May Challenge- HPorter- Normal
 

Hey everyone,

I am a very,very, very new user and new to this board - :)

I just purchased Maya about 2 weeks ago and am very intimidated! I have used cinema 4d previously...

I think throwing my hat in the ring will force me to learn this giant application... so keep all this in mind and have a good laugh at my efforts. I will be laughing too.

Also, what happens if i cant finish in time? will i be thrown off the board and beaten unmercifully? ;)

H!

my "cartoon self" sketch

welcome to Sm... If you can finish it in time we will jsut posted in the W.I.P section...

yes I am that ugly! :)

starting box modeling-

am I posting too many steps?

more detail..

I have started with a box, cut it in half and duplicated it with a negative scale. so I can model half while the other follows suit.

is there an easier method?

in cinema 4d they have something called symmetry that does this for you.

more detail..

Is there a function that allows you to view a sudivision surface while cutting up a poly cage?

Right now I am converting to sub-d to see what is happening, then undooing!

there has to be an easier way!

Great drawing! I look forward to see how your model progresses. :)

Thanks!
I just checked out your site- very nice- I WILL be doing those tutorials this weekend! ... and good luck with the Warthog Texas studio-
H!

bit more detail on the face-

using the split poly tool- and pushing and pulling.

my sketch looming in the background from the image plane.

Thanks. :) Glad you liked the site.

Looking good so far!

Hey, your a wonderful artist!.. the model is coming along nicely as well :D. Can you post us a reallife image of yourself? The only reason I ask is it is required for entry... in the rules. Thanks hporter :D, and welcome to SM.

:eek: whoops! I wasnt aware of that. sorry!


I just realized how hard it is to find a photo of yourself....

here are some poor quality pics, from the band i was in.

WARNING: not suitable for children under the age of 13 :)

H!

That cartoon concept looks awesome.
It does look like you mate, modelling´s going ok too.
Keep on it.

Thanks man!

Please rip my model apart! I want to learn!!

here is the latest- 3+ hours in:

what the hell?
this stuff is looking awsome. :D

howardporter - in 4.5 there is a way of working with a proxy model which I haven't explored yet BUT the simplest way of getting a mirror image to update is to check 'Instance' when you duplicate. That will do the trick - a glitch or two may cause it to stop updating in which case you can erase it and make another one. Works like a charm.

Nice model - I think it's going to be a good cartoon version of you.

hey howard...this weird line in the middle of your model...I have the same problem.Do you know how to fix it?

ereitz- cool thanx! I will try that-

EagleKing- I think once you attach and merge all the vertices
That line will disappear.

Here is an update, I am now pushing and pulling on the SubD surface at various resolutions. Man that is time consuming!

Maya Rocks! This is the farthest I have ever gotten on a model. I usually give up by now because I am not happy with how it’s turning out.

The fingers look really arthritic; I will concentrate on them next.


H!

The seam in the middle normally get´s solved at th eend of modelling.
When you combine the two halves, check for normals direction on both -flip the offending one if needed-, and finally Merge Vertices on the whole object with a 0,0001 tolerance.

If the middle edge isn´t that pronounced, then this should take care of it, if it still doesn´t suit you then you´ll have to tweak manually those middle vertices.

Hope this helps,

By the way, Howard, model looks excellent man!

yeah...and you entered as noobie.
That is normal stuff ( I think).

thanks adldesigner-

This message board is terrific, I am learning so much.

Its a great help to see other peoples process.

I am not sure what the difference between "normal" and "noobie"
is.

I apologize if I miscatagorized myself <:) I only started coming to this board a short while ago.

should I change my post?

I have only had Maya for a couple of weeks, but I have used cinema 4d in the past.

Modelwise : you should go normal
Maya knowledge : you should stay n00bie..

But lets see how you develop during the month and lets change you to normal if you get too threatening to the other guys and girls in the n00b category :)

Don't know about all the noobie, normal stuff as I am not sure it matters that much, it's all learning really (although it is nice to win of course), but that's coming on really nicely! You might want to round off the backs of the hands a bit as they look a tad flat but it looks like you are making your home in Maya really quickly!

Look forward to updates - good stuff.

Yeah, I don't feel a bit guilty that every time I look at your work I redesign what I am going for. I really like how well you are sticking to your original drawing.
Nice work.

I would stay here....If we can't hack the competition then You should probably win. Then we may try harder or something good like that......Thats just my 2cents

Man, your model rocks...
and do you say that you are noobie???
wow...

Thanx guys!
 

thanx for the nice words-

Everyone on this board is so positive and supportive, it is really inspiring!

Update:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ran into a problem and lost all my subD tweaking. :(

I found that it is just way too difficult to adjust the UV's on a single mesh that is so complex. (At least for me it is!) also I read a post on this board ( I think the poster was Kevin) which stated to adjust the UV's before sub-d-ing your mesh.

So I took a few steps backwards-

I broke my model apart at the low poly level. Into key elements, hand, head... shirt etc.

Then I UV mapped them with the automatic mapping-
I moved the UV's around in the editor window. merging UV’s and such.

Made UV snapshots- brought them into PShop and threw down the rough textures-

... Now I am back to tweaking the subD's again!

I lost a lot of time but also learned alot!

H!

model broken apart -

Head UV's

After Sub-ding I have encountered weird texture problems?

has this happened to you guys? I pulled the new Uvs around but cant seem to fix it!

HELP!?!?!!!!:eek:

the hand-
I am trying to really exaggerate the fingers by making the nail area’s larger than the should be —to give them more of a cartoon-y look

adldesigner question-
 

hey Ad' you stated

"The seam in the middle normally get´s solved at th end of modelling.
When you combine the two halves, check for normals direction on both -flip the offending one if needed-, and finally Merge Vertices on the whole object with a 0,0001 tolerance.

If the middle edge isn´t that pronounced, then this should take care of it, if it still doesn´t suit you then you´ll have to tweak manually those middle vertices.

Hope this helps,"

Can I do this with subD objects? I cant seem to figure out how to do it! I have tried using poly-proxy mode as well as the normal mode. do you have a set work-flow process I could borrow?:D

Also... how do I deal with UV's after flipping and merging? I am really confused...

thanks man, you rock!

p.s. that animated gif of your flower modeling project was really cool. You know your stuff man!!

H

maybe convert the half of the head back to polys using level 0 verts. go down where the join is to be and snap all the verts to the y axis - then mirror geometry and merge any verts that need merging - then you can convert back to subds if required.

listen to my words.

You are the best from all us n00bs. You will see at the end of this month. You will be the n00bie winner. Don´t forget what I said.

cb8rwh-

thanks man! I am trying that right now, er... I mean as soon as I finish typing that is!

H!

EagleKing- :) thanx!!

H!

Screen grab of the entire figure so far-

cb8rwh-

I just tried what you suggested and it worked perfectly!

convert->subD to Poly-> flip+merge-> convert to subd again.

also- it fixed what ever UV problems I was having with the sub-d mesh. and came out smoother than a babys bottom!

thanks again!
H.

ok....now you gave us the proof....you will win....