that scary charlie dude

[jamagica]

so I remembered I had one of those classic charlie ventriliquist doll thingies in my basement and I decided to try to model it...I'm very proud in the fact I'm still motivated to keep going..usually by now I'd be disappointed in myself cause of ugly creasing, but the only way to get better is to finish a model completely then try to do another one..completely..anyways...

 

 

Note: in the render w/ out wires, there is ugly and annoying creasing/bumps in the nose and all around pretty much...anybody know why? I have a feeling it's an amateur thing because I notice a lot of other beginners like me have the same ugly, yet tolerable "mesh texture"...anyways..without further ado...Charlie!

 

PS (After 21 views)..it really sucks when everyone's looking at the posts below yours and they're the ones that are being replied to...

[phatso]

Everybody is going to get sick of me saying this, but creases are normal, you just have to work the control points and bias handles until at some point they're smooth enough that the remaining creases aren't worth the effort to fix.

 

I find that the process goes much faster if you have the model open in two windows. In one, you have a shaded view. In the other, shaded with wireframe, with the option to go wireframe alone when needed. You can set the two views to different angles: set the shaded one at whatever angle the creases show up worst, then rotate the wireframe view as needed to move the CPs and bias handles as needed to eliminate the creases.

 

Coupla other hints: 1) Stretching a bias handle, so as to make its associated curve more gradual, often eliminates a crease. 2) If you're used to using polygon programs, this will seem counterintuitive: you can often make things smoother by building your model with less detail. If you're really struggling with a crease, save the model and then experiment with eliminating the offending spline altogether.

 

I spose, since it's a puppet, you won't be texturing the surface much. Too bad, texturing & decals hide creases like magic. On the other hand, since it's a puppet, you'd expect it to be hand carved out of wood. Maybe a few minor creases are appropriate.

[jirard]

As far as creases go the best thing I have found to fix that is use less splines. U will be surprised at how far a few splines will go. I have yet to tweak a bias handle so I cant comment on that. Other than that it looks like your off to a nice start.

[jamagica]

thanks guys!! yeah I'm afraid to tweak biases because of myths about animation artifacts when toying around with detailed facial animations..but I'll try this! by the way, you can never say useufl advice too much...

 

I'm gonna use it for sure..

[jamagica]

by the way, jirad..I think I'll take your advice as well..I notice the lack of splines in your models and your models have the cartoon look I'm going for so, thanks!

[Gorf]

Make the midline into one continuous spline, and you'll end up with a seven-point hole. Put a CP in the middle of the top spline. Extend the three unfinished CPs so they form hooks, with the middle of the three going through the new CP first.

 

Sorry my description is so rubbish - I'm not terribly good at this. Here's a pic...

 

[DarkLimit]

Very rare do i encounter creases....my rule when modeling is "if it don't flow it has to go"....

 

make sure ur splines flow smoothly from beginning to end....even hooks I avoid, if u must use them then be wise where they are placed...

 

Like in "GORF's pic the red line make it flow all the way to the top...

[jirard]

Good advise on using hooks Darklimit. Actually Jamagica if u wanna see the 2 models that helped me understand how Hash spline worked study Darklimts Bot model and this one.

[jamagica]

thanks guys! I might just start over with some new stuff in mind...

[jamagica]

well, I didn't start over but certainly adjusted splin density:

 

looks better, just gotta keep goin at it now

 

but the eye still looks very creasy..

[phatso]

Jirard is really good with smooth surfaces... (sigh) <_>

 

This bears repeating: 1) The smoothest work results from 4-point patches with splines intersecting at right angles. 2) 5-point patches are next best, but try to avoid a 5-pointer where one point is pulled way out of plane. 3) 3-point patches "work," but they crease like mad. Avoid them. 4) Hooks don't have bias handles to tweak, so if a hook creases you can't fix it. Therefore, hooks are best placed across patches that are nearly plane. 5) You can get away with many sins if you arrange your splines so problem areas are banished to places you can't see - under hair, for example.