TUTORIAL - lowpoly face modeling - 3dsmax oriented

[KazuyaMochu]

Modeling


So... roll up you sleeves, and let's get to it. Pick up you photo or drawing, and place it in the background. I usually do it on a plane, which I set up with the pixel size of the image (this case,
256x512). I usually tint the image and make it darker, so it won’t blend with the white splines.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image04.gif


Now, all you have to do is go to Create>Shapes and click on “line”. Start out by doing a vertical line in the middle of the face. You can do this easily just by pressing shift before you click on the other vertex. Ok, so now, keep adding vertexes along the side of the face, just like if it was a low polygon model. It’s that simple. Don’t make smooth vertexes. We don’t want besier handles remember? You have to make only corner vertexes. This will save you from trouble latter on. Once you got the basic outline, you will notice that you have no detail for the faces profile, where the forehead, nose, lips and chin are. There fore, you will have to refine that hole segment with additional vertexes. To do this, go to the modify panel and activate vertex sub-object. There, click refine. With the refine option active, just click on the vertical segment where you think you will need vertexes.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image05.gif


Once your all done, you will start by doing the content; the eyes, the mouth and so on, and so on. One thought about the surface tools. Surface tools will only fill areas limited by a maximum of 4 segments. I always like to make 3 segment areas. Pretty much like a triangulated polygon. So when your doing your contents, make sure you don’t leave any hole in the spline mesh. A hole would be an area limited by 5 segments or more.
Ok, click “create line”, to start a different spline inside the original spline. Fell free to make the contents separate. We will connect them latter. Has the snap tool come in handy already? It’s handy, isn’t it? It will be a lot more.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image06.gif


Ok, now you’re done, right? Got all the contents? Cool.
To connect them together, just “create lines”. If you didn’t have snap tools active, you would see a different cursor when creating a line from an already placed vertex. Since snap is on, all you will see as a light blue cross. This guarantees that you will have the new vertex right in the same place as the other one that was there. Once you’re done, just exit the sub object mode, and make a reference of it, to the side.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image07.gif


Reference it


Why a reference? Why not just apply the surface tools on the spline and presto! Well, I’ve done a lot of faces using this method, and I still forget stuff. Like, some of the faces are more that 4 sides areas… or some vertexes where badly positioned. Since I’m probably going to have to correct little bits in the model, I like to do it on the original one, so I don’t have to go back and forth on the modifier stack. I know I can preview the result. But it’s just a bit confusing to be working with to different things overlaying.
So, reference it, and apply surface tools to the reference.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image08.gif

[KazuyaMochu]

Surface tools


Ok, now, on surface tools, and depending on the scale you using, just set the tolerance to the value that shows more of the model. If you don’t se any thing, try flipping the normals. You may get a huge change just by changing one vertex, because that may represent a change on the orientation of the spline, and therefore, changing the normals. So be keen to this. A slight change on the original may make a BIG difference on the reference. Usually solved with minor adjustments on the surface tools modifier settings.
Ok, now, once your spline mesh is filled with happy polygons, all you have to do is collapse it to an editable mesh. “Oh no, editable mesh?” Yes yes, I know lots of you like editable poly. But has for me, and I like my polygons nice and counted, I prefer using editable mesh, since it gives me an accurate polygon count. I believe that Editable polygon was actually created for high polygon modeling. I’m talking, of course, aiming to a mesh smooth modification after wards.
Enough mambo jambo. Is it done already? Good. Let’s move it on the Y-axis


Moving in Y-axis


Ok, go back to the snap setting and select the “use axis constrains”. This will make the vertex not snap to the absolute position of another vertex, but to the same coordinate on the currently used axis. This is good for vertexes that are on the same plane.
Here comes the fun part, in case you didn’t have fun before. Here you start applying depth to your model. It’s easy. Just click on the Y-axis, and move around! You can also go into soft selections to get a bigger amount of vertexes moving.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image09.gif


I usually do this for the face side. So I can get a lot of vertexes out of my way right there. Get a basic shape out of it, and now, go to the polygon surface properties, and clear all the smoothing groups. Oh yeah, nice and flat! You should always model in flat view. It’s just more honest! You can really see what light will do to your model, and you can already see what set of faces will need to have the same smoothing group.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image10.gif


Make sure you press “Q” to have that little polygon counter on the corner of the viewport (this would be on the max 4 key set).
But of great importance, is light!


Adding lights and materials


There’s this gray that I like… it’s a warm gray. And it makes my model “look so good”. Still I like to have black wire frame on the model. So how to do it? Easy. Make black the color of your mesh, and than create a warm gray material on the material editor. Apply it to you model and than you will have a gray shaded, black wire frame model! (Yeah, I’m losing it…)


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image11.gif


Ooooook, now get some lights. Make a top left yellowish light, and a bottom right bluish light. Place them a bit to the front of the model, and set their intensity to something like… 0.7. Is cool. Can you see the changes already? Look nice, doesn’t it?


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image12.gif

[KazuyaMochu]

Choosing point of view


In order to progress with your model, you will need to choose a good viewpoint, to make sure it looks good. Usually perspective views from below, or from top are good. Here are some of the ones I like the most

http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image13.gif


apply the simetry modifier (Max 5) and just go down in the modifier stack to editable mesh, and then click the preview result button.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image14.gif


if you’r not usign Max 5, just make a mirrored instance of your model

Now it’s a matter of just keep moving the vertexes into their correct Y position. You know that you don’t have to move them in any other plane, because you already did so, when you were doing the spline mesh.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image15.gif


Mesh smoothing it (if you want to)


If you want, you can mesh smooth your model. Just go into relax, and “de-relax” your model. Make it a bit rough. And then, just apply mesh smooth to it! Tune it up and you have your self a fine high detailed mesh. As you would imagine, this is as far as I go in this subject. I’m not going to deep in this, since it’s not the main focus of this tutorial.


http://kazuya.gamedev-pt.net/cgtalk_tut/image16.gif

Conclusion


Hope y’all liked it. Forgive the times when I “lose it”. I like to have fun while I right, so that’s why I put some jokes while I do it!

Don’t be shy. Try out the tutorial, and then, post you work time and result here!










Thanks for reading this far.



















And this far too






And if you can read this, you don't need glasses, but you do need to step away from the screen



Kazuya Mochu

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