95833923 the sworldmaster 3dsmax

7/30/2019 95833923 the Sworldmaster 3dsmax

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Complete Character Ceation By

Richard Tilburyfrom an originalcharacter by Seong-wha Jeong


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The Swordmaster

Is our new precise, step-by-step tutorial for

highly polished, low polygon game character

with detailed texturing for real-time rendering.

We have had the tutorial created for the 5 major

3D applications, but even if you are not a user

of one of them, the principles should be easily

followed in nearly all other 3D applications. Over

the next 8 Chapters we will outline, in detail, the

process for creating the Swordmaster you see

on the left.

Chapter 01

Modeling the head

Chapter 02

Modeling the Torso

Chapter 03

Modeling the Arms & Legs

Chapter 04

Modeling the Clothing & Hair

Chapter 05

Modeling the Armour

Chapter 06

Mapping & Unwrapping

Chapter 07

Texturing the Skin & BodyChapter 08

Texturing the Armour &

Clothing

Enjoy ...


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page 3www.3dcreativemag.com Chapter 01

SwordMaster

Part 1

Modeling The Head

Introduction:Welcome to the rst of an ongoing tutorial

which will run over the next eight issues and

provide a step by step guide to building a low

poly character based upon a model by Seong-

Wha Jeong. Over the next eight months we

will be covering how to build, map/unwrap and

texture the character based upon the original.As the original model is low poly and tailored

towards a game environment the mesh is not

made entirely of quads and so we shall also be

making use of a few tris in places to minimize

the mesh density. In this rst section we will start

by creating a simple box and then moulding it

into the nal head shape using the editable poly

tools.

1. The rst step is to create a box with 4 length,

width and height segments as shown on the

right in Fig01. You will notice that theGenerate

Mapping Coordsbox is checked but as we

are going to map our mesh later on this is not

important here. Right click on the box and select

Convert to Editable Poly from the dialogue box.

2. With our box now converted to an Editable

Poly we can now begin shaping it at the sub-

object level, ie. vertex, face, edge etc. Select the

vertex level under selection and begin by moving

the verts in the left or right viewports rst to get

the rough prole shape. Be sure to keep the

Ignore Backface box unchecked so that you

select all the verts across the mesh, evident in

the User viewport. In this way we can keep our

mesh symmetrical on both sides of the center

(Fig02). I nd it is best to work in a prole view

and move the verts into a reasonable shape and

then switch to the front view and do the same.
http://www.3dcreativemag.com/http://www.3dcreativemag.com/


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5. The next step is to make a start on the eyes.

Select the two polys that are ringed in green in

Fig05 and then click on the little square next to

the Inset tab (highlighted in red). Click on the

Group radio button and then simply alter the

inset amount to form the eye shape similar to

the image. If you select By Polygon each poly

will be inset individually something we wish

to avoid.

6. With the nose and eyes underway we

have just the mouth left to make a start on.

Select the four polys highlighted in green in

Fig06 and then use the Cut tool on the right

to make four horizontal cuts (shown in red)

emanating from a single vert. Once this is

done simply move the new verts into positions

to form a mouth shape as seen in the image.


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page 6www.3dcreativemag.com

SwordMaster

Chapter 01

7. The features are now beginning to form,

albeit in a rather crude way but there is still no

evidence of a chin so pull up some of the lower

verts to alleviate this (Fig07).

8. To help rene the cheek bone and nose

shape use the Ring / Connect tools to add in

a further cut around the head as shown in red

in Fig08.


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9. Now that we have a reasonable amount of

detail it is time to delete half of our mesh and

apply the Symmetry modier in order that we

can work on just one half of the model and

see the results mirrored in a duplicate. In this

way we can ensure that the head is the same

either side of the central line but reduce the

number of polys that need manipulating. Begin

by selecting the Window/Crossing icon on the

tool bar along the top of the viewports (top left

Fig09). Now in sub-object poly mode, select all

of the right half of the head (make sure Ignore

Backfacing is unchecked) by including part of

the left side just past the central line. Delete

these polys,go to the top of the stack and then

apply a Symmetry modier from the modier

list making sure the head is mirrored along the

vertical axis as shown on the right of Fig09.

When you go down the stack to the Editable

poly level the duplicate will now disappear.

Toggle the Show end result button so that

you can see the copy and now when you work

in sub-object mode at the editable poly level

you will see the results mirrored (bottom right

of the image).

10. Now we are working purely on the left

side of the head select the polys highlighted

in red in Fig10 and use theCut tool to make

two horizontal cuts joining the middle verts.

This will help create a more convincing socket

shape for the eye and remove the sharp angle

apparent in Fig08.


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Chapter 01

11. The eye area is somewhat improved

but we need some more detail above the

brow so move the existing line of verts up

slightly (yellow line in Fig11.) and add a new

subdivision below this and the brow (green

line) which will help form a better forehead

shape.

12. As we gradually rene our model we

inevitably add more detail but sometimes it

is useful in low poly characters to actually

remove unnecessary detail that can be

supplemented by a texture. At the moment we

have six rows of polygons running over the

top of the head more than we really need. In

Vertex mode click on the Target Weld tab and

weld together the line of verts running upward

from the corner and center of the eye starting

with the one ringed in red in Fig12.


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13. We have partially improved the eyes and

so should rene the other features. First thing

is to get rid of the harsh angle under the nose

so select the poly and apply a Bevel (Fig13).

As we are working on a mirrored half we now

end up with unwanted polys between the

selected polygons. Delete these and then

move the inner verts to line up with the central

line using the snaps tool. One other thing to

do is add a cut below the lips to create a better

shape to the chin (highlighted in red).

14. On the nose weld the middle vert to the

one below and the one on the left to the

adjacent corner one (Fig14).


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Chapter 01

15. Select an edge in line with the green line

in Fig15 and perform a Ring/Connect once

more resulting in another subdivision as shown

by the yellow line.

16. To improve the chin a bit more we shall

make a further cut to help form the jaw line

as shown by the red line in Fig16. You will

also notice that the purple poly (the one we

originally cut) is made up of two triangles. We

can delete this and create a quad in its place

using the Create tool in sub-object poly

mode. This will leave only the one further back

on this section of the jaw.


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17. To remedy the very at underside of the

chin we shall now make a further cut across

from the vert in the middle (shown in red in

Fig17). The extra verts can now be pulled

downward to form a more rounded prole and

the the one left of the center can be welded to

the central one to reduce the poly count.

18. To economise futher weld two more verts

to the outside edge as shown by the red dots

in Fig18. With this complete it is now time to

create the ears so start by moving the verts

into positions that resemble a rough shape as

seen by the red outline.


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Chapter 01

19. Select the three polys that make up the

ear shape and hold down shift and drag the

selection outwards. This will create a copy

and bring up a Clone dialogue box select

the clone to element radio button and hit OK

(Fig19). This will keep the new polygons as

part of the head and not as a separate object.

