Blender Guru

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.

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

Tags: intermediate, video