head/facial modeling

[urthmaan]

hello. im studying the Facial Modeling tute from Anzovin, and i was wondering if im looking to create more cartoon-styled face models, am i still to use as much detailed splinage like is taught in the tute? i was hope to just take simple head shape and basically add eyes, nose and mouth, something similar to a Bruce Timm type style, even how Jeff Lew did "Killer Bean". is there a way that supposed to be approached when modelling a toon thats more cartoon than realistic? and if there's info pertaining to this, could someone direct me to a link? thanks.

[Ilidrake]

It's really just prefrence. I do cartoon type models that usually have alot of spline detail to help me animate the face but like I said it depends on the amount of detail you want. Although, amount of splines doesn't really mean greater detail. Take a look at this character, he comes in at only 1200 patches. He has only about 8 or 9 spline rings around the facial area.

[urthmaan]

hey again, i guess im trying to see what would be the approach to doing cartoon styled heads. like,... im from the 2D world of comic-book breakdowns where i use a simple shape to get the overall feel of the face, split this then add the facial features. its kinda difficult for me to start with the eyes then try to build a face around that, outside of always having to rotoscope and image. basically i would like be able to make a sphere, a cube, or a cone, and make a face from that. is this possible? and is there any reference to where i can research this, or can anyone point me to where i can go to get this. thanks much.

[Zaryin]

It is possible to do it that way, but in my opinion it would be harder. A:M uses splines, which I like to consider more like creating a frame that you put plaster over. The way you want to do it is sculpting which works better with poly apps in my opinion. I could be wrong here though. I only no how to model in splines .

[urthmaan]

i guess im on the same mindset as that most of the tutes that teach modeling use the basic school of thought to where you break down your humanoid model using basic shapes, like when youre to build the body, most of it is using cylinders, which is used in illustration. but from what im seeing when it comes down to doing the heads, everyone seems to start from the eyes, nose and mouth, which to me seems more complicated as i didnt learn to draw like this, i.e., starting with what seems to be the finished look and working your way backward. im just having difficulty trying to understand why this is practiced and why not just lathe a sphere, extrude a cube to represent the jaw area, maybe extrude outward from center a cone shape to represent the nose, and do your tweeking from there. wouldnt this not animate correctly? or basically do i need to "unlearn" what i already "learned"? thanks again for you feedback.

[Zaryin]

Oh, yeah doing the body is kinda like that for me. I lathe the arms and legs (just tubes) and attach them to my torso (which is just an extruded tube). You just have to learn how to use 5-point patches and hooks coorectly -- and tweak. I still think the head is different.

 

Here's a link to a almost-simple characters wireframe I made not too long ago:

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...st&p=183860

 

The body, legs, and arms all started as "tubes" that I tweaked, and added splinesto, to get the finished look.

[urthmaan]

yeah,... i like how you freaked that. im on the similar mindset, but i guess my mind is still stuck in thinking i could "draw" in Hash like i could using pencil/paper, or do breakdowns like you displayed building the body of your model.

 

...alright, guess its back to the lab to see what i can come up with, thanks to all for your help and input.