20. With these polys still selected in sub-

object mode click on Extrude and give the

ear some volume by an amount similar to that

seen in Fig20.


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21. We now have a rough ear shape but you

will notice that on the opposite side there is

a hole. To x this, copy the same selected

faces using the same technique we have just

used and rotate them around 180 degrees.

Now all we need to do is attach them to the

other side. Select the 3D Snaps tool on the

toolbar (highlighted in yellow top of Fig21),

right click on it and tick vertex under the snaps

settings. Now select the vertices on the new

faces and drag over to the corresponding

ones on the ear to patch up the hole indicated

by the green dots. With these verts now in

place select all the verts on the ear and click

on the little tab next to Weld in the modify

panel. In the dialogue box alter the threshold

to 0.001. You will notice that we have a

discrepancy of 8 between the before and after

this corresponds to the 8 verts that we have

snapped to the other 8. We can only see 8 but

there are in fact 16 separate ones and so by

hitting OK we are welding this 16 into 8 and so

reducing the count from 161 to 153. In other

words if two verts occupy the same space they

may as well be one.

22. We can now attach the ear to the side of

the head using the same technique by rst

moving it into position, snapping the verts

together and then welding them up. To give

the ear a better shape scale the outward

faces down a little and then add in a vertical

subdivision using the Ring/Connect tools and

move the extra verts to form more of a curve to

the outside (Fig22).


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Chapter 01

23. We are almost there now! Add an Edit Mesh

modier on top of the stack and then go into

sub-object edge mode as seen on the right in

Fig23. Select Turn and then start to swap the

direction in which some edges traverse certain

polygons by clicking on them. You can see in

the image where edges in red have been turned

to follow a more suitable line (shown in green

on the right). In this way we can create better

contours across our mesh and make sure the

numerous planes read more accurately too.

24. In Fig24 we can see the nal version of

our head. There are a few verts here and there

that could be tweaked somewhat to rene the

shape but we have a reasonable head to build

on. It is important with low-ply models that we

have smooth transitions between polygons so

that we conceal as much as possible the low

level of detail. Hopefully you will have learnt

enough techniques to go on and improve upon

my model.


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Here are some progress shots from the

viewports, and a render of the at shaded with

wireframe over. Next month we will continue bybuilding the torso.


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Chapter 02

Part 2

Modelling theTorso

Introduction:Welcome to the second part of an ongoing

tutorial which will run over several months and

provide a step by step guide to building a low

poly character based upon a model by Seong-

Wha Jeong. In this installment we shall start

with the head model covered in last monthsedition and build upon the mesh to create a

torso.

1. If you have followed the previous tutorial on

making the head then open that le and begin

by selecting the bottom row of edges as shown

in green in Fig01. Now hold down the Shift

key and using the Move tool drag this row of

edges downwards to make a copy. Remember

that we still have the Symmetry modier on

top of the stack and so are only working on the

left half of the mesh.

2. When you have done this start to pull the

verts outwards to form the top of the shoulders

(Fig02). You can see in the illustration that the

small picture shows the positions that the new

verts have taken up.


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3. We are now going to make a cut across

the front three polys to form the clavicle as

seen by the red line in Fig03 using the same

technique as before selecting the polys in

sub-object mode and applying the Cut tool.

4. Now once again select this bottom row

of edges and Shift copy them down and

re-arrange the new verts to form a better

shape (Fig04). It is a good rule of thumb

that whenever you add more detail by way

of copying edges or adding subdivisions

you should move the new verts into suitable

positions before adding any new edges. It can

save time and is a lot easier to work this way.


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Chapter 02

5. We have made most of the shoulder area

already by simply copying edges and re-

positioning the new verts and now it is time to

start to form the top of the arm area. We need

to make two new cuts on the front and back

polys that form the outer edge nearest the

left of the image. This is so we have enough

edges from which to Extrude an arm later

on. In Fig05 you will notice that these are

represented by the rst cut in green and the

second in red the new verts are then moved

(red dots). We have now created two triangles

by the last cut but these could be deleted and

replaced by a quad if one so wished.

6. Now it is time to begin forming the chest

area by selecting the bottom row of edges on

the front of the torso (green line in Fig06) and

duplicating them downwards (red line in Fig06)

using the same method.


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7. We can do the same thing to also form the

upper back (Fig07).

8. Back to the front now ! Grab that bottom

row of edges under the chest and copy these

downwards once more but this time pull them

inward to form the lower part of the chest

(Fig08). Also add in a small cut indicated by

the red line.


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Chapter 02

9. If we look at Fig09 we can begin to see the

shape that the upper arm will assume when it

eventually materializes from the hole. Before

we close the bottom edge copy the edges

highlighted in green to start off the abdomen

and lower back areas.

10. With this done it is time to seal the bottom

of the arm area. In sub-object poly mode

create a poly that bridges the gap and once

this is done add a Cut and pull the new vert

down slightly to help form a better shape under

the arm (green line in Fig10).


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11. We now have a complete upper torso with

a hole ready to build our arm. All that we need

to do now is extend it downwards to form the

lower back, abdomen and pelvic area. Once

again grab the lower ring of edges and copy

them downwards (green line in Fig11).

12. To help shape the muscle form on the

back you could weld the vert shown in green

in Fig12 to the one to its left. This will form a

triangle and follow the shape of the muscles

running downwards from the shoulder blades.


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Chapter 02

13. Now select the bottom row of edges once

more and copy these downwards by quite a

way (Fig13).

14. What we will do next is add a few

subdivisions across the new section of polys

we have just made. So in Edge mode select

any of the vertical edges (green line in Fig14)

and click on Ring/Connect and add in three

segments as shown in the dialogue box.


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15. The next thing to do is to simply manipulate

the newly created verts into positions that

form the shape of the lower torso and top of

the buttocks (Fig15). Is is best to do this in

the same way we began moulding the cube

into a rough head shape, ie. move the verts

rst in the front view and then in the prole

view before tweaking them in the User or

Perspective viewports. The illustration shows

a prole and front view which will give you a

good idea about the positions of the verts.

16. The last thing to do before we start to make

the arms and legs is add a small cut across

the base of the buttocks in order that we have

a little more geometry to deform when the

character is eventually animated. This will help

smooth the curve of the leg when it is extended

(Fig16). You can see in the illustration that the

added cut (in green) has helped the curvature

when the legs are extended, evident in the

screen shots above. You will also notice that I

have added another cut (in red) above to help

the creasing in this area. It is always worth

remembering that it helps to have more detail

around all joints as these polys are subject to

more stretching and movement. In the case

of the red cut, I have created two triangles on

the side of the leg as this pattern will be used

around the knee (the reason for which we will

see in the next tutorial) but you could in fact

have just made a cut to the lower vert creating

only a single triangle. Conguring polys

around joints is often determined by the types

of animation required and it is sometimes

worth attaching a skeleton to the model before

it is nished in order to test the mesh.

