Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 2
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects.
# 1 14-10-2007 , 07:47 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 13

Stitching parts together

Hi,

this is my first real "build", ive done some smaller things but nothing real. I am trying to make a squrriel, and i've followed some of Kurts tutorials here on the site. I used the Cartoon dog tutorial to make the body and the Orc head to make the head. I am planning to use blendshapes on the head at a later time.

The only thing i didnt think about is that the parts has a very different poly count. How to stich them good together? It gets messy around the neck. Look at the picture and you will understand...

I need more detailt in the head than i need in to body, so what is the normal approach for this?

(Press for bigger picture)

user added image

# 2 26-10-2007 , 10:09 PM
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my aproach would be to think about edgelooping first. basically I model the whole "thing" at once, means I dont model the head, then the torso, etc... I create a cube and cut/extrude/whatever. as a matter of fact I use extrude a lot. the extrude operation gives you a mesh which is distributed in a clean way in terms of edgelooping. I then flip faces to alter the loops and extrude again to create a denser mesh.

but you cant get completely away with haveing a highResolution mesh in one area and a very lowResolution mesh in the area beside it. try to distribute the mesh evenly. when you create blendshapes afterwards and try to animate it you will understand what I am talking about now.

have a look at maya´s masterclass DVDs from jeff unay he is called I think. he explanes some really cool hyperrealistic modeling techniques. the best tutorial on modeling in my opinion is from Freedom of Teach - Human Modeling. it doesnt matter if you like human modeling but it shows exactly how to get around the troubles you have.

gl!


everything starts and ends in the right place at the right time.
# 3 03-11-2007 , 03:10 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 131

hmmm...

Okay here is the thing. The model looks good so far. When you work with polys there is no way that you can attach vertices without adding geometry to complement for the added geometry. The only way to fix this is to erase some of the geometry. You don't need that amount of detail on the face. You always got to start thinking in low polys. Taking a closer look at the face I can see many edges that can be erased. Think of modeling like a stone cutter. You start with a big block. You reduce the big block into medium shapes, then into small shapes. When you're at the end, that's when the sculptor starts with the detail. Don't skip these steps and jump right into the detail. Took me a while to learn this.


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