Quick blueprint question

[ajjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj]

Hi forums!

I have a quick question regarding setting up blueprints. I have a blueprint that points towards the right (the bow points towards the right). Can i still set this in the "left viewport" or should i set it in the right?, or does it matter which blueprint part i use for which view?, for example does it matter if i use the "front" viewport for the side of the ship?

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/d/de/VSD_egvv.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081117221...

I hope i make sense!

Thank you!

[PropChad]

I would switch to the right viewport. It'll work in the left, you'll just be modeling the ship in the other direction, unless that is what you'd want. But....

If you are modeling from those, sometimes it's better to create a couple planes in your scene, and apply the those images to the planes. Then right click those planes, uncheck "Show Frozen in Gray", then freeze them so you can't select them. This way you can set the scale of your model by making the planes as large as you'd want the ship to be. It'll also will show the ship on both sides of the plane so you can model from either the right or left view. It also give you more control when you zoom in.

Search on YouTube for "3ds max modeling from blueprint" and you'll get a bunch of videos showing you more in depth on modeling this way.

[ajjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj]

Thanks for the quick reply chad!, is there any difference between modeling the ship in the "other direction"?

[PropChad · Accepted solution]

Not really. I've seen people model with the left viewport being the front so the model would run from -X to +X front to back. Some model so the front is towards +Y, where as I just got accustomed to modeling where the front is -Y (pointing down in the top viewport), as that is what the front viewport is looking at. Do what works best for you and what is comfortable and makes sense to you. If work requires the front to be a certain axis; say if you are making a bunch of props that will be scattered, you'll want all of their orientations to be the same. Putting the images on planes makes it easy to do that, just rotate the references. You then adapt to that setup (it also can be done after modeling by resetting the xform in the proper orientation).

Edit: In my first response I told you to model that in the right viewport. In my workflow, front being -Y, that would be my left viewport, looking at the right side of the model.