Phase 2

Commencing Modelling:

Creating a Mesh:

Now that our reference planes (photographic images) are loaded into 3DS Max we can begin to commence our modelling.

In order to prepare for this step I configured the viewports within 3DS Max to show two perspectives rather than the usual four. This was done to allow more control over the images and to be able to to make the images as large as possible on the screen.

Instead of creating a shape to work from as a starting point. In this project we are going to begin to draw our topology from scratch into 3DS Max.

So, I began to draw in each of the quads that we had created in our original photoshop drawings.
we do this by selecting Shapes - Spline - Line.

In Line mode the vertices are drawn into my 3D environment simply by looking closely at the four corners of each quad, clicking on each corner point. Once you have a complete square you close the spline and this created my first polygon.

To achieve more efficiency throughout the drawing process in Line mode you can turn on SNAP mode so that it allows the spline target to snap to existing corners that have already been made which helps the accuracy greatly and will ensure we have a solid mesh once completed.

(It is important to R click on Snap Tools and always select vertex as I found i had a few problems getting this method to work correctly until I did so. Everytime you re-open 3DS max it defaults away from vertex, so it is important to remember to do this so that the snap tool works effectively.)

Spline Drawing process Test: (Just to check my polygons were being created)




Using this method is a very good way to attempt to get an accurately defined topology of the face.

This method was continued until I had a completely filled in left half of my face, ensuring all points and squares had been created and joined together.

Splines Drawn:



During this process I modified a few shapes in order to ensure that all of my lines were 4 sided shapes, but my initial topology drawings were quite good so I was able to stay reasonably close to them.

The nose and lips were left at this stage as they will be modified in more detail later.

I completely enjoyed this part of the process. I am quite traditional and the drawing of the lines was quite a good way for me to visualize how the shapes would form for the 3D medium.

Once entirely happy and sure that i had connected all the lines that I needed to, it was now time to convert my lines into one surface.

This was done by selecting one of my squares. Going to modify panel. R clicking on the shape and converting it into an editable poly. This creates one square. Then within Edit Geometry - there is an option to attach and select all of our lines. So this is done and all of my lines that I drew into 3DS max become on complete mesh surface.

If you select 'edged faces' in the viewport it will show us all of our topology lines we have created.




Next I wanted to weld all of my polygons together. A little time was spent ensuring all the shapes looked consistent and that I still had a good flow.

In the selection mode we select vertex which shows all of the individual points to appear in our mesh.

I then selected all of the vertices and within the edit panel selected WELD which attaches all of the points within the mesh together so that I had one solid shape to work from.



This now provides me with a platform to move on and begin structuring my face...

Steve is a....Fhoul!

Is the wrong blog you idiot!

Finchingfield

A group visit to Finchingfield was arranged in order to prepare for our second assignment.

The Photos taken on the day can be found at the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poosker/sets/72157627684000271/


If you did not have a camera or if anybody wishes to use these photos as reference please feel free.

If you do use any of them comments are welcome.


These are not by any means my best photographs ... (I would just like to add ...)

Phase 1

Our individual assignment for the Semester is to create a 3D model of our own face and head using the Autodesk 3DS Max Software.

In this Blog I will outline my progress throughout this process.


Firstly, In order to even begin to attempt this task, I needed some photographs of my face - front view and profile view.

The images below were taken by Richard Barnes for use throughout this project.

Face On Picture:




Profile Picture:




Adobe Photoshop was then used to prepare the photos for implementation within 3DS Max.

The Face-On and Profile Images were imported into Photoshop in order to create a reference plane to work from to assist when modelling the head.

Lens Distortion was removed from the pictures using the Lens Distortion - Correction filters to gain the correct perspective within the images and to attempt to remove any inconsistencies from the camera. While the Straighten tool was used to correct any uneven symmetry in the photographs.

The images were then pasted together within Photoshop and lined up so that the face on image was aligned with the profile image. Rules were then used to create horizontal lines as tools to match up the two pictures. Key parts of the face were used: the center of the pupils in the eyes, the bottom of the nose, mouth line etc.. In order to line up the face as accurately as possible.


Topology:

The flow of surfaces across your object.


In order to achieve the best possible start for your model, this phase becomes very important as it provides a foundation for the future development. It helps create the actual shape and flow of the face considering and helping to outline it's definition.

The face was broken down into key areas and the general contours within the face were highlighted with a blue line using the brush tool in photoshop. Outlining the creases in the face, isolating areas and providing character.

Contour Lines:




Once satisfied with the blue contour lines. Another separate layer in Photoshop is opened and then a red brush is selected to draw the quad lines, which help in the sub division of the model and while smoothing later.

In this phase I began tracing over the blue contour lines using the red brush on a new layer within Photoshop, linking together other key contour lines that highlighted the muscles using the tutorial image of muscle structure in the human face as reference.

I attempted to do it slightly differently to the tutorial in that I created vertical flowlines down the face first in order to try and gain a feel of how the muscles flow behind the face. I'm not sure if this was the correct approach, though it helped me visualise how the quads could be formed easier and forsee how the lines would come together while trying to keep the likeness to my face as realistic as possible.


At this point I have to say that I wasn't satisfied by my first attempt. I showed it to a friend and he pointed out some potential flaws in my future modelling as there were still areas on my facial "grid" that had triangles and the flow of the face was incorrectly mapped out.

I was very frustrated to hear this due to my poor skills in photoshop with a brush and the fact that it had already taken me about four hours to complete the steps to here. I was somewhat disheartened.

I took his advice on board and decided to create a second attempt. I am now extremely grateful as going back into the drawings and redrawing my lines the second time was a successful exercise and I felt pleased with my results. It also improved my photoshop brush skills as I was able to draw this one much more effectively and in half the time.

Attempt 1:

The ones I didn't feel were quite right:







Attempt 2:

Revised Drawings:












Reference Planes were created for the preparation of modelling the face.

To start, a reference plane was created:




The front of the face image was added to the plane via materials and was positioned correctly in the center of the plane using the UVW mapping modifier.

This created the front perspective view of my face.

Front Image:




Next, I needed to see the profile image to be created on a plane. So I duplicated the first plane and rotated it at an exact 90 degree angle in alignment with my front view.

The profile image then had to be flipped so it was facing the correct way and checked that it was completely inline with the front view, ready to model.

Reference Plane:




One Issue I have found during week 1 is that every time I re-load up 3DS Max, my photo images are blurry.

The way i have managed to overcome this is prior to opening my file in 3DS Max select customize - preferences - view ports - configure driver (and tick everything).

When the file is opened now the images display at the correct quality.

Reaction to Brief....

The brief for the virtual environments module initially seems quite challenging. Personally my past experience of using the 3ds max software was a bit of a struggle. I didn't take to it naturally last semester and felt that I had to work extremely hard in order to obtain good results.

Though saying that the potential ideas of the brief seem very interesting. It seems quite an enjoyable subject and I am looking forward to recreating my head in the 3d medium.

With respects to the group project, again this seems an interesting topic and will allow us to use 3ds max in a different way than I have previously done.

Prior experiences of working in groups hasn't been entirely successful as it can be difficult to motivate members, though it appears to be an interesting challenge - and with the volume of work that can arise when fully embracing a 3d project it feels fair that a group challenge will help control the workload.

I am reasonably positive about the brief, while also a lacking a little confidence in my abilities within the 3ds max platform.