How to Model a Bird

[newellteapot]

Hi!
First of all, the character is cool :)
What I would do is draw him from the front and the side, project those drawings onto planes and use them as reference.
I would do some research and have a look at bird skeletons and muscular structure to decide where to attach the wings and how to pose them, there's plenty on google (just research images with "bird skeleton", can't post images here they might be copyrighted). Bear in mind that the muscles that attach the cage to the wings are not so different from the human ones (strange but true), and that the "arms" attach rather high, like the human ones. One mistake I frequently saw was wings attached very low.
Use this site as a visual reference for the animation:
www.bbcmotiongallery.com (http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com/), it's really good.
Good luck!



I need to model a low poly hawk for a game I'm working on in either zbrush or Maya. I've hardly done any character modeling and I was wondering how to begin. What is the best way to model the bird to make it easier to animate later? Mainly, what is the best post for the bird? To have the wings straight out to the sides from front view, or to have the lifted up and vertical from a side view? Also, does anyone know of any free models I can look at for reference or have any good wires of birds? This is the character that I want to create:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/Jadetigerffxi/HawkSketch.jpg

[Jadetiger]

Wow! Thanks, I found some great clips already! :D

[Jadetiger]

The only thing I'm having a lot of trouble finding is the actual muscle structure, especially of the wings. I've googled a bunch, went through almost the whole anatomy link thread on this forum and still only found a couple crappy images. Anyone have any suggestions? I've got the bulk of the bird built. Once I model the wings, I'm just not sure how to attach them properly.

[newellteapot]

what about this?

http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Birds/Avian-Muscle.html
consider that the muscle structure is very similar to the human one, so once you get how to attach the pectoralis, you are sorted :)

[Smoke_Z]

I forgot, are you vegetarian?

If not, go to the supermarket and pick up a whole frying chicken to disect. (Do it in sterile conditions and you could make a stew when you're done.)

[Jadetiger]

I'm all set now, thanks. And for people who stumble across this thread, there is a little cartoon bird tutorial on http://www.3dtotal.com/ Located under Free Stuff > Tutorials > Maya > Modeling and Rigging > Page 2

[Jadetiger]

I forgot, are you vegetarian?

If not, go to the supermarket and pick up a whole frying chicken to disect. (Do it in sterile conditions and you could make a stew when you're done.)

Hehe, good idea. I can eat chicken any time. :D

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