[vebjorn]

Here`s the tut, if you want to see the first part, go back a page on this forum, or on my site: http://home.enitel.no/vebsart


Clan Warrior 3dsmax3.01Tutorial:

This is the "how to take a design/texture and make the model instead of the traditional vice versa way" tutorial. I learned this from my very talented coworker, Christer Sveen. This way it`s easier the get models with lots of shape. Off course this way of modelling might not be suitable for the ones who can`t draw very well though. Or for all types of objects, like buildings. Well lets get started. You have to know max to get the most out of this tutorial, since I`m not gonna go into details here.

1. First you map your image to a box, placed behind the grid. Then you make a spline, following the details of the drawing. Make sure all the vertexes are cornered.

2. Just another angle of the spline.

3. You then add a planar uvw map to the spline, and use unwrap to match.

4. Then make sure you make edges visible, also turn on this in the viewport. If you look closely on the image, I now have a flat, but perfectly mapped object....now we need to give it volume.

5. I now use the edge divide and turn functions to add faces to the areas I want shape. This gets easier as you get practice.

6. Using various userview angles, I can pull out vertexes, make sure you use the new max XYZ function so that you don`t move vertexes all over the place;-)

7. Flip/copy/reference to polish the shape, then attach, weld vertexes and check the model for errors/holes and or double faces with STL-check. /This is mostly need for game engines though.

8, Just a flatshaded view.

9. Finished armor.

Final word: Now this was a simple object so you can get the idea. Now if you want to make a great, shaply nude woman, then just get the appropriate angles of the female. I suggest a side pic, front and back is good to have to. This way things can get very correctly shaped.

Heres a sample character wearing the armour:


For more images go to my site
Good luck. If you have any questions, just drop me a mail.

-Veb




[This message has been edited by vebjorn (edited August 31, 2000).]

[Superbug]

That is so nice man. I love it, thats just sweet! I think the guy should have face paint on, or a coupla scars u know. but damn....nice! I've alwasy wanted to do stuff like this but dont know how to get started. I tried in halflife, but got confused with all the tools i needed

[Farwalker]

Wow, aweseome Vebjorn.

Really helpful tutorial. Thanks for the new way of thinking. Doing the texture first helps alot.

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www.gamingvault.com

[Chapel]

Very cool veb. Are you going to be putting the tutorials on your site?

[shahar2k]

vebjorn, that is some cool stuff, I've tought myself to model, mostly by putting in vertices and connecting them, but that outline meathod is the one I have recently been using and it has produced great results, although working from a texture would have been even cooler, I think I'll try that next

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"Avoid needless embarrassment. Practice the correct pronunciation of your deity's name in the privacy of your own room before chanting it in public. Flash cards are often helpful." --The Evil Cultist's Hand Guide

[vebjorn]

Thats cool to hear guys, and yes the tutorial is actually taken from my site;-)

Since the characters in hte game I`m working on has to be able to wear the over 300 different clothes, the armour was just fittet onto a basic human for testing.

-Veb

[shahar2k]

Just a correction on something I just noticed in the original post you absolutely do necesarily need to know max to get the most of it, but you do however need to have a bit of experience modeling, I must say though, this method is perfectly applicable in my own preffered proggie Milkshape3D but I figure it's all in what you learn in.
another GREAT source to learn how to model are Paul Steed's column on the now defunct (?) loonygames titled "thinking outside the box" http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.2/totb/ I'd reccomend gobbling up each and every one, since that's where I learned to model

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"Avoid needless embarrassment. Practice the correct pronunciation of your deity's name in the privacy of your own room before chanting it in public. Flash cards are often helpful." --The Evil Cultist's Hand Guide

[vebjorn]

Yep..Paul Steeds method is great, and the most normal way to go when doing lowpoly, especially if your 2d art skills are lagging behind your modelling skilz;-) The method I`m showing here, is also a very good way to prepare for the future of lots more polys, and splinework. Also, since we make models in the 800-2000face range, the models we have made the convetional way seems "flatter" and to have less shape..dunno why.

Also..one additon, you get things mapped from the start, and you also get a more finished looking product during the modelling process, making it clearer halfway through if it will suck or not.
-Veb

[shahar2k]

I'm not sure what you mean by flatter? and which way is the conventional way? I'm asking this so that I can familiarize myself with what's going on, cus right now I've done no models with skins on them (laying out the skin is the biggest problem for me) and since I tought myself it's a bit hard to know what's good and what's not
(P.S. any chance you could bump up my name on the Anarchy betatest list

[Rinaldo]

Very interesting idea. Never heard of doing it this way before. Thanks Veb Must try it.

[jason_watkins]

if the person doing the sketch understands the process of modeling and can detach the different sections of the texter properly, this is a damn effective way to work.

great tutorial, I'll have to try this sometime. My usual approach was to do a extrude after step 4, then work on the shape in 3d. I never thought Just using splits and graudually building up the right contours in 2d before placing the depth of vertexes. Looks like it works much better.

a similar method I've found to work rather well for more high poly faces is to start with a side view, instance a sphere of the appropriate detail, then adjust the vertexes and connectivity as nessisar in 2d. Because you started with a sphere however, once you move to displacing things into depth, it ends up only needing minor tweaks.

I had never worked right from the maps at the start tho, so I always had a lengthy unwrap process

awsome tutorial, thanks man

[vebjorn]

The main advantage of this way, is that when you get to know what youre doing, the result will be true to your 2d art. Offcourse you have to be a fairly good 2d artist aswell, but I`ve seen alot of great 2d artsit and mappers that model very stiff models, but using this way, they can get a model true to the shape of theirgreat 2d art, thus better models done ALOT quicker.

-Veb