I have been using blender for about half a year. This will be my first organic model (not counting the face modeling tutorial by Mr. Bomb). Basically, I would like to learn edge loops, model at least the creature’s face, texture it using a uv map, then learn how to animate it.
Here are a few shots of the creature.
A view from the bottom.
Some images showing poles and edge flow.
Any advise as to how to improve edge loops and/or remove the poles would be greatly appreciated.
The model is just random, so there are no reference images used. The total time so far has been 5-6 hours.
Also, there will not be any mouth or ears on this creature.
I cleaned up a few of the poles on the nose, but I have no clue if any of the others could somehow be removed without loosing the overall structure. When I tried to clean them up, the model always looked much worse.
I saw on some references that there should be a loop that circles both eyes, so I am going to try to make one (if it is really needed).
So, would it be a good idea to put in that extra loop?
Hey, nothing wrong with that. I’m slow too when it comes to getting topology right. Plus, the time needed will decrease with practice, just like with other things.
I only made a small change, and I am still trying to get that extra loop.
I am not sure if I want to keep the hole in the top of the head, but I will leave it for now.
I decided I am going to model the entire body.
I might also try to use particle hair to make a very straggly beard without very many hairs, and then age the creature with the new sculpting tools (still not quite sure).
It is actually turning out better than I originally thought, even though it is becoming more difficult then I planned also.
Sorry for the long delay. I broke my fingure, so it was hard to type a while back.
I will be able to get this project going again now.
A major update: Finished fixing the edge loops around the eyes, finished the back of the head, reshaped the overall shape of the head, and added ears (since I am going to animate it, I figured the ears are needed to help him have expressions without a mouth).
View showing edge loops.
Overall, I think I have put about 16-20 hours into it.
Again no referance images are being used. I am planning on modeling the entire body, texturing, rigging, and animating it.
I am thinking of putting tufts of hair off the tips of his ears. I am still unsure if I am going to give it any other hair.
Comments and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
well done, this is looking realy good, way better than my first try(and every try after that:). look foward to future developments. notsure about the hair. dependson what look u are going forwhen u start textureing.
Here is a quick material test (I will make it better after the entire creature is modeled).
I have decided that its body will be human-like but he will be very skinny.
Anyone know of a good tutorial for making detailed humanoid bodies? I watched a learning maya video on hyper-realistic modeling, and the artist said that it is important to model according to muscle flow, so that is what I am planning to do.
Also, I read somewhere that the camara lens settings should be changed when rendering faces/humans, so should I change it for my creature?
I finished modeling the neck and started on the body.
I am going to model him with a lot of muscle tone, and then smooth it as necessary to make him look less like a bodybuilder. This will assure that I get good muscle flow for the deformations when I animate it.
I shaped the neck to give it more muscle definition, and started modeling its back. The back still needs to be reshaped for it to look realistic. Next I am going to start creating his arms and possibly his hands.
I have to say that I am getting WAY better at modeling after taking on my own project instead of just following tutorials. The first one does take a long time to finish, but I now know that the next will probably take half the time!
this is great. r u sure this is your first organic model? only crit i have is now that he has a body, the chin bugs me. it looks like its been sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Mayby its just me, but whenever i look at the pic i get drawn to that. not quite sure what the actual problem is though. its an alien, so why shouldn’t it have a small chin with no mouth. neway, i’l shut up now.
Shamem - This is indeed my first organic model (I did Mr Bomb’s Adrianna tutorial though if that counts;)). I agree that the chin looks odd; I have thought that from the beginning. I am guessing that it just has to do with him not having a mouth because I have tried making it wider with the same results. I am going to leave it for now and see how it looks when the entire body is done.
AniCator - He did get a lot of polygons, but I am still able to shape him easily with the proportional falloff thing. My main problem is that I am having a hard time getting enough edges running down the length of his shoulder (the ones that will run down his arms). I figure I can spiral some of the edges on the back of his arm to the top to help me with the complex muscle flows in his arms.
Here is a closeup of his face (if that is the area that you think contains too many polygons):
Anyways, since I am posting, I figure I should post a rendered version of my progress.
By the way, What is the best background color to showcase a render? I don’t like the default blue, and black seems a bit too dark.
I wished I could model like that 
