I am attempting to model a hedgehog. This is actually my second attempt, the first, I got too carried away with the loop cut tool and learned that the sculpt smooth tool is NOT a quick fix for the resultant “lumpiness” created thereby… On the other hand I found out that I could use that model, plus the shrinkwrap modifier to make a new model with hopefully better topology.
Anyway, if any of you know anything about what a hedgehog is supposed to look like, I’d appreciate some comments. I am wondering if the rear legs need another joint. I have googled several times, but all the pictures I find, either the rear legs are hidden by the quills and I can’t get a good look at them, or the hedgehog is being held such that the bottom of their feet are toward the camera…or it is a drawing of a hedgehog skeleton, which gives me no idea of how the body fits around it. I’ve tried a few vids on youtube, but they are generally of a hedgehog doing something “cutesy” and I still haven’t been able to get a good look at things.
I also wonder how long the front legs should be. It looks like the skin around their front legs is pretty loose and sometimes the elbow joint is sort of “inside” their body mass, so to speak, and sometimes not, depending on how they are standing. Is that correct? I just finished modeling the rear feet and haven’t gotten to the front feet, but I suspect that the front legs need to be at least twice as long as I currently have them…would that be right?
Is the head more or less right? What about the ears?
I get the feeling that hedgehog bodies aren’t as “round” as they appear to be, and that the bulk of their apparent “portliness” is from the quills, is that right?
Anyway…pictures… The link below will take you to an album on photobucket with assorted views of the model. Thanks in advance for any input.
The quills seem okay to me. I used a mesh with a triangular cross section and UV mapped a texture done in Gimp onto them, then made a particle system using that object. I am not really sure about the length, am just eyeballing it. And the darn things are growing right through the ears! How does one prevent that?
The head could use a bit more work though, especially around the lower jaw area. Are you generating the particles through vertex groups or a separate object? If they’re a vertex group try reducing the weight around the ears and if you’re using a separate mesh then maybe deform it a bit around the ears?