This concludes the torso section of the tutorial

and next month we will go on to build the arms

and legs to complete the body.


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Chapter 02


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Fig01

Fig02

Part 3

Modelling the Armsand Legs

Introduction:Welcome to the third part of an ongoing tutorial

which will provide a step by step guide to

building a low poly character based upon a

model by Seong-Wha Jeong. In this installment

we shall start with the torso covered in last

months edition and build upon the mesh to

create the arms and legs.

1. If you have followed the previous tutorial on

making the torso then open that le and begin

by selecting the edges as shown in Fig01. Now

hold down the Shift key and using the Move

tool drag this row of edges downwards to

make a copy. Remember that we still have the

Symmetry modier on top of the stack and so

are only working on the left half of the mesh.

2. In the next step move these edges inwards

and join them together with another poly in

between as indicated by the red poly in Fig02.

This will now form two holes from which we will

extend the legs. You can do this by either using

Create in poly mode or simply target weld one

edge to the other and then add in a new edge

using the Ring / Connect tools. Either way is

ne.


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Chapter 03

Fig03

Fig04

3. Make sure you reposition the verts to form

a decent shape and then extend the edges

downwards using Shift and dragging as we

have done previously to begin creating the

upper thigh ( Fig03 ).

4. Using this same technique extend the leg

downwards to create the upper part of the leg.

Remember to tweak the positions of the verts

as you do so in order to form the best shape as

we go along. You can see in Fig04 that I have

formed two additional edges down to the knee

area.


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Fig05

Fig06

5. The next stage involves applying exactly

the same procedure inorder to extend the leg

downward to form the knee, calves and ankle.

In Fig05 you will notice that this comprised of six

new edges all of which were shaped differently

in accordance the parts of the leg.

6. We have now built the leg and it is time to

create the foot. You will notice that the polys

that make up the leg are open ended and need

to be capped in order to form the sole of the

foot. We do this by either selecting one of the

edges in sub-object Border mode and then

clicking on Cap or simply creating three extra

polys that run across the foot in Poly mode as

seen in Fig06.


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Chapter 03

Fig07

Fig08

7. We now need to level these polys so in a

prole view (left or right) select them and then

right click the Select and Non-uniform Scale

tab on the toolbar. This brings up a dialogue box

as shown in Fig07. Right click on the bottom

arrow in the Y axis (highlighted in red) and the

polys should all align nicely.

8. To start the feet off select the two front polys

and Extrude them forward, scaling them down

as you do so (Fig08).


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Fig09

Fig10

9. Make a further extrusion to add the toes and

in order to add a little more curvature add a

further cut as seen in green in Fig09.

10. We now have two complete legs and feet

but there is one last thing to do before we

move on to the arms. In order to get a better

deformation around the knee area we are going

to add in two new cuts which will help maintain

a more consistent shape at the back of the leg

when we bend the knee (assuming off course

that we are going to attach a skeleton). You can

see in Fig10 that I have made two diagonal cuts

and when we attach a skeleton and bend the

knee backwards you will notice in the two insets

on the right that the lower one is more realistic

as a result. The upper diagram shows a kink in

the mesh and is due to a cut intersecting the

bend (green line on the left leg). For this reason

it is best to choose the conguration on the right

and add in the two extra cuts.


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Chapter 03

Fig11

Fig12

11. With the legs nished it is time to extend the

arms. Continuing from our torso in the previous

tutorial select the top seven edges and extend

them to make a new set (green line in Fig11).

Now weld the two verts in red to the corners

indicated by the arrows.

12. The next step is to extend these edges out

once more and then weld the two outer most

verts (highlighted in red in Fig12) to the verts

highlighted by the green dots.


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Chapter 03

Fig15

Fig16

15. Now that we have a start to the arm we can

continue by shift dragging edge selections and

transforming the verts until we get to the wrist

as seen in Fig15. In this case I have added a

further eight extrusions.

16. As we did with the foot we are going to cap

the end of the arm with ve polys as shown in

Fig16. You will notice a single triangle on the

left but do not be concerned about this at the

moment.


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Fig17

Fig18

17. In order to prepare for the thumb extend the

two right most verts outward as shown in Fig17.

18. Next add a cut on the underside (Fig18) in

the position numbered 1. This will leave a ve

sided poly on the palm side of the hand and

so to alleviate this continue the cut upwards

in the position mumbered 2. Now to give the

thumb area more shape add a further cut in

the position numbered 3. This will add a little

more curvature to the thumb when we extend it

downwards eventually.


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Chapter 03

Fig19

Fig20

19. When we look at Fig19 we can see the

underside of the hand on the left. We have

four polys that can be used to extrude the four

ngers but the shapes including the thumb area

need re-shaping slightly before we do this. First

make a cut as indicated by the red line (inset

2) and then move the new vert down slightly.

Follow with a cut from this new vert to the

outside of the hand (red line on inset 3). Now

delete the two triangles next to it and create a

quad (shaded in green) which will result in a row

of four quads ready to create the ngers and the

beginnings of a thumb.

20. Select these four polys and extrude them

downwards making sure to select By Polygon

(Fig20).


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Fig21

Fig22

21. Rotate these new polys a little and then

do a further two extrusions, scaling them down

somewhat to shape the ngers (Fig21).

22. The next step is to shape the thumb which

will involve the same procedure and so select

the lower polys and extrude downward making

sure to select Group this time. In order to

create a better ow from the palm make sure

you re-orientate the hidden edge to correspond

with the red line in Fig22. You can do this by

selecting the polygon in question and clicking on

Edit Triangulation and then clicking on Turn

and selecting the edge. This will cause the edge

to ip in a different direction or alternatively you

can make a cut as we have done in the past.


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Chapter 03

Fig23

Fig24

23. You can then go on and extend the polys to

build the thumb. In Fig23 you will notice that I

have re-orientated the polys at the end to form

a more even split compared to the original seen

in the inset. This is not entirely necessary and

may even inhibit a better shape when adding the

curvature at the thumb tip but we are not adding

much detail here so it should be ok.

19. The nal stage is to select the six polys

that make up the tips of the ngers and add a

Bevel with the amount similar to that shown in

Fig24. This essentially wraps up this particular

section and we now have a complete gure.


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This concludes the tutorial on creating the

arms and legs and next month we shall goon and add clothing and hair.


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Chapter 04

Fig01

Fig02

Part 4

Modelling the Hairand Clothing

Introduction:Welcome to the fourth installment in the series



model by Seong-Wha Jeong. Now that we have

fully built the character it is time to add in the

hair and clothing which we shall do this month.

1. If you have followed the previous tutorials

on building the character then open the last le

and begin by adding an Edit Poly above the

Symmetry modier and then select the polys

highlighted in Fig01. Now hold down the Shift

key and using the Move tool drag this selection

upwards to make a copy. You will notice from

the image that I have selected Clone To Object

from the dialogue box but this is only to keep

the hair separate at the moment. What we will

do for the hair is model the various elements

seperately and then group them together at the

end and mirror them over to the other half.

