Normals issue on the six-pack of my character

kreativ

Hi,




The six-pack is blurry (blurry lines) whilst the chest which has same amount of edges and polygons is not blurry. I have tried moving edge loops around to no avail. I have also tried resetting normals to no avail.

Please check the maya file attached. Hopefully, someone can help me here as I have run into a dead end with this.

http://www.filedropper.com/showdownload.php/6packnormals

Eric Chadwick

Haven't opened the Maya file, but the topology looks like it needs a lot of work. Can you show a shaded wireframe?

Here's an example of good topology:


Bigger image here:
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/BodyTopology

kreativ

As requested,

Eric Chadwick

Yep, topology. It would help to examine the way the wires flow, on that wiki page.

It would also help to study anatomy more thoroughly. The muscles flow in a certain way across a human's torso. It helps to make your wires match that flow.

Some anatomy resources here
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Anatomy_Reference

kreativ

Eric Chadwick wrote: »

Yep, topology. It would help to examine the way the wires flow, on that wiki page.

It would also help to study anatomy more thoroughly. The muscles flow in a certain way across a human's torso. It helps to make your wires match that flow.

Some anatomy resources here
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Anatomy_Reference

thanks. When u say the wires flow, can u pinpoint me to a more relevant resource please? Anatomy takes years to master and for the moment I would just like to correct the wires. Edge flow obv is important, but I am not sure how to improve the edge flow here without distorting the model.

Eric Chadwick

Unfortunately no amount of tweaking will fix what you have now. You need to re-do the model completely. Your existing model is not laid out properly for good form.

Another reference for flow:

Eric Chadwick

Another example, from Scott Eaton's website.

kreativ

Eric Chadwick wrote: »

Unfortunately no amount of tweaking will fix what you have now. You need to re-do the model completely. Your existing model is not laid out properly for good form.

Another reference for flow:

Thank you. As you can see from the chest of my model, its spaced out nicely. But how can one get abs/six-pack without having the edges close like I have. Your example model doesnt have a six-pack or the detail which requires tightly packed edge loops. I am just trying to understand how you can get detail without having close edge loops.

Joost

This image has what you wants doesn't it? http://wiki.polycount.com/w/images/1/11/Topo_body-BenMathis.jpg

I would just use zbrush or Mudbox and then bake it down though. Unless there's a reason why you have to do it all in Maya?

kreativ

Joost wrote: »

This image has what you wants doesn't it? http://wiki.polycount.com/w/images/1/11/Topo_body-BenMathis.jpg

I would just use zbrush or Mudbox and then bake it down though. Unless there's a reason why you have to do it all in Maya?

Yeah, that image does. Thanks you, I forgot about that one. I wanted to add some detail in maya cos the character will be animated and wanted the abs to "move" as well.

Joost

Still easier to sculpt it in Zbrush and then retopologise on top of that imo. (disclaimer: I'm not a character artist)

Eric Chadwick

To model high-resolution characters, there are two common methods. These can be used independently, and they can also be used together. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

1. Subdivision Surface Modeling (what Ben Mathis' example nude uses)

2. Digital Sculpting (what Joost is talking about, using Zbrush)

Eric Chadwick

kreativ wrote: »

Thank you. As you can see from the chest of my model, its spaced out nicely. But how can one get abs/six-pack without having the edges close like I have. Your example model doesnt have a six-pack or the detail which requires tightly packed edge loops. I am just trying to understand how you can get detail without having close edge loops.

Your model is actually not spaced out nicely. It is using a rectilinear grid, which works well for mechanical subjects, but doesn't work well for organic ones.

You need close-together edges to create indents and creases.

Yeah, that image does. Thanks you, I forgot about that one. I wanted to add some detail in maya cos the character will be animated and wanted the abs to "move" as well.

If the model is going to be rendered in Maya, and never exported to a game engine, then you can do all your modeling in Maya. I would suggest using subdivision surface modeling for this.

Eric Chadwick

kreativ wrote: »

I am just trying to understand how you can get detail without having close edge loops.

A common method for characters in a game is to "bake" details from a high-resolution model, converting it into textures for the lower-resolution in-game model. So the in-game model doesn't have a complex wireframe with a ton of close-together edge loops (which improves performance).

You still have to create those details in the first place though.