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How The F*#% Do I Model This? - Reply for help with specific shapes - (Post attempt before asking)

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  • Daustin_3D
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    Daustin_3D polycounter lvl 3
    start with a cylinder with as many sides as the banana has
    do some loops and scale into a straight banana shape
    detach and deform the lower parts to match reference
    ffd modifier to curve the upper part



    Thank you so much!
  • LadyBow
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    LadyBow null
    I'm curious how would you guys pull off modeling a cartoony character that looks like this? 



    I've done some more realistic character modeling in the past but nothing heavily stylized like this.  Capturing the expressions of the mouth and eyes is honestly stumping me.

    This is what I've done so far: 



    I've been having a lot of trouble with the mouth. I thought I'd just have it as a black line like in my picture above and move the cheeks with soft selection to give it expression but it doesn't look great at all. Link of it here: https://i.imgur.com/tJXPQDl.gif You also can't have the mouth open the way I'm doing it right now. Should I actually model the lips? Would opting for animating textures give me more the look I'm going for? Same questions also apply to the eyes as well I guess. Any insight would be appreciated! 
  • JRay
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    JRay polycounter lvl 10
    @LadyBow, I can see your character using a solution like this for the face
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWaNksu2kw

  • username234

    2 questions

    1) How I can create this rope with requirement that I can easily change it's length and width later?

    https://i.gyazo.com/e7421bb9af08377bc52c78e8fe56046f.png 

    2) On screenshot below you can see folds on the balloon. It happens because of the ropes.

    https://i.gyazo.com/d59aff704cdb1863e6c4559931371216.png 

    How I can create folds like this but for this kind of ropes (on screen below).

    https://i.gyazo.com/c1a95b53d84ce1ad42ab4978e7bd21ec.png 

    Again, preferably method which allow change size of the dolds later.

  • LadyBow
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    LadyBow null
    JRay said:
    @LadyBow, I can see your character using a solution like this for the face
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWaNksu2kw

    Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you know how you would use these techniques in maya?
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8

    2 questions

    1) How I can create this rope with requirement that I can easily change it's length and width later?

    https://i.gyazo.com/e7421bb9af08377bc52c78e8fe56046f.png 

    2) On screenshot below you can see folds on the balloon. It happens because of the ropes.

    https://i.gyazo.com/d59aff704cdb1863e6c4559931371216.png 

    How I can create folds like this but for this kind of ropes (on screen below).

    https://i.gyazo.com/c1a95b53d84ce1ad42ab4978e7bd21ec.png 

    Again, preferably method which allow change size of the dolds later.

    Show us your current attempts to model these things. What have you tried?

    Small tip for the ropes. If you want to define the length you could get procedural, the way you do it depends on the software.
  • Mossbros
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    Mossbros polycounter lvl 9
    Axi5 said:
    franman said:
    I'm a 3Ds max user.

    I got myself in a situation where I merge different meshes to one mesh so I can UV map them.  After flattening, relaxing and packing the clusters into the 0,1 boundary, I then detach parts of the geometry from that one mesh.

    However, along the way I realize that I need to fix some of the polygons on certain meshes; this usually involves fixing vertex positions; sometimes deleting and creating polygons.

    So that means I have to fix those clusters in UV space to scale and match proportionally; not only that, I find that I have to reattach those meshes with other meshes so I can pack those clusters again.

    Hopefully you can see where I'm getting at, is there a better way of dealing with this tedious process? (that is avoid repetitive reattachment of those meshes and packing clusters).
    You don't have to merge meshes to edit their UVs together.

    Select all components and add a UV Unwrap modifier and you'll see it in the stack with italics, this signifies it's an instanced modifier i.e. it's used in more than one location.

    This will allow you to edit UVs on multiple meshes without merging them
    The issue with this isn't that you can't UV multiple objects under an instance. 
    It's that UV normalisation and a few other tools don't work under instance. 
  • Axi5
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    Axi5 interpolator
    Mossbros said:
    Axi5 said:
    franman said:
    I'm a 3Ds max user.

    I got myself in a situation where I merge different meshes to one mesh so I can UV map them.  After flattening, relaxing and packing the clusters into the 0,1 boundary, I then detach parts of the geometry from that one mesh.

    However, along the way I realize that I need to fix some of the polygons on certain meshes; this usually involves fixing vertex positions; sometimes deleting and creating polygons.

    So that means I have to fix those clusters in UV space to scale and match proportionally; not only that, I find that I have to reattach those meshes with other meshes so I can pack those clusters again.

    Hopefully you can see where I'm getting at, is there a better way of dealing with this tedious process? (that is avoid repetitive reattachment of those meshes and packing clusters).
    You don't have to merge meshes to edit their UVs together.

    Select all components and add a UV Unwrap modifier and you'll see it in the stack with italics, this signifies it's an instanced modifier i.e. it's used in more than one location.