2. The next stage involves copying these new

polys over the the side and Snapping the

bottom row of verts to the top of the forehead

in the positions marked in blue in Fig02. Copy

this group once more and then again snap the

bottom verts (in red this time) to the edge of the

face. This is so this front group can eventually

be unwrapped with the top of the face to create

a seamless texture for the hairline.


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Fig03

Fig04

3. We can duplicate these extra two sets over

to the other side of the face once they are done

and begin on the second row of hair which falls

directly behind the front row but offset slightly to

intersect with the front set (Fig03). You can use

a group from the front set to create these and

simply delete two rows of polys resulting in four

quads as seen in the picture. Then it is just a

case of snapping the verts to the line across the

forehead and re-shaping them slightly.

4. For the next step we are going to duplicate

this new set of polys and move them behind

the second row except this time we shall ignore

snapping the verts to any on the scalp (Fig04).


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Chapter 04

Fig05

Fig06

5. Now we have made a start on the front we

shall begin building the back section of the hair.

In Fig05 you can see a large yellow piece of

geometry that has been positioned. You will

notice that it is in two pieces and this is because

when we nally map and unwrap our mesh

we can copy a section of mapped geometry

and it carries with it the mapping co-ordinates.

Therefore to save on texture space it is best to

unwrap parts of the mesh before duplicating

them and so enabling us to use a single area

of our template to paint numerous parts of our

model. In this case it will mean mapping only

one half of the yellow area and then copying

that half over and welding the two up. This is

something we shall explore in more depth during

the texturing phase but for now we shall just

model all the parts so you can see how thay will

eventually look together.

6. Now to build the central sections three

rows of nine quads as seen in Fig06. Once

again do not worry about the verts aligning, just

concentrate on shaping the mesh to follow the

shape of the head in the same way we have

done before.


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Fig07

Fig08

7. To nish this section add two more rows as

seen in Fig07.

8. The front, back and central section of the hair

is now complete and all that remains to do is

add in a group of planes that will form the sides.

A few pieces of the geometry will eventually be

mapped later on before being duplicated but for

now simply add in two rows along the side of

the head similar to Fig08. You will notice I have

placed a couple of planes just behind and below

the ear to mimic Seongs model but basically put

in enough to mask the scalp.


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Chapter 04

Fig09

Fig10

9. When these pieces are copied over to the

other side we end up with the nished article

(Fig09).

10. Now it is time to add the clothing, the rst

part of which shall be the trousers. First thing

to do is select the group of polys that will form

the trousers as shown in Fig10. Detach these

and make them an element in the dialogue box

so they remain part of the main mesh and then

universally scale them up slightly.


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Chapter 04

Fig13

Fig14

13. Add a further cut in sub-object poly mode

from the front of the mesh and around to the

back as shown in Fig13.

14. The next stage involves making further

cuts in along the lines shown in red in Fig14

at the back of the trousers. This is to provide

the correct creasing in the right areas and

once done you can create quads in the areas

highlighted in green which will nish off the

trousers.


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Fig15

Fig16

15. The next item we shall create are the shin

guards. Simply selest the group of polys that

make up the front of the shin as seen in Fig15

and click on Extrude making sure to select

Local Normal and bring these out somewhat

and thats it!

16. Now onto the footwear. Start the boots off

by detaching the foot as we did with the trousers

and again scale the polys up a little as before

and then create a group on the top joining them

back to the leg (Fig16). Now we need to add

a heel and sole to them so rst select the two

quads at the back and extrude them down as

seen on the left highlighted in red. Now repeat

this for the rest of the polys as shown on the

right of the picture. You will now have some

extra depth to the boot but the sole is still at

with two hidden polys so grab the two verts

furthest back on the second extrusion and weld

them to the ones at the upper front of the heel

(green dots on the right). This concludes the

footwear and next onto the kneepads.


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Chapter 04

Fig17

Fig18

17. Referring to Fig17 select the polys shown

in red and holding down shift in Select and

Move mode select Clone to Object from the

dialogue box and name the object kneepad.

This will create a new object which we can then

scale according to the one shown on the left.

18. You will notice that at the moment it has

no depth at all and so to amend this we will

add a Shell modier from the modier list. In

Fig18 you will notice this at the top of the stack

and when you alter the inner amount by about

0.2 it creates a set of inner faces as seen in

the middle image. All that remains is to select

the front two top polys and do two extrusions

scaling inwards slightly to form the upper part

shown on the right.


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Fig19

Fig20

19. This brings us to the nal piece of clothing

that we shall add in this tutorial; the belt. Start

by creating a shallow box, convert it to an

Editable Poly and place it in front of the upper

part of the trousers, rotating it slightly as seen in

Fig19. This will form the beginning of the object

and what we shall do next is create a spline that

wraps around the body from either end of the

box and then extrude one end of box along this

spline to form a belt shape.

20. Under the Shapes tab in the Modify panel

click on Ellipse and then left click and drag out

a shape in the top view. Right click on the object

and select Convert to Editable Spline, (you

will notice this is the name in the modier stack

now). In sub-object Vertex mode select the

bottom most vert and then click on Break. This

will now give you access to two verts wherer

there was once one. Move them apart slightly

and then after selecting the left one click on

Make First (this will now add a small square

around it as opposed to a crosshair). Now what

we need to do is position the spline around our

character in a manner that follows the path of

our belt (Fig20). Use the Snaps Toggle (set

to 3) and tick the boxes shown in the inset

dialogue box. Now move the two broken verts

to both ends of the box and centralize them

midway down. Now turn off the snaps tool andmove the verts to roughly the middle of the end

faces does not need to be perfect.


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Fig21

Fig22

21. In sub-object poly mode select the left end

face of the box and click on the settings tab

next to Extrude Along Spline. This will open

up the dialogue box seen in Fig21 with a pick

spline tab in the top left. Click on this and then

select your spline shape. You should now see a

belt magically appear around your characters

waist. Change the segements to 10 so it has a

reasonable shape and then delete the two end

polys making sure to snap and weld the verts

together afterwards.

22. Now that we have the belt wrapped around

the character we just need to transform the verts

and t it properly around the mesh (Fig22).


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Fig23

Fig24

23. With this done all that remains is to

extrude four of the lower faces that make up

the left underside and create the cloth that will

eventually hang by his side (Fig23). You can see

in the picture that I have made three extrusions

downwards which completes this section of this

months tutorial.


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Chapter 04

Next month we shall go on and nish the

modelling stages by adding the Armour

elements before readying ourselves for the

texturing phase.


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Fig01

Fig02

Part 5

Modelling theArmour

Introduction:Welcome to the fth instalment in the series



model by Seong-Wha Jeong. Last month saw

us adding clothing and hair and now we reach

the last phase in the modelling section which will

cover giving our warrior some armour to wear.

