A coke bottle

A cola bottle

As a way to learn more about 3D modeling, I thought that (re)creating a Coca-Cola bottle would do me good. Please don't ask me why. It's been a few years since I did it, but here it is.

Got progress? Well, sort of.

Modelling

The first step in recreating the image above would be 3D modeling! So I started Autodesk Fusion 360 and began to tweak, bend, bevel, and wade through countless menu options to get to the point that I had a wireframe (actually, it's a solid) model of the bottle.

I remember it was really tricky to get the right dimensions and look of those convex … things that pop out in the center, making up the distinct grip of a Coke bottle.

Texturing

When the modeling stage was done, I loaded the model (exported as a .step file) into KeyShot to try to make it look nice.

The bottle itself is made of glass—amazing information, I know. So, I tried to find a decent-looking glass material that had the right amount of refraction and translucency, as well as adding a tiny level of dents and imperfections in the glass itself.

The red decal itself was pretty straightforward. It's just an image wrapped cylindrically in the center of the model (well, it took me a few hours to get that right).

The straw has a translucent plastic texture, just as a straw would have. I hope.

But, the drink itself?

Yes, an empty Coke bottle is no fun, right? So I had to get back to the modelling environment and create a solid that could represent a liquid texture. Then, in Keyshot, I tried to find a material that resembled … well, a brown sugary liquid.

I spent quite a lot of time trying to get the right amount of translucency, fall off:s, and whatnot, as well as getting those air bubbles to show up.

So yes, after tweaking and fiddling around, I placed one full bottle in the center of the scene, copied a number of empty bottles on the ground, added what I thought would be an appropriate lighting environment, and … pressed that render button.

Many hours later, my iMac had finished what you see at the top of the screen. And that is all I have to say about this little project.

What's with all of this 3D-stuff?

I know that I don't know—nor master—all of the steps and processes involved in creating three-dimensional imagery. I also know that there are a bazillion people out there creating much more creative/clean/optimized images than I ever will have the knowledge to do myself. But that's not the point.

The main (and only) reason I occasionally dabble with projects like the above is that I feel good about it. It's very meditative to sit and watch a model come alive or try to tweak a texture setting to resemble what you're after. And, when you're done, you're done—no strings attached. No client is asking for "a small adjustment" or "What if you change this into that? "—no guilt in rage-quitting the project and starting another. You always learn something, big or small. And that's what matters most, I think.

(PS. When I grow up, I will buy myself a new computer that minimizes the time you sit and wait for calculations to happen.)

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