How do I maintain a clean mesh?
Hey PolyCount,
I've been trying to model a head in Maya for quite some time now and no matter how many times I try, I cannot manage my vertices in such a way that would leave me with a clean mesh at the end. It's always full of unwanted folds and dents, even if I only have quads and no six-star poles.
Any time I add an edge loop, I run the risk of ruining the model, because once I do, I have to adjust every single vertex- one by one, and I don't know how to do it while still maintaining a smooth mesh. All I can do is blast it with the sculpt tool's relax, and while that makes everything very smooth, it deforms the mesh into something very far from what I was modeling. I don't see how people can have meshes with thousands of faces and still be able to adjust their vertices. How do you usually deal with the problem of moving lots of vertices?
Moreover, I feel like I cannot successfully box-model a head while still getting correct topology. Enclosed is my latest try at it. Please ignore the quint on the nose, I'll get rid of it at some point. I usually start with the shape on the left, then use extrusions to get the eye and mouth loops. I extrude the mouth on the lowest face near the middle and the eye on the middle face in the middle. Does anyone on here have any pointers on or a more efficient way to box model a head? What is your preferred way to model a head in general? (I cannot use Zbrush, I don't have a tablet and I'd much rather learn how to model properly in Maya before needing other software to supplement it)
Thanks, Polycount
-Eric
I've been trying to model a head in Maya for quite some time now and no matter how many times I try, I cannot manage my vertices in such a way that would leave me with a clean mesh at the end. It's always full of unwanted folds and dents, even if I only have quads and no six-star poles.
Any time I add an edge loop, I run the risk of ruining the model, because once I do, I have to adjust every single vertex- one by one, and I don't know how to do it while still maintaining a smooth mesh. All I can do is blast it with the sculpt tool's relax, and while that makes everything very smooth, it deforms the mesh into something very far from what I was modeling. I don't see how people can have meshes with thousands of faces and still be able to adjust their vertices. How do you usually deal with the problem of moving lots of vertices?
Moreover, I feel like I cannot successfully box-model a head while still getting correct topology. Enclosed is my latest try at it. Please ignore the quint on the nose, I'll get rid of it at some point. I usually start with the shape on the left, then use extrusions to get the eye and mouth loops. I extrude the mouth on the lowest face near the middle and the eye on the middle face in the middle. Does anyone on here have any pointers on or a more efficient way to box model a head? What is your preferred way to model a head in general? (I cannot use Zbrush, I don't have a tablet and I'd much rather learn how to model properly in Maya before needing other software to supplement it)
Thanks, Polycount
-Eric
Replies
I would suggest moving forward with getting the ears and the nose the way you want, and then deal with the topology when you're closer to done.
If you worry at this point about making each new loop 'perfect' before you add it, you're going to get bogged down in details which don't matter so much at this point, since the topology is going to change as you add the ear/nose features.
In otherwords - you have a great base to work on. Don't let technical perfection get in your way this early - your nice mesh at this point will ensure that you stay generally on track to having a good final mesh - worry about those minor details later.
I don't think there's any trick to controlling your vertices, you've basically discovered first hand why no one models characters this way anymore... it's slow, tedious, and difficult. Other than maintaining your edgeloops so that your vertices are easy to select and maybe using creasing to minimize the amount of geometry in your model I'm not sure what else you can do other than slowly push them around until it looks right.
Another good technique is adding an FFD modifier, or lattice cage around the mesh and pulling on that.
Thanks for the feedback, I put some more work into the nose, added nostrils, and got rid of the quint. The ears are next. Thanks so much!
@Bibendum I'm seriously confused how people did this before digital sculpting became a thing. Maybe I should re-invest in a graphics tablet and take up Zbrush. When I said I didn't have one, it's only because my Intuos3 broke ;_;. From my understanding, a lot of people model a base mesh in Maya, sculpt and detail in Zbrush, and then retopologize - or just go straight to Zbrush and then retopology. I'd just hate to have to use it as a crutch and not be able model traditionally.
@Tremulant I'll start practicing with soft-select. I've never been able to utilize it correctly, but I'm sure it's really helpful as the vertex count increases.
http://i.imgur.com/uYqi8v5.png
And yes if you're planning on taking art seriously you're going to want to get a working tablet.
It's not as easy to develop and learn, polymodeling, but it really does help you form some great habits.
Maybe I think this because I started with polymodeling - actually no my first human character was NURBS modeled in RHINO - and I can see how it's less relevant in this era, but I still think it's a great place to start.
_______
But yeah, not a crutch, just a different method.
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I find it way easier instead of slicing a box and moving stuff around.
I noticed people don't always use the exact same edge-loop methods except the particular edge-loops that circle the mouth and nose. A lot of modeller bring an edge loop from the bottom of the eye to the upper lip and then create the "smile wrinkle" with edge-loops circling from the nose down around the mouth to the chin. While that seems to be the more popular and widely taught method I think the person who did the topology on the second pic I posted of the blond model may be on to something - the "smile wrinkle" is very close to the mouth, as it should be. And instead of using edge-loops going from the nose down to the chin, which often is too wide and doesn't create a properly defined "smile wrinkle", he's driven an edge from the top of the nose bridge down to create the smile wrinkle and it's nicely defined & works out quite well. Point being - there is obviously more than one *good* method of facial topology, and it seems to vary from modeller to modeller. Apparently though some methods seem to work better than other.4
Edit : on 3rd thought though I would still rather go with the traditional topology like the one from the top pic, because the edge-loops are more complete and the definition around the eye is more defined unlike the topology from the 2nd example, which doesn't have good topology surrounding the eye. Cause that part is also very important when it's time to animate.
Edit : You guys are making me feel really bad and like I'm the only one still modelling characters like this. Sigh....no graphics tablets were I live. Anyone ever try sculptin in MudBrush witth a mouse?