1. If you have followed the previous tutorials

then open the last le which saw us make the

belt for his waist. The rst thing we are going

to do now is re-position some of the verts on

his left arm. In Fig01 you will see some of the

existing verts (highlighted in red) that have been

moved into different positions on the mesh. The

green line across the front and back sections

represent additional cuts. When you have

reached this stage it is time to create the actual

armour for the arm.

2. The next step is to select the polys that make

up the whole of the armour section (seen in

red in Fig02). What I do then is detach these,

universally scale them slightly and then re-

position them central to the shoulder edge and

then re-attach them to the main mesh. You canthen create a line of polys to join them back up

thus adding volume to the armour (see green

polys in inset).


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Fig03

Fig04

3. Now onto the forearm section which will be

initially made from a separate cylinder. First

delete the polys highlighted in red but on the

opposite side where the armour is located (Fig

03). Now create an eleven sided cylinder and

then convert it to an editable poly deleting the

top and bottom faces. Scale the top row of

verts and scale them in somewhat and then

bevel the two bottom rows of polys to form the

shape seen on the right. Now place the cylinder

between the elbow and wrist and scale it to t as

closely as possible to the elbow. You can then

snap the arm verts to the cylinder top and then

attach the two. All you need to do now is create

a set of polys around the wrist and do not worry

too much if the hand is not central.

4. Next piece to be made is the elbow guard.

This we will do in a similar manner to the knee

guard. Start by creating a tube making sure to

add a slice of 180 degrees (Fig 04). Add one

segment and a similar number of sides to those

in the picture.


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Fig05

Fig06

5. To nish off the piece extrude the middle

section of polys down as shown in Fig 05 To

form the rounded front section just select and

extrude the end polys highlighted in red and

then make four cuts (two on either side seen in

green) from the corners. It is then just a case of

pulling in the corner verts.

6. Right, well we have the armour across his

left arm but now we need to create a strap that

wraps around his body that holds it in place.

This will involve creating a spline that roughly

follows the contours of his torso around which

we will Loft a rectangle shape to form the strap.

This rst of all involves making a spline from

under the Shapes tab on the control panel.

Choose Line and make sure you set the Initial

and Drag types to Corner (Fig 06). Start the

spline at the center of the face ringed in green

on the back of the model and curve it round

to the front section of the armour just short of

the shoulder (eight verts in this case). You will

notice that I have also made a small rectangle

(in orange which has the same proportion as the

face from which the spline starts) and this will

form the shape of the strap.


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Fig07

Fig08

7. Select the spline shape and under the

Geometry tab and Compound Objects click on

Loft and then click on Get Shape followed by the

rectangle (Fig 07). Under the Skin Parameters

make sure to uncheck both capping boxes

and set the Shape and Path steps to zero. You

should now see a rectangle stretched around

our characters torso similar to the picture.

8. All you need to do now is snap the end verts

to the armour (ringed in red in Fig 08) and tweak

the shape so it hugs the torso. You will notice

also that I have added two smaller straps which

connect it to the front section.


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Fig09

Fig10

9. We now arrive at the nal stage of the

process adding the shoulder piece. The rst

step is to create a shape similar to the one on

the right in Fig 09 which you can do either by

creating a Plane or converting a Spline. Once

you have the shape apply a Shell modier to

give it some depth as seen on the left.

10. Now duplicate this which you can do using

the Symmetry modier and then collapse the

object to an Editable Poly making sure to weld

any overlapping verts afterwards ! Next select

all the front Polys and perform an Extrusion,

keeping the height to zero and then clicking

Apply and OK (Fig 10). Now with the polys still

selected scale them down slightly as shown in

the picture.


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Fig11

Fig12

11. With the same group selected add a Bevel

by an amount similar to that shown on the right

in Fig. 11. To enable the model to t around the

shoulder it will need to be curved which we can

do by adding a Bend modier. You will notice

from the picture that it has been bent around the

X axis but it is perhaps better to apply this when

the model is complete to form a better shape as

we will add some more subdivisions rst.

12. The next step is to make a cut across the

front as shown in red on stage 1 in Fig 12. Now

select the polys in red on stage 2 and Extrude

them outwards by a similar amount. Now weld

up the verts highlighted in yellow to form the

version on stage 3. The second row down from

the top can be welded to the row above as

indicated by the white arrows.


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Fig13

Fig14

13. Now add two cuts along the front marked by

the red lines on stage 1 in Fig 13. Then select

the new verts shown in green and one by one

perform an extrusion altering the height and

base width to form teeth shapes similar to step

2 on the right. If you did not add a Bend modier

beforehand then do so now and t it around the

shoulder area.

14. All that is left to do now is add a few

small details and we will have completed the

modelling phase. In Fig 14 you can see that

I have made a small cylinder and placed it at

the center of the shoulder (2) and made some

studs to go around the wrist area (3). I have also

added a few extra polys around the shoulder

strap that will be used to texture the buckles

eventually (1).


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Chapter 05

This concludes the modelling

phase of the tutorial and next

month we shall begin mapping

and unwrapping the mesh in

preparation for the texturing stages.


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Fig01

Fig02

Part 6

Mapping andUnwrapping

IntroductionWelcome to the sixth instalment in the series

which will provide a look at mapping and

unwrapping our nished mesh. This is quite

an involved process and will be covered in

only one tutorial. In order to keep this from

becoming too long I have not detailed every

step along the way but rather opted to provide

an overview of the principal techniques used.

This should hopefully equip any beginners

with enough information to tackle the entire

model and complete it on their own. The crucial

methods necessary will be covered and then

can be repeated to map sections that have been

omitted. The important thing to remember is that

the tutorial has been ltered to contain only the

key procedures.

1. The rst step is to apply a material to our

model so open up the material editor and select

all the geometry and then click on the Assign

Material to Selection button (highlighted in red in

Fig01). Notice how the model has now adopted

the grey colour of the assigned material (top

center) and is now surrounded by four white

triangles indicating it belongs to an object in the

scene. Get used to naming your materials too in this case Swordmaster.

2. In order to check the integrity of our mapping

co-ordinates and enable us to successfully

unwrap our mesh we will need to apply as

texture to our geometry to act as a guide in

this case a checker map. The idea here is that

the squares are a consistent size and so will

easily show any stretching and badly mapped

polygons. To load the texture make sure you rst

of all have a checker map and then click on the

small button next to the Diffuse slot (highlighted


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Chapter 06

Fig03

Fig04

in red in Fig02). This will bring up the map

browser where you need to select Bitmap at the

top (bottom right of image). Click on Ok and the

map should appear on your mesh if not click

on the checker cube along the toolbar (ringed

in red). You will now see a very messy checker

map across your character which will require

mapping. The checkermap will eventually be

substituted by our painted template and the idea

is that if the squares appear correctly so then

will the nished texture.

