Modelling Clothes
Hey guys, so I am relatively new to 3D modelling, done a little logo at work using blender as a boot up animation for our tablets but I have started my first real project which is going to be a female anime mercenary. I do not plan on using it for animation/games etc, just for rendering a picture. I have got the base mesh down in the T-Pose (no hands yet and no detail on the face), next I am going to pose it, without rigging, I don't see the need for rigging just so I can pose it, it will take more time and effort then posing her manually but I want to get the hands and face done first.
Now, the questions, first, should the clothes be separate objects that sit on top of the mesh or should they be extruded from the base model, I am assuming it will be part of the base model as it is not for a game and therefore does not need to change clothes.
Second, should I make the clothing, basic shape, and then pose her and put the details in? Or should I pose her first? It seems to make more sense to but the basic clothing on first as I need the mirror modifier to make sure that it's even, obviously I will apply the mirror modifier, pose and then add details such as creases which will be different on each side.
I could be completely wrong and people will say, rig it, pose it, then you can adjust it in rest mode without having to take the mirror modifier off until you are happy with the basic shapes of everything and ready to start adding details.
Thanks guys and please be as harsh as you need to be, as I said, this is my first real project, I have learnt everything I know from online tutorials and just playing around. I will attach a picture so you can see my progress so far and get a better idea of what I am doing.
Now, the questions, first, should the clothes be separate objects that sit on top of the mesh or should they be extruded from the base model, I am assuming it will be part of the base model as it is not for a game and therefore does not need to change clothes.
Second, should I make the clothing, basic shape, and then pose her and put the details in? Or should I pose her first? It seems to make more sense to but the basic clothing on first as I need the mirror modifier to make sure that it's even, obviously I will apply the mirror modifier, pose and then add details such as creases which will be different on each side.
I could be completely wrong and people will say, rig it, pose it, then you can adjust it in rest mode without having to take the mirror modifier off until you are happy with the basic shapes of everything and ready to start adding details.
Thanks guys and please be as harsh as you need to be, as I said, this is my first real project, I have learnt everything I know from online tutorials and just playing around. I will attach a picture so you can see my progress so far and get a better idea of what I am doing.
Replies
There is no "should" when you don't intend to send it further down the pipeline or animate it.
If hand, head and maybe even legs will be visible (not covered in clothing) I would make them separate objects and use the rest as the base model. If not you should save yourself a lot of work by keeping the base model.
If it is only for single image it makes more sense to me to animate it first.
What about reference? Post that first so we can guide you to achieve what you want.
Well I plan on putting boots on her, gloves, shorts and some sort of top, not decided yet on what kind of top though and the head will be uncovered, just hair obviously. So I'm better creating the clothes separately?
If i was to animate her first, how do I get the clothing symmetrical, obviously it's just for the basic shape, I will add detail to it afterwards like creases to make it differ on each side.
This may not sound like the best idea but my only references are for what I have done so far and the face, the rest, like clothing, I will just find a few pictures as I go along take out the best bits and merge them into something like what I have in my head. For example, when making the boots, I will find a pictures of boots and pick out the bits I like best to make them just how I want.
Sure. Making them separate gives you way more control over the mesh (more freedom with topology, easier sculpting...plus it's the realistic way)
First make the basic shape (don't add details just yet, just make sure proportions are correct), then pose it, then add unsymmetrical details.
You should have some reference for the whole, just so you don't randomly merge nice photos from google and steer away from the original concept.
Well the thing is, I don't want to use someone else's reference for this, I want it to be "mine" and while I'm a decent drawer I'm not good enough to do clothing and references so kind of making it up as I go along using pictures for ideas is about my only option.
Oh and how do you think I'm doing so far?
That or you separate them after you pose.
If you aren't skilled enough to make it look good yourself, you shouldn't feel bad for copying, after all you give credit to the maker and do it for the sake of learning so that one day someone might learn from you. (and there are concept artists in production, so you should be able to follow someone else's work)
Having photos of medieval knights, anime mercenaries or town halls isn't for copying, just for the idea how it should look like. To know which of the nice looking boots will really fit the style and help the character look like knight, mercenary....or whatever.
Time to change it? (this is just a suggestion, not a fancy way of telling you to get better at drawing)
I think I can make it look good myself, I just think I'm better at modelling then drawing. Yeah well that's kind of the plan, I have loads of pictures of mercenaries/knights and so on which I can use to get ideas for styles and will go with that, I just don't have final reference pics.
Yeah I think I need to practise drawing more and learn to do reference designs.
How do you think the base model is going so far?
Like this:
Should be enough, I wasn't sure whether you had something to guide you other than "anime mercenary".
Too tall for anime female character (about 0.5 heads taller, legs are longer, the rest fits fine).
Oh yeah I have a few picture and I have thought about it a lot in head and had a picture of what I want, I know I'm doing shorts and military boots, a big two handed sword and gloves but I need to find a jacket that ties in with that, I am also putting a metal shoulder pad on her right shoulder, more of a functionality thing, she rests her sword on her shoulder a lot and therefore has a metal plate to stop it cutting her or her clothes, it also protects from sword swings but I need to think of a design for that which will go with the rest.
so shorten the legs by about 0.5 heads and she will be ok?
Pose it, duplicate it, delete seen parts (delete the loop and the rest will be easier to select, as it will become separate part), scale it a bit (alt+s if you are using blender) and add it some thickness.
That's some nice deep thinking into design, mostly when I hear someone designing I hear "could", "maybe", "somehow" all the time ("Maybe this cloud somehow be useful to him if he lost his other 4 weapons...").
That will help.
There is also a lot of "anatomy mistakes", but I am sure that will be covered with clothes, so you don't have to go into details (more curved side view, smaller butt, armpits look like "holes", legs and belly connect differently...). There also appears to be some pinching on the head, but that will probably be covered too.
its super fast .. i get a rig in about 3 min using it
That's only a small part of it, I've been thinking if her back story, why she's a merc and more about clothing, once it's done I'll create a model sheet (is that the right term) with a final render, her specifications... Height, age, backstory and so on.
Thanks for the honest feedback, I will have to look into all of that, most will be hidden I think but I will make the butt smaller, do you mean the side view is too curved? I'll have to sort that as it's something you'll notice. How do you mean connected differently?
Thanks I will definitely look into that.