    This will allow you to edit UVs on multiple meshes without merging them
    The issue with this isn't that you can't UV multiple objects under an instance. 
    It's that UV normalisation and a few other tools don't work under instance. 
    Yeah that's one issue, you'll have to use select one object and either use textools get and set texels on the other one or I think Advanced UV Normalizer worked across objects though. Not sure about other tools failing you but it would be nice if Adsk fixed that.

    Also you know I'm working from memory on these ;)
  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    I'm pretty sure I'm overcomplicated this a shit ton! I've tried using 2 different approaches: 1. model flat, subdiv and bend.  2. model on a cylinder with lots of sides.  would love to see a cleaner way of doing this shape, please.

  • Axi5
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    Axi5 interpolator
    Tzur_H said:
    I'm pretty sure I'm overcomplicated this a shit ton! I've tried using 2 different approaches: 1. model flat, subdiv and bend.  2. model on a cylinder with lots of sides.  would love to see a cleaner way of doing this shape, please.

    That looks clean to me! Perhaps a tad too many edge rings around that central cutout but I don't see the need to improve it. You can obviously carve a lot out of it to create a low poly asset of it but for a high poly that seems perfect.
  • Markmars
  • jovo
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    jovo null
    This is driving me nuts, I need to keep the curvature of the cylinder but not have it warp like the half cylinder and it's extrude half.

    I'm using creases for this example. unselected cylinder is set to 20 faces, half cylinder is 20 face cylinder cut in half and one side extruded.


  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    jovo said:
    This is driving me nuts, I need to keep the curvature of the cylinder but not have it warp like the half cylinder and it's extrude half.

    I'm using creases for this example. unselected cylinder is set to 20 faces, half cylinder is 20 face cylinder cut in half and one side extruded.


    add a support edge under the "half" Line.. 
  • guitarguy00
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    guitarguy00 polycounter lvl 7
    Hey guys, I'm currently modelling the barrel of a shotgun here is what I've got so far:





    This will be a game model so I will bake the high poly down to a low poly mesh but as it stands now the edge looks a bit soft because there is no loop running on the side where there is a highlighted face because as you guys know, it will give a hard edge along the vertical cylnder edges. I'm worried if I leave it as is, I will get baking issues because there is a bit of a difference in the high and lowpoly meshes.



    What do you guys think? I tried insetting the side but that gave me other issues because the support edge did not run all the way down.



  • SaintSellotape
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    SaintSellotape polycounter lvl 7
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8
    how to do it?

    What have you tried?
  • SaintSellotape
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    SaintSellotape polycounter lvl 7
    .Wiki said:
    how to do it?

    What have you tried?

  • Thanez
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    Thanez interpolator
    If you first line up the cuts, then decide on amount of segments for the cylinder shape so their geometry match up, you'll get the cuts spaced evenly.
    Also consider having double the segments in the cylinder, as those chamfered edges turned out to not have a curve in them anymore. 
  • blackmm87
    Hello All,

    I've been combing through the forum to try to figure out my problem but I can't seem to figure it out; I'm modeling in Maya. It seems like I'm not planning something right when it comes to getting the shape, but I'm not sure how to approach it. It's a similar problem to some previous ones but just can't wrap my brain around how to do the geometry to get it to not pinch and have an irregular surface. I'm also not sure if it's better to add edge loops or to use bevel to keep edges. Is there an industry recommended or is it kinda personal preference?

    Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!






  • MaxHoek
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    MaxHoek polycounter lvl 10
    @blackmm87 this is how I would model it: 



    start very low, let the program do your work and done. 



    You could also start with more geo, other than to use my workflow. You just need to let your edges "flow" around your model. Dont let multiple edges end in one corner right next to your curve. 

    Like that: 

  • Zablorg
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    Zablorg polycounter lvl 6
    I'm modelling a heart-shaped locket:


    As  you can see at the bottom right, I want a rectangular divet in which I will insert a hinge mechanism. The heart outline did not used to have so many points: I added more to accomodate the divet and still give a roughly even density of ege loops.

    I am trying to get the divet to maintain its rectangular shape in subdivision. Here is what I'm working with before any attempts are made. Obviously it's tending towards more of a semi-circular shape in profile because there aren't enough edges supporting the rectangular structure:



    Here are a couple of attempts I've made to provide these loops:



    It's not really taking. I think I'm going about this the wrong way, conceptually. Any advice?

