For starters, there are a few basics that are very essential to solid modeling. First, tris as a rule of thumb on base meshes are not ideal. If you subdivide this model with a bunch of tris on it, you'll see weird deformations and pinching. The resolve to tris at this stage is good solid edge loops. There are some good tutorials out there on a bunch of sites and it's also is an extremely important skill to learn. Not only will this benefit your model when you animate for accurate deformations, but also when you layout your UVs. Tris are beneficial imo when you make your optimized model. There's tons of debate over which is better, but learning those basics will help you in your modeling in years to come. But in general, tris should be kept to an absolute minimum as of now.
Secondly, your porportions are starting to shape up, but you should learn two things. Accurate real world proportions and stylized proportions. Learning real world proportions will help your understanding of anatomy, shape, and form. Stylized will help you learn a lot about rhythm and awesomeness. It is a real balancing act between the two. Don't base your model off of some rough chicken scratch concept either because then you probably won't have accurate proportions, especially if you do not fully understand anatomy yet.
And finally, I have to make my drawing speech. Draw every damn day of your life. I don't care what it is, but draw draw draw. You will gain so much from drawing. Starting out, if you're not good at drawing (which I don't know if you are or not, I'm just babbling at this point) you will get better with time and shouldn't crit yourself too harshly. Draw from life, not from pictures. If you can't get someone to pose for you, then yeah pictures are a good substitue for visualizing form but not lighting and shading. I've seen some amazing modelers that can't draw to save their life, but I always wonder how much better they would be if they did learn to draw.
Hey there, looks like you have a decent form so far. What are your intentions for this mesh (are you going to sculpt on it in zbrush/mudbox, use it as a game character, etc)? I guess some aspects will need to be changed depending on what you're going to do.
But I do agree with Firebert on some parts, try to avoid (here's a pun) the tris- but it's not absolutely necessary to kill all of them, since you will inevitably end up with a few tris here and there. Try to hide them if you are going to leave them. Then again, from personal experience, its ok to leave tris in areas that naturally should pinch (study your anatomy for this one, again this is situational). But one thing you should always avoid is n-gons, anything more than 4 sides is always bad, regardless of what you're going to do with the mesh (creates artifacts when smoothed, doesn't want to deform right when rigged, all sorts of problems).
I think your proportions are ok but you need to work on the anatomy; if this were to be a base mesh, keep him somewhat built but not overly exaggerated. You can always do more details in zbrush/mudbox so you don't need to over do the actualy form of the muscles. And try to keep you edges flowing in the direction of the muscles; you need work on the deltoid / trapezius / pec region and the face.
Don't be discouraged; keep at it and you'll always improve! :thumbup:
Forgive me for being blunt, I just typed out a long response and IE7 died on me!
The arms are baloon-like, a common thing when not using reference.
The chest appears as if you extruded poly's, instead add loops and cuts to the surface and then pull out the muscles to improve mesh flow.
Refine the model stage by stage, add detail only when you have tweaked every vert into it's optimum postition.
Use all views and rotate around the model in perspective using edged faces on/off to help you understand what needs attention.
Use at the very least a front and side orthographical reference properly setup or you will struggle to make a model that could ever be classed as anatomically correct.
I know you don't want to hear this but restarting would be a good idea, I've been here myself and heard the same things, it may seem ott but it's not and it will help you greatly.
Also try and get some ref for your head. Make sure you look at the perspective and are not just modeling in front and side views..This may sound stupid, but keeping it looking correct in perspective is very important.
Definite improvements, but a few things:
-I know you're trying to base the mesh on the model sheet you got there, but I would keep a slight distance between the legs. You could change this later on of course, but might be easier to splay them now. When you bind them to a skeleton, the legs being that close will give you some headaches. Everyone has a different default pose preference, tho.
-The connection from the deltoid / trapezius / pectorals are still a bit off. The deltoids and pectoralis should form a sort of "cape" over the shoulders. The connection is not as smooth right now.
