A new way to model heads?

[Stuh505]

this is a method which i just came up with to speed up my own work...im curious if this if similar to any existing methods, but i also thought id share it because if it helps me maybe it will help someone else.

i am using this method to create a head that appears to have been made by the plane extrusion method (aka clean and easy to manipulate) in a fraction of the time

1 - make the head with a spline cage, staying pretty basic
2 - add surface modifier, set iterations to 1 for as simple as possible
3 - convert it to a NURMS object
4 - convert it to an editable poly (I found converting it to a NURMS first causes the model to stay cleaner)
5 - go to vertex sub object mode and delete all the vertices which arent created from overlapping splines (these will be obvious at this point)
6 - select the whole thing and weld with its distance set to .1

and now i have a pretty good looking head in under 10 minutes to start going into the details from

http://ardan-nights.org/members/downloads/images/pictures/showmeth1.jpg

by the way if anyone thinks they have found an even faster or efficient way might as well tell me here

[Trisman]

post a pic so we can see a result of this new method!

[Nappa]

a spline cage with a surface modifer is cleaner then nurb and to can edit it like a poly

[Dridon]

Originally posted by Trisman
post a pic so we can see a result of this new method!

Yes i wanna see it ;)

[3dway]

I think this is called combination modelling.

I used to spline model everything.

I used to have a lot of trouble getting edgeloops where I wanted them when box modelling (or poly modelling or sub-div modelling, they're all the same thing to me). I found it was easiest to lay down the spline cage first, then add a surface modifier with 0 iterations (which gives you the pure cage), then collapse it to an editable poly.

This actually is more time consuming than poly modelling all the way. Once you get the hang of cutting in detail, you will realize that this method is a crutch to avoid changing your way of thinking.

You spend more time pissing around, trying to get all quads than it's worth; just so you can apply the surface modifier. If you poly model from the start you can always view the object as a whole throughout the process. Any art or sculpting teacher will tell you that this is essential to get composition and proportion right.

The mistake I was making early, was starting with a cube that had too many divisions. I now start with none or divide the cube into four equal faces on each side and then delete half, leaving me with only one horizontal division which I put through the eyes. Keeping the number of divisions down lets you cut in detail and features where you want and keeps you from just following the very sqaure grid that is there if you start with too many divisions. This usually ends up giving you a character that looks boxy and like a collection of cubes with corners melted off. This is a look we are all familliar with. They turn up in the wip forums often and I'm sure we all have one or two that we did hiding on our HDs.

[Tjakalen]

for heads I used to have images as reference - photos or own line work, scanned or made in photoshop. However I've found it quicker to make up a sketch of splines that show the main lines of the head I'm about to model. However I do not weld them or apply any surface mods to them. Insted I start off with a single quad poly plane, extruding edges and collapsing vertices. and use the splines as reference for where the bendings of the surfaces will go.

This helps alot in eliminating the before mentioned "boxy" geometry you get out of modeling in side/front views. However it does not remove it perfectly so after the all the necessary geometry is in place i usuly take a screen shot of the model in front viewport where it looks perfect and map this onto a plane behind the head. Then i set up a camera with default FOV straight ahead of the face and make the head transparent. After this i manully align the plane so that the height of the head shown on the plane matches the actual geometry - from this stage it is very simpel to bend the shapes into perfection.

In general the best way to keep the box-syndrom at bay is to adjust the vertices in perspective view troughout the workflow.

Regarding quads it only aplies if you plan to be able to animate the geometry - Something I always do. Even if you do aim for animation you can get away with a couple of tri's if you try to put them on fixed geometry - in exaple not in critical places such as joints and piviots. A few tri's is often a huge timesaver in removing edgeloops so i don't see the point in being a complete quad nazi. Most important in my opinion is to keep a good edgeflow and even spacing troughout the surface. An very usefull tool for perfecting adjustments to the spacing/edgeflow in 3D studio is to select vertex groups and use the relax modifier on them.

I use the above method för all my modelling wether it is organic or not. I've found it quick simple and selfexplaining. The results is pretty much the same as any other method but in a fraction of the time needed.

[Downup]

2 much text me melt