Sorry if this is a vague question, but I’ve always wondered how to 3D model non human creatures. I have what I would consider to be a decent understanding of how to model a human head. I’ve done a lot of research into good topology for human characters. One thing I can’t seem to figure out, however, is how the same techniques can be applied to animals. Given that animals often have many features distinguishing them from humans, (e.g. flatter noses, eyes on the sides of the head, etc.) I can never seem to figure out how to maintain good topology while maintaining the likenesses of the animals. There are a few tutorials out there for modeling animal bodies, but I can’t seem to find any focusing only on the heads. Can anyone offer any tips on how to make this concept easier?
let me tell you, you have to start form scratch… what you are saying now applies to 2002. these days, face topology is such a basic thing that we take it for granted, software can generate good topology on its own.
the things you should study, is anatomy.
the technique everyone uses now to make characters is sculpting followed by a Retopology, so once you know the muscle and bone structure of whatever human or animal you are making, its pretty straight forward as to how you do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEGIRfFdfU8 this is how characters and creatures are made these days. mind you, this is not a tutorial. but at least skim through the video to see the process if you dont wanna watch all of it.
you can get Zbrush Core for 400 bucks, it may seem a lot, but its a one time payment, and Zbrush is the biggest industry standard atm so if ur ever going to get a job, you need zbrush anyways.
I always thought that the sculpting approach to 3D modeling was just one way to create characters. I never realized that this is the technique that most people use. I’ll start looking into retopology and sculpting tutorials. Thanks for the advice.