Flintstones Car Tutorial

In this tutorial we will learn a few basics of modeling and animation in Blender. You will need to download the picture of the Flintstone’s car and keep it in a folder to start.

I downloaded it from this websitehttp://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/flintstone.jpg

By Gemma Amendola

Open a new Blender file. Right click on the cube and press x and delete it. Press N to open the number menu on the right side of the 3D viewport.

Open the background images tab and ckeck the box.Then click on the Add an Image button.Then click on the Open button and find the Flintstone file.

You can currently see the picture in all views. This means that you need to be in a view in the 3D viewport. Make sure your mouse is over the 3D viewport and press 3 and then 5 in the number pad. It should say right ortho in the top left.Click on All views in the background images tab and change it to Left.Then go back to the 3D viewport and click Ctrl 3 to get the left view.

You should see the picture now but only if you are in Left Ortho.

In the upper left corner click on Add>Mesh>Circle

In the number menu under Item Re-name the Circle. Call it Right Wood.

Scroll up in the number menu and change the rotation of the y and the z to 90.

Size and move the circle to match the brown branch that connects the wheels.

Now you are going to press tab to go into edit mode. Press E to extrude and pull the end so that it matches the picture below.

E to extrude again and then S and z to size it on the z axis, to match the wood.

It should look like this image to the left if you pan around the object.Go back to the left view.

Continue to extrude and size to match the wood. Make sure that when you size you only size it on the z axis so that it only gets taller and not wider.

Press A to select all and then A again to de-select all.

Now press Z to go into wilre frame. Make sure you are in Edge selection mode. Then press B to box select.

You will need to select the 2 or 3 edges that are in the middle where the front wheel fits in the wood.

When you pan around the object it should look like the image on the left. Press F to create a face.

Now holding down Alt select the top loop so that it looks like the image to the left. Go back into the Left Ortho and continue to extrude the top part of the shape.

Go past the end a bit and then press Alt M.Then select Merge at Center.You can press Z to get out of wire frame and back to solid.

Loop select the bottom opening and extrude that the same way as the top to match the wood in the picture.At the end you can press F to make a face instead of merge at the center.

Now you can Alt select the other side of the shape and do the same. Remember to size on the Z axis.

Now you will go to the front view by pressing 1 in the number pad and then go into Object mode.Make sure the right wood object is selected and press Shift D to duplicate and X to keep the object on the X axis. Move the new object over to the width that you would like the car to be. Then click the left mouse button to confirm.

Shift select the first object and then click Join in the tool bar or Shift J to join the objects.

Then click on origin and Origin to Geometry to move the origin to the center of both objects.

Now we are going to make the front wheel. Add a mesh circle. Rotate on the Y axis 90 degrees using the number menu. Then name this item front wheel. Move and size the circle to match the one in the picture and make sure the origin is centered in the crook of the wood.Go into the front view (1 in the number pad).Go into edit mode and press F to make a face.Move the front wheel only on the X axis so that it looks like the image below.Then extrude it to match the other side.

Tab out of edit mode and set the origin to the geometry. Go back to the left view.Shift D to duplicate the object but make sure to right click so that the object is in the exact same spot. You now have 2 objects, one inside the other.

Click S and then Shift X. This will size on everything but the X axis. Size the circle to fit inside the crook of the wood object.

Go into the front view. Set the ori-gin to the geometry then size it on the X axis so that it goes past the wood objects like the image below.

Shift select the front wheel object and joint them.

Now you will go back to the left view. We will duplicate the front wheel by clicking Shift D then X so that it moves only on the x axis. Move the new wheel to match the back wheel. Name the new wheel Back wheel in the number menu.

Your outline window in the upper right should look like the image on the right.Make sure that the right wood is one object and that the front and back wheels are seperate objects.

Now we are going to create the front dash board of the car.Add a mesh plane. Name it Dash. Tab into edit mode and extrude it. Tab into object mode and move the origin to the geometry. Then move it to match the side of the dash in the picture. make sure to leave some space between the dash and the wheel.

Go to the front view and center the dash on the X axis and then size it on the X axis so that it touches the wood.

