- Extending Organic Model (Back of the head and shoulders/neck)
- Refining model (Lips and Eyes)
- Modelling Complex Forms (Ears)
- UV Unwrapping, Mapping, Bump Map, Specular Map
Friday, 21 October 2011
Still To Come...
Friday, 14 October 2011
3D Face - Part Six: Refining the model (Nose)
Certain parts of the face have a lot of detail in a very small area, making the model of the face very complicated, as many polygons are needed in a small space. Once such area are the nostrils. When creating the splines to get the basic shape of the face, a small gap was left around the area of the nostrils so that more detail could be added later.
Additional polygons were created by selecting the Edge mode inside of the Edit Poly settings. The edges around the nostrils were selected, and Extruded by holding the SHIFT key and using the Move tool. Another technique used here in order to close off the nostril was to use the Create tool under the Vertex mode, and selecting four adjacent verteces. This creates a new quad-sided polygon, where as extruding would have created three seperate polygons.
To create the 'hole' for the nostrils, the inner polygons were selected and extruded inwards towards the head.
Additional polygons were created by selecting the Edge mode inside of the Edit Poly settings. The edges around the nostrils were selected, and Extruded by holding the SHIFT key and using the Move tool. Another technique used here in order to close off the nostril was to use the Create tool under the Vertex mode, and selecting four adjacent verteces. This creates a new quad-sided polygon, where as extruding would have created three seperate polygons.
To create the 'hole' for the nostrils, the inner polygons were selected and extruded inwards towards the head.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
3D Face - Part Five: Symmetry and Subdivision
The general shape of the face has been established, however the first noticeable problem is that half of the face is missing. This is easily rectified using a Symmetry modifier. Once applied, the Mirror gizmo of the Symmetry modifier needed to be adjusted using the Move tool to produce the desired results.
Another noticeable problem is how jagged and bumpy the model looks. To fix this, the model needs to be Subdivided, which means more polygons will be added to the model without dramatically changing the overall shape. This allows the model to bend and change direction smoothly. A Turbosmooth modifier was applied to accomplish this.
Turbosmooth can easily be turned on and off at anytime, allowing you to see how the model will look once smooth, but also letting you continue to model with less polygons, making the process much easier.
Another noticeable problem is how jagged and bumpy the model looks. To fix this, the model needs to be Subdivided, which means more polygons will be added to the model without dramatically changing the overall shape. This allows the model to bend and change direction smoothly. A Turbosmooth modifier was applied to accomplish this.
Turbosmooth can easily be turned on and off at anytime, allowing you to see how the model will look once smooth, but also letting you continue to model with less polygons, making the process much easier.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
3D Face - Part Four: Using Splines to model the Head
With the reference planes in place, it was time to start creating the model itself. The first step was to 'trace' the topology on the reference planes in the front view. This was done using Lines, or 'Splines'.
Under the Create Shapes column, the Line tool was used to create each individual point or corner defined in the Topology. One of the most important things is to keep each polygon in the model as a quad. Fortunately by following the Topology reference, this can be done without much effort at all.
The splines are created all the way down the face in the front view. Once all the Topology lines had been traced, they could be attached together as a single object in the program. Before doing this, however, one or more of the splines were transformed into Polygons by applying an Edit Poly modifier.
With the created polygon selected, the Attach tool (found under the Edit Geometry section of the Edit Poly settings) could be used to attach the rest of the splines. Using the Attach Settings (the little box icon next to the Attach button) was a quicker way of doing this, as it would open up a list of all the objects inside the project. You could then select them all using CTRL-A, then clicking the Attach button. Now, all of the splines are transformed into Polygons, and are part of the same Edit Poly object.
At this point, the model was completely flat. By going into Vertex mode inside the Edit Poly settings, each individual vertex could be moved in the Left viewport to give the model some depth. This is a lengthy process, and required some patience in trying to accurately create the look and feel of the face.
Under the Create Shapes column, the Line tool was used to create each individual point or corner defined in the Topology. One of the most important things is to keep each polygon in the model as a quad. Fortunately by following the Topology reference, this can be done without much effort at all.
