Hi.
This is a model that I am working on that has a few problems.
The main thing that bugs me now is the area around the tear duct.
To me the tear ducts seem to be too far inward from some angles - yet look fine from some other angles.
I will try to post a link here and hope that I have done it right.
This is my first time doing this, so let me know if it works.
Here goes : http://geocities.com/cgreality/upload.jpg
Thanks
Did I post this in the wrong place ?
Should it be in the W.I.P section ?
If so, I’ll have to describe what software was used and some information on it too right ?
How do I delete a post once it has already been sent ?:banghead:
Very nice model so far Vegan! I can’t really see anything wrong with the tear ducts. Hard to see from the angles, but, maybe you could pull the eyes more forward or flatten the bridge of the nose more (it looks fine in these angles to me)? I would delete the splines on the lower lip that you have ending in hooks though. The ear looks fantastic, that crease where it is attached to the head might be helped once you apply porcelain. The spline that goes across the bridge of the nose coming from the eyelids could probably be eliminated with those two splines going up and ending in hooks on the forehead, but if you do that you’d have to also change the next eye loop to go across the bridge of the nose as well.
I probably made little sense…feel free to ignore me, it’s going to be very nice when you’re done.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it…you probably have, but, here’s an example of what I’m talking about that Colin Freeman did:
Hello.
I can’t say much about the tear duct, since I’m not a tear-duct specialist. 
If you plan to animate this face, you might want to consider stitching in some additional splines in the forehead region, between the eyes. It’s nice to have some extra geometry there, in order to produce some decent brow furrows. You might also wish to delete some splines in her lips. Her lips look a little patch-heavy; all those Control Points might prove to be a bit of a chore, when it comes time to animate.
Otherwise this is an impressive model. You spline continuity is admirable. :buttrock:
Sincerely,
Carl Raillard
Yeah. Great job. I couldn’t see an issue from the images of any problem with the tear duct. Looking forward to seeing it when it’s completed.
Vegan,
Excellent model! Did you use rotoscopes? It has a very accurate look to it, like it is based on a real person.
The area around the tear duct does seem to be slightly too far back into the head. But only a little bit. The outside corner of the human eyelid is farther back in the head than the inside corner (near the nose). A lot of modelers don’t model that way, but you have done it almost perfectly. I think it’s just a small tweak.
Keep posting progress on this. It’s very good!
Jim
Thanks for the comments folks.
Apparently I did something right if you can see an image.
How do I get the image to show up as image at CGtalk vs. a link ?
Itsjustme :I’ll take a better look at Colins’ model. He is definately a master modeler. Also, thanks to his tutorial on hair, I was able to do her eyelashes and eyebrows. ( Thanks Colin ! )
raillard : I will go ahead and add some more patches to her forehead.
That is a good idea.
Her lips have more patches than needed due to the fact that I wanted a lot of detail in this area. ( I plan to use a displacement map )
When ( … if ) I ever do animate her, I can always go back and delete patches more easily than trying to add them .
Spline continuity ? Hmmmm… :hmm: What’s that ?
JTalbotski : I did use rotoscopes for some areas of the face. I would feel blind without them.
I’ll continue to work on the tear duct area of the face and post any changes.
Jim : You have some fantastic skill. I’m always impressed by how low dense that your models are, yet they look so good.
Thanks to all for you compliments. I have been recieving inspiration from you folks for years now.
BTW : Is this post in the wrong place. It is a W.I.P. ( obviously ) - Thanks
No your not in the wrong place. We used to have a WIP specific to Animation Master but it got a big overcrouded. This is exactly where you should post stuff related to A:M. The WIP section will give you feedback from the general 3D community. . . but here you will get feedback from A:M users. Please keep us updated with your mesh. I haven’t see this much subtle detail in an Animation Master mesh in a LONG time. Well done.
To put ain image in your post, put the url of the image between IMG tags IMG /IMG - with the tags in brackets [] Or just click on the little picture icon above the post body and put the image url in the dialog. Make sure the server where the image is hosted allows hotlinking or you’ll get a broken image
You can also attach an image, see “aditional options” below, but I think the file size limit is kinda low…
The surface of the face can be defined by an infinate number of different spline-patterns, but some patterns can be difficult to animate. If the mesh is laid out poorly, it’s hard to produce natural swellings and creases as the character assumes various facial expressions. Your model, however, has a good animatable layout. That’s what I’m saying.
I call that “good spline continuity.” Is that the word for it? :shrug: I’m not sure. I’ve also heard it refered to as “good edge loops.” Maybe I’m just revealing my ignorance, here. If somebody knows the correct lingo, please feel free to chime in and correct me.
Sincerely,
Carl Raillard
Grin !!! Wow - I’m glad you guys like my work !
I tried using the magnet tool to pull the tear duct area forward a little. It worked fine, but the mirrored points somehow messed up the eyelashes on one eye. ( I will have to lock the eyelash mesh next time )
I rotated the model around and could not see that much of a change when seen from the angles that are bothering me, so I might just leave it alone for now.
BTW : The left eye ( our right ) is displaying oddly because I am using Open GL.
