Hey everyone. I have been using blender for the last few months, but I just can’t get the hang of this modeling business. I am trying to model humans and I have read probably a thousand tutorials but I’m just not getting any of. I need some serious help. I mean, when I am reading a tutorial, I can do it, but then I can’t apply it to my own character designs. Do you guys have any suggestions, because I am out of ideas here. I want to be able to do something like this
I realize no one starts that way. But I have been practicing for a while, and I think I should be at this point by now, if I could just get some help. Thanks a lot you guys.
just play around with modeling stuff untill you get the hang of it, thats all i can say for now…
EDIT: and ouch, thats a very nice model in the link, allso remeber: few months is a little time, there is one sugestion i can give actually: see LOTS of REFS, eaven while modeling, whatever it might be!
I have been using ref images every single time I have modeled, but it just doesnt seem to help. This is the best I have done
As you can see, the arms look extremely wierd, despite my use of reference images and the head isn’t that much better. I have gone on tutorials to find methods of modeling, but I can’t find any. Do you have any suggestions or tutorials that can help? BTW, I use poly modeling, if that matters. Thanks a lot everyone.
whats wrong with that? you can move the vertexes later on!
just go on and try to get the full body, as good as you can, and then come here to ask for C&C!
allso check out Ben Mathises video-tutorials, though he uses max there, the basics are the same, btw the link is here
Don’t beat yourself up too much, your work is not bad for someone who’s only been at it for a short time.
Although you didn’t show wires of your model, I suspect those arms are very high poly. Common mistake, but it makes modeling very difficult. Start with the large shapes first, and don’t add any new geometry until you’ve got as close as you can with the vertices you’ve got.
An exercise: find some front and side view reference images. Or use this one, or this one.
Add a tube with 8 sides.
Cut the length of the tube 4 times (Ctrl+r, 4).
Set everything smooth (select all and press the set smooth button in the Link and Materials panel).
Add a subsurf modifier (modifier panel, subsurf, level 1, press unlabled circle icon to put cage on mesh [tooltip says “Apply modifier during edit mode”] ).
Then using just those vertices, push them around until you get the torso (neck to crotch)
Do this a half dozen times. Then add a leg using another eight sided tube cut four times. Do half a dozen legs. Then the arm.
Take your best torso, best leg, and best arm, connect them and post your work for critique.
Thanks, Felix your set of refs was pretty cool too. Socialist realism! All the women are strong, all the men are athletic, and all the children are above average. Paradise! Or maybe Brazil…
well… i just linked to a fellow estonian blenderheads homepage/ref site, hes username is allways ajuss in any forum ive seen him at, includeing here! so thank him, if its useful to ya
By way of consolation, I have been working on a mesh head FOREVER. I will say that TINY movement of vertices makes a big difference in removing seams, creases, bumps. Also, rotate your model, following a line of vertices with your eye, and make sure they are smooth, evenly spaces, and dont zig-zag in any direction.
Eyes far apart look alien, flat cheekbones looks lizardly, flat heads looks stupid, pencil necks look toony. Wide chins look male, rotated eyes looks asian, and on and on.
I have like 200 hours on this one mesh, and I still dont recognize her, so I know I’m still off. Very subtle changes in curves of cheekbone, jawbone totally change a face’s appearance. My workflow is to tweak about 10 vertices (there are 1000 in this mesh), save, and re-render. And it still doesnt look like her. geez. But hang in there! At least mine looks human now.
and just for the record, for anyone: its good to view any video tutorials about modeling, regardles of the app used, the basic tools are allmost all the same, and the technique should be useable in most of the apps (thats why i, in an earlier post, linked to ben mathis’s homepage, with lots of video tutorials on modeling in max)
and @ RogerWickes: i think you might have over used triangles in your model tho i cant say for sure, would like to see a better wire… do you have a wip thread for that?
Thanks Felix. No triangles at all; that was version 5 to version 6 (I’m on Version 8now). I did the tris to quads conversion…though painful, I now know that the main factors are the eye detail; the number of lines coming out of the eye have the major determinant in the number of facial detail lines available. And now I know how to make a joiner quad to switch directions, if the X and Y resolution is different, and it looks sooooo much cleaner now. And now I have a base face to start with for my next person. I am using this model for the wiki update on UV texturing…WIP there.
your set of refs was pretty cool too. Socialist realism! All the women are strong, all the men are athletic, and all the children are above average. 
Paradise! Or maybe Brazil…
so thank him, if its useful to ya 
I will say that TINY movement of vertices makes a big difference in removing seams, creases, bumps. Also, rotate your model, following a line of vertices with your eye, and make sure they are smooth, evenly spaces, and dont zig-zag in any direction.
tho i cant say for sure, would like to see a better wire… do you have a wip thread for that?