Is that what you meant? If not, let me know what point in the video (ie. 04:56) you’re having trouble with, and I’ll see if I can help.

  34. Moustafa

    07. Jun, 2009

    Thanks for the tutorials! I had been using 3DS Max before using Blender, so I wasn’t used to where everything would be placed, but your tutorials sure help me find my way around.

    Your wheel lesson prompted me to re-model the Tumbler from Batman Begins/The Dark Knight. The rear wheels were a tad harder to work due to their shape, but I found that good planning ahead helps a lot.

    I’ll try and keep you posted as it progresses.

  35. zia de

    09. Jun, 2009

    is the video downloadable ? i cant watch it too slow conx or is it posted on another site?

  36. Nixon

    11. Jun, 2009

    Hey Mr. Price,

    this has been one awesome tutorial !!!
    Thanks so much for having it put online.
    I learned alot on the cool modifiers used and the result just looks really great!
    Much appreciation for the work that you put in and wich You share with the community!
    much regards
    Nixon

  37. jack

    17. Jun, 2009

    Your tutorials are awesome. In the modeling rims tutorial you mentioned applying scale and rotation before applying the array but weren’t sure why. I’m not completely sure why, but I think it has to do with each object having its own local axis and there being a global axis. When you rotate an object in the world, the local axis and global axis no longer are in alignment. I think applying size and rotation “realigns” the local and global axis.

    The blender wiki states that “Apply Scale/Rotation – This command applies the scale and rotation. The object data (mesh/curve points/etc.) is modified so that the scale is 1 and the object isn’t rotated at all” (http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual/3D_interaction/Navigating/3D_View_Options)

    In addition Greybeard’s tutorial sort of delves into this topic http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/ and click on his “paths and dupliframes” video.

    Thanks for the tutorials. Hope this was a helpful explanation.

  38. jack

    17. Jun, 2009

    Sorry, the Greybeard tutorial I meant to say was his “using dupliverts” tutorial at http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/
    If you’re interested, you should watch starting from 10:52 and onwards.

  39. janidotux

    28. Jun, 2009

    Hi, great tutorial!
    Just two questions:
    1. My UV Mapping gives me nice surface on one tyre side, but in the other tyre side all letters are in opposite way, is this the way it should be or am I doing something wrong?
    2. When I applied lattice modifier, my tyre got a very funny shape, more like a square, outside lattice box. Do you know why I am getting this shape?
    I am using Blender 2.49 in Ubuntu 9.04

    Thanx!

  40. Michael S

    01. Jul, 2009

    Well im very new to blender, and ive always wanted to make a 3d wheel/car so i gave it a go. heres my outcome

    http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/83/l_e9a3a9c7c81546d78639134203dd97ce.jpg

    http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/102/l_f41f431c479a44cab2c5bce133e191b1.jpg

    i was also wondering if you would let me post this tutorial link on gimpdome.com under 3d tutorials?

  41. Pelle

    17. Jul, 2009

    Great tutorial, thanks!

    A small tip: When you rotate the empty object for the Array Object Offset for the rim, instead of rotating it with your eye according to the background image, rotate it by exactly 72° (360° divided by 5 for the 5 parts). Then you don’t need to fine tune it later and in all subsequent steps when vertexes merge on the right side they will always merge on the left side too.

  42. Behnam

    09. Aug, 2009

    Respect…
    Thank’s for share…..

    Salute from good old Germany

  43. SteveO

    11. Sep, 2009

    Part 1: Modelling & texturing the tire doesn’t play ?

  44. Andrew Price

    11. Sep, 2009

    Hi SteveO
    Same thing here… Try playing it from vimeo’s website. They are probably doing some maintenance work on their servers which is messing with embedded play. It’s happened before :)

    Regards,
    Andrew Price

  45. Benjamin Bailey (Banor)

    26. Oct, 2009

    Andrew,

    Is there any way to fix my mess-up on the rims? Here’s my file: http://benjamindbailey.com/wheel5.blend

    Please let me know if I can remedy this without having to redo a lot of work. (The merge with last feature on the array is not working correctly, probably because of my applying the Scale and Rotation to the ObData…)

    I appreciate any help you can give me,

    Thanks!
    -Banor

  46. bentabet

    31. Oct, 2009

    hi, and tnx for tuo, i download ur file.blend and i exported in obj to open it in 3ds max so i get rims all black and those days i’m modeling bmw z4 so i really need this wheel plz if u can help me to solve this prob of black….

  47. Tommy

    16. Nov, 2009

    perfect! i use just only 3ds max, but its looking good…
    btw, where can i find this music under the referenc movie?

  48. Tiemen

    24. Dec, 2009

    Hi

    I’ve done you’re tutorial.. and it was really amazing:D

    But i want to make other rims than those BMW rims..
    Where did you get that picture of the rim?? i’ve been searching but haven’t found anything like that….. :(

    My final render:

    http://s957.photobucket.com/albums/ae60/TiemenSmit/Renders/

    If you’re interested…

    Thanx :D

  49. XУЛИГAH

    03. Jan, 2010

    Действительно интересно. Вопрос только в том, как это будет выглядеть в будущем :)

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