Hey, thanks jhubbard - I am still undecided about the final pose, but I will definately keep your suggestions in mind.

I'd go with a more opened mouth (as I'm thinking about doing with my model) as it'll show off the extra detail you've added. It might mean more work in uv'ing etc but it'd pay off in the long run.
Plus hippos with their mouths open look great (and scary!)

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can you post the beast without the wire please

Thanks T1ck. I think you are right - the mouth does need to be opened more. However, I don't think I am going to open the mouth fully, as in the last reference picture I posted. Though that does look cool, I think that it will deform the rest of the work on the head and it is also difficult to find good side reference photos of that pose. Like you, I also don't want the pose to detract from the rest of the head.

As requested, here is a picture of my beast without the wire. Thanks for all of the helpful comments.

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And here is a picture of the mouth area.

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Looks very promising! Taking on modeling the mouth is a big challenge and you seem to be pulling it off with style! I think you may want to spend some serious time tweaking the edge flow on parts of your base mesh. If you notice the area around the nostrils is doing some funky things when you smooth. You may not notice this once this beast is textured, but its nice to get these things sorted.

Keep it up!

Dave

Hey,

Thanks Dave for the constructive comments. Yeah, I definately need to go over the whole model and work on the edge flow as well as adding on some details to the rest of the head. Those nostrils have been bothering me from the start. I also need to do some more work on the corner of the mouth. I am hoping that on my next couple of days off I can finish up the head, attach the inside of the mouth and then open up his choppers a little wider, before starting the dreaded UV mapping.

I would say your highest priority should still be the head itself rather than the mouth. The head could still use some work.

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I'm not a geek. I'm a nerd.

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thanks gohan1842. I definately agree. I would say that the nostrils and ears both need work done to them. i also want to add another fold of skin at the rear and sort out the egde flows. What areas are bothering you?

Cheers for the input.

Like you said just fix the over all edgeflow and the area around the eyes and nostrils. That would really help.

---

I'm not a geek. I'm a nerd.

msn - g1842@hotmail.com
I'm up for a chat anytime.

thanks Gohan1842. I'll take a look at it.

Hello everyone,

Here is another update. On my last couple of days off I have been pushing and pulling vertices, trying to sort out some of the edge flows on my mesh, especially around the nostrils and the back part of the head.

I have also made some fairly big adjustments to my model – I pulled the upper part of his snout forward and up slightly and I added another fold of skin at the back of the head. I also lowered the corner of the mouth and added a slight curl to the upper lip. I actually deleted a number of edges below the eye and then remade that area, pushing the eye back a touch.

I also realised that the pictures that I had previously posted were too big and so I hope that these new images are ok. Apologies if this caused any problems.

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here is another image. Next I plan to attach the upper and lower gums to the rest of the head and then open up the mouth a little wider. More updates soon.

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Ok, here are some more images. I have finally managed to open up the mouth – thanks to my girlfriend - who showed me how to move the rotate tool pivot point, which made everything a lot easier.

I am hoping to finish up adding detail to my model and the mouth area on my next day off and then I will probably stop modelling, as I haven’t done any texturing, aside from the stool tutorial, and so I want to have plenty of time to mess that up.

I have one quick question. Is it still possible to add detail to your model (moving or adding new vertices) after you have mapped out the UVs, or do you have to make a new UV map if you adjust your model?

and by the way, how did I manage to become a senior member?

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Here is another image - maybe a possible final pose?

any comments and criticisms?

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