Skull

[dinocarl]

Hey everyone,

 

It's been a while since I posted anything, but I thought now would be a good time since I'm working in my spare time on something I've always wanted to model, namely a skull. I've already made a T rex skull, but I also wanted to try my hand at a human. I was looking around the various AM resources for a skeleton, because I remembered there used to be one rattling around somewhere - in fact, I think his name was Eugene. When I couldn't find him, I decided this would serve as the opportunity I'd been looking for.

 

I started out with a rudimentary skull shape that took about 4 hours to model. Since then, I've been steadily adding in more detail, which put on about another 10. It's about 1500 patches and this radiosity render with 2 lights took about 16 minutes for 9 passes. It has no textures on it yet, just a group color.

 

Here's what I got so far:

 

 

Carl

[robcat2075]

nice noggin.

[itsjustme]

Looks great, Carl!

[Shelton]

Excellent!

 

Steve

[dinocarl]

Thanks! Here are some screencaps of the model. The two areas I'll focus on next is shaping the cheekbone into a more accurate form and adding some more of the detail on the under side of the skull. Exactly how much of that I will make, I'm not yet sure because there really is an awful lot going on there, and it's an area that will hardly be seen.

 

On the other hand, it's a fun challenge. So, we'll see what develops.

 

[dinocarl]

Here is another update of the model. I've reshaped the cheek bones, and added 2 (mostly hidden from this vantage point) structures. I think my next step will be adding a little more texture. I removed the bone color from the teeth and just left them a pure white in this render. I also replaced the radiosity render with an AO for fun. I'm not sure which lighting scheme I like better.

 

 

BTW, am I just misremembering or was there really skeleton AM model named Eugene?

 

Carl

[kwhitaker]

That looks really real, nice work.

[MJL]

Eugene lives in Hash Library>Models>Actors.

[NancyGormezano]

Nice skull ! Terrific job.

 

This guy must have had dental insurance. Maybe not so perfect teeth would be interesting?

[John Bigboote]

Yeah! Great model! I remember once when I was young I cut me chin wide open and when I looked in the mirror (before help came) I was amazed at how white my chin bone was...

[dinocarl]

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone! A special thanks to MJL for finding Eugene, though I still haven't been able to locate him on any of the CDs I have, though I haven't found all of those, either.

 

Nancy, you're right of course, though I think more troubling is the buffing this person would have had done in order to get a cranium that smooth . I plan on getting to the texturing when I'm closer to finishing the model. I'm actually only working on the skull's right side and copy-flip-attaching it before I render (or when I want to make sure things are looking as I think they should). I know I'll eventually be drawing in a lot of bumps, sutures, pits and other details, but that's a process better left to a point when I have more of a finished model.

 

John, holy crap! I can't believe that happened to you and that you had both the foresight as well as the stomach to give your split chin a good look while you had the chance. Yipes and wow all at the same time. When I move on to the mandible, I'll be looking to you to keep me on track, given your first hand experience.

 

I reshaped the area just above the teeth for this render and went back to a radiosity lighting scheme.

 

 

Carl

[NancyGormezano]

I plan on getting to the texturing when I'm closer to finishing the model. I'm actually only working on the skull's right side and copy-flip-attaching it before I render (or when I want to make sure things are looking as I think they should). I know I'll eventually be drawing in a lot of bumps, sutures, pits and other details, but that's a process better left to a point when I have more of a finished model.

 

I'm not sure of the look that you will be going for but, I have some photos that I took of Torajan skulls/bones on a trip to Sulawesi (Indonesia) a long time ago. The Toraja people have the custom of placing their dead in caves on mountain sides. The wooden caskets decay and the descendants arrange and rearrange the collections of ancestor's bones thruout the ages. If you don't already have reference photos, my photos might serve as reference for "grunging" up the skull, and the teeth. Let me know if you'd like them. These bones/skulls are highly grunged from being exposed, as well as being asymmetric, with imperfectly aligned and many missing teeth.

 

I think I like the AO lighting better for a clean, laboratory look. Just depends on the style you are going for.

[ruscular]

I think I like the AO lighting better for a clean, laboratory look. Just depends on the style you are going for.

To AO or not to AO that is the question, Tis nobler to....blah blah Blah....

[MattWBradbury]

You can get a cleaner look with radisoity if you turn up the final gathering. Set Samples to 100 or so and Jittering to 1000%. Play around with them until you get something really clean.

[dinocarl]

Thanks for the tip, Matt - I'll give that a try when I create another set of renders. I saw your post too late for this one, though, so it still contains some radiosity artifacts. I think, at least for now, that I prefer the radiosity render to the AO, so your tip is very timely!

 

Nancy, I don't yet have anything in particular in mind for a final image of the skull. I want only to model a complete one. Once that's done, I'll be able to make a range of variations from freshly bleached to having sat exposed on a mountainside for a decade. Right now, the renders are only serving as a means of showing how far I've come with the model, and aren't yet an end onto themselves.

 

Most obviously I've added a septum, but I've been working largely on the under side of the skull, so I added a few more renders to this post to show that work. I still want to add more detail there. After that, I'll start in on the jaw.

 

Here's the latest batch. Each frame takes a little under 30 minutes to render, and the model has increased its patch count to about 2100.

 

 

Carl

[dinocarl]

Finally got a chance to start in on the jaw. Here's what we got so far:

 

 

Carl

[robcat2075]

Very impressive stuff!

 

Will you do the little seams between the skull plates?

[dinocarl]

Absolutely. I haven't started texturing it yet for two reasons: 1) as I add detail, I add, remove and reshape the geometry and 2) I'm still only working on the right half, then copy-flip-attaching for a render check, both of which would necessitate a lot of reapplication of decals.

 

However, maybe it's time I added them anyway, since the reapplication process is not terribly difficult and the inclusion of details like the skull sutures can only help.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Carl

[TheSpleen]

Looks great

[pixelplucker]

Amazing work!

[dinocarl]

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone. I've started adding texture to the skull: A material for the skull as a whole so I can add bumps and pits, and texture maps (though, right now there is only one, on the face) for the sutures.

 

Here's what I got so far:

 

[Rodney]

Words fail.

 

This is already an incredible piece of work you've got going here and you are still at it taking it to the next level.

Impressive.

[robcat2075]

Very fine looking!

 

He needs some saw marks on his skull where he had his stone-age brain surgery done.

[itsjustme]

Better and better, Carl!

[TheSpleen]

That looks superb!