My first character model WIP UV issues!!

Xaltar

Well, I have been hanging arround here for a while now and I got Max 8 and Zbrush 2 a few months ago. Having just moved country I didn't have time to learn how to use max. Things have calmed down a bit now so I have had some time to go through some tutos (thanks Poopinmymouth, your tuto really helped me find my way arround max). Up till now all I have done 3d wise was patch together bits of models to come up with something origional looking (using Milkshape 3d). So without further blabber, here is my first ever model from the verts up
Still very much a WIP but crits and tips SERIOUSY welcome.



I know the back is too narrow and I have some serious work to do arround the breasts but I was so proud of myself I had to show ya'll I never expected it to come out so well. 5 hours in

[edit] thats not counting the three days of doing tutorial exercises lol.

game-ready

Looks nice so far. The top is coming out nicely, you might want to check out the proportions on her lower half. Good stuff. Mmm..breasts.

Xaltar

Thanks

The lower half? They look right next to my referance image... Altough the top is disproportionate, I am not done with it yet. I will look at the bottom when the top is right, it might just be the top making it look odd. I'll post an update when I have done it and you can tell me if it still looks off.

PoR3

For a first ever model, its very impressive Xaltar, keep it up. As im not an expert, i'll let others crit And Poop's tutorials are a must see for everyone anyway.

Xaltar

[ QUOTE ]
Looks nice so far. The top is coming out nicely, you might want to check out the proportions on her lower half. Good stuff. Mmm..breasts.

[/ QUOTE ]

You were right, I just didn't see it. The knees were too low. Fixing it now

Update.

game-ready

I think it was just how low the knees were, or the length of the legs. It's coming along nicely, and looks great for your first model!

Xaltar

He he, thanks. Now I a going to work on the hands and head.......

XepptizZ

Nice model, the knees were the first thing I noticed aswell.

Also, she seems like she's tipping over forward. Other than that it looks ace.

Could you use a little less "in your face" colour for little 'o me? :P

Xaltar

Thanks. I will look at the leaning, its bothering me now that I see it lol.
How do I change the colour without messing with materials?

Oddmind

ha thats damn nice for your first polygon model ever.

Soemthing tells me its your first just in max, most wouldnt shell out $3000 before making a single model.

either way its pretty good.

The top of the rib cage seems that its the same width as the bottom, I would reccomend widening that up a bit, also will make the breasts look better.

Xaltar

Thanks for the crits

its my first model from the ground up, I have made patchwork models in milkshape3d using bits of other models and I only started messing with that 3 - 4 months ago. I broke the bank getting Max AND Zbrush 2 but I needed them for a mod and I have been meaning to learn 3d modeling for years I figured it would be best to buy the best, I didn't want to learn an older version only to have to learn new features once the old version starts to limit me. Always buy the best if you can, it saves money and time in the long run.

I will look at the ribcage now, thanks.

Xaltar

Hows this?

Xaltar

I just started on the head, I wil post it up when I have something worth showing.

Xaltar

Well, heres the start It actually looks human
Crits welcome, I am learning so don't hold back. I think I have all the loops :?


It took me about 3 hours to get this far.....

Joseph Silverman

That's actually rather good for someone's very first head.

Biggest immediate I see problem is the mouth/lips area. That, and overall it's a very masculine looking head.

I figure someone else will be able to give you more in-depth critique.

Xaltar

Thanks
I am still tweaking with it and I will be adding the ears soon, I have made them but not attached them yet.

Xaltar

Here it is with the ears
It was harder to attach than to model


Update

notman

WOW those are some giant nipples

Looking pretty good to me

Xaltar

Fiddled with the proportions and detail a bit.

Now for the hands.....

Prs-Phil

looking good there xaltar. Good to see that you are quickly getting around to clean modeling.

The thing that bothers me most about the meshflow that fa. on the legs you have alot of unnessesary horizontal spans that don't define to much. (you can see what it looks like smoothed esspcially in the knee area) I would focus more on the flow that creates the forms you really want.

Like if you look at your model now it is not to exiting yet, the hiparea is to flat and to high up, the ass is saggy and undefined (unless you are useing a ref from a rather ugly women) the whole character is a bit boring.

I would say check out how to create harder edges, bulgy forms, variations from thin to thick fa. and you will achieve more convincing results and combining technical learning to.

Of course standard, check out human anatomy, facebuild, proportions (esspecially them) etc. to work on the actual feel of the model.

