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Mastering 3D Studio MAX R3

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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.

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.

Unlike the previous edits, this last extrusion created additional geometry that you will not want on this half of the model. It’s also quite likely that some vertices that should be on the centerline of the character aren’t. 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.


NOTE If you want to begin from this point, load Organic05.max from the CD-ROM.
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

We’ll 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.


NOTE If you want to work from this point, load Organic06.max from the CD-ROM.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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 character’s right foot


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