  • LaurentiuN
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8
    Optimus said:
    I have become frustrated in trying to model this mouse:


    i cannot even create the base mesh...you would think something so small would be easy to create...Nope. Can someone help me with this? i use Blender 3D...
    What have you tried so far? The mesh is basically a subdivided cube with some hard edges, apply some subdivisions and then split the mesh in parts.
  • rage288
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    rage288 polycounter lvl 7
    Optimus said:
     i have tried using a cube, and i create the top part, but then to create the side part is very hard. @.Wiki


    @Optimus as the title of the thread says you should posta at least your attempt before asking for advice. Thx!
  • jovo
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    jovo null
    wirrexx said:
    jovo said:
    This is driving me nuts, I need to keep the curvature of the cylinder but not have it warp like the half cylinder and it's extrude half.

    I'm using creases for this example. unselected cylinder is set to 20 faces, half cylinder is 20 face cylinder cut in half and one side extruded.


    add a support edge under the "half" Line.. 
    Didn't work
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8
    Optimus said:
     i have tried using a cube, and i create the top part, but then to create the side part is very hard. @.Wiki


    Create a rough basemesh first, dont try to model only one part first.

    Something like this should be a good start. Just subdivide it, add some bevels and split it in parts. But first you need to get the basic shape of the object done.


  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    @Optimus
    Take a screenshot of what you literally have now and let us see what you have.
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Eric Chadwick grand marshal polycounter
    Post a shaded wireframe with no subdivision. Next to a copy with subdivision enabled but no wires.
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8
    Optimus said:
    @Brian "Panda" Choi


    You added details before you even had the basic shape. Take a look at the shape of the mouse. You´re missing the curvature.
  • Zablorg
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    Zablorg polycounter lvl 6
    Making the locket again from scratch for better topology, and this time I'm trying to simply extrude out of the perimeter for the hinge that connects each half. Still gives me unfortunate shading.



  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    Zablorg said:
    Making the locket again from scratch for better topology, and this time I'm trying to simply extrude out of the perimeter for the hinge that connects each half. Still gives me unfortunate shading.



    The Importance of having the basic shapes is getting lost. Model the big shapes first, and see if your extrusion can hold the topology, add extra GEO, IF NEEDED. if not and no huge manual tweaks are necessary, go ahead. started with 18 sided cylinder. 

    1. 18 side cylinder. Made a Box to see that i hade Automatically Edge support for the box.
    2. connected my edges. 
    3. Cut the box in (could've used boolean or simply extrude it out after inserting)
    4. added support edges to support my "Box" shape.
    5. Done
    here's a gif with one with a higher subd. 

  • onionhead_o
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    onionhead_o polycounter lvl 16
    blackmm87 : here MaxHoek method translate in Maya


  • AstralZombie
    Hello, first post. If there is a better place for this, please let me know.
    I'm making the Con-Am shuttle from "Outland" as an exercise to get better at hard surface modeling. I've blocked it out and am starting on the more detailed version. I am faced right away with the question of how much to "connect" details vs. just intersecting them on the surface. In particular, making this piece

    so far I have this, with diff material on the objects I'm not sure If I should bother connecting or not...

    I plan on subD'ing this model. Not sure If I want to bake a low res version, as it's just practice. Oh, also, any comments on edge flow, (and anything else I might be missing) would be appreciated as well. thanks.

  • Zablorg
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    Zablorg polycounter lvl 6
    wirrexx said:


    The Importance of having the basic shapes is getting lost. Model the big shapes first, and see if your extrusion can hold the topology, add extra GEO, IF NEEDED. if not and no huge manual tweaks are necessary, go ahead. started with 18 sided cylinder. 

    1. 18 side cylinder. Made a Box to see that i hade Automatically Edge support for the box.
    2. connected my edges. 
    3. Cut the box in (could've used boolean or simply extrude it out after inserting)
    4. added support edges to support my "Box" shape.
    5. Done
    here's a gif with one with a higher subd. 

    The importance of getting the initial shape isn't lost on me, that's kind of just it: the cage I'm using for the extrusion is already three subdivisions on top of the cage I'm using for the basic shape:





    Was therefore kind of reluctant to add even more subdivisions to support this extrusion, just because the polycount would get that much higher, and unlike a cylinder, adding additional loops around the perimeter where I want to support the extrusion will deform the curve pretty noticably. But it sounds like there's no way around it, so I'll have to subdivide more.
  • throttlekitty
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    throttlekitty ngon master
    @AstralZombie First question is "Do I need to connect these parts?" which is a tossup with greebles like this. An easy trick for making these look connected is to keep them as separate floaters, but extrude the bottom of each part to make a little skirt that gives the same look. This is mostly a baking technique however.
  • AstralZombie
    @throttlekittyThanks for the tip! yes, have done that for baking, don't see why It couldn't be used for a hi-res model as well, to keep the poly count a bit lighter.
  • Mohamed_Salah_Bchir
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    Mohamed_Salah_Bchir polycounter lvl 5
    Pardon me if this is the wrong place to post this but i need  help with (rigging?) this.
    here i try to move it but it get's distorted 

    Here is a video to help you understand how it's suppose to function https://youtu.be/QRY53mvTTFM
    So not just up and right but also to the sides. 

