Crown Royal 1.75 Liter
Work In Progress, Part 1—Cap Side
These are photographs of a 1.75 Liter bottle I'm modeling in Modo. If you look at my previous Crown Royal 3D model (1 Liter size) you'll see there was no mesh for the details of the cap and bottle. In lieu of polygons I applied displacement mapping, which is a method of generating surface detail via 2D image data. Learning to use displacements as a modeling alternative was a valuable experience, however, for the above bottle I'm using traditional polygonal geometry.
As before, I'm beginning with the cap. The big brother is almost identical to its smaller sibling. Construction begins with generating orthographic views and meticulously mapping the section outlined in red (a single tile), which I accomplished with Affinity Designer.
Good references are critical when modeling real world objects. Top and side orthographic views of the cap were photographed with my trusty DSLR, scaled and cropped to precisely match one another. The grey tile was drawn in Affinity Designer and it represents one fifteenth of the circumference. Both views (elevation & plan) and the grey tile were imported into Modo as backdrops (2D images used as visual guides for modeling). Good backdrops are invaluable blueprints for accurate construction.
I started with the bottom tier section, which includes the ribs. Everything is modeled flat—that is to say, the final step will bend the geometry into a circular shape. Modo has several preview drawing styles, but displaying the model with reflections as seen here is useful for assessing surface contours.
Bottom tier showing topology flow.
The middle & top tiers were constructed only after the bottom was finalized. This constitutes one tile. The ribs are essentially identical on all three tiers, but connecting the polygons between them was a headache. The challenge was keeping the count low and preventing n-gons (polygons greater than 4 vertices). My final solution shows the vast majority are quads, with 3-sided polys used sparingly.
A low subdivision setting will be used for final rendering, probably 1—given the small size of the cap in relation to the bottle—and certainly no more than 2. It's doubtful I'll use P-Subs (a more advanced subdivision algorithm developed by Pixar). All screenshots show standard subd's at level 2.
The cap is finally assuming its intended circular shape, which until now was ostensibly flat geometry. The tile is repeated 15x to form a long rectangular object, looking like a straight tire track on a flat bed of sand (see inset). Modo's Bend tool curls the long shape.
Next for Part 2: top of the cap.
