HeadPrimitives and Radial Falloff

[Surrealist.]

Hi I moved this over from the WIP gallery as I realized it's more of an ongoing tehnique WIP than anything. So hear it is:

There was a thread recently on Spinquad that got me dusting off an old project of creating a head primitive. Colin Larkin comes to mind as someone who has a similar approach to creating a base head model for use for multiple characters. This is nothing new but here is my take on it.

The breakthough for me came with the idea to use the move tool with point radial falloff (dragnet) and play with the settings to make changes in the model from the larger shape down to the smaller details.

As I said I did not originate this but the idea finally got through my skull put this tool to use this way.

One way of modeling is to start simple creating just the geometry you need as you go, creating the basic shape and then adding detail. This is a similar technique though it reverses the idea to the tool. Starting off with all the geometry and making the tool go from large edits to small edits, back and forth. The precise settings of the falloff to get the control you need being the key.

I have a lot of characters to create so here's my solution:

Pic 1) The model was first plotted out as far as pollyflow with only features added that needed to be because of raised geometry - such as the nose and ear but no detail, just generic poly flow.

Pic 2) then the features were added in and no real change to the pollyflow but I did add a little more with bandsaw and of course extended the cavities with extender plus. This is the generic starting point. Not anything other than the basic features modeled. This would be the "Head Primitive". The one I load up to start on each character.

Pics 3 and 4 are just quick characters. The last one, the child, took less than a half hour, The sinister one, a couple of hours. Nothing great just practice runs on the technique.

[Surrealist.]

Orental man and a goof. Time on the oriental man was a couple of hours, the goof, probably about a half.

[Surrealist.]

On this technique, I had been looking for a way to have presets on the fall off settings. I found an intermediate solution:

In the menu layout you can have multiple instances of a tool so I set up a special tab and inserted all of the move tools - just for visual reasons and to keep them separate so I could rename for this specific use.

Move
Drag
Dragnet
Magnet
Shear

They can all be set to point radial falloff and each separate tool will remember the last setting - my "preset"

So I named them,

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Variable

Only five but its better than nothing, Unfortunatly only one instance of tool can be active at a time, oh well, at least 4 common presets and a varriable for finetune adjustments. Depending on the size of the model of course will determine the size of each preset I set.

Also I have added all of the size tools to my arsenal. The size tool set to point radial fall off is a great little tool to at puffs to the cheeks. I like using this rather than magnet (move w/ radial fall off) in this aplication.

Next, I will find a use for rotate tools. Perhaps this will work well for things like rotating the jaw for endomorph. This would be in place of roating a selection with the rotate tool - we'll see.

BTW, if anybody hgas any better ideas for these presets that would be great, a plugin?, ls?

[Surrealist.]

I decided to work on the poly flow of the primitive and add geometry, Ok a lot more geometry. Going to take this one for a test drive.

[Surrealist.]

Another from the high poly primitive. Still pretty bad but these are my first attempt at character heads. The technique does seem to be workable. Maybe I'll come up with another primitive. One more simple. I Donno.

[Surrealist.]

Ok my first female head. :bangwall: No so easy to do.

[Surrealist.]

I am learning that there is something to face compostion. I'll bet they teach that in art shool I never went to. :yingyang:

By face composition I mean the head itself. Not as it appears in a picure or shot. I Don't mean proportions , I mean the face is an empty canvas or rather a hunk of clay upon which you place or mold a composition. The proportions must not only fall within the basic head proportion rules but you also have to compose it as you would any type drawing. Things must make sense. They must fill the frame (head) and be interesting. Looking back the the other things I banged out I can see the flaws now. Not that I was trying to win an art contest or anything but I have been learning a little more than some technique of modeling here. Will be interesting to see how it progresses.

[Surrealist.]

OK Here is the new and improved version of the head mesh. For now the best compromise I can come up with; more mesh in some areas less in others and imrpoved polyflow along the jaw hinge, nostril and brow areas. :yingyang:

[Surrealist.]

Some more detail. :yingyang:

[Surrealist.]

One using the new mesh. Edit:Slight update to lower jaw but done. Ready for the next. :yingyang:

[Surrealist.]

And another :yingyang:

[sllink]

Very intersting technique. I think I tried something similar as well I wanted to simulate sculpting like Zbrush. But I couldnt figure out to go about it. :goodluck:

[Lamont]

Very intersting technique. I think I tried something similar as well I wanted to simulate sculpting like Zbrush. But I couldnt figure out to go about it. :goodluck:That's what I do with ZBrush. I have a low-poly head with good topology. I can make an Orc, a male or whatever has a humanoid head really quick, and you'd never have know it came from the same mesh. I can go down a couple of sub-divisions and apply the normal map to it. I am going to make a body that works the same way.

Why keep doing it over? ;)

[Surrealist.]

Yea, I think this was inspired in part by Zbrush, this is the best LW equivilant I have been able to come up with.

I now do most of my modeling this way. I just finsished up the body hands and feet of a character. The main use of my tools once I get a mesh are the same.

The use of these fall off tools really begs for a restructure of this tool or even a plugin that does nothing but radial fall off with a list of presets. I can't get over how this has completely enhanced my toolset. I couldn't imagine going back to any other method of modeling.

One thing it does is it simplifies the process by separating it into two actions. 1) creating the mesh and 2) edit the mesh. Convnetionaly these are more or less the same - to over simplify. But it makes much more sense to plan out or poly flow and create the mesh - then get creative, rather than being bogged down by the technical aspects of the process along the way.

I could go over the use of the fall off tools in more detail if anyone is interested. Otherwise it is pretty much easy to get the idea by playing with the different settings here are the ones I use often.

For roughing out the head (one to scale of an average head) I use:

100mm
50mm
35mm
25mm
10mm

All preset as above on my custom menu.

Once I have the basic shape I like I go in an edit details:

20mm
10mm
5mm
2mm
Drag tool

These are not set in stone, just starting points, it just depends.

You can really get in there and finish up the details and then come back and move larger parts around without disrupting those details, so you can go back and forth. Very liberating. :)

[Lamont]

If LW's falloff and "pressure" could be more visual like how ZBrush is, then I'd never use ZBrush again (well, I can't go that far actually...).

When you use ZBrush just in the edit mode, you're using tools you've used all along in LW for years. But with a freakin' Wacom for ultimate control.

[Surrealist.]

If LW's falloff and "pressure" could be more visual like how ZBrush is, then I'd never use ZBrush again (well, I can't go that far actually...).

When you use ZBrush just in the edit mode, you're using tools you've used all along in LW for years. But with a freakin' Wacom for ultimate control.


Yea man, I saw that video where the guys builds the fish. Awsome, I thought, "I gotta have this program!" Looks like Lw9 will support Zbrush 2 maps. How does that work? How does your work flow go? How do you get the detail wihout all of the mesh into LW? I assumed you would export Bump maps, but how does it actually work? Do you have to UV map it?

[Lamont]

How does that work? How does your work flow go? How do you get the detail wihout all of the mesh into LW? I assumed you would export Bump maps, but how does it actually work? Do you have to UV map it?

I deal with game models, so I use that low res base head, then it's brought into Z-Brush. From there I do all the detail work I need, and export a sub division or two up from the base head. Bring that into LW and UV map it. Go back to Z-Brush and export the high-res model with all the details, and bring that into nVidia's Melody tool and make the normal maps. Then apply that image to the model.

But this can be used for any model, not just games. You can render it out in LW. But from what I hear about 9, is that you'll be able to see this in the viewports. Here's to wishing!! :beerchug:

[Lamont]

Here is a quick example, when you do this, it's best to use a better base mesh, I noticed some bad edgeloops around the nose and mouth. The mesh in the middle is the one I am going to use after I fix a bit of the mouth.

The final high poly mesh is going to have it's mouth closed, I like to model with the mouth open sometimes so I can get better movement when animated.

[Surrealist.]

Cool Man Post Some updates. :thumbsup:

[Lamont]

That was something I banged out really quick in ZBrush. I'm gonna add more detail to the mesh and UV map the mid-poly one over the weekend I hope.

Once you know exactly what you are going to make in ZBrush, it's REALLY freakin' quick.

[Surrealist.]

Here's A character in full. Very much a WIP but this is just a quick preview I put up for a freind to see. I'll update more later maybe even post in the WIP gallery. :yingyang:

[Surrealist.]

OK, If you have not checked it out check out this thread http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?t=39935

This is actually huge. I don't know why I forgot that the radial fall of setting can be interactively set with the right mouse button. Duh!

Proton rocks. :rock:

This opens up a new chapter for this. Using the airbrush tool as way to shape things out using morphs is yet another great tool to add to the mix. And again that interactive setting. :yingyang:

[Surrealist.]

Here's an update on this character.