Suit of armor
 

I have just stated to model a suit of armor. I am still a newbie so I hope to learn a lot as I go along. All comments are welcome. I don't think I will go nearly as fast as everyone else on this board seems to, but that is fine with me. Below is the source image I am using. I am modeling it in pieces, so each bit of armor is seperate. I am trying to use the "hobbit guy's" technique for modeling, but I might change depending on how it goes, I am trying to stay flexible with this and I imagine I will have to start from scratch a few times to get it right.

Here is what I have done so far, it took me a little while to get the references laid out correctly, plus to realize through some past threads to use textured poly planes instead of the "image plane" feature. Comments and criticism are welcome.

and why not use image planes? cpu use or something else?

btw. good start - interesting reference - should be a cool project

cute

Thanks for looking ereitz and Raull. In reference to your question ereitz, I decided not to use image planes because they were slowing down my system, and from a post by Kevin in responce to another's question on the subject. Here is what he said:

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"if you are using the standard "image plane " then dont, its a system hog!

make your self a plane of the image size.. add a material / then assign your image to the material

this way is better.. I never use the image plane."
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It has added speed to my scene so I like it. Do you know of any benefits the image planes have over using poly planes? Thanks.

the only reason that image planes have that makes them more attractive is that they are a built in system in Maya so in one click you can choose your image. with a couple more clicks you can resize and position your plane and you can choose whether it's visible in the original camera view or in all camera views.

i was precisely of Kevin's mind until I started using a 2.4 gig machine and then it was kind of pointless.

the less things stand in your way the better your creative flow - go with the system that doesn't slow your computer down.

Made an update. Added the top part of the visor as you can see. I tried modeling this in a similar fashion to the lower piece, by pulling CVs on a poly surface and cutting it up for more detail, but that was not getting me good results. So I created a nurbs sphere and used a quarter of that, then pulled those CVs around. It was much easier to get the shape I wanted. Then I rebuilt the surface to add more isoparms then converted to polys. This is with a smooth added. I guess I could of just of left the object in nurbs since I was going for a smooth look anyways. Maybe I will do that in the future, we shall see. Any comments are always welcome.

I added the "skull" part of the helmet. This I made out of half a nurbs sphere, which I pulled some CVs on, then I drew a curve in the side view and projected the curve onto the surface and trimmed it. I did that twice, first to cut out the space for the face, secondly to cut out the portion for the neck.

I learned how to use "make live" effectively from this. After I made the skull portion I had a gap between the skull and the visor pieces. So I made the skull live and snapped the vertices from the visor to the skull, making for a nice fit.

I still have the skull as nurbs. I'm not sure if I should convert it to polys, I don't know what I would gain from that. I plan to keep textures simple when I finally get there, if I am not already sick of this model by then of course.

starting to look just like the armor suit. Keep it up.

Thanks for the encouragement vizion.

I have added the neckpiece. I made it out of a nurbs plane that I pushed CVs on, then I created curves that I used to project onto the surface and then trim it. I did this three times, once for the front, once for the back part, then finally for the opening that the neck would go through. I am getting use to modeling with nurbs and enjoying it. They fit my needs well since I am modeling the armor in pieces.

The pieces look to smooth I think, but hopefully I can add details such as the ridges they have through bump mapping. I can focus on the details later, including those little rivets that are in the armor connecting the pieces.

Does anyone know how to get nurbs surfaces to have a nice angle for mirroring like I did? To give it a nice transition from one piece over to the mirrored piece? I did it by hand on these pieces, but is there a faster way? Thanks.

its starting to look good :)

Thanks a lot caligraphics!

Here is the most recent update. I made the chest piece in a similar fashion as the neckpiece. I started with a nurbs sphere, cut off the bottom and side then pulled it around to fit the shape. Then I created a few curves, projected them onto the surface and trimmed it. I made a copy of the object so I could trim it a second time, this time only leaving the back piece. This way the chest piece and the back piece are separate and would animate that way if I ever want to animate this.

I left a large gap between this piece and the neckpiece because I want the armor to be separate, able to move independently, and not seem like they are welded together.

I currently have no thickness to the armor, which I would like to change. Does anyone know a good way to add thickness to a nurbs surface? I guess I could duplicate each surface then scale them down a bit and possibly create a blend for the edge of the pieces of armor.

Thanks for looking and any comments or criticism is always welcome.

I added the pieces around his waist, five pieces in all. I kept space between each of them. The problems I am running into are that I can't select a CV, turn on grid snapping, and pull the CV in the X direction and have it snap to the grid in just that direction. It only seems like it wants to snap at the corners. So instead I made a plane on the axis and made it live. This worked okay but it was not as quick as it would have been if I could of simply snapped to the grid in only one direction.

Another issue I am having is if you notice on the detail shot I have in the upper left, I have that small gap between the nurbs surfaces when I mirrored them. Should I add more points to increase the weight on the surface so that it fits more tightly to the edge?

I am looking forward to learning textures with this guy; I think that will really help it to look more realistic. Also any suggestions on how to make the nurbs thick? Thanks for looking.

for the snapping to a gridline instead of a corner:

if you move, you must not use the MMB to move the cv - that will result in x y and z movement. just press and hold x key before moving, and then move the cv grabbing only one axis, not the middle of the move cross. another problem could be if you dont move in world, but in local or object mode.

hope that makes sense

You were right BabyDuck, I was trying to move in object mode, not world, that is why I couldn't snap to the grid, thanks.

I have added the top of the leg guards and also extended the chest plate down farther as I realized that it is probably all one piece. I think I will have to go back and smooth some of the spots that come to a sharp point like on the sides of the hips there is a sharp spot. Comments and Criticism are welcome. Thanks.