Crying for help

[leigh]

http://www.subdivisionmodeling.com/forums/showthread.php?t=482

You'll probably find a lot of interesting articles scattered around that thread.

[Mr. D]

Hello

One thing you need to learn about when modeling for animation is just how the model\mesh is designed with the animation in mind. When drawing or scuplting you are dealing with a single pose, you can build or draw the skin to show the muscle/skin motion for that single pose. When animating you are looking to design your mesh to be able to handle a variety of motion. The shape of a shoulder or forearm bulge may look fine for one position but fall apart when rotated to another. You need your mesh design to not handle just the one but the other as well, usually with both not being the best they could be but a compromise that will allow you to get both poses looking believable.
So when your trying to build a character you need to start thinking to yourself before you begin building. OK, just how am I going to want this character's body to twist and turn. Which motions will work better if there are more faces in that area, which with less.
Then you'll start deciding how to go about setting up your loop cuts to allow you to get your desired movement.

Hope that helps some

Mr. D

[Psyk0]

Here's some great tips:
http://www.hippydrome.com/

[CombineMind]

Mr. D's comment was right on in my opinion, thinking about how things move and understanding what parts of a face/body move (deform) will help you greatly.

An example would be: I know that the elbow in an arm will be where the arm will bend, I know that it will likely need to bend to an extreme. Therefore I will add more spans (or more geometry/quads) in that area. If I only have two spans there, when the arm bends to an extreme there wont be enough geometry there to make a round shape on the end of the elbow.

Your dilemma with triangles will be resolved once you understand where all of this deformation occurs. Once you know where an area will never be bent or deformed you can safely (most times) add a triangle in there to create another span somewhere else if you need it. Keep in mind from what I've seen the triangle/quad opinion really varies from artist to artist, this is just my take on it.

Lastly, I've found that studying muscle groups in the body and face and understanding how they move will greatly help your modeling.

I hope this helps some. =P Good luck.

-Dan

[gsokol]

http://www.poopinmymouth.com/process/tips/limb_deformations.gif
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/process/tips/shoulder_deform.jpg

[newellteapot]

you have to follow many tutorials and you'll figure it out, don't worry!
it will come to you, just study.

you already have all the important features (imagination, sense of shape and form), you just need to understand the technique.

do loads of tutorials of simple objects (a mug, a hat...) and you'll understand

best of luck!

[nirishere]

Thanks people.
I appreciate it. This must be one of those things you wake up one day, hit yourself in the head, and realize it was something deep in you that kept you away from seeing that.