Maya 2020 fundamentals - modelling the real world
Get halfway through a model and find it's an unworkable mess? Can't add edge loops where you need them? Can't subdivide a mesh properly? If any of this sounds familiar check this course out.
# 1 08-06-2003 , 10:44 PM
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Poly character

my first poly model, the model isn't quite perfected yet (dodgy chin and lack of eyebrows/wrinkles) to name a few points, but i've been concentrating on getting the realism for the lighting/skin/bump+specularity, and this is as close as i can get it, any C&C for the realism much welcomed.

ps. could any 1 could give me a link for Mark Davies's 'ray diffuse' node, i've tried several places with no luck, and mental ray is no good when it comes to fur and paint effects, thanx

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# 2 09-06-2003 , 07:07 PM
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wow cool head. like the glasses user added image

and now the things to improve:
  • the hair, but you know that
  • the bump map: a little bit too big bumps - not too deep, just a bit too big
  • skin is a bit too dark in the shadow - but that might be your lighting
  • skin is too shiny in the highlights
  • the ears look a bit off
  • texture below nose needs fixing
that is all i can make out to make this great model even better user added image


keep it up

# 3 09-06-2003 , 07:55 PM
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thanx babyduck,

the hair i just chucked on, fur was the easiest option, though when complete i think maybe paint effects might be more suited and effective (though i'm not too sure).

ahaa so me bumps is too big, thanx for that one, i used a leather texture with decreased cell size for that, painting my own bump map with wrinkles and other facial features was far more difficult than i first thought, but unfortunately i can only have the one bump map with the skinshader (from aliaswavefront.com), i'm gonna have to search around for a good tutorial on making 2d bumps and specularity maps, usually with the 3d tuts they just say "apply your bump map etc"

yep my lighting is definitely a big problem dood, just as i thought, i could really do with that ray diffuse node user added image at the moment there are 3 spotlights (left mid height, right high, and one behind and to HIS left) all are set to quadratic.

i did think the skin was too shiny, but i just couldn't seem to irradicate it without it being too dark, i tweeked this an that with the shader, tweeked the lights and after 3 frustrating hours that was the best i could get it user added image

the ears look a bit off? i thought they were great lol, but thats looking from the side angle, but now you mention it, they do look a little flat from this angle, maybe i should tweek 'em out a little, so i can see em better from the front, thanx for the 'heads up' on that one.

texture below nose? can't see that one, no textures are applied so far, oh well, your other 5 points of feedback are enough for me to improve on so far, damn! this realism thing is real tricky, thank god for 'IPR' lol

i shouldn't of put the glasses on him yet really, thinking back.... i think i did it (subconciously) to create the illusion of realism lol, ah well we live 'n' learn user added image

# 4 10-06-2003 , 10:39 AM
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Originally posted by Aphex
thanx babyduck,

texture below nose? can't see that one, no textures are applied so far, oh well, your other 5 points of feedback are enough for me to improve on so far, damn! this realism thing is real tricky, thank god for 'IPR' lol

i shouldn't of put the glasses on him yet really, thinking back.... i think i did it (subconciously) to create the illusion of realism lol, ah well we live 'n' learn user added image

yes the glasses reveals possible problems with the eyes. if you dont have difraction, they might be a bit too big. but it might be an optical illusion as well.

as for the nose texture, here is what i mean in attached picture - could not image that this is a lighting issue, but must be as you say you dont have textures. also you might want to change the spotlights to directional lights and add a ambient light (with very low intensity). really black black color you see very seldom in reality. it is a contradicion to use things that do not exist in real life (ambient light) to add to realism. but we only have a very limited model of the reality with maya user added image

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# 5 10-06-2003 , 02:32 PM
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ahaa i see what you mean, i've sussed whats happened, 'twas messy vertices, so i've scrapped that model and gone back to my base mesh where i saw what had happened, from the ridge i had 4 vertices with 4 edges joining to just 1 vertice causing a kind of bulging, thanx dood well spotted.

So i'm gonna try and perfect the model first instead of rushing ahead to the texture/bumps&lighting, afterall thats where the eye will pick up the first underlying 'unrealness' to the whole picture, once i've perfected the model and made another attempt at the texturing/painteffects etc, i'll post it up again minus the glasses.

Hey nice tip for the lighting, i must admit when it comes to lighting, i'm never too sure whats appropriate and what isn't :bgreen: it seems to be a science in its own right, theres so many exciting areas to Maya, that i end up overlooking important fundamentals such as lighting.

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# 6 16-06-2003 , 03:16 PM
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I've got side tracked as usual, and thought i'd attempt a body, this is it so far, same head btw, but i've tweeked it a little better, still lots to go though, feets 'n' fingers and a bit more muscle definition. It fascinates me that the whole model started life as a 4 sided poly cube

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Last edited by Aphex; 17-06-2003 at 01:24 PM.
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