Modelling Eyelashes!

David Wakelin

Hi guys,

After viewing a few models on the pimping forum, just wanted to query everyones technique in modelling eyelashes. I'm currently using hair and fur in maya to generate the right "clumpness and shape" before turning them to a polygon mesh... but surely, theres a better, more reliable technique?

Cheers!

David Wakelin

Please guys, really need advice on this one

Ace-Angel

What is your end product here? I either put them manually using ZB, or I simply use a plane with Alpha for the effect.

If you're doing high end movie rendering, then yeah, using a fur solution is kinda standard in that case.

David Wakelin

My current aim is a head model for a competition I'm competing in. There's no polygon limit, and the more realistic the better.

You mentioned you use Zbrush, you literally model every single eyelash? I eventually want to make this head into a full game res character, and so I guess I'd use planes or your Zbrush method, however can u detail further what it involves?

MM

i poly modeled this set. although this is not realistic thickness.

however, it is a simple method and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to create realistic eye lashes.

extrude face with divisions and then add few bends and do some manual tweaking. pretty straight forward.

solar

Here's a different method that might work although this one is based in 3dsmax using the Snapshot tool (some helpful maya user might be able to provide a way to do it..)

Create a spline from an edge loop around the eye which the eyelashes will be attached to. Create a single eyelash much like the method MM uses above. Make sure the pivot point is at the bottom of the eyelash. (you can add bend and taper modifiers to shape the eyelash however you need).
Once your done select the single eyelash and animate it along the path you just created (see here for more details).
Then using autokey or the curve editor increase the length of the eyelash in the middle of the timeline. The idea here is to have the length taper at the beginning and end of the timeline, you can do this as much is necessary to replicate real eyelashes. Then use the snapshot tool to produce the final effect. Tools>Snapshot, choose instance, click range and then simply select the amount of copies for the density required.
You could even get really fancy and animate randomness to the length and rotation. This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, and would work for fences or any kind of mesh duplication along a spline but with the added power of animation controls

nyx702

That's a really nice result MM. I will have to try that.

BARDLER

If you are going to use an alpha plane, make sure it has the same amount of edge loops to follow the shape of the eyelid. This way your rigger wont hate you, and it wont have any deformation issues.

Cadu

Both MM and Solar solutions looks interesting. I tried using fibermesh before, then exporting as curves to max. If things got too separated i could duplicate one or two splines by hand.

MDiamond

What about snakehook? I believe Grasetti used on one of his characters. Any impressions about this method?

MethodJ

Seconding the modeling technique - I make a cone and then duplicate it a bunch, use soft selection or a lattice to modify the objects as a group. There aren't that many individual eyelashes, so placing them didn't seem like that big a deal.

Yedp

Sorry for bringing back an older thread but I was just checking for a method to do eyelashes myself and ended up experimenting with a new way in Maya so I thought I'd post mine too, I don't know if it's the fastest method but for me at least it goes quite fast, hope it helps or give some better ideas.


I'm using the convert edges to curve to get the eyelash from my mesh, then I extrude it through the Surface Extrude and i just modify the curve depending on the tweak i need.

MDiamond

Yedp wrote: »

Sorry for bringing back an older thread but I was just checking for a method to do eyelashes myself and ended up experimenting with a new way in Maya so I thought I'd post mine too, I don't know if it's the fastest method but for me at least it goes quite fast, hope it helps or give some better ideas.


I'm using the convert edges to curve to get the eyelash from my mesh, then I extrude it through the Surface Extrude and i just modify the curve depending on the tweak i need.

Holy balls, will totally try that.

Mark Dygert

Splines in max, with a gradient map applied to opacity to soften up the tips.