Hubert (polygon head)
 

First, apologies for subjecting you to yet another one of these heads. I finally had some time over, and thought I would give a first try at modeling a polygon head.

So far I haven't used any image planes simply because I've just been ad-libbing it. I have worked from Steven Stahlberg's picture about edgeloops, because I had no idea what-so-ever where to start modeling, and I've seen people talk about edgeloops here like it's something worth keeping in mind.. so..

.. jeez, I do have to admit that when starting working on this head I was 100% lost, and had no idea how to proceed; but as I kept working, correcting as I went along, I experienced this wonderful feeling of everything just.. becoming clear to me.

The numbering aren't in the order of which I created the model.

Now, the next step for me is to start to try and add some details--going to find some anatomical references--and tweak the face some more. I want his cheeks, chin, and jawbone to be as defined as I can with as little geometry as possible. I plan on trying to get this into Zbrush at a later time..

I'm posting all this for some critique; but also because I know everyone else's posts in here inspire me, from the newest greenhorn to the most aged veteran, and chances are someone will benefit from this post as well.. :)

Pictures 1-4 showing the current state of the model.
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_01.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_02.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_03.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_04.jpg
Picture 5 illustrating exactly where I started modeling. A single polygon (marked with the 'X') plane from where I Edge Extruded upward along the red arrows.
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_05.jpg
Picture 6 is just for fun, showing the first result, before tweaking. I think the only thing that I was satisfied with was the silhouette of the noise.. The actual shape of the face was just horrible, horrible..
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_06.jpg

Couldn't stand against the curiosity, so I put the model into Zbrush and divided it a few times and did some quick brushstrokes :) I'm really liking the look in hi-res so far..

http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_07.jpghttp://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_08.jpghttp://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_09.jpg

Kyraal

I dont think you could have chosen a better mesh to follow for your first attempt, Stahlberg is the man!! Great start, though I think you're being a little over zealous jumping into Z. The bridge of the nose has become pinched, and has ruined the form of it entirely. Also theres a poly at the base and back of the jaw that could go, instead of having the loop come down and round the jaw, redirect the flow under the jaw instead.

Look forward to the rest.

Kind Regards

Jay

Jay,

Been admiring your work for some time now, and thank you for the comments :) I just wish I had read them before I kept working on the model. I'm note -quite- sure what you meant about the polygon, but if you could point it out in the new mesh, I'd appreciate it :)

I know what you mean with Zbrush, it's easy to jump into it and make all sorts of crazy stuff prematurely. I agree with you, but I think it's beneficial to use Zbrush as a bit of a conceptual tool. It's easy to crank up the details, and you can very quickly sculpt details, just to get a feel for the direction in which you're heading.

Currently I'm planning on trying to make a model and put it into HL2, and if I'm ambitious enough I might try to make some sparkling textures and normal maps using Zbrush, and see what it looks like in the Quake 4 / Doom 3 engines..

But here's what I've got so far. First is just obligatory playing around in Zbrush, of course ;) The others are the actual low-poly mesh. I realise the sternocleidomastoid muscle--from back of skull behind ears to thorax--is wrong. I'll amend that in the next version.

I still haven't used any other reference than Stahlberg's picture, so I was just making guesses at the the back of the head, but I think it will work, for now..

Again, I haven't done this before, so if you know of a better way to approach this, and feel you have the time to share it; please do :) I'm not concerned about the polycount at this moment. It's at ~1000 tris at this moment, and considering the Alyx model for HL2's head is 3000+ tris, this is a good start as far as I'm concerned.. :)

Thanks for your time, guys.

http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_10.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_11.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_12.jpg
http://www.davidostman.com/art/3d/hubert_13.jpg

Hey Kyraal

Hey thanks for you kind words, I have an admirer!! The first one!! hooray!!

Anyway, heres the poly I thought needs a bit of sorting. It will open a can of worms with the rest of the geometry but it should only take a few minutes to sort out.

Also a word of advice, I know this is a WiP, but always try to keep the polys a similar size (in a round about way) the forehead needs to be tweaked as the edges are tapering from the brow out toward the top of the skull. Keeping the geometry balanced will also help with your uvs. Even Steve Stahlberg will tell you that if you ask him.


Kind regards
Jay