Improve Blender modelling skills

[acs]

Ok, it is time to improve my skills modelling in Blender in order to create our characters. Until now I have used sculpture for modelling, but there are other techniques.

• Blender doc: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/index.html (features)

[acs]

Metaballs help in quick modelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-vXl-6lhcw Maybe could we use it for prototyping? In this video is used as the input for sculpting (same here). Not sure about the results for animating.

[acs]

To start with, this tutorial seems to be the right one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAumJRKV6A

This tutorial is wonderful to understand basic modeling. As a summary:

• Work with the mirror modifier to only work in one side of the model (if it is symmetric)
• All the work is mostly done working with vertex, edges and faces, moving, rotating and scaling them, and extruding to grow the model in the needed ways.

I plan to redo totally the tutorial and to add my resulting model to this issue. Let's go!

(This approach is using low poly, which it is better for animation and games. The other modelling approach is sculpting which needs to apply retropology to lower the number of final polys).

[acs]

The practice is going a bit slow but with nice results. Once I finish my first model and understand well the basic practices, I will recreate the model improving it. Its current status (not finished yet the modelling of the head)

Current stats of the model:

• 94 faces
• 206 edges
• 113 vertices
• 187 triangles

The low number of vertices is a bit surprising. I am modelling with rectangles, not sure how the translation to triangles is done.

[acs]

To be improved:

• Arms too wide: the base of the arm must be smaller
• The neck is too narrow

[acs]

Ok, first try completed. The model: https://github.com/Voxelers/3d/blob/master/animations/models/basicPersonFirstTry.blend

The result:

I have to improve it a lot and the main issue is to have in mind the final result during the process. But I am happy with the result and, in special, to learn how to do it. Once I improve the techniques I can model anything in 3D. The basic steps are:

• If your model is symmetric work on this mode from the start
• Add new geometry with
  • Extrusion
  • Slicing
• Model the geometry selecting vertices, edges or faces and
  • Move
  • Rotate
  • Scale

[acs]

Another really interesting technique for modelling is using metaballs. It is very quick to prototype with metaballs and after it, you can use sculpting to improve the model.

A quick 5 min tutorial very illustrative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-vXl-6lhcw

[acs]

There is a plugin for Blender called Model With Speed: https://github.com/akuspel/mws

It helps for example in mirroring metaballs.

But mirroring metaballs can be done also manually: https://community.gamedev.tv/t/meta-ball-mirroring-symmetry-without-plugins/150965

[acs]

With metaballs once I understood how to work mirroring, it is really fast to create models.

[acs]

A quick 1min video showing howto create a model, convert to mesh, make the model symmetric so you can start working with the model from a more healthy status. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zyxBWQXsc8

[acs]

In order to mirror metaballs:

• Create a first metaball
• Duplicate it: with the metaball selected, press SHIFT-D
• With the duplicate already selected, press ALT-D to create a linked copy
• With the linked copy selected, press CTRL-M X to mirror using the X-axis and press enter
• With the linked copy selected, change from Object mode to Edit mode
• With the linked copy selected, start moving and adding new metaballs