Boxer

This is the first model I made on Maya,I did the troll in between because I was facing difficulties to work out the hands and feet with the same number of polys on this one. And I got too quickly on the details as I was discovering the most exciting opportunities of MudBox for the first time!

In order to avoid too much loops on the ankles and wrists (so I can connect them better) I had to model the hands and feet differently. I was taught the two techniques in two different classes. I guess every modeler has his own way to do. But Dan Platt (great CG artist on Trön Legacy and many other features!) recommends to have a proper mesh with only parallels.

Harpie

This is the highest level of detailing I could achieve on clay. It really is an amazing material to begin with but I think I will use it only for quick studies of shapes, like a 3 dimensional sketchpad. As you can see the sculpture broke in many parts so you really want to wire it if you're doing standing poses and forget about any thin and long structures. Do it with firm sculpey or even better: sculpting epoxy (which will be further explained in the next post)!

Full Character and jaws

This is the character I've been working on lately. As you can see, I switched back and forth between Maya and MudBox to experiment on the shapes and detailing. The final result shows a low res mesh which will be properly suited for animation once I ring it.

The one thing that's good with digital modeling is symmetry so you basically have to model only one side of the character. On Mudbox though, when you're done with the muscles, be sure to click off the symmetry for texturing (organic designs are NEVER symmetrical).

This final mesh is to be completed with props attached on the lower mechanical part. I'll be doing the facial blend shapes next, after I model his tongue!

Alternative to clay yeay!

Sooooo...

Let's switch to CG for a bit. This is no Maya tutorial blog, I only want to share the work I came out with on Maya and Mudbox. The pics follow the steps of creating my model.

- I start by modeling a simple low res mesh on Maya using templates to guide me in doing the main volumes. It's simple really, just a matter of recreating what is already in front of you. The hard part is to get it done with only quads. Why? Because triangles are EVIL! They will tore your textures apart when you get to do the UV maps and therefore destroy hours of work. So don't. This also is a block-in part of the job so again, feel free to change the main volumes. At the very end of that part you should smooth it just once (double the polys) to have a reasonable resolution on your character. Mine is, as you can see, an ugly, marshmallowy, not-structured kinda ape.

- When you're happy with your basic mesh (you want to have your whole character modeled at that time and closed: no holes or missing faces in your SINGLE volume or you're about to face hell when your arrive on MudBox), you are to export an .obj selection which you'll be able to work on. This is the funny part now: just get as crazy as you can on the detailing (you can have a really amazing definition if your computer is able to sustain it). For example, my last CG sculpture was over 300000 polys for one bust. Do the muscles, bones, veins, tendons and fat and even the skin texture can be mapped (better in the UV mapping though).

- I use MudBox to change the basic mesh into what I really wanted at first so what I do is basically shape it in high res and then turn the work back into the same number of polys I had when I got into MudBox. You'll loose most of the detailing but will keep the exact main silhouette of your character. You can totally get back into MudBox as much as you want. This workflow is the best way I know to get as close as what you have in mind, and pretty fast!

- Back into Maya now with your .obj export, you can totally start to work over fabric details like, belts, clothes and every non-organic item.

And again little samples of my work in Dan Platt's class of Advanced Character Modelling.

Enjoy and have great CG models done!!!

Clay! Yeay!

Hello everyone!

So here is a blog concerning my sculpting work. You will find in here tips about the way I like to work both in sculpting and digital modeling. I've mostly been running trials with different techniques and materials. I'll start at the beginning using simple clay available in all art supplies shops.

- Clay doesn't need an underneath wire structure and is very easy to experiment with. I would at first, recommend to sculpt an easy pose: seated or laid down so you don't need to worry about the character's balance yet.

- Start with the basic shapes and be sure to blend them all in one solid structure on which you'll be able to start detailing quite easily. You don't really need tools at this step, just use your hands (the best tool EVER!) to feel the volumes and get the shapes right. The fastest you are, the best your basic shapes will be. Don't pay attention to details now.

-As the clay starts to dry you may want to get more into those shapes and start to add the main muscles and tendons. This still is a block-in step of the process, feel free to change whatever you want to for it's the last occasion you'll have to do so. I personally use guitar strings scotched on a pencil to shape clay... it is the most amazing cheapest tool (thanks to John Mahoney for the priceless tip!) Remember to have a little squirt bottle close to you in order to wet the clay from times to times and smooth it.

- Finally, when you're done with your main design, just feel if the clay is ready to get carved with thin tools to texture the skin and all organic parts that you want to get crazy on. There are many ways to do it: by hand, texture pads made of latex (fruit casts are particularly helpful), or just a simple color pencil will do the trick perfectly! Blend the details into the skin with a wet brush to have a killer looking organic rendering.

- Remember to recover your model with a plastic bag full of wet paper towels to ensure the clay won't dry between two working sessions!

All right that's all I got for now on clay sculpting. Here are little samples of my work in John Mahoney's class in Calarts.

Hope you'll enjoy and make kick-ass models!