I think Jeff Unay had a good tutorial on muscle flow on this area (tho his was hi-poly, nevertheless the principles still apply). Looks like the images are still up, take a look: http://features.cgsociety.org/stories/2006_04/maya_techniques/wireframe.jpg
-Keep a human anatomy book / reference handy. Best to use ones where they show the muscles underneath, since it lets you understand how the muscles flow. But do have real photos as well, since they show you which muscles and bones are actually visible. They'll help you greatly.
Replies
Secondly, your porportions are starting to shape up, but you should learn two things. Accurate real world proportions and stylized proportions. Learning real world proportions will help your understanding of anatomy, shape, and form. Stylized will help you learn a lot about rhythm and awesomeness. It is a real balancing act between the two. Don't base your model off of some rough chicken scratch concept either because then you probably won't have accurate proportions, especially if you do not fully understand anatomy yet.
And finally, I have to make my drawing speech. Draw every damn day of your life. I don't care what it is, but draw draw draw. You will gain so much from drawing. Starting out, if you're not good at drawing (which I don't know if you are or not, I'm just babbling at this point) you will get better with time and shouldn't crit yourself too harshly. Draw from life, not from pictures. If you can't get someone to pose for you, then yeah pictures are a good substitue for visualizing form but not lighting and shading. I've seen some amazing modelers that can't draw to save their life, but I always wonder how much better they would be if they did learn to draw.
But I do agree with Firebert on some parts, try to avoid (here's a pun) the tris- but it's not absolutely necessary to kill all of them, since you will inevitably end up with a few tris here and there. Try to hide them if you are going to leave them. Then again, from personal experience, its ok to leave tris in areas that naturally should pinch (study your anatomy for this one, again this is situational). But one thing you should always avoid is n-gons, anything more than 4 sides is always bad, regardless of what you're going to do with the mesh (creates artifacts when smoothed, doesn't want to deform right when rigged, all sorts of problems).
I think your proportions are ok but you need to work on the anatomy; if this were to be a base mesh, keep him somewhat built but not overly exaggerated. You can always do more details in zbrush/mudbox so you don't need to over do the actualy form of the muscles. And try to keep you edges flowing in the direction of the muscles; you need work on the deltoid / trapezius / pec region and the face.
Don't be discouraged; keep at it and you'll always improve! :thumbup:
The arms are baloon-like, a common thing when not using reference.
The chest appears as if you extruded poly's, instead add loops and cuts to the surface and then pull out the muscles to improve mesh flow.
Refine the model stage by stage, add detail only when you have tweaked every vert into it's optimum postition.
Use all views and rotate around the model in perspective using edged faces on/off to help you understand what needs attention.
Use at the very least a front and side orthographical reference properly setup or you will struggle to make a model that could ever be classed as anatomically correct.
I know you don't want to hear this but restarting would be a good idea, I've been here myself and heard the same things, it may seem ott but it's not and it will help you greatly.
This may help you also;
Low detail
http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/Content_on_8_11_2003_15_59_27/male_template.jpg0BBFDEB3-E892-5B2B-F55877FB90022955.jpgLarge.jpg
High detail
http://www.andreasklingert.de/img/big/thracian-body02.jpg
The proportions are off a bit in many areas
Best idea is to get reference
Check this out.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/attachment.php?attachmentid=76078
Also try and get some ref for your head. Make sure you look at the perspective and are not just modeling in front and side views..This may sound stupid, but keeping it looking correct in perspective is very important.
Updates more crits please thx.
-I know you're trying to base the mesh on the model sheet you got there, but I would keep a slight distance between the legs. You could change this later on of course, but might be easier to splay them now. When you bind them to a skeleton, the legs being that close will give you some headaches. Everyone has a different default pose preference, tho.
-The connection from the deltoid / trapezius / pectorals are still a bit off. The deltoids and pectoralis should form a sort of "cape" over the shoulders. The connection is not as smooth right now.
I think Jeff Unay had a good tutorial on muscle flow on this area (tho his was hi-poly, nevertheless the principles still apply). Looks like the images are still up, take a look: http://features.cgsociety.org/stories/2006_04/maya_techniques/wireframe.jpg
-Keep a human anatomy book / reference handy. Best to use ones where they show the muscles underneath, since it lets you understand how the muscles flow. But do have real photos as well, since they show you which muscles and bones are actually visible. They'll help you greatly.