# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Simple Vehicle: Wheel tutorial 1

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There are 2 tutorials for the tires. This and the next tutorial: this is
the basic tutorial but the next tutorial is more complicated and you can
end up with one of the four different versions.

## Techniques

You should already know how to:

-   Make a mesh
-   Navigate the viewport
-   Extrusion
-   Create, edit materials

This section will recap and introduce:

-   Forming faces
-   Subsurfing
-   Merging vertices
-   Object naming

For our premise, envision jeep tires. They\'re not too sleek but rather
rugged for all kinds of terrain. We need a tire that can handle any
obstacle in its way.

During this tutorial we will be primarily using orthographic view. Feel
free to switch to perspective view (**NUM5**) from time to time to see
how things are developing. You may also want to rotate in the XY plane
using scroll **MMB** or **NUM2**/**NUM4**. Switch back to orthographic
view (**NUM5**) to edit.

## Model the tire

Hit **NUM1** to set front view (XZ coordinates), then delete the cube.

### Create the outside of the tire

Add a cylinder **Shift+A \> Mesh \> Cylinder** then in the tool shelf
use 32 vertices, set the radius to 4, depth to 3, choose Cap Fill Type:
\"Nothing\", and click on \"Align to view\". By default, objects are
aligned to the *global space* axes. The \"align to view\" option rotates
the cylinder so that it is aligned to the *view space*.

### Create the inside of the tire

Switch to orthographic mode (**NUM5** to toggle) and then go into **Edit
Mode**.

Select all vertices, hit the **E Key** and directly after that the **ESC
key** to make the new faces, then **Alt+EKEY** and choose \"Individual
faces\" and extrude the individual faces into the circle.

You may either type in -1.2 and hit enter, or hold **SHIFT CTRL** and
move the mouse to extrude the faces until the sides come in -1.200
units. Now select all with the **AKEY** and remove doubles by pressing
the **WKEY** -\> Remove Doubles.\
!Checking the outer
mesh{width="300"} !Reduce the
width{width="121"}

### Subsurf the tire

Now it\'s time to make the tire look like a rugged tire.

Return to Object Mode, and apply a subsurf modifier (use the Modifier
menu in the properties header - it looks like a wrench) click on \"Add
Modifier\" and select Subdivision Surface - select VIEW level 1 or 2.
The tire will now look like a bead necklace.

### Crease the edges

A little creative use of creases will restore our tire.

Switch back to orthographic mode (**NUM5** to toggle) if need be then go
into to **Edit Mode**. Check that Limit Selection to Visible is off
(that is, so you can see the extra edges and vertices).

Enter **Edge Select** mode

Bring up the circle selection tool (**AKEY** to unselect all, then
**CKEY**).

Use the scroll wheel to change the circle selection size to be in the
center of the tire, between the inside and outside edges. This will
select all of the inside edges, as well as the triangles on the side of
the tire, as in the picture below. Then hit **Enter**

Now press **SHIFT+EKEY** to Crease these edges - type 1.000, and press
**ENTER**, or hold **CTRL** to pull in steps till you see 1.000 in the
status bar at the bottom of the view window.

!Applied subsurf{width="300"} !Crease
the edges{width="311"}

## Model the hubcap

The tire is almost done. Let\'s add a simple hubcap to it.

### Create a cylinder

Be sure you\'re in **Edit Mode**.

Hit **AKEY**, once or twice till all the wheel\'s vertices are selected.

(The scene should be in front orthographic view - hit **NUM1** for front
view, **NUM5** for orthographic if not).

Press **SHIFT+SKEY**, from the popup menu, choose \"Cursor to
Selected\", to put the cursor at the center point of the existing tire.

Hit Shift+A =\> cylinder with 32 vertices, radius of 1.9, depth of .5,
choose Cap Fill Type: \"Nothing\", and click on the checkbox of \"align
to view\".

Turn orthographic view off: **NUM5**. Hit **NUM7** for top view.

Hit **GKEY**, then **YKEY**, then type 2.2, and hit **ENTER** to move
the hubcap into part of its eventual location and a place we can work on
it.

!Add another tube
mesh{width="300"}

### Create the outside of the cap

In top view, hit **AKEY** once, so that nothing is selected.

Zoom in with the **MMB** till the hub cap fills most or all of the view.

Switch to **Vertex select** mode. Make sure \"Limit selection to
Visible\" is off (that is, so you can see the extra edges and vertices).

Hit **BKEY** for box select, then holding the **LMB**, drag the box to
enclose the vertices along the top edge of the hubcap.

Hit **SKEY**, then **SHIFT+YKEY** to only move in the XZ axis, then type
in .35, and hit **ENTER**

Hit **GKEY**, then **YKEY** to only move the Y axis, then type in .35,
and hit **ENTER**

!Shorten the hubcap
width{width="218"}

### Create the Axle Cover

We\'ll merge these vertices together to create a flat surface.

Hit **Alt+EKEY**, on the popup select **Edges only**, then hit **ESC**,
to create the edges we will need.

Hit **ALT+MKEY** on the popup pick **At center**. Blender will reduce
the 32 vertices to 1.

Hit **NUM3** for side view.

Hit **GKEY**, then **YKEY**, to only move the Y axis, then type in -0.4
and hit **ENTER**.

!Scale in the front
vertices{width="300"}
!Pull the center vertex
in{width="193"}

### Final sizing of hub cap to tire

The final mesh editing is to scale the hub cap to a size that is
slightly larger than the hole of the tire.

Hit **NUM7** for top view, **NUM5** for orthographic if needed.

Position the mouse over the hubcap, and press the **LKEY** to select the
entire hubcap.

Hit **SKEY**, then **SHIFT+YKEY** to move only the XZ axis, then type
1.48, and hit **ENTER**

Hit **NUM3** for side view.

Hit **GKEY**, then **YKEY**, to move only the Y axis, then type -1.11
(use -0.77 if you want your hubs sticking out) and hit **ENTER**.

### Renaming the Wheel

The last thing to do is to rename the wheel so we can find it easier
later.

Enter Object mode and select the wheel only.

In the outliner window you\'ll see the tire called \"Cylinder\". This
name was created because we started with a cylinder mesh.

Click on the name with the right mouse button and click on Rename -
rename the object to something like \'wheel\'. Save your file where
you\'ll find it later and continue to the next step.

## Extra

!Rendered tire{width="200"} Change the
materials to make it look like a tire. As you have seen in previous
tutorials, one object can have multiple colors/textures.

*If you\'d like to review how to do this, then refer to the
materials section
for an explanation on how to, or to the Blender manual: Multiple
Materials*

