Beginning Character Modelling, a nudge in the right direction!

#1

Hi there,
I am wanting to begin to character model in C4D but don’t know where to start and cannot really find any step-by-step guides that focus on what I want to do. I am looking to work between C4D and zBrush 4, I am after opinions and tips to help me get this off the ground as this is something I haven’t ever tackled before. In your opinions what are the best practices for:

  • Building the base human mesh, i.e is it good to use one of C4D humans as a start or better to box model then ‘pull-and-push’ in zbrush?

  • How to go about creating clothing?? i.e use Clothilde and ‘pull-and-push’ in zbrush or sculpt the clothing (in my case a suit jacket) in zbrush from the base mesh. (meaning when its back in C4D the body and clothing will be one mesh)

  • How to rig?! (this is a big one!) I have limited exposure to rigging in C4D and nothing beyond 3DKiwi’s R10 Rigging Tutorials, where and what should I be looking for in google?! Is there already a solution that auto-rigs/auto-weights human bipeds?

I have been in and out of C4D Cafe/Amazon/Google/Waterstones looking for guides on “character creation from the ground up” but cant find a ‘course’ that will help me learn. Any pointers would be great!
Thanks,
Phil

#2

From my experience modeling characters and then rigging and animating them… the easiest way that is the most fun as well is starting all your character models from Zsphere’s in Zbrush… I’ve been using Zbrush 3.1 and Cinema4d 11 and I’m totally happy with the results… if you have Zbrush 4 you can do some awesome things with those tools!

So I say start in Zbrush… build your base mesh out of Zsphere or even the Zsphere mannequins that come with Zbrush 4… if you need free Zbrush tutorials search for tutorials by “CannedMushrooms” aka “Jason Welsh” he’s put out an insane number of great free tutorials…

It depends what you want the clothing to do? Do you want it to be dynamic and move and flow like real clothing? If so your better off creating the clothes as a separate mesh in C4d using Clothilde… If you want the clothes to be stuck to your character just sculpt them in Zbrush… Zbrush 4’s new hard surface tools in conjunction with masking will make that an easy job…

If you want to learn how to rig I highly recommend this tutorial set by Cactus Dan… I thinks it’s the best and most comprehensive free rigging related video series for Cinema… I personally prefer his tools and use them for my work but the character tools in Cinema as very capable as well… His tools get pretty close to “auto weighting” its just a couple clicks…then you have to adjust the weights.

I haven’t really found any specific books or anything myself either… just some tutorials here and there… there are some helpful ones at c4dcafe as well.

#3

Thanks for the reply,

Yes I think I may start in zBrush in that case, I can sculpt out my details and work from there. The problem I have with modelling clothing in C4D is that anything beyond a simple tee-shirt is over my head. I dont really have a problem with them being ‘dynamic’ so maybe sculpt them is the way to go.

I am aware of the Cactus Dan plugins and heard good things, although some say that the tools in C4D do the job as well as the plugins, is that true? What are the advantages i.e will spending the money save me time and a headache!

Thanks,
Phil

#4

Well I can only speak from my own experience… I bought Cactus Dan’s tools way back when Cinema was at version 9.1 and I continue to use Dan’s tools… So my only experience with trying to rig and animate a character for serious work was back when it was at version 9.1…

I don’t have R12 but from what I’ve seen the character rigging/animating/morphs etc looks great…

As far as saving headache’s go… whenever I had any problems rigging/etc I posted on this forum or emailed Dan and it was always resolved…so that a plus in my book :slight_smile:

I had no real good experience rigging etc before I got a hold of those tutorials and the CD bundle and now I’ve rigged and animated 40+ characters and its been fun…so I say its worth it as I used those tutorials as my “rigging school” and its worked out great.

#5

hmmmm, that leads to to believe that the Cactus Dan plugins may be a required tool for me! I have progressed though, I have rigged and created clothing for a basic model (haven’t IK’d it) all in C4D. I am having another problem, down to my lack of knowledge in the ‘character’ dept. How can I have the clothing conform to the rig? I.E when I move an arm the t-shirt stays the same? Do I have to go in and re-bind/re-weight my model with the clothing set as child objects of the base mesh?!
Thanks,
Phil

#6

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