The Models..............

Ok so I havn't posted anything in a while..... so here are the models I'v been working on so far. This time round I though I'v gotten a few tips from Ajdin on geometry. Even though the characters' geometry shouldn't cause too many problems even if they were badly done due to their basic forms, its still a usefull area to get better at for future projects.... plus by learnin effective geometry I'v managed to reduce the amount of polygons I have for a model, whilst still maintaining its smooth final outcome..............



All models were made using a poly cube........ this has sort of become my own method of modelling now, I litterally make nearly everything out of cubes, even curvaciuose objects like some of the more spheracle heads above........ I just use different modelling techniques (some which I have only reacenly learned with the new maya 8.5 package) to produce the desired rounded look afterwards......................

______________________________________________

Using the same body, to create the different Ci Boys characters who will feature in the animation all I'v had to do is simply create each one's own eye shape..... plus any extra bits, like T0-7's power button...........

....Deri....

....Poka....

....To-7....

Not too sure which eye to go for with T0-7 though...... in the render above, the eye on the top is beveled with one segment and smoothed with a division level of two, and it's the one who's appearance I prefer, but the bottom one, which just has a bevel segment of four, looks more like the actual characters eye........... so I think I'm gona have to go that one..............

______________________________________________

The proccess of going through different versions of each model and smoothing them in order to get the correctly serired look.......................

_______________________________________________

And a few examples of new tools and techniques I have learned in the modelling aspect of maya, which also help me work a little quicker quicker as they save me time from certain hastle............

Here, I'v descovered that adding loops to extruding bits of geometry, once smoothed it causes more of destinction between it and the main mesh, e.g. with this example above, the loop added using the Edge Loop tool in Maya close to the base of the ear cause less of a curve at the joining edges, resulting in the smoothed mesh keeping more of it's unsmoothed shape in that area..............

In this example, I'v descovered that by adding loops in geometry where it goes into a point, you can prevent the point from rounding itself off too much when smoothed. In the example above, I made use of the Cut Faces tool in Maya, where i selected all faces in that portion of the tail, and split them all in one go, and also in the shape reccuring direction, from the side view panel...........

One particular thing I have learned that saves me a HUGE amount of time from time to time is the To Edge Loop Utilities in Maya. Whenever you want to select edges that go all the way round a model, you just simply need to select one edge in the loop, then whikst holding down 'Ctrl' click and hold the right click button on your mouse, then shift over to Edge Loop Utilies, and there you have the options of selecting, duplicating, and even deleting every edge in that loop in one go.......... Above is an example of me using it on the Sam head for when I had to bring in the corner edges of the mesh (because it was moddelled from a cube) to bring them in and round off the model. Something I had to do with all the models......................

______________________________________________

The only model that didn't smooth the exact way I wanted it to was the Sam body....... it reduced in size too much, and moving out the vertices in the unsmoothed stage caused the body to take on a shape that didn't seem right............ but all I needed to do was just simply scale it out in all directions, and then scale it down vertically..........