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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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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.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Fig01
Fig02
Part 4
Modelling the Hairand Clothing
Introduction:Welcome to the fourth installment in the series
which will provide a step by step guide to
building a low poly character based upon a
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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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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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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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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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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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
which will provide a step by step guide to
building a low poly character based upon a
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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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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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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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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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