Modelling - Part 2

In place of a lecture we had one of our tutors, Amin, teach us how to make a basic mesh of a human head in Maya. Unfortunately I was absent for this session due to ill-health, but one of my classmates kindly showed me what I'd missed. I knew that seeing the process alone would not help me remember it for very long, so I decided to do it myself and document the process so I could make my own pdf tutorial for future reference.

In a follow up session the next week, we learned how to use the software, 'Sculptris'. Similar to Mudbox and Zbrush, 'Sculptris' is a modelling tool comparable to sculpting a sphere of clay, but digitally. We started by importing a basic head mesh into the programme and experimenting with the tools it has to offer, such as 'grab', 'smooth', 'pinch' and 'crease'. I used these to give my mesh some more characteristic features, such as high cheekbones and a cleft chin.

We were then asked to create five different facial expressions, retaining the volume of the head. This was great for studying facial expressions and learning how to manipulate specific parts of the face in order to create the look wanted. However, in a real working scenario it is more likely that facial expressions are achieved through rig controls, not the mesh itself. As well as this, the polygon count was incredibly high for something that would be used for animation purposes, not to mention the fact that 'Sculptris' favours Tris over Quads - both factors would result in many problems when imported into Maya. Therefore, although it was useful for practice, in future I will opt for Mudbox or Zbrush over 'Sculptris'.

We also had an ex-Rave student come in to talk to us about modelling, whose portfolio of work was outstanding. He ran a quick workshop at the end of his talk where he asked us all to model a washer. After a good 15 minutes of frustration and experimentation, he showed us his workflow, and we picked up some knowledge of which tools to use, such as 'bevel'. Although it's by no means perfect, I'm happy with the finished result, and the talk has motivated me to practice my modelling more.