3. The rst step to correcting this is to apply the

UVW Mapping modier which you can nd in

the modier list. Before doing this select all the

polys that make up the head and neck area as

seen in Fig 03. Now apply the mapping modier

which you can see in the upper right and click

on the little + symbol and highlight Gizmo. Now

select the Cylindrical radio button just below

and click on the Fit tab as highlighted in red.

You should now see the yellow cylinder t neatly

around the selected polys with a green line

representing the seam which you want to align

with the edge along the back of the head. If it

dos not appear in the correct position simply

use the rotate tool on the main toolbar to move

it. Hopefully you should also see a much more

consistent checker pattern too.

4. The next stage in the process involves

applying the Unwrap UVW modier directly

above the mapping with the polys still selected.

You can see the modier in the stack on the

top right in Fig 04 and the selected polys

highlighted on the left. This modier enables

us to manipulate the mapping co-ordinates and

move UVW verts and faces that correspond

to those on the mesh in other words we can

transform the mapping so that we get a true

and proper checker map without any obvious

distortion.


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Fig05

Fig06

5. In order to do this click on the large Edit tab

under parameters to open up the Edit UVWs

window (Fig 05). This window gives us access

to our mapped geometry in the form of a

attened lattice of verts and faces in this case

a head and neck area. You will notice along

the top of the window are some of the standard

transform tools and in the window itself you will

see a blue square that represents our template

size which in this case is a1024x1024 map seen

in the upper top right.

6. Using the transform tools we can alter the

mapping co-ordinates in this window which will

directly affect the texture. On the left of Fig 06

you will notice a vert highlighted in red which

has been moved out of alignment with its edge

and as a consequence the checker map has

been stretched in the corresponding position on

the mesh, encircled in red. The basic premise

of this part of the process is to use the tools

available within this dialogue box to accurately

mirror the checker map across the surface of

our geometry. Start by using the scale tool to

make the checkers appear square and then

concentrate on details where stretching occurs.

The green lines surrounding the unwrapped

head represent the seam lines / open edges and

are also visible on the model in the viewport.

There are two polys which you will notice fall

outside of the neat edge and we shall go on tocorrect those later.


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Fig07

Fig08

7. The next thing to do is map the outer faces of

one of the ears. The way to do this is rst apply

an Edit Mesh modier on top of the Unwrap

UVW and then select the necessary polys

in sub object mode and apply another UVW

Mapping modier. In the left or right viewport

click on Planar under the mapping parameters,

expand the gizmo as before and then click

on the View Align tab. This aligns the gizmo

with the view and if you wish you can use the

rotate tools to better align it with the selected

faces if they are not perpendicular (which they

will not be) using the top view as a guide. You

can then click on Bitmap t and select the

checker map and proceed by applying another

UVW Unwrap modier. It is a good policy to

move any unwrapped geometry outside of the

blue template square as all the geometry will

inhabit this area by default otherwise when you

unwrap the entire mesh you will have all the

separate elements overlapping one another

inside the template. (Fig 07) You can also move

the mapped faces before you unwrap them as

the gizmo itself represents the template shape

and so if you move this in the viewports once

you have applied the planar map the UVWs

will appear outside the blue square when you

unwrap them. It is entirely up to you which way

you do things.

8. As you map your model use the checker

pattern in the viewports to try and keep the

squares a similar size by scaling the gizmo, so

our texture will have a consistent resolution.

We will actually break this rule later on but

for now just unwrap everything to a similar

size. If you map some geometry and forget

to move it outside the template boundary you

may nd when you unwrap it along with further

polys later on there will be some overlapping

as we have mentioned. In Fig 08 we can see

an example of this. We see the previouslymapped outer faces of the ear already outside

the template but when the inner ones were

mapped they were not moved. When the entire


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Fig09

Fig10

head is selected we see the ear overlapping

the face. Instead of selecting all the culprit verts

individually we can tick the Select Element box

at the base of the window (highlighted in red)

and then move the whole piece across. You

will also notice that the outer verts of the other

half of the ear are highlighted in blue. These

correspond with the verts that occupy the same

space on the actual model and are welded

together. The idea is that if we wish to unwrap

the model in large sections we know which verts

to weld in the Edit UVWs window which we will

do next.

9. First thing to do is move the inner faces of

the ear outside and scale them to match the

outer facing sections. At the moment the two

halves have the same orientation so the newly

mapped faces need to be ipped horizontally.

Select all the verts and click on the symbol

ringed in red along the top of Fig 09. Now select

the left edge of verts and you will see the ones

that correspond in blue alongside.

10. Make sure that the two sections of the

ear are very close and then region select two

adjacent verts and then right click and you will

see four context sensitive quads appear. Scroll

down and click on Weld Selected as shown in

Fig 10. To make sure you weld both open the

Options by clicking on the tab in the bottom

right (highlighted in yellow) and turn the Weld

Threshold up to 10.0. As open edges are welded

so some of the green seam lines become white

to indicate they are now closed.


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Fig11

Fig12

11. As we mentioned earlier we shall now go on

and x the two stray polys along the top edge.

In Fig 11 we can see how the edge traced in red

mirrors the seam line across the head model

in the viewport. What we really want is a neat,

straight line running from the neck to the top of

the scalp. Select the two verts in red, right click

and then click on Break as shown in the image.

12. Tick the Select Element box and then

move this poly across to the right side where it

belongs as shown in Fig 12. You do not need to

worry about welding it up for now. We now have

two sets of two verts which we need to weld

together to close the three open edges seen in

green on the left. Region select the two groups

ringed in red and then weld them to close the

edges.


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Fig13

Fig14

13. Close the UVW Unwrap window, apply

an Edit Mesh modier on top of the stack and

then select the half of the head in sub-object

poly mode that has not had the ear unwrapped.

Delete these polys and then apply another UVW

Unwrap. Now move the verts around along the

top edge using the checker map as a guide

to improve the distortion across the scalp. Do

not worry about it being perfect as there will be

some degree of stretching but it will eventually

be concealed by the hair anyway. You should

aim for something similar to the shape in Fig 13

with a nice neat seam line through the center.

14. Close the window and collapse the stack

and then in sub-object poly mode duplicate the

head and neck area that has been mapped.

With this new half selected apply a UVW

Unwrap and you will notice that you see an

exact copy what we have done so far. This is

because duplicate geometry carries with it any

mapping co-ordinates that have been applied.

Move the entire unwrap aside away from its

current position. Now close the window, weld the

two halves of the head together and then select

all the polys that make up the head / neck.

Apply another UVW Unwrap and you will notice

that you have two identical halves. Flip the

newly unwrapped section and then move them

next to one another so the central line of verts

overlap down the middle of the face as seen in

Fig 14. Turn the Weld Threshold down to 0.01

(bottom right) and then with all the central verts

selected click on Weld Selected. You shouldnow have a completely mapped head with a

seam around the base of the neck and from the

top of the forehead to the top of the shoulders.


