Character Modeling

[WIP-001]

hey, I use primarily max6, so i'd prefer answers based off of max, but i also have maya unlimited and lightwave so if you only use those...well anyway...I want to model a character in max, and i am perplexed at where to start. Should each body part be a different polygon? Like i made a wolf, and each section of his legs were a seperate onject and it wound up being some 1.3mil polys...turned out ok...

I will be rigging this character using bones or biped... have a ton of questions about that, but i want the character finished first...

So basically do i make a box and extrude faces using polygons....use nurbs?...or how do i creat sub-d's and how do i use them? Or should i continue making each individual body part? Need help on figuring out the right way to do this...

[andoy]

There is no right or wrong way really, it's just up to you to find which method suits your style better.

[niki]

mmm .. I think that you can get a good start with the box-modeling.. for the rigging use characters studio.. if you have it ...

[WIP-001]

The question is, do i model each part of an arm or try extruding from one box? and if i extrude from a box how do i get more polygons to work with on the extruded part? if i model each setion of an arm or leg, when i go to animate it won't it be rough with parts of the body passing through the other joints it is linked to?

[andoy]

ok now i understand.. i find it easier to model the arm or leg as one complete item starting from a cylinder with about 8 or 10 sections. then using cut tool or slice tool i manipulate the poly's and vertices till i'm happy with it in all view ports. then i attach everything to the torso later to make 1 complete mesh.
so i basically would start with 3 cylinders or boxes ( depending on the shape i am after ) 1 for the torso, 1 for the arm and 1 for the leg then take it from there.
But you could extrude from a box and then use the slice tool to add more poly's as you go along.
hope that helps a little.

[bunglo]

i agree with andoy, i would just model the major parts (head, torso, etc) as seperate objects then attaching them and stuff. Here is a great site that has free 3dsmax video tutorials on character modeling and other modeling things. http://poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm

Now these tutorials anrn't step by step tutorials, they mainly teach u the "guid lines" and thing that u should consider when modeling. But don't worry, they do teach u how to model, trust me.

[WIP-001]

thanks guys, that makes sense