Keep it up

Xaltar

Thanks, I used a step by step tuto with my own reference photos, yes the ass is a bit saggy on the reference photo lol but I was going for more realistic than stylised. I still have a lot of work to do on it and I keep going back and redoing bits as I figure out better ways of doing things. I think I will redo the arms and legs now that I have a better feel for Max.

I will look at the hips and proportions, thanks for the crits

Xaltar

Small update

Xaltar

Crits??
I am still tweaking but as I said this is my first character model and I am not sure I know what to look for in regards to mistakes. I am currently trying to get rid of unnessessary polys but any other tips?

Xaltar

Done the hands, now for the hair then on to texturing.....
First I need to read though some UV and unwrapping tutos.

Xaltar

I relaxed the position of the hands.

Xaltar

I HATE UVs aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Poops tutos are great but I am having a nightmare of a time avoiding streching on this model. Did I do someting wrong?

Oh, I should have said before, this is my first CHARACTER model, I made a bench using Poop's tutos first

steady

try doing UVs by doing portions, or regions, then stitch them together with target weld in the UV editor, theres a video of Bobo doing a head like this somewhere...

Wells

get the UVHelper script. grab the front half of you model, apply a planar uvw, repeat for the back half. move uvs so the two aren't right on top of each other, run the script a bunch of times until no stretching.

That won't get it perfect, but it will make it so you won't go insane. Personally, I enjoy unwrapping models.

Xaltar

Where can I get the UVHelper script?
I am doing it from 4 different angles at the moment, front, back, 45 between back and front, 45 between front and back. Its not stretching so much now but it will be REALLY bad when I get to the face lol.

Thanks for the tips, keep em comming

Wells

There's a max plugin thread in the 2d section.

but here: UV Help

Xaltar

Thanks, I'll have a look

I am still getting a feel for max so things you guys do without thinking take me a while to figure out
Still, this model has taught me a lot obout using max, modeling and meshflow to say the least

Thanks for all the crits guys I will post my progress as I move along. I am not doing hair on this model (at the moment at least) I want to make armor and a helmet for it

Xaltar

Well, I stuck it out with the "right" way of doing things.

Here is a test skin I have been working on for about 15 mins or so

Deleted because it was horrible

almighty_gir

does your girlfriend know you photograph her when shes sleeping?

Xaltar

She was awake the face is from a photo I took for her modeling portfolio the rest is from one of the orthos I used. The wife won't allow me to take nudes of her (which I fully agree with).

Xaltar

I am doing some unwrap practice before I try tackle this again.

Here is a render of what I have done (without texture) to the model.



Crits?

Xaltar

OK, I've blocked in the body parts and face now. It will be a diffuse only texture because I am going to port it to an old game without bump support.

Joseph Silverman

Isn't she a bit highpoly to be ported to an old game? Or even a new game, really, being meshsmoothed?

Xaltar

Surprisingly no, the game supports models with up to 16000 pollys per group that I have tested and she does not exceed 12000 in any of her groups. If I have issues I will port the LPM into the game as it has its own smoothing. There is no writeup on the specs of the engine... I'll post up a screenshot of it ingame once I have finished the texture and ported it.

Daz

I don't think that when SupRore asked if she was too high poly, he was asking if she was too high poly to physically export into the engine. That's almost irrelevant. What he was asking was simply isn't she too high poly? The answer is yes of course, she is. You really shouldn't ever be exporting a subdidvided model into a game engine. Not bad for a first character model, but not appropriate for a game engine, regardless of engine specs.

Mark Dygert

[ QUOTE ]
I HATE UVs aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Poops tutos are great but I am having a nightmare of a time avoiding streching on this model. Did I do someting wrong?

Oh, I should have said before, this is my first CHARACTER model, I made a bench using Poop's tutos first

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words "Pelt Mapping". Learn it, live it, love it.

And yes that is a grossly dense mesh for any game, new or old.

ironbearxl

Xaltar, the model is coming together. When you're ready to jump back into it, I think paint deforming her would help you to define her shape better and show you where some edges could be put to better use.

Max's Pelt Mapping won't avoid stretching and the relax tool is wonky as hell. I don't unwrap stuff in max anymore, blender's unwrapper is much more acurate and faster.

Xaltar

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll look at the pelt mapping.

Ironbearxl, thanks but I am still learning max, and blender is a whole new beast. One app at a time lol. Still I will look at the unwrapper in blender, the app is free so I won't need to fork it to check

Daz - I just want to see if the engine can take a 21000 polly model. I will use the LPM as the actual character. If the the game can take 21000 pollys then I can to some degree get arround the lack of bump map support, well at least for important characters (NPCs) in my mod.