CGTalk - Modeling: Surface tools questions

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Mithrandir315

01-29-2005, 09:07 PM

Hey all, I'm a pretty new Max user. I'm taking classes on it in college. My current assignment is to model a head using surface tools. The goal is to animate it talking using morph targets. My question is, what are the advantages of using surface tools for this purpose over box modeling? The nature of surface tools makes models have a very high polly count, yet so far I've been able to get more detail with well placed vertices in a box model. I suppose a lot of that could just be my inexperience with surface tools. The only real advantage I see to surface tools so far is that one has fewer points to deal with when making morph targets. So do any of you know how often surface tools are used to make animateable heads over box modeling?

Any help would be much appreciated,
thanks.

RockinAkin

01-29-2005, 10:39 PM

Well first off, dont forget that you can very easily switch back and forth between box poly modeling and surface modeling in max, you dont have to be stuck with one or the other.

I personally like standard box poly modeling, but every now and then when I'm modeling something a bit more freeform and organic, I switch over to surface tools and play with the extra control offered by the spline tangents.

It's really only a matter of preference and what feels more comfortable for the task at hand.

DDS

01-29-2005, 11:18 PM

Well, as the nature of Surfaces are polygons itself, I think that controlling well box/plane modelling and subdivision surfaces is the best choice. Apart from giving you the 100% of the control of the mesh, you have only polys where needed.

I recommend you to forget surfaces...at least in the case of a head where there are so many details. Maybe in some other cases they will work, but I don't think that are the best way to learn modelling, I tell you for experience. Before editable poly, only with meshes, it was rough to model organic things so surfaces and splines were cool, but right now modelling with polys is much more easy, funny and confortable than surfaces.

I hope it helps.

Mithrandir315

01-30-2005, 04:50 PM

Thanks guys for the input. I really appreciate it.

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