low poly character attempt - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 25-01-2004 , 05:16 AM

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first low poly character attempt

hello everyone. user added image

well my attempts at the old town scene have been put on the shelf for a little while, as we've started working on a simple 3d animation scene due out in a few months. we were going to use simple objects only but decided to try and put a low poly guy in there too. as such, here's an attempt at it.

would love your comments and suggestions, as it's my very first time trying to do this, and everything's pretty experimental for me at this stage. oh, and sorry about the bad image planes. i sketched those out during a class. user added image

i duplicated the right side of the body just for presentation's sake, btw. user added image

here's the image:

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Last edited by deryk; 25-01-2004 at 06:38 AM.

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# 2 25-01-2004 , 06:40 AM

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an update...

i scaled the body along the y axis a bit since the duplicated full body looked a bit fat for my tastes.

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# 3 25-01-2004 , 06:59 AM

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You might consider entering our challenge. user added image

Looks like you have the basic shape fleshed out. Now it's a matter of adding the head and details.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 4 25-01-2004 , 07:03 AM

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wow a challenge?

hmm yeah i'd really love to but... i don't know how to texture! user added image

that's actually another one of my problems mtmckinley.. after i model this, i have absolutely no idea how to go about texturing this guy. user added image

i'm used to texturing per object, but this character's made up of a single object. any suggestions on references? user added image

oh, btw, how do i find out how many polygons i've used in this scene?

thanks! user added image

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# 5 25-01-2004 , 07:49 AM

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another update..

kinda stuck though on how to do the hair...any suggestions, folks? user added image

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# 6 25-01-2004 , 02:56 PM

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another update. added more detail to the back this time, plus a bit to the arms and abdominal area.

didn't add much because 1) it's gonna be an in-game model and 2) i don't know how!!! user added image

i mean, everytime i try adding creases and cuts to the body they just look plain weird... even if they're supposed to be there. any tips on how to progressively add cuts and muscle detail would be VERY much appreciated. user added image

oh, and again, how do i make the hair? i'm a newb at character stuff so i'm pretty much lost at this point. user added image

thanks for the help everyone. user added image

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Last edited by deryk; 25-01-2004 at 03:01 PM.

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# 7 25-01-2004 , 06:14 PM

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WOW!!
Cool

Nice proportions, and overall shape. I like it.

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# 8 25-01-2004 , 07:42 PM

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It looks very nice to me, good low poly reprisentation of anime in 3d. for hair in the sketch ide say make a poly cube and extrude to flesh it out. But i like it so far.

for muscle definition it would be dificult to get the definition you want without increasing the poly count a great deal. But one way to smooth some edges and harden others without smoothing(which increasing poly couns a lot) is using soften/harden edges under edit polygons>normals>Softe|Harden. This will prolly help if you didnt know it.

Im not too good at texturing either, you could UV map it, i think that will work but ive nver done it. Or you could go the easier way to select the faces you want to texture and apply to selection. If you want you can enter the simply maya chat room at the top of the page and i can help you there when you come on.

Also you can find poly count by going to display>Hud> and its in the menu, i think its the second down.

Looking good so far. I like the belt. Wheres the buckle?

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# 9 25-01-2004 , 09:02 PM

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hey thanks for pointing out the belt buckle! i totally forgot about that. user added image

i'll check out some of the stuff you suggested. currently trying the hair out. i hope something good comes from this attempt. user added image

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# 10 25-01-2004 , 11:29 PM

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It is nice. Cool low poly. You can do it. Its low poly so it will be the eazyest to try on. Take the plung and UV map it.

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# 11 26-01-2004 , 02:49 PM

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I really like the pose, and the drama in such a small amount of detail!
Good job! If you break up the character into the main parts, you can then map it, and then just merge them back together.

Extrude some faces on a curve for the hair.

Lungs not guns....

Last edited by strobe7; 26-01-2004 at 02:53 PM.

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# 12 26-01-2004 , 03:33 PM

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thanks for the comments everyone. user added image

working on the hair as we speak.

hmmm a concern of mine though is, is this model gonna be animatable? i usually see models made for animation with their legs together and arms raised perpendicular to the body to form a huge "T". since i modeled my character this way, am i doomed to not being able to animate this guy? user added image

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# 13 26-01-2004 , 03:55 PM

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of course you CAN animate him - and it'll probably look fine

obviously if you'd set up the arms/legs/whatnot as real joints, the animation process may be easier, then again maybe not - depends on what you like

if you really want to know, just try animating with the model at this point

if it's no good, then you can start modifying now instead of a total redo later

edit: forgot to say - lookin' good :bgreen:

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# 14 26-01-2004 , 04:13 PM

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looks good, I like the pose already! What i would do for hair is what they did on Ice Age for the sabre toothed tiger. They used a whole bunch of planes and mapped images onto them to give the appearance of fur. IT would work pretty well I think. You might need to do some funky stuff to get them working properly but it would be a good challenge. If it was a still it wouldnt be hard though.

Alan

Technical Director - Framestore

Currently working on: Your Highness

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