Aerodyne Bike

     This summer I received a scholarship to attend a class at Brainstorm School in Burbank, CA. I chose to take Saiful Haque's (http://saiful-haque.com/) Advanced Form Language class.

    For the first project of the class we were tasked with combining two form languages. I first looked at a entry level consumer grade quad-copter drone and found it reminded me of an outstretched gliding tree frog. I also analyzed the form language of the blaster from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. While Blade Runner showcases the police aerodyne predominately, I wanted to explore what a motorcycle with similar technology would look like.

     After that analysis I produced 50 design explorations of what a Aerodyne Bike would look like in the world of Blade Runner. Syd Mead the main concept artist on the film was quoted as referencing the vehicles as an aerodyne – a heavier-than-air vehicle which directs air downward to create lift. This concept had already been proven with the real world example of the British Harrier Jet which utilized an innovative Pegasus Engine to allow the jet to have vertical takeoff or landing (VTOL) .

The workflow for producing the explorations utilized Autodesk's Fusion 360, Daz3d Studio, and Keyshot. The use of a 3D Human Model from Daz3d Studio Software was critical and made sure that foot pedal positions, handle bars, and windscreen were accurately placed. The models position was often changed to reflect a different attitude or style of bike. Forward leaning body positioning would inherently lead to more angular feeling speed forms, while more upright or neutral positions would produce more stable and centered designs. All the bikes were modeled in Fusion 360 and were done quickly to get the overall silhouette and proportions developed, often 15 minutes or less. In rendering the images I wanted to use a high contrast render toon shader so that the forms would have a strong graphic read. The renders also produced great ground shadows that help give a better sense of the bikes overall design.

     After some feedback I chose to move forward with design #49. I repositioned the Daz3d Model to have a more dynamic pose and created the basic jumpsuit he's wearing in Marvelous Designer. After that elements of the bikes form and design was refined. Simple sticker graphics were created in Adobe Illustrator to add some character to the bike and it was once again taken into Keyshot for rendering.