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Fig15

Fig16

15. Now it is time to move onto the torso. Select

the front half of the body from the neck line

down to the trousers and half way around the

side as seen in Fig 15. As with the ears apply a

Planar map whilst in the front viewport making

sure to then click on View Align and then Bitmap

Fit under the Alignment parameters.

16. Follow the same procedure for the back

to complete the torso area and then with all of

these polys selected in sub-object mode apply

an Unwrap UVW. In Fig 16 you can see that

I have moved the two pieces alongside one

another with the intention of welding the verts

highlighted in the top left which run under the

arm. You will also notice that the two sections

have been moved outside the template and are

currently of a lower resolution than the face due

to the larger checker pattern.


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Fig17

Fig18

17. In Fig 17 you can see that the verts have

now been welded and the section scaled to

make it more consistent with the head. You will

have to re adjust the verts in the Edit window

once welded in order to reduce some of the

distortion.

18. Now it is time to deal with the limbs. As you

saw with the head any mapped geometry that

is duplicated retains its mapping co-ordinates

and so to save time delete one complete leg

from the waist down (inset 1 in Fig 18). Now

select all the polys that make up the trousers

barring the three quads under the groin (inset

2). Apply a Cylindrical map making sure to click

on Fit and then rotate the gizmo so the green

line is aligned with the inside edge as closely

as possible (see main image). Then Unwrap

this section exactly as we have done before.

The basic procedure that will be repeated

throughout this tutorial is to select polys in

sub-object mode, apply the UVW Mapping

modier followed by the Unwrap UVW. Then

apply another Edit Mesh on top of the stack and

when the stack gets a little too big just collapse

it you will not loose any of the mapping!


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Fig19

Fig20

19. You can follow the same procedure with

the lower leg using a cylindrical map and then

transforming the verts in the Edit UVWs window

to rene the mapping. With regard to the feet

simply apply a planar map from the left and

right sides as seen in Fig 19. You can see in

the top views that the gizmo has been rotated

to better align it with the general direction of the

polygons.

20. When both sides have been mapped

unwrap the whole foot except the sole and then

rotate and move the two respective sections

together as seen in Fig 20. Weld the two edges

of verts within the red rectangle to close the

seam line seen running down the top of the foot

on the right. Then tweak the vert positions to

minimize any obvious distortion.


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Fig21

Fig22

21. Now it is on to the arms using the same

procedure again really. In Fig 21 you can see a

cylindrical map being applied to the left arm. It

runs from a line at the top of the shoulder down

to the wrist. You can see that I have rotated the

gizmo to follow the orientation of the arm using

its local co-ordinates (highlighted in red along

the main tool bar). You will also notice in the

inset that I have positioned the green seam line

on the inside of the arm in a less conspicuous

place. When you select new groups of Polys

you will automatically be creating a seam line

along the boundary at which the selection ends

and so it is important to think about where to

place these. Adhere to natural seams in order

to ease the texturing process such as the top of

the trousers and edge of the armour but other

than that decide on where they will be least

visible.

22. In Fig 22 you can see that the seam lines

on the limbs are on the inside as this is usually

the least visible area. This means that if there

are any problems with edges not matching

exactly on the nal texture they will be less

noticeable here. On the torso you can see one

seam line on one side under the left arm and

there is one above the top and one below the

trousers. This is a good area to have them

ensuring a sharp edge to where the texture

changes on the character, similarly with the

shoulder armour on the right arm. The seam

line down the front of the trousers and face

will eventually disappear when the mesh is

complete.


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Fig23

Fig24

23. When the leg is fully unwrapped it is time

to copy it over and weld it to the main body. In

Fig 23 you can see the duplicate leg on the right

which is still a separate object. Before welding

it up move the UVWs of which the trouser

section is shown in the window on the left. With

the entire leg section shifted over now weld the

mesh together.

The hand can also be mapped and then copied

over and re-scaled but you may want to map the

two arms separately as they are slightly different

it is up to you really.

24. Now it is time for the armour pieces the

rst of which is the main shoulder section. As

this is symmetrical we can delete one half to

start with. Before we start to map it we are going

to alter the pivot point. Click on the hierarchy

tab at the top of the Modify panel and then on

the Pivot tab (highlighted in yellow in Fig 24).

This will show the pivot point of the object in

question (the three arrows in the main window).

We need to align this with the center of the open

edge as seen in the image. You can do this by

clicking on the Align tool on the main toolbar

and then entering the values as shown in the

dialogue box on the left. If your pivot point has a

different orientation you will need to change the

parameters accordingly but the main thing is to

get the pivot point aligned with the open edge

even if it is not central.


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Fig25

Fig26

25. Now map both sides separately using a

planar map, rotating the gizmo to keep the

checker pattern as accurate as possible (Fig

25). Once done, duplicate the piece by rst

selecting the whole object and then clicking on

the Mirror tab on the main toolbar.

26. When the dialogue box opens select the

No Clone radio button and either the X, Y or Z

radio button above to give you what we see in

Fig 26. You can use exactly the same methods

to map all the armour pieces. In the case of the

accessories you can planar map all of these and

will not need to do anything different to what

we have done already. Once you have nished

with the armour and clothing it is time to move

onto the hair. Because there are many pieces

that make up this area it is unnecessary to

individually map every element as it would take

up far too much texture space. There will be just

under fty separate meshes that make up the

hair but we will only have to map nine of these.

The idea is that we map the nine sections and

then duplicate them to make up the rest of the

hair.


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Fig27

Fig28

27. These groupings are visible in Fig 27 and

are colour co-ordinated to show how they have

been organised. In the top right you can see

that the front three polys have been separately

mapped (numbers 1-3). Along the top of the

head there are three blue polys so you would

only map/unwrap one and then copy this twice,

snapping the verts to line up exactly with the

remaining groups. There will off course be a

bit of stretching on the checkermap as each of

the meshes varies slightly but nothing serious.

When this is done delete the two redundant

versions and then repeat this until you have

completed the rest of the hair pieces.

28. When the hair section is mapped you can

attach the front three sections to the main body

as shown in red in Fig 28 but leave the rest of

the hair pieces as separate objects; the reason

for which shall be revealed next. Select the main

body and apply an Unwrap UVW and then move

the three front hair pieces in line with the top of

the forehead, scaling them accordingly.


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Fig29

Fig30

29. In order to save even more texture space

select the row of verts highlighted in red in

Fig 29 and Break them. Now move the right

element of the head over to the left and overlay

it with the area marked in green by ipping it

horizontally. The reason is that this section of

the head will be under the hair and therefore

carry little detail and so can be symmetrical.

More importantly the face area which is the

focal point can still look different on both sides

as it is mapped in its entirety. The two small

purple polys should also be broken from the

main lattice and overlapped to make way for the

three hair pieces which you can see have been

welded to the forehead on the right. The purple

and green areas showing the vertices now

represent both halves of the head thus saving

space which means that we can now paint a

smooth transition between the face and hair

line. The three hair polys on the right of the face

represent all ve front pieces and mean we are

also saving more space.

