Topic awaiting preservation: n00b modelling a head (Page 1 of 1)

Me and a friend of mine is going to make a 3d movie. Were going to do it in fantasy style with one character each.
We will do all the textures ourself in PS and we will not use any 3rdpart plugins. My character will be a lizardman ala "freestyle".
I have begun with the head i'm trying to do it in quads using the box/subdivide technique.
btw I'm following this tutorial http://www.secondreality.ch/tutorials/modelling/head.html

           

So do you think I need to change anything considering I'm trying to make a lizardman?

If you want an acurrate model, you need to use a referrence.
Draw a profile and head on view of what you want the lizard man to look like, and set up a couple planes in the background that have the pictures on them.

You are using a human head tutorial to model a lizard head -- with out a reference pic?!
This should prove interesting.

When can we expect an update?

here's what I've done right now.. the mesh is a bit messy... do u have any suggestions on how to continue or how to make it better or is it just to start over? please gimme your suggestions!

Whoops. Almost forgot about this thread.

With the model as you've just showed it, the only real bad thing I can see is the brow. Definitely need to be wider. Actually, the neck bothers me a tad. Too thick front-to-back.

When ever I'm modeling something slightly complex that I've never modeled before, or when I'm trying a different modeling approach, I make a bunch of false starts. Do some modeling, let the experience sink in, start over but take the model a little farther, let the experience sink in, start over, etc. You should see how many unfinished false start models I have of characters.

Can't wait to see more updates when you get the chance.

OlssonE:

Nice start WJ and and dan have given ya some really great advice,

Dans advice about using panels and refernce images is critical in developing complex shapes, esp those that you will be at some stage animating.

some other issues ya need to think of now before you go any further are these, and they may involve scrapping ya work so far.

1.THINK about ya character, sketch him/her/it out on pecil and paper, think about how he moves when he walks talks etc. think how you are going to model this and animate it. This has to be thought out right from the start, its great to breate an awsome model, but to find out afterwards its going to be a real bitch to animate is a real bummer!

2.Next thing is more of an issue of design of ya character in the second set,

Ya say a lizard man, do ya mean a man with lizard like features or a lizard that talks n walks etc.

if ya meant the first then i think ya went too far away from a recognisable humanoid shape.as far as the head goes.

Modelling for an animation is a whole new ball game and opens up a whole new can of problems, careful planning and preliminary sketches and storyboarding are essential, work out how both characters will interact in the movie, what ya need them to do, what ya technically capable of doing as far as your expertise levels go.

I dont want to sound depressing or negative but think and plan everything before ya even open up ya 3d package. If ya need any help etc. holler and i will see what i can help ya with.

Good luck and welcome to the big bad world the CG Film industry....

Dude, definitely what Tom said about animating. I learned the hard way (the only way for me) about thinking ahead when it comes to doing a model for animation. Things like range of motion, relaxed poses for various body parts, and where to put extra verts for decent deformations. It's a whole new deal.

Yeah, you should see what happened to the hips/pelvis of my first few rigged characters. And don't get me started on shoulders. Not pretty.

It takes time, but you'll get it if you really want it.

Thanks for the advice!
This is my second try and I think it looks better. I'm just going to focus on the head now and take the body later.
So what should I think about when modelling a head for animating? I'm aiming to make my character to move his eyes and mouth no big expressions.

Animating an organic character? One massive thing to think about is poly's...lots and lots of polys.

btw this character is going to be high-poly. k

Olsson, don't let the lack of responses discourage you from posting more updates. I know I want to see more. Once you get a little further, I'm sure I'll have something to say.

Ok... I made this one from scratch but i'm not satisfied. There are some polygons that look wierd when applying meshsmooth. link http://www.olzn.com/m0d3e.jpg
c/c are welcome! Thanx!

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

I have tried to find some refence images or concept but with no luck!!
If you find anything please send me an email or Q me or post. Danke!

Reference pics? Make your own! They don't have to spiffy or anything. As long as they show proportions. A few quick line drawings in PS should be just fine for reference. Maybe even draw in some of your edgeloops while your at it.

MeshSmooth
Try telling MeshSmooth to operate on faces. Somwhere in MeshSmooth there are two little buttons, one is a quad and the other is a triangle. Click the triangle and see if that makes a difference. You should also try changing the mode: classic, nurbs, and quad(?). Or get into the nitty gritty and tweak the control points/lines by hand.

Well I have started all over again. I just found some concept art from a game and will draw sketches from that!
Stay put for some great (really really ruff) sketching!

My host is down so none of ther earlier pictures are aviable!

So I abused Michaels sighosting (hope it's ok) and uploaded a reference pic.


What do you think...?
I must add some edgeloops later!

i think it'll give you a good base to work from, definitely at least as far as proportions, etc. what are you modeling in?

that's a great tutorial btw, i was using it for some other work i did recently.

chris

I'm modelling in 3dsmax using texporter
to unwrap and photoshop to texture.

I havn't found a good way to display the images
yet! The model is in the way and it takes time to
switch views and check all the time. :\
*yawn*
So far I have done the eyesocket and I'm
currently tweaking the eye...

must go to bed now I'm up for school in 4 hours...


Here's a preview...

Ok...here's a handy hint for MAX...

Display your images on image planes...so, seperate your two reference pics into two different files, then create a plane in the front viewport the same proportions as your image (so if your image is 100 x 200 pixels create a plane that's 10 units by 20 units)...leave this at world centre for now and add a UVW Mapping modifier to it...then create a material with a Diffuse map of type 'Bitmap' and select your front refernce pic to use as the map. Apply this to your plane and click the 'Show map in viewport' button. Repeat this process for the side view (for your refernece pic I suggest you change your 'left' viewport to the 'right' viewport and then create the plane). Now...select your front image plane and with the right viewport selected move it until it is 4 units to the left of your right image plane. Repeat this for the right image plane, but select the right image plane and with the front viewport select move it until it is 4 units to the right of the right image plane.

Now, when you create your character (I assume if you're following that tute you're starting with a cube and using the editable poly mode) with your model of your character (or cube if you will) selected press ALT+X to enter what is called 'X-ray mode' (not sure if this is in versions of max before 5 or not, give it a shot, if it isn't, tell me and I'll tell you how to create a modelling material that will allow youto have your character in varying states of transparency)...X-Ray mode will make your model transparent whilst still allowing you to see it and work with it...and it doesn't show up in a render either, which is good.

Anyway...hop ot it Olsson...let's see some WIP shots.

That really helped much, thanks!

Here is the first picture of the basic shape.
I have not done any detail yet and this is
a very strict interpretation of the sketches.
It might look different in the end but
this is a good start I think.




mesh:

My suggestion would be not to smooth the model so much. Of course skin is wrapped around bones and muscle, but it looks right now like the skin has been vacumm sealed onto his head. Try to take into account the bone structure of his face. Basically, umm...The facial features look a little un-defined.

That model looks like it was meshsmoothed before the symetty modifier was added to it right? You can see the seam running over the nose, an unfortunate but not uncommon symptom of it. After you're happy with the model and the symettry modifier has been added to it, then you can apply the mod through the editable poly mode.