Modelling teeth
 

ello,

wasn't sure where to put this post - hope it's ok here

how do you go about modelling teeth? I have nevr done any before and jst wondered if there is any particular way of doing it?

well there could be thousands of ways doin that... i could help you with Subd'z way... or u can try pologonal with a Smooth applied to it...

first try and get some ref pics or a mirror...

for gums... appy the bend deformer to the cube and then move the verts up and down untill it gives u nice feel of gums..

then make smaller cube and and scale it down in one axis and just play around with the positioning of the verts.... model Molars, pre molars...canines seperately....(model half side inside ur mouth seperately and then mirror each teeth)
hope that helps...
try it...if u need any practical help... post ur work here.. iwill check and will update it...
ciao

an important addition to Maya_fanatics post is that when you have modeled half the teeth, and mirror them, then you should move and scale some of the teeth a bit so they dont seem to be too regular.

a good thing is to get a mirror and look at your own teeth.. also try to put your fingers in your mouth and feel how they are shaped aswell ..

You can either choose to extrude the gums from the mouth or model the mouth as a different object. I can't say wich is the best, cause that depends on the purpose of the model.

thanks for the ideas guys - will give it a shot today and post the results or further questions if I have any :)

m_f and cali - if ya get a chance check out my comp thread for the teeth - any C&C very welcome.

http://forums.simplymaya.com/showthr...4639#post54639

I made my first teeth completely out of my head and it looked like crap. Then I searched the net for some dental pictures for reference and I found that the count and general shape of various tooth types is very essential to make the teeth look realistic. Minor irregularity on the tooth shapes and placement is also important as caligraphics pointed out.

Here's something I did last year. I never finished this out but anyway...

http://maxrovat.sns.hu/subdiv/baymouth.gif
this is a great method.. saves modeling teeth seperate like i have seen many people do.