Newbie Character Modeling: Garnet
vertex
Hi all! I'm trying to teach myself how to character model and it's tough going with only Youtube tutorials to go by. I'm still just in the beginning stages of modeling Garnet from Steven Universe, but any guidance would be appreciated.
Reference photo:
Current progress:
My current plan is to do as much as I can on one side then mirror it. I'm also going to replace the hands with her gauntlets to avoid doing more complex hand modeling.
Reference photo:
Current progress:My current plan is to do as much as I can on one side then mirror it. I'm also going to replace the hands with her gauntlets to avoid doing more complex hand modeling.
Replies
Its hard to tell but It looks like you have one mesh for the hair and head. They should be seperate, eaiser to model and saves on topology. The arms should be straight, its much eaiser to work with that way. Also i think you need a couple more edge loops around the elbow. Its fine now but if the elbow bends any more, the geomerty will warp. Dont forget to smooth your normals.
Hope this helps
It's all one mesh right now. I suppose I should clarify that I'm practicing making game assets. Would I still want to keep the hair mesh separate from the head if it's a game asset?
Yeah, having seperate meshes makes everything so much easier. It gives more freedom when modeling, makes it eaiser to navigate your scene and will help with rigging (dont bother with that right now). Basic rule of thumb is anything that could be seperate object in reality should be so in your model. Breaking your concept down into seperate objects will make it so much eaiser.
Head
Hair
glasses
upper torso
shoulder pads
arms
lower body
you could even have the collar be seperate too.
The legs will need to be conected to the lower body.
When I first started, i was introduced to this tutorial:
http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.php
Its really old but its a great intro to character modelling, Just flick through it and you'll see.
If you need help with anything, just ask.
I think the ankles could have some loops removed as well.
keep at it! Garnet is a great character, and I look forward to seeing how this turns out.
A also need a prettier way of making these progress photos
Everything is separate meshes. The pieces are:
1. Legs and torso
2. Chest
3. Head and neck
4. Hair
5. Glasses
and the face
I definitely want to rig it at some point an get it moving, so I'll definitely need more geometry. I was tempted to use the Smooth mesh function to add more edges for me and smooth the model.
You only really need to smooth the hips section. Everything else looks fine as is. Theres no need to use geometry where you dont need it. Having said that, you should still add some edge loops around the ankles and knees but that will probably take care of itself when you smooth the hips.
It may be a good idea to backup your model in her current form. That way you can go back if you dont like the result.
I might use the Mesh > smooth functions to double the polys on the legs, but I wasn't sure if that was necessary.
You are going pretty good if you want to keep it low poly, but I wouldn't recommend ignoring UV mapping if you really want to learn how to make a complete character. Maybe it's a bit tedious or stressful understanding the process at first, but when you learn to identify which kind of topology should be unwapped which way it's a lot easier. Look how people unwrapp organic and hard surface models and you will start to know the ways. In your case I would make a individual UV shell for the toes, the legs, the torso, the shoulders, the arms, the hands, the upper body, the head, the hair and the glasses. Just make a seam for every edge loop that delimits parts like the hands and the toes, and then another seam to "open" the parts in two, trying to hide it if possible to avoid visible seams in the texture (like in the case of the head, don't put one in the face, put it where the hair hides it). The shoulder and the upper boddy are practically simple cylinders, so just make a cylindrical projection, or put a seam yourself, unwrapp, and then relax the UV shells. In the case of the glasses, which have hard edges, make a planar projection for each group of polygons separated by 45 degrees and relax the shells.
Most of the tools to do in Maya what I'm saying are in the UV Editor -> Polygons, I think.
This may also help: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Uvs
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Texture_Baking#UV_Coordinates
Good luck!
Just the legs done. I'm going redo them so I can texture the heel properly. I'm so exited to get the rest of her unwrapped and textured!!!
incredibly simplistic texture but here is the fully textured model! I know so much more about UV unwraps now
She looks really good. I would try and get some nice renders of her, dont ask me how to do that in maya cos I have no idea. I always render my stuff in Sibstance painter 2 or UE4. There are probably other renderers out there but i dont know of any free ones.
Congrats on a job well done for a first character model. Heres to the next one
When I tried to throw together a quick scene with the model I get a weird lighting issue on the right arm. It's as if it's receiving light from a different angle than everything else. Maybe this is just something I'm doing wrong in Unity, but it could also have something to do with how I mirrored the left arm over when modeling?
She looks great, makes my first character look woeful
Thanks very much! I'm really getting comfortable with modeling now. Thank you for all the feedback!