30. This concludes the mapping section of the

exercise and now we need to assign a material

to our mesh in preparation for texturing by

dragging the material onto each and every

mesh. Open up the Material Editor and select

one of the example slots. Click on the Standard

tab (highlighted in red in Fig 30) and select

Multi/Sub-Object from the browser. You will

be prompted with a Replace Material box ;

just click OK as either option is ne. You will

now see ten sub-materials under the Basic

Parameters click on Delete at the top of the

window until you see only three remaining.

Notice how the material is now a Multi/Sub-

Object material that contains three Standard

materials.


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Chapter 06

Fig31

Fig32

31. Now name these accordingly as shown in

Fig 31. You can also change the colour of the

materials by clicking on the small colour swatch

on the right so you can easily identify each one

on the model. On the left of the labels is an ID

column and this corresponds to an ID number

that is assigned at the sub-object poly level.

You can see that ID 1 represents the main

body, 2 is the armour and 3 will be assigned

to the hair. Now we need to select each of the

meshes that make up our character and assign

the appropriate numbers. So in sub-object poly

mode select all the polys that make up the body

and then scroll down to the Surface Properties

Material and choose 1 next to Set ID. These

should now adopt the colour schemes in the

editor (in this case grey). Go on and assign the

rest of the ID numbers to the model as indicated

in the picture. If you wish to select all polys of a

certain ID number then use the spinner arrows

in the Select ID box and then click on the tab

next to it.

32. Now select the hair material and check the

2 Sided tickbox as seen in Fig 32 under the

Basic Parameters. This will enable the hair to

be visible from both back and front and mean

it will look thicker as we orientate around the

character. You can see how the polys are now

also apparent from behind our character on

the right of the picture. Now as you remember

from earlier on in the tutorial we unwrapped

each of the meshes that make up our character.

Before we begin the texturing phase we need

to arrange all of our pieces into a template that

we will export as a wireframe and will represent

our nal texture layout. As there are so many

elements they will not comfortably t into one

template and so we need to split them into two

separate ones.


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Fig33

Fig34

33. In order to see all the unwrapped geometry

together we will have to attach all the pieces of

geometry into a single mesh temporarily. Select

the main body and then click on Attach in the

modify panel and then select the remaining

meshes as shown in Fig 33. You can see in the

picture that the model on the right is a single

mesh by the highlighted geometry where as

the left version does not yet include some

of the armour. When you apply an Unwrap

UVW modier you will now see every piece of

geometry in the edit window and what you need

to do now is decide which pieces to put into

which template. This is entirely subjective and

does not ultimately matter but keep the various

pieces intact when you divide them up and avoid

splitting individual pieces across two different

templates. You may decide to try and keep the

head and body parts together or split them up

depending on how you wish to make use of

the space available. You will inevitably need to

re-size certain elements and I advise that you

afford a bit more space to more detiled aspects

such as the face and hands for example.

Sometimes certain shapes t better together

and mean less wasted space but again it is a

personal choice how you divide everything.

Arrange as many of your chosen pieces as

you can into the template and then close

the dialogue box. Now make sure the same

elements are attached as a single object. You

will need to Detach pieces from the character

and then re-attach them in the same manner as

before in order to do this. You will have to do this

in sub-object mode and to make things easier

you can make selections in sub-object Element

mode (next to polygon mode). This will enable

you to select entire elements of geometry.

The remaining pieces can then be attached

into a second mesh that can be unwrapped in

one piece and these will make up the secondtemplate.

34. In Fig 34 you can see that the three


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Chapter 06

Fig35

Fig36

characters show the three ID groups : A. body

B. Armour and C hair. You should endeavour to

keep the elements intact but can combine them

in any way you see t. For example you could

place the body polys in A with the hair in C as

well as shoulder piece 2 in B. Once you have

arranged all of the geometry into two separate

unwraps you are ready to export them both.

35. In order to get the wireframe templates

that will act as your guide you need to install

Texporter a free plugin available to Max.

Once installed click on the Utilities tab on the

Modify toolbar and select it from the list under

the More tab. You will be faced with a set of

options similar to those seen on the right in Fig

35. At the top you can specify the size of the

Image which in this case will be 1024x1024 as

shown. Under Display make sure to uncheck all

the tickboxes except Edges. If the model were a

single mesh and the polys were divided into two

ID groups then you could tick the Only ID box

and enter the relevant number next to it but in

this instance we have two separate meshes that

represent our two templates so this is irrelevant.

IN the Colourize section below choose Constant

and set the colour to white. Now click on the

Pick Object tab seen in yellow and select the

mesh. You will now see a window appear which

mimics our UVW co-ordinates. Save this image

by clicking on the Save Bitmap icon on the

toolbar and then repeat this procedure for the

second mesh.

36. You should now have two templates that

between them represent the entire character.

Before we begin texturing there is one nal

thing to do. You will have noticed throughout

the tutorials so far that the geometry has looked

very angular with numerous hard edges. We are

now going to iron out the creases by applying

smoothing to various polygons which willhelp disguise the limited amount of geometry

important when modelling for games. Having

a hard edge is important in some areas and


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deciding where these boundaries will lie is a

determining factor when assigning smoothing. The

way to go about this is to rst select a number of

polys in sub-object mode and then scroll down

to the Surface Properties Smoothing Groups

section and click on the Auto Smooth tab which

is set at a default of 45 degrees. You can see

in Fig 36 that the hair has been selected and

the difference this has made on the right hand

character much softer ! If your character is made

up of separate meshes then you can go through

each piece individually and follow this procedure.

If some of the angles or edges remain sharp

simply increase the angle and try again until you

are satised.

37. When you wish to retain a hard edge on a single object you may

nd it is best to assign separate smoothing groups as shown in Fig 37.

The polys that make up the arm shown in red have been assigned as

group 2 where as the rest of the body has been assigned as group 1. The

advantage of doing this is that you will have more control over where hard

edges remain. In the lower inset in the top left you can see an example

of an Auto smooth applied to both the arm and body together and the

remaining two edges that look sharper than the rest. In the picture above

the arm has been assigned a separate smoothing group whereby the

angle can be modied until the upper edge is also smooth. The problem

with not assigning separate groups is that in order to soften any unwanted

sharp edges you may end up over compensating on the rest of the model

and giving it the appearance of a clay maquette that has been placed

under running water. This technique preserves hard edges where you

require them but also allows different settings for selection groups giving

the user more control.

38. When you have been through the entire model and completed this

task all you need to do now is load the two wireframe templates onto the

mesh ready to begin texturing. You should now see a black character

overlayed with a wireframe guide as seen in Fig 38. This concludes the

mapping stage of the tutorial phew ! It has been a length

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