Ok so maybe this is in the wrong place, but essentially i feel that i am approaching a stage where i want to try and model a character, I have Modeled one before from Blender.Org but i want to try and model one myself, however im nowhere near a lvl where i can create a good, topologically correct Model with just my knowledge.
I even have trouble knowing what is simple and what is complex, as i try to model something i think will be do able only to find i have no idea what to do.
So what im asking is if someone could maybe help me find a reference or model that i can model and help me through the process, so i end up with my own Model with good topology and that can be used for animation and rigging, (although im not going there for a looongg time)
I know that im asking alot and its a bit of an odd request. but i hope someone or the community in general may be interested in essentially ‘mentoring’ me to create a complete model. as im learning this myself and really struggle with Organic modelling, Or any modelling lol
Anyways I hope some one is interested and has a bit of free time to chuck my way.
I want to create a WIP with this project Hence this thread
Ok Josh, you may start saying what kind of character does you turn on?. There are lots of artist that are leant toward cartoonish style, some from own inspiration, some for realistic, etc.
Some years ago to build a character was an awful task, now it is different, but to make it possible hasnt change…its the will the most powerful source to do it!.
Really my main source of inspiration comes from Anime and the Japanese style Games like FF and MGS and the countless others, My Goal is to create a Studio that creates Cutscenes for Game and possibly feature films to Rival Advent children and The spirits within.
Im New to art and have yet to really experiment and create my own style. At the moment im Gunning for Imitation and knowledge. Im not an artist like is said, although it wasnt until blender that i began to think i had a chance. now i think its all possible.
Anyway thats a bit about me, ask me again in one year and ill have a different answer for you im sure lol
So really i want to create characters in an anime over the top style, i love all of that and spend hours watching and discovering amazing artwork.
I know how far i am from even thinking about that. right now im looking to build my skills. What character am i hoping to create? anything from a teddy bear to Cloud Strife. but i dont know how to do it, when i see an image i want to replicate i dont know how to start, what techniques to use to minimize hassle later down the line and stuff like that.
So right now, nothing to fancy, simple, but elegant, i would like to build a clothed character, maybe a warrior, but that may be too much, so maybe only a simple semi realistic cartoony character with good topology and textures. this is my first model after all
First a reference pic or concept art (Software for this my paint, alchemy, gimp,…or you can use real clay or pencil), for organic actually I use sculptris (hotkeys similarities with blender, also you can try sculpting with blender with multiresolution) , if you can*t use retopo tools, then decimate a bit the mesh. then you must learn some about topology.
Really I dont like background pictures, if you wanna use them dont invite me thanks!. You can try sculpting first a ginger bread man, then with multiresolution give it some details, you can lower the level of detail as you want for tweak some shapes. Your ginger bread man will evolve onto some more elaborated. But you need build first the shape, check proportions, double check, once you have the aproximated shape you can enter to do next level of detail.
Once you learned to sculpt you can use background images. Just my thoughs it*s true what I say you but you can experiment first with background images…this step for modeling is a must but it is not meant to be at first.
Wait, what? to start with sculpting?
Err, dunno about that, any model there is you have to have a basemesh before you can sculpt, the better the base mesh the better the sculpt looks so, imo start with learning the topology and modeling first.
In fact it sounds totally insane to say sculpt first then topology, but I think the first sculpt (time spent can be incredibly short) has the necessary shape for an optimized mesh (retopo mesh) but is useless for animation, so when you fixed topology with a new mesh you can enter with multiresolution to finish details using first sculpt as reference.
Well Ive never really Sculpted before, and i have only done basic box modelling
these are my latest models and some of my best, the Katana is my own, the Axe is from blender Cookie, this is to give you an idea of my level of skill.
This is my only character model. and the topology and work flow is from a tutorial.
Im not looking for much more then this really, with more anatomy, more interesting and i would like to model clothes for it as well.
Not this character, but this sort of amateur level
Good solid modeling you have. But it*s totally different organic modeling (techniques are far different) so you have to learn first what are the shapes in animals and humans. But there are some tricks to draw all those organic models around, you have to approximate shapes with the existent with simple elements.
DDD has a different oppinion from my own, but he is right too, dont be confused, also Ben Dansie give you the perfect opportunity to learn from Sintel Lite, you know what precious material you have now. Dont think about what difficul is, go to a free tour.
With sculptris file try to edit the model, use mainly grab brush to deform or change shape. The blend file try to grow more demo cloth, second layer has original cloth mesh, that*s simple.
anytime this sort of topic pops up i just love to plug this guy
this is the tut that taught me how to model and i find it hard to use any other method. the result is quite good, especially if you know little about anatomy. this series teaches a great deal.
Thanks everyone for all the interest i will be spending a while with all these things while i learn. thanks alot everyone i really appreciate the support