Create a steering wheel. You can be creative how you shape it but if you use more then one object make sure to joint them. Click z to see it in solid if that helps.

Now place the steering wheel on the dash and join the objects.

Now we will move on to the chairs. In Object mode add a cube and size it down to fit the side of the chairs in the picutre. Rotate it to lean back a bit. Then tab into edit mode and select the face of the bottom of the cube and size it up on the Y azis.

Go to the front view and wire frame to size it on the X axis to make sure it only takes up half the area inside the vehicle.

Now you can Tab into edit mode and loop select the cube using the botton in the tools menu on the right. Click the button and mouse over the cube until it looks like this.

Left click once and then move the loop down to about 1/8th of the way down. then left click again.

Select the bottom face and extrude it on the Y axis.

Go back into Object mode. Move the chair until it is well in the vehicle. Now you can dupli-cate the object and place the second chair next to the first.

Shift select the other chair, the wood and the dash and join them.

Now we are going to move on to the canope.

Add a mesh cylinder size it and rotate it to fit the back part of the canope and then duplicate it, size it and rotate it to fit the top part.

Join the two objects. Scoot it in the front view to make sure it is almost touching the chair.

Duplicate it and move it to the other side. Join the two poles.Tab into edit mode.

Now select and edge from the inside of one pole and shift select another edge from the inside of the opposite pole. Now press F.

Now press loop cut and slide and mouse over the bottom pole. scroll the mouse to make 6 loop cuts. Left click to confirm and then left click again.

Do the same for the opposite pole.

Select two of the top edges and press FDo the same for the lower edges.

Select both the faces and subdivide them twice.Now select the side edges on the top and bottom and make a face and do the same with the other side.

Now Loop select the inside square.Now press W to go into the specials menu.Press Smooth. If you have more vertices the opening will look more like a circle. For now this will work.

Now we want to make the top canopy a bit droopy. Face select the top canopy and subdivide it 3 times.Press O to be in proportional editing or press the button at the bottom of the 3D view. Select the middle edges of the canopy.

Left click with your mouse on the blue Z arrow and hold it down while you scroll the middle mouse button to change the size of the proportional editing. Let go of the left mouse button when you are happy with it. Name this object Canopy.Now we are ready to color everything.

Select the front wheel. Go to the materials tab in the Properties panel and click on new.

By default the object is white. For now we will keep it that way. Click on the Texture tab. You can only add a texture to a material. Under the preview click both so that you can see the material and how it will look on the object. By default The texture is always pink.

NOTE if the canopy does not subdivide just delete it, add a plane and join it.

Change the type of texture to Stucci. Scroll down and change the pink color to gray. Play around with the texture if you want to change it. I changed the noise to hard but you can play around with it if you want. When you are done, change the name in the material tab to stone.

Select the back wheel and go to the materials tab. Click on the circle next to the word new and give it the same stone material. The texture is already part of that material.

Select both chairs and give them the stone material as well.

Now we will create the wood material. Select the right wood object and give it a new material. Change the name in the material to wood.Change the deffuse color to a dark orange color. Then give that material a texture. Preview both and change the color to a dark brown. Change the wood to Tri and select Band Noise.

Now select the dash. Give it the stone material. Then select the plus sign to add another material. Put the wood material as the second material.Tab into Edit mode and select a vertice on the steering wheel.

Keeping your mouse over the steering wheel press L to select everything that is linked. Then, in the material panel, make sure the second wood material is selected and click Assign. This assigns the texture to what you have selected.

Give the Canopy the wood material but change the color of the cloth to whatever you would like. You will have to box select or loop select the various faces because the poles are linked to the cloth. make a second material and assign it. Render it to see what it looks like and if you want to fix anything.

Now we are ready to animate the car.

The first thing we have to do is join all the objects that are not going to move. Shift select the Dash, the Canopy, both Chairs, and the Right wood, and join them as one object. Name this object Car. Make the origin fit the geometry.Your outliner window should look like this. (I added a hemi lamp so I could see the colors but you do not have to have the lighting yet.)You can choose to make the objects smooth by having them selected and clicking on smooth in the tool menu.

Go into Object mode and Camera perspective by pressing 0 in the number pad.

