Dimitris, that’s clearly improved. I still have a questionmark in my head about the serratus/latissimus area I mentioned before, but it’s hard to describe with words. Look at male body-builders maybe, that area is so much more developed there that it might be clearer what’s going on.
ShadeMaster, good butt, well done! 
You’re lucky to have such good live reference.
No, no Steven …u were clear as crystal, i just didn’t have the time to work more in that area. I just tweaked the legs as u mentioned and waist a bit while waiting an art director at the office and just thought to post wip so far here .
I will fix that area too within the new week. :deal:
Thanks mister Stahlberg,
Problem is the reference isn’t always very cooperative when it comes to taking the reference material 
.
@Dragot, I used a shader i developed myself, no subsurface scattering, just texture maps and good lighting :).
First of all: This thread is great. Lots of information. Lots of things to learn from.
Here we go with my female model. With her i am not aiming for a superrealistic
lady but more of a comic style “idealized” female. Plus i do not want to exceed
a polycount of 5k. She currently weights in at about 3.8k polys …
I have some areas that concern me. I am still not sure about the size of the head.
It looks abit too big but i just cannot find out exactly what is wrong. The sceond
thing are the hands. Something is wrong but i cannot exactly figure out what it is.
Plus if some of you folks see something not right feel free to critize …
Thanks
Bonsai
technically…edgeloops require quads…but for lowpoly stuff you need a lot of triangles to compensate. I often go overbudget and then have to make compromises…but by then i know the essential edgeloops needed to keep the volume
each model is under 2300 quads (including eyes and mouth geometry) and will eventually be reduced to 3500 triangles…the point here is to get the profile correct…and slowly orbit around the model and check that the profile maintains the volume and proportion. In low poly stuff its not really possible to keep proper edgeloops, which is why i go overbudget a bit in order to get the bone and muscle structure first…and cut back later 
@ Stahlberg …just in case i am not understanding…
latissimus area overdeveloped in bodybuilders u are refering is the area in red circle yes?(in attached image below…)
And serratus…is the muscles that come under the shoulder into the front of rib cage and control front-side movement of the spine (haven’t found pic for that …but i will)…maybe i can describe it as the front area of the latissimus area(front view of body) …yes?
:bounce:
I started a thread in General Discussion about the possibility of pushing 3D to go more open source than it is already, maybe even sharing models, textures, rigs, anim cycles, etc. as freely as the open source software guys do with code. The question is, would that help or hurt?
It’s a poll thread and I’d like to invite you personally (as fellow Maya’ers and those who have given so much to my pursuit of the perfect female mesh) to vote and leave your comments on the issue.
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=174532&page=1&pp=15
Cheers!
Dimitris, yes that’s the lat. My god that guy is ripped!
The serratus I think is the zig-zaggy musclegroup, looks like braidwork, on the side of the ribcage, in front of the lat.
OK , thanks Steven. . I now have a full understanting of what i have to fix.
It’s time now to do so in that area … :bounce:
what the pros here think of this topology ?
vert counts is 1200 per half
BTW, not maya, but this thread has since long drifted from being maya specific
hey everyone…this is my first post on this thread…
lukep -i like how light ur topology is…
i just wanted to put out a question for everyone…does anyone have a good line flow for female ribs?
i’ve tried it a few different ways…and it alwalys looks too heavy and messy, so i was considering bump map or normal mapping, but i would rather model it…any suggestions would be appreciated.
cheers!
lukep: Good to see people using blender! Mesh looks good to my untrained eye. But I guess the real test is how well the mesh deforms. I’m not sure what joint deformation method blender uses, so can’t comment on that.
Darek: After reading up on ZBrush, I would have thought displacement mapping would have been the go for ribs. Any modeling method will probably complicate animation (usless maybe modeling at the smoothed lvl).
thanx, kaynine.
it makes sense…tho i heard displacement mapping takes long for rendering. I’ve only tried normal mapping…which is similar…but not as render intensive.
oh, lukep…just took another look at ur model and just noticed the upper legs seem a little flat. Could you post a profile shot of ur model, just wondering if her ribs are flat from the side?
-at the base of her neck u have a 6 star and i was told they aren’t a good thing (i never found out why), but u could continue the line going up the middle of the back to the lower 3 star of her neck. This would change the 6 star to a 5, and get rid of one of the 3 stars.
thanks Kaynine,
here it comes :
-at the base of her neck u have a 6 star and i was told they aren’t a good thing (i never found out why), but u could continue the line going up the middle of the back to the lower 3 star of her neck. This would change the 6 star to a 5, and get rid of one of the 3 stars.
thanks, will investigate that
that was fast…
glad u posted ur profile. The upper torso looks quite nice, tho i found something new to pick on…(hope u don’t mind :p), but her arms and shoulder seem to be too thin in the profile view. It might need to be pulled back a bit…or just beef up her deltoids.
Not too sure (couldn’t see in this pic), but her ankles might not be lined up with her ears.
ooh, and her back arch, from her buttocks to the lower part of her shoulder blade could be moved up just a touch.
…i think i might be a little of this threads topic of topology, but ur topology works quite well.
cheers
Hi…worked a little bit today in latissimus area and cerratus area and generally on her back…and also some muscle definition on the arm and leg area. Polygon count remains the same , i just move around the existing polys. :bounce: Shoot me…
Fixed neck, minimized polys there and attached head (not stiched) in the way Steven is suggesting in his works…i think i did it…but then again crits are welcomed…
here is the pic
It seems to me that there is an important part of this topology thread missing - examples of how these models animate. I am no expert and I could be wrong (and I haven’t exactly read the entire thread either) but I don’t think it matters what the topology is like unless you are animating the model. You can get the form to look correct in a given pose easily enough but then to get it to be able to deform into other poses correctly is what this is all about isn’t it? I’d like to see some examples of animations or at least stills of the models in various poses.
I think that there is also room for this thread to include more different body types. I am working on a body builder type model at the moment and if I get anything worth showing I will put it up here.
I don’t have Maya,excuse the invasion
Got C4D,LW,TS.
and a boat load experience modeling animated characters.
A simple mesh animates alot better then a complex one.
It’s beyond the capability of most if not all 3D App’s.
To animate a realistic bodybuilder realistically.
I would attempt to animate a simple human mesh first.
Add geometry a little at a time see how it animates.
A complex mesh is a night mare to animate.
If it’s not modeled to be animated then it won’t.
I do not attempt to animate realistic humans.
Just don’t believe 3D has advanced enough for it.
3D does all right with 3D cartoon style like Shrek.
When 3D has advanced to the point that I can have a skin mesh slide over a muscle,bone mesh
will be a huge step towards realistic human animation.
It’s next to imposable to bend a hip all the way just like a real human even with a simple mesh,
to bend shoulders all the way like a real humans is a nightmare also.