From yesterday's venture into the face, we move down to the torso and arms. First off, I'd like to point out that the human body has no sharp edges. However, low-polygon 3d modelers have to deal with the fact that we can only use edges and shading to emulate curvature. high-polygon 3d modelers can use bezier splines and lots of triangles to make curvy stuff. For example, Lara Croft of Tomb Raider is a curvy person. But in Tomb Raider 1, her breasts looked like Madonna's breasts. In the second one, they added a few more triangles to make it curvier. In the third she got another breast job and they even worked on getting the bounciest right. For crying out loud, it's not rocket science, is it? For low polygon modelling, the shape is more important. In fact, the viewer can distort themselves to see what the person's curvature really looks like. Guys need a barrel shape for the chest. However, that's no reason to make it a box. They have ribs and then the fleshy part between the pelvis and the ribs. When he sits, they almost touch. That's why rumor is that Marilyn Manson had surgery to get rid of his lowest ribs. But that doesn't interest us much. This torso thing is very important for animation. If you don't belive me, check yourself. The shoulder ought to slope down a bit, but they should not slope too much. I'd say 10 degrees from the horizontal is okay. I personally have no structure to my shoulder, but some people do. It's apparent in a few poses, so beware. The arms are pretty complex. It's hard to get them right, but you'll know when they are. To know that they are good, check from every angle. If it looks right from the front and side, that just means that you're forced to look at the person from the front and side because the 3d view will look terrible. I think these arms are about 80%. Important parts are: top of shoulder joint, armpit, outside of elbow, inside of elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand. The width of the arm should not vary a bunch. But within that small limitation, stretch it a lot. The bicep must be curved, the forearm must be straight and become thinner as it goes to the wrist. I must say: do not use a box or a cylinder. I had to do it vertex by vertex and it's a mess, but it looks right in 3d at all angles.
Today's lesson is on morphing. You might recognize this girl. Perhaps the hair or skin color gives her away. She used to be a guy.. =P But not exactly. The previous "Making Of" had Sensei and a guy whose model was used to create this girl's face. She might not look very good, but que cera cera... I wanted it to be a guy, but the girl worked out better, so I said heck with it. So I changed the eyes, eyebrows, hair, nose, mouth, and jaw to get her face. The eyes I decided to completely redo just so that the eyes wouldn't look alike. The eyebrows, I moved a few vertices into a different arrangement so that it's look less groomed. The nose was just a simple girlish nose, no big deal. For the jaw, I moved the wide part up and out, the thinner part I moved out and up also. The rest of the body is original. I just quickly connected a few dots and did a few calculations for the body parts. The legs didn't turn out too well. I think it started with the hips being too thin. But for a thirty minute CG lesson on morphing, I am going to let it be.
Well, I finally got the second character for Scene 3. He looks like a neanderthal. That's what I get for trying to use The Loomis Project to create anime figures. Well, it's not all that bad, but it doesn't work well with my style. More about my style in the next paragraph. But for now, I will teach you what I know about how to make a character. First, start with an image in your mind. If you wait until it's on paper or computer, you're certain not to get what you intend (since you intend nothing and will likely get something). Then, start with the jaw. The jaw is easy for anime because it's made of three steps that can be curved. The first is the chin. For guys, you want to make this almost horizontal. For girls, it must be very gentle. Then, the next step is the actual jaw. It should be 40-70 degrees from the vertical. That's a lot of spread, but I've seen both extremes used very well. Someone with a second step that is 40 degrees from the vertical will have a slender face no doubt about it. That means that the chin has to be wider and more horizontal and the third step has to be shallower. Someone with a second step that is 80 degrees from the vertical will have a wide face. This is good for girls, although at 80, they'll likely be chubby. A short second step works with 80 degrees well. The third step is the almost vertical part in front of the ear, often the cheeks. Most likely it will be close to vertical, but that depends on the second step a lot. From the third step to the hair is a semicircle pretty much. Well, this lesson should end there. I'll get on with eyes, ears, nose, hair, and mouth later.
Oh my gosh. I just lost a very long, very important lesson. *sigh* Haven't I learned yet to save often and backup even more often? I guess not. Here's the part that I want to rewrite:
