Character: anime-style boy

[Jimzip]

Hey all.
Wondering if anyone could help me here. I'm trying to model this boy (below) and I've just started. It's for an animated piece I'm doing for my uni course.

I need some help doing the face. I'm wondering whether I should go the full mile with the eyes and make them indented into the head with eyeballs, or whether image maps would work. A section of the animation requires close up shots of his face, so image maps may be a bad choice. Even if I do use them, I don't know how to get the UV's to map properly...
Anyway, the sketch below is what I'm trying to get to, and the model is where I'm at.

Help would be much appreciated!

Jimzip :D

[sketchyjay]

you're off to a good start.

I would model the eyes simply because it's practice.

Use the spin quad tool to clean up the polys where you want the eyes to go. then use smooth shift to make them. Use the drag tool to move the points around.

those are the main tools you'll use for modeling organics.

J

[Jimzip]

Yeah. Thanks for replying. I know these tools, I use them more than anything ;) , I was wondering if anyone could maybe give some pointers as to where to go in terms of steps to get the eyes done...
Anyway, yeah, I'll try spinning the quads again, (gave me some not so nice looking polys last time..) and I might just have to rearrange some of the facial polys..

Thanks though,
Jimzip :D

[sketchyjay]

okay

then what I would do is change the nose. Use only 2 polys not the 8 you did use. If you can go back to an earlier version then use less of the face and just drag the points to a better fit. If you need more use the 4 that make up the center of the face. The problem is that you took the polys needed for the eyes and used them for the nose. If you need more geometry use the knife or bandsaw to add detail to the nose.

j

[Jimzip]

Cool, thanks I'll try it, & post an update when I have time.

Jimzip :D

[j0SH]

looking good james...you know i can't help u tho

[Jimzip]

Ok. Not much spare time have I had, (believe it or not..) But I quickly rearranged the polys on the face.
I should stick with the one on the right yes?

Jimzip :D

[Jimzip]

Another update. Smooth shifted the eyes, and made the pupils from flat discs, bevelled, and outlined in black.
I got the nose looking right too, and even started the mouth.
Oh, after the nose was done and after I had smooth-shifted eyes once, I bandsawed the head on both sides down through the eyes to give me some more geometry to shape the eyes with.
I also knifed horizontally, through the eyes..
If the polys are ok, then I'm onto the next task:
Eyebrows? Well, yes, those too, but more importantly: The BODY!

>Gulp<


Jimzip :D

[Jimzip]

Hey all. Another update for ye all.
I started on the body today, and I'll be posting a pic or two tonight with any luck. It's been a bit tough to do much on the project lately, but I'm back into it now. I'll keep posting whenever an update appears. Crits welcomed!
Jimzip :D
(Oh, and yeah, this is a morph for the smile, obviously rendered with good ol' radiosity..)

[Jimzip]

Ok, done the upper torso. Here's a few views.
I used the cylinder-out method, starting with an eight-sided cylinder, and bevelling out, reshaping and bevelling more.
I made the hands in a different layer then cut-paste, and welded them onto the arms. I think it worked ok.

Jimzip :D

[j0SH]

looking good so far james...for the jumper you should do the bitter jug

[Jimzip]

Ooh.. Been a long time..
The animatic is finished anyway, so now work on the main piece should begin.
Here's a quick update on Tom, who now has pants and runners.. The set for the animation and a Pweep flying off..
(Oh, right.. I probably should mention that the animation is called: "Pweep!", referring to the small yellow bird/s Tom, the main character, becomes involved with).
Anyway crits are good! (And the trees will be replaced).

Jimzip :D

[Jimzip]

Oh, and here's a close up of a Pweep. (Or three to be exact..)

Jimzip :D

[t4d]

that looks cool Jimzip:D

if your moving on to animating now i would really stay with rigging untill your really sure everything moves correctly
before you move to the animation stage

i'm new to rigging myself and the better the rig, the better the final animation will be, and you can make a rig that you don't fight with in LW there's enought on the net to learn how to make good rigs :)

[j0SH]

damn james...your gonna own our class...the pic where he is running looks a bit dark...but it's a WIP so...


good work dude

[Rory_L]

Wish I`d seen this thread sooner! You`re coming on well, though I hope you won`t mind my saying that the style is not `Anime`, though of course the eyes are a nod in the right direction. I`m battling with my first anime/manga style character and my boss has been very strict about the styling. When I thought I was spot on, the model was still far too Western for him.

I initially modelled ball eyeballs and had them boned and rotating in the sockets to get the eye movement, but it was a complete disaster. To get the huge, anime-style eyes I needed to make the balls massive and bulging, so my `cute` girl started looking like a Golem reject!

I settled for gently curving poly eyes set into shallow sockets. I have a separate texture assigned to them and get movement by animating the texture coordinates. Works a treat!

Also, the eyebrows are separate objects, with nurbs curves deforming them.

I like your clouds. The buildings, however are out of keeping with the cartoony style, being a bit too realistic, to my mind. Have you tried puffing them up, bending the walls and generally rounding them off? Might look good.

Cheers,

R

[t4d]

this is the best way to do any eyes anime/manga or other types in LW

http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/modeling/cartoon-eyes/index.html

[Jimzip]

Wow! Thanks guys. Suddenly the thread begins to take off!

Josh: I don't think so! Dusty's monkey looks pretty formidable! :D

Rory_L: Thanks, deforming the buildings a little is definetely a good idea, I was thinking when I made them that they don't quite suit.
Anime.. Well yeah, I guess not as much as I thought, but the eyes are close! ;)
(Golem reject! loL!)

t4d: Yep, I did read that tut! I originally did the eyes this way, it wasn't pretty! :rolleyes:
I ended up doing a similar thing to Rory_L, making slightly curved polys, only my eye pupils are separate polys, so I can move them around. (Textures are also a very good idea.. I might try that.)
Also, I was just playing around with FK on that pic, I didn't know how to rig up an IK system until today! So plenty of honing to do on the rig before I set up IK on it.

Thanks all, I'll post some updates soon.
Jimzip :D

[j0SH]

yeah but you know...i think yours will kick his arse...i reckon he'll be strugglin


look forward to updates

oh, and those pweeps in the animatic, are they the same models you'll use in the movie?

[Maimo]

i'de like to see him cell shaded, with edges

[Rory_L]

http://www.newtek.com/products/ligh...eyes/index.html

Yes, I agree: this IS the best way, for movie/short anims, but I work in games and don`t always have the luxury of being able to use scaling transformations.

Thanks for re-posting the link: I`d lost it.

R

[Jimzip]

Hmm, Maimo, definetely!
I'll post some pictures when I've done some tests.
Believe it or not I hadn't thought of outlines!:rolleyes:


Jimzip :D

[Jimzip]

Hey everyone! Sorry to revive the thread, but I have some final pics to post before I can't work on objects anymore. I'm now finished with characters well and truly, but small alterations on the set still need to be done.

Anyway, for those that wanted him with lines, I did test a whole assortment of different ways of doing the lines. Cel shading did not look nice!! I played around with all the settings and this is one of the better images, just to show what he looked like with the lines..

I decided against them in the end though!


Jimzip :D

[Jimzip]

Another showing the Characters in the park.

[Jimzip]

And the last image.
Looking the opposite direction from the last one I posted.
So that's all the pictures!
The animation is almost done too, I haven't posted for quite a while as you can see.. ;)
It's a matter now of tuning all the movements, and then adding the sounds and so forth..
Yipee! My first properly animated piece!
See you all when I have another five minutes to spare!

Jimzip :D

[j0SH]

damn james...thats gonna be the best animation i.D.E.A has ever had and you know that they'll be spammin that to the students

can't wait to see it