female head WIP (advice needed)

[Deleted User]

Hi!

I'm trying to make a hi-poly female head in Max to use to make a normal map. This is what I've got so far...


I tried to focus on making the edge loops work, but I'm not sure if I'm going about it properly. I didn't think it looked too bad that way, but when I turn NURMS on, it doesn't look right at all:

Should I be adding more loops to make it hold the shape more once it's smoothed? Or just arranging them differently? Or is it something else entirely?
Here's the reference photo I'm using:

As you can see, there's basically no likeness to the reference yet. I've been moving points around, trying to get it closer, but it's not there yet.

Any suggestions/criticism would be greatly appreciated.

neilberard

Why such a small ref?

[Deleted User]

I don't know. I guess I scaled it down a lot more than I needed to.

Psyk0

I think it's a good start, id change the flow on the sides of the nose, make them flow into the eyesocket. Usually i prefer to run the nose edges all the way around the skull instead of ending them between the eyes. Also dont leave your edges flat on the nose, bring the outer ones down a bit.

[Deleted User]

Thanks, Psyk0. I brought the second column of vertices from the center of the nose out and down some more so the front isn't so flat. I made the nose a little wider too, and tried to make the sides of the bridge of the nose flow into the eye sockets more. Is that how you meant?

I also deleted the polygons on the inside of the nostrils for now so I could try to get them placed a little better.

Is the structure of the wings of the nose heading in the right direction, or is it too flat? Would I be better off rebuilding that part and beveling them in some way instead?

Squirmy

I would chamfer the edge coming from the corner of the mouth, so you dont have those long edges ending in a pole.

Psyk0

Much better.

I agree with squirmy, welding the corners of the mouth is a common mistake, dont forget the mouth is "O" shaped, but you need to translate that shape when it's closed, imagine an O folding on itself. That's gonna help for animation and anatomy likeness.