first attempt at face/head critism is needed

Artwork Works in Progress
#1

Hey guys, this is my first attempt at a face. I think the topology is horrible cause I can never seem to get this looking smooth without subsurf (this is supposed to be an in-game model), but I added a pic with it subsurfed.

The face parts of the head you see, adds up to about around 624 verts. I’ll upload the file, but I really would like some help on what I can do to make this look better or smoother without subsurf. Hint, I’m still a noob, so I don’t know of any techniques to make this smooth without adding 1000+ more verts to it by subsurf. (already set smooth in pics).

Attachments

facepic 1.jpg1024×671 29.8 KB

facepic subsurf.jpg1024×671 22.9 KB

face.blend (237 KB)
facepic 2.jpg1024×671 35.6 KB

facepic 3.jpg1024×671 22.8 KB

#2

Maybe you should work with “set solid” so you can see better if the edge flow works.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9738/capturervvx.jpg
Eyes seems too small if you aim for a realistic face.

If it is real time delete some edges loops around the eyes and mouth, and dont bother with the inside of the nose, you can texture it later.

Think of what feature is more relevant to be put in the mesh or texture.

That wuld be what i would try to do :slight_smile:

#3

I can’t be sure as I didn’t do that myself yet (right now working on a face too, but not one for a game^^) but I guess, it would be simpler to do a highpoly mesh with nice forms and use the retopo-function to make it lowpoly. That’s probably less work and even faster than doing a quick good looking lowpoly directly… Also, by baking, you can easily make the lowpoly look great via normalmapping from the highpoly reference :slight_smile:

#4

select bumpy vert > w >smooth, this will really improve it.
good job anyway!
here is a fix .blend

Attachments

face.blend (238 KB)

#5

oh, I know about set solid and all of that. But I’m trying to get a nice look to it, good for bge, but not so bad that it looks like a block of wood chipped with a shrivel. BTW, the head is around 198 verts… the eyes, for some reason, are creating a lot of verts, I don’t quite understand, cause I dont’ see them. Removed doubles and all, still says they are creating 228 verts… Any clue?

#6

Sorry for double posting, but I’m still kinda new, so bumping verts and baking them, I’m not very sure on how to do… tutorials perhaps anyone?

And thanks Ionee, but I’m trying to keep the subsurf off of it due to the emence verts.

edit: Also, retopo I don’t know how to use either. creating a higher poly? I would assume better quality with an applied subsurf?

#7

Liiks pretty decent for a first try. The forehead is kinda flat. Compare it to this and you’ll see:
http://z.about.com/d/menshair/1/0/-/1/-/-/bald2.jpg

#8

heh, I know, but I’m not even to the actual head yet. I’m still trying to get the face right. Anyone know tutorials about bumping and baking the mesh? I could just break out my dummies book, but I’m not sure it’ll go as far as examples.

#9

Here’s an update on what I have so far. I fixed the face up a bit, got the head completed (not finished though), chin as well. The ears were kind hard to do, might need to fix it up a lil more. but kinda took a tool with verts, I went up to 1200 verts, but once I’m finished with the head, I’m going to cut down a lot around the head, and in areas where you don’t see (like the inner ears that I extruded from to give the ear definition). I also added a subsurfed version

Attachments

face front1 pic.jpg1024×671 19.9 KB

face side1 pic.jpg1024×671 25.2 KB

face subsurfed pic.jpg1024×671 22.2 KB

face.blend (271 KB)

#10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPwdqENWJo <- there, watch this vid about retopo. It might help you :slight_smile:

#11

alright, so I can use this tool to recreate my topography, but that just means I need to learn a good form for the topography of a head. Well, research time. Thanks for the help. Any kind of tutorials for bumping verts and basking textures/meshes would be awesome as well. Thanks

#12

Alright, I finally got the face retopo(ed) and about to start working on the curve of the lips and get the chin back in there. But now since I have better topology, I think this will bit a be easier ya know?

These two pics is with and without subsurf.

Attachments

faceretopo.jpg1024×671 22.2 KB

faceretoposubsurf.jpg1024×671 21.6 KB

#13

Its not bad for a first try, but I really think you could make it a lot better than this.
First of, do you use any reference? If not I would definitely suggest you do so, spend some time looking at how a human face it build, and try to imagine how the loops on the face would flow, I think there is a couple of threads around here on the subject.

Secondly I really think it’s great your just jumping into it, but I think you could use some work on your technique.

Take a look at some of the work in these threads:
http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=64344
http://www.subdivisionmodeling.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907

What you should think about when you model, is that your edge-loops should always support your shapes.

And to be hornest, I think you just start over, using some reference, not necessary sticking to it 100 % (keep it at a level of detail you are comfortable with ), but that is of cause totally up to you :wink:

Anyway good luck and keep it up :wink:

#14

ehh, starting to get just a bit frustrating… I read the article on poles, and learned bout that and it makes sense, I started another head/face like the one he/she had on there, but I can’t seem to get rid of N-poles and create the ‘flow’ of the head. So I’m guessing that this point I have to start over? Or is there a technique that I don’t know about? Perhaps a tutorial on the creating of a nice flowing head, if one actually exists? Thanks for all the help though guys.

#15

Try out this tutorial, which also includes the files http://www.cgcookie.com/articles/2009/03/02/human-head-modeling-complete-series

#16

http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=64344 - hadn’t seen this one yet, looks good. Thanks for sharing. :slight_smile:

bald2lines.jpg800×800 88.8 KB

One thing to take note of is the above sort of image. Just a quick example to give you the idea - please don’t take the topology too seriously! Look at where you think the contours are on the face. How the curves of the cheek flow into the nose, how the brow becomes the forehead and so on.

Sketching stuff in 2d first before leaping into 3d is something that I took a while to appreciate the value of.

#17

Alright sweet thanks for the info guys. Ehh, me trying to hand draw stuff = disaster. I have the hands of a musician and computer geek, not very good at drawing >.<

But hey, happen to know any good sites that offers face and body reference images? Been looking for some for a while now. (I think I have a grasp on what to do now).

#18

I agree Ben, Took me a while to appreciate that also…it helps so much when it’s time to model ur character in 3D…

Am no pro at modeling faces but I know that sometimes the way you start will just work against you…if you feel that you can work out the kinks and overcome the problems in this model then go for it; but if not then start over with an easier approach…

I like the new update it’s coming along, keep it up!

#19

http://3d.sk/ - nudity warning! Professonal photo reference site, designed mainly for digital artists but it’s a general anatomy reference resource too.

The free way to get started from a reference point of view is pretty straight forward.

Pick a recent TV / Movie star, (the more recent the easier the images are to find) search them in Google Images and set the image size filter to ‘Larger than 2MP’ and there will probably be plenty to go by. I did have a site bookmarked once that actually had celebrity head references, trying to get front and side images, but that was a couple of formats ago now.

The other option if you have a camera is to just take some snaps yourself. :slight_smile: You might not have the right light setup or camera type to get images suitable for texture reference, but for modelling reference most cameras should be fine. Even some phone cameras should be ok for that.

In the long run though, something like 3d.sk is worth while for the shot quality and the range of ‘real’ people. It’s just that celebrity pictures are easy to come by for free.

#20

Yeah, I saw 3dsk a lot on google… But unfortunately I dont’ have the money to spend on it. The one spiel I have though, is that I kinda need the side shots to help me determine face shape >.< I’m pretty sure I’ll come up with something though. I may end up taking pics of myself, my phone can take some ok quality pics.