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Mastering
3D Studio MAX R3 |
Creating
the Neck and Head
- 1. Zoom and move the various viewports to concentrate
on the neck area of the model.
- 2. From the shortcut menu, choose Chamfer/Bevel
Ø Chamfer Edge.
- 3. Chamfer the shoulder edge slightly so that you
create a polygon for the neck.
- 4. Using the shortcut menu, Extrude Ø
Polygon from the neck up.
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| NOTE You may
have to periodically go back to the Vertex sub-object level and move
points around slightly to get the fine-tuned results you are after.
The process of Box Modeling in MAX has a bit of back and forth, but
by now you should have a fairly decent understanding of the basic
method.
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Unlike the previous edits, this last extrusion created additional geometry
that you will not want on this half of the model. Its also quite
likely that some vertices that should be on the centerline of the character
arent. The next few steps will correct both of these small flaws.
- 5. Adjust the perspective viewport so that you are
now looking at the character from its left side, as in Figure 5.47.
FIGURE
5.47 Perspective view, neck extrusion
You should see that most of the face normals of the model show through
from the inside of the model because, as we noted before, MAX faces default
to one-sided (to save rendering time). This is not a problem for this
character because, like the narwhale, you will be mirroring a copy of
the right half and welding it to the left to restore the object whole.
As a general rule, when the two halves of the character are to be joined,
there should be no extra polygons along the centerline (they would end
up inside the finished model). On the left side of the neck, you can see
that a polygon was created that would violate this rule.
- 6. Go to the Polygon level and, from the shortcut
menu, select the inside polygon of the neck. Press the Delete key. This
will remove the unwanted polygon, and you should be able to see through
the neck.
- 7. Now zoom the front viewport so you are viewing
just the neck and a small portion of the chest.
You should notice that some of the neck vertices are not on the centerline.
These stray vertices will need to be precisely aligned to the centerline,
so that the two halves of the character align exactly.
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| NOTE If you
want to begin from this point, load Organic05.max from
the CD-ROM.
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- 8. Go to the Vertex sub-object level and select
one of the top stray vertices. This time, select the vertex
by clicking it with the Select tool, as opposed to using a marquee-select.
- 9. Select the Move tool and then immediately right-click
it to bring up the Move Transform Type-In floater. Notice that the selected
vertex is not at zero in the Absolute World X.
- 10. Change the value to zero in the Absolute World
X. As you do, notice in the front viewport that the vertex jumps laterally
to the centerline.
- 11. Repeat steps 8 through 10 for any other stray
vertices so they end up on the centerline, then close the floater. Your
vertices should be lined up like the ones in Figure 5.48.
FIGURE
5.48 The vertices of the neck are on the
centerline.
- 12. Continue by extruding the top neck polygon very
slightly.
- 13. Move the new vertices at this top level outward
over the neck (to the left, back, and front), so they form the base
of the head.
- 14. Using the shortcut menus, perform two more Polygon
extrusions to form the basic shape of the head.
- 15. In the perspective viewport, delete any inside
polygons.
- 16. Repeat steps 8 through 10 on any stray vertices
that are not on the centerline. Figure 5.49 shows the basic head after
this step.
FIGURE
5.49 The head, after vertices are moved to the
centerline
Well continue to model the rest of this simple character using
these methods. Combinations of moving, extruding, beveling, chamfering,
and more are done at the Polygon, Edge, and Vertex sub-object levels.
By now, you should realize that box modeling in MAX involves fine-tuning
and tweaking to get the results you want. There is no precise way to describe
it in a linear, step-by-step fashion... a bit of hands-on learning is
required. While this may be the case, remember that the shortcut menus
let the artist work in a relatively quick manner, jumping back and forth
from each of the tools needed to perform each task. Also, all the while,
our good friend the MeshSmooth modifier is at the top of the modifier
stack performing a smoothing routine to show the end-resulting organic
mesh object.
Building
the Leg and Foot
This portion of the exercise will finish the right half of our basic
character.
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| NOTE If you
want to work from this point, load Organic06.max from
the CD-ROM.
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- 1. With the model selected, verify you are at the
Editable Mesh level of the modifier stack by selecting Edit Base Object
from the shortcut menu.
- 2. Change the perspective viewport so you are under
the model.
- 3. Extrude the bottom polygon outward to form the
right hip of the model.
- 4. Extrude the bottom of the hip polygon outward
to form the top of the leg.
- 5. Delete any unnecessary polygons that the hip
extrusion created.
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| WARNING Make
sure you do not delete the inner faces of the first section of the
leg, because geometry will be needed here to complete the roundness
of the leg itself. Also note that, unlike the top of the model, the
geometry from the top of the leg down to the tip of the foot should
have no vertices exactly along or over the centerline, or the two
resulting legs would have sections inside each other where this violation
occurs.
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- 6. Continue down the leg with extrusions of the
polygons. First form the knee and the calf. Again, you may have to go
back to the Vertex sub-object level to move the resulting geometry exactly
into place.
- 7. Create the foot by first cutting a new edge in
the front side of the lower leg.
- 8. Extrude or Bevel the resulting lower polygon
outward.
- 9. Fine-tune the shape of the resulting foot at
the Vertex level.
You should end up with something like Figure 5.50. Note that in this
example, the upper-left perspective viewport shows through the object
except where the completed leg is. Also, in the front viewport you can
see that vertices at hip level have been correctly placed on the centerline,
while the leg geometry correctly stays to the side.
FIGURE
5.50 All views, leg added
The last step in the creation of the right half of our character is to
make sure the bottom of the foot is flat.
- 10. Zoom into the foot in the left viewport.
- 11. Select the lowest vertex on the sole of the
foot.
- 12. Pick the Move tool and then immediately right-click
the Move icon to bring up the Move Transform Type-In floater. Make a
mental note of the Absolute World Z value of this vertex.
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| TIP If the Z
number is extremely close to a whole number, you may change the value
to this whole number for simplicity. You can also highlight this value
and press Ctrl+C to copy the value into the clipboard.
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- 13. In the left viewport, select another vertex
along the bottom of the foot.
- 14. Enter the previously noted value into the Absolute
World Z field (or use Ctrl+V to paste the copied value). This will
make the vertex jump to the exact height of the heel.
- 15. Repeat steps 13 and 14 for the remaining vertices
along the bottom of the foot.
You should end up with a foot profile as seen in Figure 5.51.
FIGURE
5.51 Left view of our characters right
foot
© 2000, Frol (selection,
edition, publication)
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