Shift select the two wheels and then Shift select the Car. Make sure you select the car last. We are going to parent the wheels to the car. Notice the wheels will become red and the last thing you select is orange. Click Ctrl P and Set the Parent to the Object.Now the Car is the parent and the Wheels are the children. If you move the car the wheels will follow, but the wheels will move seperately.

Go into the Left ortho view and select the front wheel.Make sure you have the origin to the geometry so the origin apears in the middle of the wheel.We are going to insert a key frame for the rotation of the wheel. We are only going to rotate it.First we have to make sure we know what axis the wheel is rotating on. In the number menu, click and drag the X, Y, and Z rotation to see which one rotates it correctly. I had to change the XYZ Euler to ZYX. And then the wheel rotates on the X Axis.

The rotation should look like the image on the right. X at 0 Y at 90 and Z at 0.

Go to the timeline window at the bottom of the screen. Change the End to 100 and make sure you are on frame 1.We are going to establish where the wheel starts the animation and we are going to set how many times it will rotate throughout the 100 frames.

Make sure you are in the first frame in the timeline and that your mouse is over the 3D window. Click I to insert a key frame. Then select only the rotation.

Now move to frame 100 in the timeline and then go to the number menu and type in 3600 for the Rotation on the X.Then click I to insert another Rotation keyframe. Now you made it so that it starts at 0 on the first frame then rotates around 3600 times to frame 100.The key frames look yellow. If you need to delete a key frame you can click Alt I.Now if you click play at the bottom of the Timeline the wheel should turn. If you have made it smooth, you may not be able to tell it will only show up when you render it with the textures.Do the same thing with the back wheel.

Now we will animate the Car.Select the car and make sure you are in the first frame. Go to camera perspective (0 in the number pad)Move the car on the Y axis so that it is mostly out of the camera frame. Insert a key frame by pressing I but this time we want to animate the location, the rotation and the scale so choose LocRotScale in the Insert Keyframe Menu.

Go to frame 30 in the Timeline, Move the car to about the middle of the camera view and insert another LocRotScale keyframe.

Move on to frame 40 I moved the car forward on the Y a bit and back on the X a bit. Then I rotated the car -30 on the Y Axis and -45 on the Z Axis. So it looked like the image below. Then insert the LocRotScale Keyframe.

Go to frame 50. Move the car back a bit on the Y Axis and then change the rotation of the Y Axis to 0 and the Z to -90.Insert another LocRotScale Keyframe.

now go to frame 100 and move the car all the way out of the camera view on the X Axis and insert another LocRotScale Keyframe.

Play the animation using the right facing triange at the bottom of the timeline.

Lets make the car even better before we render the animation.Go to the first frame of the animation, select the car and go into Edit mode. Select the top front edge of the canopy.Extrude it on the Z axis until it looks like this.

Then Shift select all the vertical edges of the squares we just created.

Click V to rip the seams and right click to confirm but keep the edges in the same place.

Now select the bottom edge of the canopy. You will have to Shift select them because they are no longer a loop. Subdivide the edges twice.Click on Smooth Vertex in the tool menu two or three times.

Play around with the tear in the back by subdividing edges, extruding them and moving vertices around to make it look more tattered.

Click on Recalculate Normals in the tool bar if the faces start to look funny. This flips them all so they are facing the same way.

Now you can add a setting. You need to add a road of some sort and you can add objects like rocks, buildings, mountains ets. if you wish. Add appropriate lighting. You can check to see if the lighting works by pressing render in the properties panel at different times in the animation.

Now you need to make sure that the animation is going to the right folder. In the render tab in the properties window scroll down and click on the small folder under output. select where you want to save your animation on your computer and give your file a name. (The H drive for Linden students)

Then click on where it says PNG and change it to AVI JPEG.

Now scroll back up to the top of the render tab and click Animation. This takes a little time to render. You will see the number of the frames at the top left of the render view. When it is doen rendering you can check the folder where you initially put your animation and you should see the avi jpeg movie there. I sometimes have trouble seeing it using Windows media player and I have to right click it to open it with quicktime or vlc media player.

Congratulations! You are now a Blender Animator.