I just got into Blender because I’m a software developer and thought it’d be fun to create my own models to play around with in programs eventually. Anyway, I threw together a low-res head model that I plan on texturing, but I’d like some opinions on the model before I go further. It started out with a reference I got off the internet and then I modified it in front of a mirror to look more like my head once I got the general shape down.
Attached is a simple front perspective render along with a wireframe overlay render. The subdivision is set at 3 and the wire is set to optimal display. I realize there isn’t much to say as it’s as simple as a render gets. There is nothing dynamic about the lighting or position and not too many details in the face, but that’s because at this point I wanted to focus on accurate proportions and clean topology because I plan to use this as the base mesh of additional tutorials like sculpting fine details, hi-res texturing, and rigging. I won’t get into how long it took to do this model as I didn’t do it in one session and typically did it while simultaneously looking at tutorials and manuals of how to use the controls in blender.
Thanks for the critiques. I modified the lips a bit to make it look more natural. They needed a bit of reshaping and I took little care of the edge loop within the mouth that was confusing the shape of the lips. Ultimately, I found that the thing that effected the unrealistic look of the lips came from unrealistic lighting, so I modified that too. Perhaps that was a mistake, but ultimately, I think the render looks a bit better.
Haven’t had a ton of opportunity to work on this with other things going on, but I added a bit of detail and age to the character as well as reshaped the head a bit.
I’d like to add a bit of details to the forehead, but I’d like it to be very subtle because the character isn’t really that old. I’m not sure whether to add the details to the mesh or to a displacement map. I’m also wondering the same thing about pore texturing.
well, that depends on the features that you are thinking of adding. if the feature is a big one that will be distorted, then you would be better off adding it directly to the mesh. otherwise, you can just use it as a displacement map. as for the pore texturing, it would be better if you use it as a displacement map. may i ask what the final one is going to look like?
Ok, thanks for the critique. I still think I need a little work around the outside of the eye, but otherwise it’s ready (in my opinion) for texturing. I’ll look into doing it as a displacement map as it should be very subtle. If it feels distorted, then I’ll look into adding it directly to the mesh.
I haven’t decided, yet. Really the goal is to learn Blender off of this head. At least a basic knowledge of it, anyway… I feel pretty comfortable with the modeling techniques, though I’ll definitely need more practice. I checked out the sculpting and got a bit turned off by it. I’ll definitely need to revisit it. Right now, I’d like to get a working knowledge of using textures and materials. The whole node system looks quite intimidating, but that’s basically what I think I’m up against at this point. Eventually, then, I’ll do a simple rigging, a full body model, some cloth, and hair… maybe with the particle system to learn that, but I might just model it.
Eventually, when all of that is done, I’ll throw the character into a couple of interesting renders. I’ll use this post as a “blog” of sorts of my progress.