The splines are created all the way down the face in the front view. Once all the Topology lines had been traced, they could be attached together as a single object in the program. Before doing this, however, one or more of the splines were transformed into Polygons by applying an Edit Poly modifier.
With the created polygon selected, the Attach tool (found under the Edit Geometry section of the Edit Poly settings) could be used to attach the rest of the splines. Using the Attach Settings (the little box icon next to the Attach button) was a quicker way of doing this, as it would open up a list of all the objects inside the project. You could then select them all using CTRL-A, then clicking the Attach button. Now, all of the splines are transformed into Polygons, and are part of the same Edit Poly object.
At this point, the model was completely flat. By going into Vertex mode inside the Edit Poly settings, each individual vertex could be moved in the Left viewport to give the model some depth. This is a lengthy process, and required some patience in trying to accurately create the look and feel of the face.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
3D Face - Part Three: Setting up Reference Planes
Once the topology had been determined, the image needed to be imported into 3DS Max so that it could be used as a reference. To do this, I created two Planes inside of 3DS Max, and added the image to them as a material.
A UVW Map modifier was then applied to the plane, granting access to the Bitmap Fit tool. This allows the material to be mapped at the same size as a specified image. The gizmo for this tool can be moved around, allowing me to map the left half of the image to one plane, and the right half to another.
More detail about Reference Planes can be found here: http://jackina3dbox.blogspot.com/2011/04/reference-planes-vs-viewport.html
3D Face - Part Two: Adding Topology
The next (and perhaps most important step of the entire project) was to plan out the topology for the model. This was done on the image itself, using Photoshop to simply paint different coloured lines over the face of the image.
Topology is how well the polygons on the model flow, how they are positioned and shaped. It is vital to create a good flow between the polygons to create an organic looking model, and one that will animate naturally without looking distorted or artificial.
Following a tutorial provided in the lesson, I was able to create the topology by using the tutorial as an example. It took a long time, and a lot of trial and error trying to get it to look right and flow correctly.
The blue lines on the image are the guidelines. These are drawn first to establish key areas on the face; wrinkles or the jaw bone, for example. The red lines represent the actual polygons that will be created when modelling. A few important rules had to be followed, such as making sure all the polygons were 'quads' (four edges and points). Ensuring the polygons are quads will prevent any 'pinching' and artefacts during smoothing, and will also allow smoother and easier animation.
Also, creating a 'diamond' shaped polygon in certain areas allows for the edge loops to change direction, such as in the centre of the cheek.
Topology is how well the polygons on the model flow, how they are positioned and shaped. It is vital to create a good flow between the polygons to create an organic looking model, and one that will animate naturally without looking distorted or artificial.
Following a tutorial provided in the lesson, I was able to create the topology by using the tutorial as an example. It took a long time, and a lot of trial and error trying to get it to look right and flow correctly.
The blue lines on the image are the guidelines. These are drawn first to establish key areas on the face; wrinkles or the jaw bone, for example. The red lines represent the actual polygons that will be created when modelling. A few important rules had to be followed, such as making sure all the polygons were 'quads' (four edges and points). Ensuring the polygons are quads will prevent any 'pinching' and artefacts during smoothing, and will also allow smoother and easier animation.
Also, creating a 'diamond' shaped polygon in certain areas allows for the edge loops to change direction, such as in the centre of the cheek.
3D Face - Part One: Editing the reference images
The first step in this assignment was to get my photo taken, which the Tutor did for the entire class at the beginning. A front photo and a side photo were required:
After getting the photos, they needed to be edited in Photoshop so that they would make decent reference images inside of 3DS Max. A Lens Correction filter was applied in order to fix some of the flaws created by the camera when the photo was taken, and to straighten the images.
The next step was to rotate and resize the photos side by side, so that they would match up accurately:
After getting the photos, they needed to be edited in Photoshop so that they would make decent reference images inside of 3DS Max. A Lens Correction filter was applied in order to fix some of the flaws created by the camera when the photo was taken, and to straighten the images.
The next step was to rotate and resize the photos side by side, so that they would match up accurately:
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