Quote - Taking time away from any project- be it for a day, a week, or even months- can in the end provide more benefits even with the lost of time.   I’ve had to be pulled from projects for a good six months- the detriment there (for me, at least) is forgetting what I’ve done and how I got it done to finish the rest.  It’s happened before. 

I am not a modeler.  The only thing I’ve managed to “model” so far are goblets.  I have attempted to work on a human head in Carrara (I know it can be done, just don’t have the cash flow to purchase the tutorial) and failed miserably.   I have the utmost respect for people that can model a human figure- not just somewhat, but with believable and realistic results.  I don’t mean just “Pretty”, but with flaws, unevenness, and those little things I’ve noticed people overlook in a lot of artwork and vendor products.  Flaws aren’t always easy to model, texture, or make either!

I really hope to be able to get my hands on Lucas when he is available.  I’d love to try to do a ground-up skin texture on a figure that has nothing to do with photograph resources……..even if there are plenty of other models out there to work on, I’m about sick to death of looking at the old stand bys.  (I’ve played with Rex a bit recently-he may be workable.)

The outer arms, shoulder and upper arm area, have an odd bending/stretching as the old and new Generation figures from Studio have.  Is this simply because of the angle of position I wonder?  I know there are plug--ins to fix those bends and stretches on V/M4 and even 3, but I've always wondered if there was a way to prevent the stretching/warping without them other than weightmapping?  If that even worked?  (I've never used or understood weightmapping, so forgive my ignorance.)

 

I’m keeping a close eye on this thread……..as soon as I can pull one out of the jar on my desk.

 

Thanks Darwin- I appreciate your interest. Good to see a new face on the thread. :) I try to respond to everyones post but sometimes I miss some.

Modeling isn't for everyone, especially organics. It can be tedious and seem like it takes forever, but its something I've always been addicted to really, since I discovered 3D. 

I'm still mostly a modeler since that's what my focus was on in school. After a while you start seeing everying in RL in wireframe - from the coffee pot to your own hand.

 

Deliberate imperfections in details make a model look more natural and real. Pretty and perfect gets boring very fast. It has to be added in in the final stages tho, since 3D relies so much on perfect symmetry durring the bulk of the design and building process.  

Texture painting by hand can often produce better results than using photos, and in a lot of ways is much more artistic, espcially when you're good at it. You should check out Scott Spencer's book on character design - he has a full section on how to air brush photo real skin textures using nothng more than primary colors - a technique he developed during his days as a latex prop builder in films and adapted it to 3D. 

I appreciate the input. 

 

~Shane