Box Modelling/Mesh Smoothing

[Chris]

the more geometry you have in a given are of your low resolution mesh, the closer the meshsmoothed result will be to that low resolution mesh.

To get a visual idea of how this works, create a box, convert it to an ediable poly, & chamfer one of the edges. Apply a meshsmooth with iteration of 2. see how in the area you chamfered the smoothed area is sharper? Thats how to model extra detail into a model for meshsmoothing.

You can also use weight & crease, but I personally prefer to model the detail in.

[vega]

thanks - so its a case of learning to understand how the polys will "react" to the mesh smooth then? no tricks - just plenty of practice!

[halo]

yeh basically you need to increase the mesh density in areas you would like to be tighter....if you want a corner, you need edges close to the corner edge on either side of the corner (hope that makes some sence)

have a look here at the head...

http://www.3rddimensiontutorials.com/mouthtutorial.html

or here

http://www.polysculpter.fsworld.co.uk/lessons.html

the creases of the head have more edges in them and are much more detailed than the sides which have less

there mebbe other good tuts around, certainly you should get some good help here :D

[vega]

cheers mate - these looks like helpfull tut's!

my main problem is increasing the mesh density in a tidy way - at the mo i am using slice plane to add points where i need them - does this sound correct? s there a better way?

thanks again and i'll take a look at the site you posted here.

[Chris]

Oh there is a better way, the meshtools way... :bowdown:

Go to scriptspot.com download Meshtools & CS polytools (then make them a custom toolbar or something), you too will see the light, join the movement, become one of the brothers etc etc :beer:

[Neox]

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14809

just some timelapsed videos i made with that "meshsmooth-technique"
:cool:

[vega]

WOW!!!!

this is great stuff - these videos are exactly what i need - real big thanks - hopefully i can study these and get underway with some more sucessful modelling!!!

just one question - did you use poly tools when modelling this or is it standard max?

thanks again!!!!

[Neox]

no problem man :)

i'm using Meshtools for modelling my stuff

[vega]

i have just installed meshtools - ohh yessss - this is bliss!!! it makes modelling way easier!!!!

thanks again

[jimcoldt]

Hey... regarding all the meshsmooth issues-- do a search for any articles or images by Bay Raitt.

there used to be a great article by him on www.nichimen.com (now defunct... I think it's izware.com now...)

anyway, his explanations on how to get smooth areas as well as creases are very understandable. There are also plenty of time-lapse modeling examples by him and others all over the net.

hope this helps!:)

[dvornik]

Yes, that's what got me started pretty much (I still suck, though).

Bay's article (http://www.izware.com/news/indexa446.html)

[vega]

A BIG thanks to everybody who helped me! i have since started to use meshtools and following some movies i downloaded am well on my way.

here are some pics of my 1st propper head modell. I know it is very crude but if anyone has some advice - not on the look of the model but more technical issues on how i have worked on the mesh - maybe ways to keep it cleaner etc.

thanks again!!!

[vega]

another image

[vega]

and the wire

[Neox]

good start for the first test, but niot clean enough try to model with edgeloops, and try to get as much quad-faces as you can get

[vega]

Hi Neox,

thanks for the feedback. I have a quick question. You say keep with as many quads as possible, but for shapes like the mouth and eyes i needed to create tri's. is this the correct way to work or is there a better method.

thanks

[Neox]

you NEVER need tri's but in many ways i'm using them to, to get harder edges... but in many cases a tri is smoothed wrong, then its better to use n-gon with more the 4 sides...
hard for me to explain this in english...

[jimcoldt]

Remember... the human head is not a sphere--- it's more like a ball with the sides shaved off... the sides of your head are flat (where your ears are)... also, the jaw extends off the front of the face, creating a sort of --- hey, just go to www.anticz.com (http://www.anticz.com) There are a couple of really good links on drawing and modeling the human head properly. Once you create a good template in 3d (or 2d), you can then use that as a guide for most heads you make in the future. be sure to check out the other parts of that site. pretty nice animation and stuff there...:thumbsup:
Good luck!

-jim

[vega]

cheers jimcoldt, that looks like a real good site - i'll have a good look through it

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