  • ActionDawg
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    ActionDawg greentooth
    Rig everything to work off of the door rather than drive the piston itself. Much simpler to drive it all with a single rotation and a few constraints.
  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    Zablorg said:
    wirrexx said:


    The Importance of having the basic shapes is getting lost. Model the big shapes first, and see if your extrusion can hold the topology, add extra GEO, IF NEEDED. if not and no huge manual tweaks are necessary, go ahead. started with 18 sided cylinder. 

    1. 18 side cylinder. Made a Box to see that i hade Automatically Edge support for the box.
    2. connected my edges. 
    3. Cut the box in (could've used boolean or simply extrude it out after inserting)
    4. added support edges to support my "Box" shape.
    5. Done
    here's a gif with one with a higher subd. 

    The importance of getting the initial shape isn't lost on me, that's kind of just it: the cage I'm using for the extrusion is already three subdivisions on top of the cage I'm using for the basic shape:





    Was therefore kind of reluctant to add even more subdivisions to support this extrusion, just because the polycount would get that much higher, and unlike a cylinder, adding additional loops around the perimeter where I want to support the extrusion will deform the curve pretty noticably. But it sounds like there's no way around it, so I'll have to subdivide more.
    how about using a floater extrusion?
  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    @AstralZombie First question is "Do I need to connect these parts?" which is a tossup with greebles like this. An easy trick for making these look connected is to keep them as separate floaters, but extrude the bottom of each part to make a little skirt that gives the same look. This is mostly a baking technique however.
    second that, even though it's not for baking, for HS like that, it can save time to do it that way instead of modelling it in. 
    But if it's for a HS practice, go ahead. Start connecting the Bigger shapes, and then slowly go to medium shapes and, if you have enough of geo to hald the smaller parts, go ahead. It's a great practice. 
  • Mohamed_Salah_Bchir
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    Mohamed_Salah_Bchir polycounter lvl 5
    somedoggy said:
    Rig everything to work off of the door rather than drive the piston itself. Much simpler to drive it all with a single rotation and a few constraints.
    Thank you. I will try that. 
  • Mossbros
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    Mossbros polycounter lvl 9
    @AstroZombie
    If you intend for the final piece to look like a real object, going beyond object intersection and actually combining parts that are combined in a real world scenario, will give you a better result.
    If its lost because of distance and not even noticed because its so small then go ahead. 
    I usually make sure I merge anything that is merged IRL and if it floats on the surface, I give it a skirt. So at least it has an actual intersection between the geo, not some phasing wizardry. 

    Obviously one takes longer and is much more effort, the other, simpler and faster. 
    The results usually speak for themselves though.  

    Left (floating Intersections, turbo and edgeloops) Right (Merged shapes, turbo, and edgeloops)


  • AstralZombie
    @Mossbros @wirrexx  thanks much. yea, decided to go ahead and try to do it right. I'll post results later tonight to hopefully get some input on edge flow.
  • Mohamed_Salah_Bchir
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    Mohamed_Salah_Bchir polycounter lvl 5
  • AstralZombie
    ok, had some things come up that had to be dealt with ... and, this took me WAY longer than I expected. but, here is progress. The white pieces aren't attached yet, as this is as far as I can go and still use symmetry, so, if there are major things I can fix edge-flow-wise, I can do it before adding the non-symmetric parts.

    any crits extremely welcome, thanks ;)
  • MattN
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    MattN triangle
    Worker drone from the art of titanfall 2. Having some issues with the shape of this arm. Any advice would be great.




  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    what i see from that concept
  • MattN
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    MattN triangle
    Thanks so much guys. Still struggleing with it a bit but think I understand a little better now. Kind og similar to the first attempt but think I improeved it in a few areas, lacks the roundless in area A from above though.



  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    MattN said:
    Thanks so much guys. Still struggleing with it a bit but think I understand a little better now. Kind og similar to the first attempt but think I improeved it in a few areas, lacks the roundless in area A from above though.



    still not correct though, trying to comprehend what Perna says is not that easy, because his IQ is far beyond anybody elses. (love you Per). 
    Try to break down the meshes without welding them together =). Like pernas picture, i mean it would make more sense if he would do the mesh, but honestly, his been doing this for far to long and i think it tires him somehow! :P 

    "RIGHT:
    Define plane A as the widest point of the shape. This allows us from B and downards to create a perfect curve like in the concept. In order to make the upper, symmetrical, part of the curve to happen we need a triangular shape (BLUE), and lo and behold, such a shape is already indicated in the concept! So it's possible to fix this concept without destroying its look. The previously suggested concepts deviate too much." <-- This part, importante! 
  • wirrexx
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    wirrexx quad damage
    perna said:
    sorry if that came across badly, I wrote in a hurry. Second attempt:


    and that is...love! 
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