When I switch to Direct 3D, I recieve errors.
As far as I know I have the latest drivers.
My video card is a Geforce FX5200GO ( with a pathetic 32 mb ) Are there any known issues with this card?
I keep seeing the phrase ‘edge loops’ in other forums, but I have never used a polygon program. I thought it was ‘polyspeak’.
I 'll work a little on the model tonight and post something tomorrow. I work on this project on weekends and once in a while after work. ( Which means somtimes I also like to step away from the computer to get some air.
It is a beautiful day today. I’m going out .
Thanks for the crits and tips .
Impressive modelling Vegan, the detail around the mouth is superb.
Don’t forget to check the look of your model in choreography viewed through a camera, with some harsh lighting. This will help highlight any flaws which aren’t immediately obvious when only observed in the modelling window.
Pequod : Thanks for the comments. Did you model your avatar?
(Your ? ) characters remind me so much of The Incredibles . They could be twins. Its " incredible" !
You should have shown them to Pixar before they made the movie. ( Unfortunately, now most people will think that you got your inspiration from Pixar. )
I love the style.( It makes me want to go see the movie again ! )
I am having a hell of a time trying to produce the hairstyle that I want.
I have a pretty dense scalp cap within the model, and have tried using a lower density to the scalp caps mesh, but I still find the hair hard to control.
Do any of you folks have some tips on stying hair for dummies ?
In frustration, I think I just might take the hair on a patch by patch basis ( Where you hide the remaining patches.)
I wish there was a way to lock the guide hairs like you can with patches.
Also, how do I control the stiffness of the guide hair. I notice the more CPs that the guide hair has, the limper it becomes.
What I am refering to though is the way that the hair reacts to the brush tool.
I notice that when the hair is brushed, it tends to flop over and curl inwards. This is bad.
Also, I would like to apply “hi-lights” within the hair ( not to be confused with CG hi lights ).
I could use a map to achieve this effect, but the hair would have to be perfectly straight and on a flat plane. If I apply a difuse color decal to the scalp cap, it doesnt seem to ‘color’ the hair along the entire shaft.
Any tips ?
Here is a ( bad ) test render. She will not look like this at all when finished BTW .
I can’t really help you with the hair-do, but I think your model is fantastic! The back of the head though, where the skull meets the neck seems a little off to me.
Great work.
My avatar is one of my models I’ve been working on faaaaar too long. He has the standard big guy hero proportions, you know, the handsome square jaw big chin look, infact, just like me ;). Pixar and myself are not being too original here, but I imagine we have both chosen that stereotypical look for ‘spoof’ reasons.
With regard to your hair questions:
You seem to be figuring stuff out for yourself, it’s often the best way to learn, just mucking about with the settings.
Your right about stiffness and it’s correlation to the number of CPs. I would use no more than 3 CPs for the type of hairstyle you’ve indicated, it’s much easier to handle than say four, which is unnecessary in order to produce good hair shapes.
The stiffness value is all about dynamics and how it will move come the animation stage. If you don’t intend to move your character, turn dynamics off.
So, I would suggest you use the brush tool to quickly form your hairstyle and use the ‘FK’ grooming button to control errant hairs. Do all of this with a 40 to 60% hair stiffness, and make sure you have about a seconds worth of preroll. You’ll notice there are various realtime settings you can use to achieve a better, less cluttered view of your hair while grooming. Changing the ‘density factor’ down to about 10% while keeping it in shaded mode is a nice responsive setting that I like to use.
Then test the hair motion out in an action. Change stiffness and angle limit values until you feel happy with the way the hair responds to movement. Only when you arrive at this point should you spend time individually grooming your hair strands.
Not sure why the decal is not colouring the whole of the hair shaft. I prefer to use ‘material’ hair emitters to colour the hair. I find it easier to achieve more variation in colour and other attributes this way. But if you want smooth transistions between different colours and tones in the same hairstyle, like stripes, decals are the best choice for that.
[QUOTE=pequod] Do all of this with a 40 to 60% hair stiffness,
So there IS a control for hair stiffness. I must be blind.
Where is it tucked away at ? ( Probably right under my nose of coarse )
and make sure you have about a seconds worth of preroll. You’ll notice there are various realtime settings you can use to achieve a better, less cluttered view of your hair while grooming. Changing the ‘density factor’ down to about 10% while keeping it in shaded mode is a nice responsive setting that I like to use.
Yes, I learned this through trial and error. I sure wish this was in the manual ( or … is it ? )
Then test the hair motion out in an action. Change stiffness and angle limit values until you feel happy with the way the hair responds to movement. Only when you arrive at this point should you spend time individually grooming your hair strands.
Sounds complex. What is an ‘Angle limit value’ ?
Also, I would imagine that if I were testing the hair in an action, that the hair would need collision detection. How is such a thing set up ?
I was originally going to have the model with long locks of cury hair, but I might change to a shorter ‘Pixie’ style. The 80’s hair picture was just a joke.
Zaryin: Thanks for the feed back. Is the area around the base of her head just unfinished looking, or did you mean the anatomy is off ?
Thanks
