alias studio 2010

8/8/2019 Alias Studio 2010

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Alias Studio 2010

Every type of product has specific design principals guiding it. These principals are based on the way in

which the product is constructed and used. Just like understanding injection molding is important tothe design of plastic products; there are a few important points to designing realistic looking boats or

yachts. Learning these key points can help determine the limits and possibilities of boat design.

Let’s start with the nautical lingua, though this may be redundant to those of you who have experience

with boats, knowing these terms will give you a better understanding of the function and structure of

boats.

Knowing and using this terminology will also add a measure of professionalism to your presentations.

When starting a boat design you first have to question what size and type of boat you are designing.

http://aliasdesign.autodesk.com/files/24701_24800/24721/file_24721.jpg



Boats, yachts, sailboats, and cruise liners can be as different as a semi truck and motorcycle. Due to the

multitude of choices, I encourage you to do your own research regarding the many types of boats and

their specific design requirements. Remember, the bigger the boat the more details you will be adding

to make it realistic.

A small 12ft sailboat has no interior, while a large yacht is 80% interior design. The designs below

illustrate some of the many varieties of boats types.

I want to briefly mention propulsion and hull types as well. Unlike a car, truck etc., boat propulsion

comes in two major categories: sailboats and all other boats. The variety of sailboat rig types can fill a

book, in fact there are many books on this subject and if you wish to dig deeper, you should look up,

“Understanding Rigs and Rigging” by Richard Henderson.

The most common rig, is the “sloop rig”, which is widely used on all types of sailboats from small

dinghies to large yachts. Shown below are the basic components of an 80ft sail yacht.

The hull types are mainly distinguished in two categories; mono hull and multi hull. These hulls go from

one to usually three, although I have seen a concept for a quad.

Here is a crude front view to illustrate the point.




When you start the design, first keep in mind; size, propulsion and hull type.

Ok, lets get to the fun part, the design.

I usually (and you really don’t have to do it this way) start with an engineering package drawing of a

boat, but if you don’t have one just find a photo of a boat roughly the size you want, and use that. Then

sketch, as long as you want, I don’t fall in love with my designs, so it usually takes a while for me to get

to a shape I will enjoy.

A few helpful things to consider in regards to boat proportions.

First, look at the proportions of waterline to gunwale to deck. These will determine the visual weight of

the boat just as a beltline and DLO does for a car. Notice how the smallest adjustment in gunwale

height in the picture below makes a huge difference for the design, even though the waterline and

headroom in the cabin are the same for both boats. This is one of the aspects of design you can adjust

freely. All parts of the boat above the waterline are usually open to design interpretation. The running

surface (below water) is a strict domain of naval architects and best left alone for now.





The second important line is the stem. There are a few different types of bow design, and unless you

are designing for a race yacht or container ship, you can use whatever style you fancy, they all work. It

is common to use traditional sweeping back stem on smaller boats due to the restrictions of the

running surface. The vertical stem is often used on sailboats and high performance hull design, wherethe length of the waterline is important. Forward sweep stem is the least often encountered and I

mostly have seen it on ships and yachts over 200ft in length. The shape will largely determine the look

of your design. In these three identical sketches of a 60ft yacht I have three different stem lines.

Traditional, drop, and forward.





The shape of the gunwale, stem line and proportions of the deck and hull, are most important parts of

boat design. The line of the gunwale is free to be explored, it can be convex or concave, with a wave, or

whatever else your imagination can produce, but avoid flat. The optical illusion will make your flat line

look concave at full scale. Look how it changes the stance of this small runabout. The bigger the boat

the more perspective will affect your line.

It is best and easiest to start designing the side view, but keep in mind your third dimension, so you

wont design yourself into a corner.

To summarize:

Pick the scale and type of boat you are comfortable with, remember your proportion, stem line and

gunwale shape, then relax and have fun!

OK, here are all the guides in action:

Size: 150’ = 46m

Twin 1600HP Rolls-Royce gas turbines with Kamewa jet drives

Hull: trimaran (aka; single hull stabilized)

Design:

Luxury power sport yacht, drop stem, gentle sweep gunwale, two decks, and all the good stuff:

I started with a bunch of loose sketches to get the feel of the boat.




Then I took this sketch to Alias, and drew over an engineering package to made this side view:

This helps ground the boat and give it realistic proportions. Remember if you design a 100 ft yacht on

letter size paper the thickness of your pencil lines thickness will be half a foot. That’s why it’s good to

revert to digital sketching early in the process. You can draw your boat using Alias in full scale, while

maintaining a small canvas size.

After a few weeks of modeling in Alias, here is the model based on the above sketches. I’m no modeling

expert so I won’t bore you with the process but one thing to remember; it is a good idea to learn how

to model from your sketch so the final outcome is what you intended.






After modeling this in Alias, I took this yacht to showcase and applied the materials. At this point, I

started going back and forth to add more stuff, details I forgot and to do some small changes.

Later to come I will take a look at designing boat interiors, see the sketch below of what’s coming.

-Piotr Zin





alias studio 2010

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