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Modeling Help Needed Please

CommonOne
polycounter lvl 8
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CommonOne polycounter lvl 8

Hiya!

New to modeling but determined to figure it out. Would someone be so kind as to do a little mini tut on how to create the body shape of the attached image. I've done quite a few basic tutorials but this shape has me stumped. A push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I'm using Max 2019.

Thank you


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  • Taylor Brown
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    Taylor Brown ngon master
    Look into subd modeling and topology best practices. Whats your intention for the finished piece? Animation, game, just for fun? That also dictates some things
  • CommonOne
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    CommonOne polycounter lvl 8
    Hi - a just for fun still image ultimately. Thanks!
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
  • CommonOne
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    CommonOne polycounter lvl 8
    Hey thanks, Brian - I have seen that, and it awesome! The wireframe images do help a little. Looks like he started with a quad sphere. I am trying the same, just not working out quite a well. I'll keep at it. ;)
    Thanks again!
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range

    For hardsurface polygonal subdiv,...well just about any genre and/or technique I can think of across the board, is that basic 3D modeling principles apply i.e. start low then iterate towards high poly Non Destructively

    Think about nailing down good habits now, whether pro derived or advanced hobbyist believe me when I say they'll most definitly come in very handy as you progress plus also learn to study/analyse the intended reference.

    Is the object one or a combination of shapes? can it even be cage modelled, perhaps booleans or indeed another method could be an option to utilise as well?...etc, etc. 

    Anyway here's a tip, always ensure you've correctly blocked out prior to refining primary and secondary shapes, I really can't stress this enough because by working efficiently and effectively the level of quality is generally recflected in the final output.

    Lastly browse this board's "How The F*#% Do I Model This?" sticky, there's a ton of content that'll get you up and running with your project, I regularly make use of it myself eventhough I've been modeling stuff for more than a decade and a half.

  • Nico0307
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    Nico0307 polycounter lvl 8
    sacboi's advise is really, really important and you will see that if you stick to it you can pretty much model everything in just 3ds max.

    This is how I would do it in Maya. Im pretty sure you can do the exact same things in 3ds max though: Get a cubed, non polarized sphere and use ffd on it to nail the primary round shape. Alternatively Nurbs I guess. You can use this shape to either build a new topology on top of it by making it live or just Subdivide until you feel confident that you can still handle the mesh resolution but can also implement all the details you need. If you observe the other artist, he avoided details that are very hard edged and boxy so he wouldnt interrupt the grid spacing of the topology. This is basically where you ahve to evaluate how much resolution you need by taking a look at the details(especially their edges). How hard edged they will be is directly dependent on your mesh resolution since you are working on a curvy surface unless you want uneven surfaces. This is also where you decide what is a normal map detail or a displacement map detail. Don't be too hard on yourself and try to model everything. Thats not how things are done anyway.
    If you want to avoid not being able to use sharp details, you could model the details separately and stencil and boolean them on in Zbrush. You can then do a polish to round out the edges, which will however be relatively uniform and round. Also you have to retopo, but since it's a personal piece, you could use Zremesher and transfer the details back.
    You have to do a lot of vertex sliding along edges, moving along normals, along surface etc.

    Ultimately you just have to tackle it one way or another and make your own experiences. Not failing at all cannot make you proficient modeller in the long run.


  • Eric Chadwick
    Post your attempts. Ask for feedback. Implement them, post your wires, seek more feedback.

    Rinse & repeat, until complete. Le fait accompli. It's a simple feat. You can't have any pudding, until you eat your meat. 
  • musashidan
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    musashidan high dynamic range
    When modeling anything - just as with sculpting and drawing - always study the overall silhouette and break it down into primitive shapes. Ever wondered why every single 3D program has basic primitives? :)

    In this case it's a sphere. Then ask yourself: what's more suitable, a pole sphere or a quad sphere?. In this case it's a quad sphere.

    Next ask yourself: what tools do I have in Max to get this form? You have FFD modifiers. Soft selection. Shift brush in Graphite freeform tools.
    Use some or all of these to achieve the silhouette form. Tip: always try to work non-destructively by using the modifier stack. You can also stack Edit poly mods to non-destructively use the soft selection and shift brush. Once entirely happy with the primary form you can collapse back to an editable poly and delete the bottom faces(where the waist would be) and align this border edgeloop flat.

    Now that you have the primary forms it's time to study the secondary forms. The helmet visor and the sharp angle transition where the back and front meet in the middle(where the ribs would be)

    For the sharp transition you can use polymodeling(no need for booleans) Use the cut tool to cut in the shape you need and delete the internal faces. Use scale or align tools to straighten up the edgeloops. Fill in the faces using edge-shift-extrude and vert welding. Tip: when filling in areas like this use vert snapping with axis constraint active. Don't worry about the topology as the final stage will be retopo. You should only be concerned with the forms.

    Now use Graphite tools to retop. Keep it simple and only use enough geo to get the basic forms. Start by creating your primary loops around the helmet visor opening and the angled area that you manually cut in. The primary loops are very important as you are guaranteed that you can control the edge flow.

    Once you have these loops you can fill in the rest.
  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    If trial by fire is a major pain in the ass at first, consider running through a couple 101 tutorials first. Pluralsight puts out tutorials each year that cover all the basics of Max or Maya, and usually they will step-by-step guide you in builging simple hard surface things like drones, robots, spaceships -- stuff like this. Not quite as complex as your character here but it will cover a lot of the techniques you would likely use.

    Some people prefer to "press A to skip the tutorial," but if you aren't well practiced in patience and problem solving it can really save some headache to take the slow, newbie approach.


  • CommonOne
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    CommonOne polycounter lvl 8
    Hey thanks a million eveyone! I'm on it - going to work it out or die trying. :)
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