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| MODELING HELP DESK |
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General 3D Modeling Tips
 3D ARK solicited the 3D community for general 3D modeling tips.
Below are some of the responses we got. Incidentally, you're always welcome to send additional tips to: webmaster@3dark.com for inclusion here.
A: David Clemons writes:
The simplest advice I could give is to study whatever it is you want to recreate very carefully whether it be a person, tree, car, etc. Even if you're making an alien monster, think out how it moves, how it sees, eats, and so forth and bring that into the design. It also depends on what your modeling for in terms of how dense your mesh must be. A movie or rendered image can be higher density than a game creature, for instance.
David Clemons
A: Chris O'Riley writes:
I wrote a tutorial on modeling using cross sections a while ago. It was written following a model I built in LightWave, but I've received a number of e-mails from people using other programs saying that many of the techniques translated very well into their particular program. If you're interested, it's in the tutorials section of LightWave World at: http://www.lightwaveworld.com
If I had to pick out the top 5 tips from my tutorial, they would be:
1- The basic idea of approaching a modeling task differently (using cross sections in my case). There are countless ways to model an object, there's no reason to start with a cube every time.
2- The technique I used to model the wheel wells of the car.
3- The technique I used to model the body seams between the doors, fenders, hood...
4- The technique I used to model the lights and license plate cutouts in the front and rear bumpers.
5- The importance of modeling all the little details. Not that I specifically showed how to model any of the smaller details, but I tried to show their importance. The weather-stripping around the windows, the emblems, the door handles... These details aren't particularly hard to model, but they make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the completed model.
Hope this helps.
Chris O'Riley
A: Clinton Downs writes:
To expand a little on the previous point in regard to 'blocking out'. Whenever I'm preparing to start a new object I always block out the proportions with primitive shapes. These shapes often become quite detailed. By keeping them segmented I can at any point modify proportions and so on to help achieve correct balance and weight. This technique applies to ALL objects.
Clinton Downs
A: Bill Anderson writes:
Hmm, well I am not professing to be an expert, but I think I have a firm grasp of the ungraspable......so here goes:
My personal modelling technique involves mental visualization...if I can visualize the object/scene/etc in my minds' eye, I can much more easily come to grips with making a model/scene/lighting.
Step 1: Concept, idea.
Step 2: Visualization: see your object within the limitless bounds of your brain.
Step 3: Examine in all possible details, and from all possible angles any real world objects or scenes which are similar to your concept/idea. If none exists, try and find something that is close, or try sketching with pencil and paper or even working with clay, paper or any other materials available.
Step 4: Go to work, repeating steps 1-3 as many times as necessary.
Other, more specific, notes on design: as you note, sharp sided objects look very CG and getting the smoothness or sharpness out will almost always raise your poly counts significantly. For many objects, bump mapping can produce some very believable imagery, but for close up work, this will almost always be insufficient. In one particular scene I have, I made spline drawn "cracks" for some stones in a temple, in addition to which the stones were bevelled and booleaned on the edges and corners. The poly count on these stones went up quite a few thousand percent, and the results are still not quite perfect for me and require additional working. This image is on my web site, in the 3D section, if you want to make any comments, and/or view it to see what I mean. This scene was mostly produced in trueSpace3, but additional elements, lighting and objects were added in trueSpace4, to take advantage of ts4's new render engine and shaders. The following address will take you directly to that page:
http://www.nakedhoof.com/truespace.html
For symmetrical objects, the mirrored modelling technique works very well. I would highly recommend for organic/lifeform models that additional modifications be made to any mirrored parts to give them more natural features. When working with nurbs, modification of points after this will be very simple to do and subtle changes will add _tons_ of character to your creature or human characters.
Hope this can be of some use :)
Bill Anderson
A: Joshua Rutter writes:
TIP: For polygonal character modeling [in 3DS], it's always smart to use the p-nurbs script. Working on low poly meshes allows much faster feedback when working and you can always apply a meshsmooth for final output. R 2.5's poly cutting and slicing brings the modeler into LW's league. Going too high in poly count and optimizing ends up in uneven nasty meshes. Maybe R3's optimize modifier will improve.
Joshua Rutter
A: Tule writes:
Before you can create the illusion of 3-D through a digital
interface, you should be familiar with modelling in a more
familiar form.
What I mean is that you should expand your artistic mediums to encompass true 3-D modelling. Although life drawing, zoo drawings, will get you bonus points, try to do sculpture through tactile and abstract elements such as clay and plaster. Clay is good because it is an additive medium, meaning that you build upon what you already have. Most modelling programs work in this method, i.e. Maya Artisan. Plaster, wood and marble are subtractive mediums so you MUST visualize what your subject will be before you start chipping away at it. You can achieve this through Boolean operations on most 3-D apps.
Through my own experience, the best modelers are the ones that can *see* their creation in a block of plaster. Why do you think Michelangelo was so good. He worked and experimented in all mediums. If he had Softimage or Maya back then don't you think he would kick-ass too?
Tule
A: Sriram writes:
Definitely, like someone said before, get you hands on a 3D model of the subject you'd like to model. Though I know it can't always be done, it helps immensely. It doesn't have to be the same objet though. For example if you are modelling an alien's legs, and you don't have any idea or how to start, just go to you local toy stores and browse the action figures or cartoons, you'll invariably end up seeing something that you'll like and you can use that as a launching point.
Specifically for modelling, I always start with something at the base
level or near the ground. For example, a lot of my meshes that I made are mechs or walkers. For those, I almost always started with the legs and then worked up. They helped with the proportion and made it easier for me to visualize the object.
Another tip is to model rough stand-ins for the rest of your incomplete
model so you can see how its going. I mean model them almost as if you were just sketching them on the paper. Just rough cubical or simple representative shapes for you model.
Sriram http://www.ihot.com/~endeavor/ |
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Would you like to add, share, or correct some information? 3D ARK welcomes your contributions. Send mail to: webmaster@3dark.com
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