Your least favorite part of modeling characters

#1

I’ve done several characters in Lightwave, and overall I really enjoy the process. But I’ve found that there are a few things that get pretty tedious–for various reasons. (Examples: rigging hands–too tedious, or modeling the mouth–visually confusing at times, or getting hair to look right in Sas–lots of test renders that kill productivity)

I thought it would be interesting to see what phases of the character modeling process were anoying to you, and if there was anyone else that might have some suggestions on how to improve your workflow. Please–no LW vs. product X bashing–just comments/tips.

#2

I find ears the hardest to model.
Sometimes you got a good looking model without ears and then when you model and attach the ears, the model seems different, less goodlooking… Can’t quite explain why it looks worse with them. I like most people try to cover up the fact that there are no ears. But alot of models need ears, so sometimes I reuse previously modeled ears and tweak them for that face.

Mouth corners are another concern, I always make sure the polyloops are fine and then the mouthcorners will follow just fine, but it needs tweaking.

Hair :slight_smile:
I usually use polygons for hair, and generally it shows :smiley:
Sas lite gives some decent results, but tweaking takes forever :s
So I tend to avoid it.

#3

Starting :smiley:

Seriously, I hate seeing all that empty, neutral grey. Once I start, the rest just happens - one thing dictates others, and on and on…

#4

The crotch.

#5

Feet. I hate modelling them!!

#6

I hate finishing the model :wink:

#7

Ears :slight_smile: No doubt!

#8

Ears for me too:)

#9

Nose- i hate it.

I know the ear is the most diffcult to model, but for me, i find ear the easiest to model:)

#10

Your least favorite part of modeling characters

the ‘finishing’ part…:surprised

#11

like more people already said, the finishing part…I have lots of unfinished models on my harddisk, not only characters though…

but I;m always very enthusiastic (sp!) when I start, but often I don’t get to modeling the body

#12

My dislike for finishing models is a little different. I just hate to see them go :cry:

I have so much fun with all aspects of making a character or critter for that matter, that when its over I feel saddened that I’m done with them :slight_smile:

However all that feeling is always overwritten when I start the next one :stuck_out_tongue:

#13

one more vote for feet. rigging is my least favorite so far, but thats more for animation, then character modeling.

#14

So far, it’s ears for me… the mouth is 2nd, mainly because it’s so
frustrating to get the whole structure right.

But I’m new at character stuff… maybe next year I’ll have an
entirely different answer :slight_smile:

#15

My nose is my favorite part to model.

I have to agree with Leigh on the feet being the worst. If I even bother with toes, they always look more like sauseges rather then toes.

#16

Finishing

#17

I would have to agree with several others here and say ears due to their complexity. However, I find it fun to be challenged with creating detailed / realistic models. The worst in creating complexed characters though is not the modeling it’s the painstaking manual unwrapping of polys to create accurate, very minimally distorted UV maps!!! ARGH!

#18

I like rigging a little too much. Sometimes I send a model over early to do a test rig and never go back and finish it properly. As far as strat modeling goes–the mouth. Hands down. I hate modeling lips.

#19

The chest and shoulder regions. I still have a dickens of a time with those.

#20

I’ll make a deal with you all. I’ll do all your ears and feet if someone will do my UV mapping! I’m still not sure if I hate it or just suck at it thus making me hate it!