Edgeflow Questions
polycounter lvl 7
So, I had a discussion this morning with a fellow student regarding edgeflow. He is working on a basic human male model and i noticed that his shoulder edge flow was different than [ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYT0rQMzIA"]how I was taught[/ame].
My friends model had edge flow that traveled up the arm, across the chest and down the other arm. I had always been told by my professors that you should direct the edgeflow so that an edge loop should go up the arm, over the top of the shoulder and back down the other side of that same arm. But my friend was looking at hippydrome.com. What is the correct way to do it? Is it different for games and movies?
Also, while on here looking for the answer i ran into a similar question regarding modeling a female breast. Someone said not do it where you have successive circles of faces moving back toward the chest from the nipple. But lots of examples i see, show it that way. So my questions are the same. Which one is correct? And is it different between games and movies?
Edit: Also, if this isn't the correct section for this thread, i apologise, i'm new here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYT0rQMzIA"]how I was taught[/ame].My friends model had edge flow that traveled up the arm, across the chest and down the other arm. I had always been told by my professors that you should direct the edgeflow so that an edge loop should go up the arm, over the top of the shoulder and back down the other side of that same arm. But my friend was looking at hippydrome.com. What is the correct way to do it? Is it different for games and movies?
Also, while on here looking for the answer i ran into a similar question regarding modeling a female breast. Someone said not do it where you have successive circles of faces moving back toward the chest from the nipple. But lots of examples i see, show it that way. So my questions are the same. Which one is correct? And is it different between games and movies?
Edit: Also, if this isn't the correct section for this thread, i apologise, i'm new here.
Replies
in general there is a natural 'cape' that stretches from the bottom of the pectoralis across the deltoid and down the trapezius, this has been noted my many artists and it works quite well to work your edge flow that way. so the video you posted is genrally a good way to go if your trying to get muscle definition.
here is a drawing by andrew loomis that shows the 'cape'. its an entegral structure when your sketching or when your laying down your topology.
ADMIN EDIT: Removing link as the domain hosts malware
That's pretty much my philosophy on topology. Good topology is simple, supports animation, and accentuates form. Aside from that, it's pretty much personal preference. I find that real-world applications vary so much from model to model that you can't lock yourself into one 'formula' for making a shoulder. You have to be able to adapt to different circumstances.
I would try out a few mesh designs and see what you like. The span layout on my Hippydrome site are a great starting point for people wanting to see a mesh in motion. My meshes are really simple, that work great for the type of characters that I created while working at Pixar.
Copy, copy, copy.. It's like math, keep going over examples and learning the fundamentals. Use the examples I have on my web page and to twist them towards your direction that you want to take them. I try to emulate reality not recreate it. So the models and motion that I create have many errors in them but try to balance them out so you don't notice them. There are a lot of great mesh designs out there so try not to get set on just one.
cheers,
HD
That was my plan actually. I just wanted to make sure i was learning from good sources. It seems like everytime i see a new technique, i also see someone say it isn't right (Thanks Youtube :shifty:).
Thank you for responding to me.