Head modeling process

[Vikki]

Ok, I think I'm getting the hang of it sort of but for those of you who do the people modeling/painting can you give me a clue as to the order in which you model your faces?

I just realized with the friar below that if you model the cheeks first and then the nose that you end up with a less "monkey" looking face. With practice I'll get that down but my real problem with heads is the ears. Eventually I'll get mouths so I'm not worried as they improve with practice. It's just those derned ears.

When in the process of modeling the head do you model the ears? I can see that the order in which you do things makes a difference so I was just wondering what the rest of you do.

Anyway in my practice for heads and my beginnings with bodies I ended up with my friar below who has something behind his back in one hand and is asking the question:

"Which hand do you pick?"

[upham]

Hi again Vikki,
I personally don't make the model in any
particular order. The only certain things I
do is make sure the head is the correct shape
relevant to the shape of the skull


Remember the side-view of the skull is basically
two elipses. One lying horizontal and the other
vertical.


Next I make the eye-sockets, which are quite square.
-In EDIT-DRAW I draw into the head for a mouth
-Change to EDIT-MOVE to shape the mouth
-Change to EDIT_DRAW and buldge-out a nose, then
a draw "into" the mesh to create nostrils. Maybe a
bit of EDIT-Move to shape the nose a little.


For the ears...
-In EDIT-DRAW I turn up the Draw-size and turn down
the z-intensity and draw a soft mound on the side of
the head
-Then I change to EDIT-MOVE and turn the draw-size down
small and the Z-Intensity back up high and start to sculpt
the inside of the ear - pushing it in to create a lip.


Looking at the top of the head, I basically increase
the size of the brush and push in the directions
of the arrows illustrated.
Don't worry if the ears look too big at this stage.
BIG is good. We can shrink big-ears once we have
finished adding the detail.


With the basic shape in place I increase the mesh
density. To do this I draw a mask on the area I want
to change (the ears) and inverse it and then click
the DIVIDE. If you want a more detailed explaination
check out THIS thread.

I end up with more polygons in the ears. This means I
can make more detail in the ears.


I can decrease the ears evenly, by masking the area
again and then inversing it, and in the DEFORMATION
palette I move the SIZE slider down - BUT first I turn
off the "X" direction. (this palette will look different
if you are using a version of ZBrush eariler than
Version 1.23)


Once the ears are shrunk you can move them closer into
the head via a top-view
You can unmask the model after this point.


If you want to zoom in I suggest useing the TOOLS>
MODIFIERS>DEFORMATION subpalette and use the SIZE
on the WHOLE model (make sure "X" is turned back on!)
The whole model will increase in size like it is
zoomed in. You can use the "+" and "-" keys to zoom
but it gets pretty "pixely".

In the picture below I have masked off an area I
don't like and inversed it, and then SMOOTHED it out
by using the SMOOTH slider in the DEFORMATION subpalette.


And with a bit more pushing and pulling, that's
basically how I create my ears.


UPHAM

[Digits]

Great tutorial, thanks for taking the time to whip this up, it is a help to me and I am sure alot of other people as well.

[Vikki]

Absolutely fantastic explanation!! Thank you.

Well, leave it to me to be so unimaginative as to never turn the head while I'm modeling it. No wonder I'm having trouble with the ears and I'd hate anyone to see what a head looks like from behind when I'm done with it. Certainly nothing as neat and clean as yours. And the shape, well, we best not get into what kind of shape a skull is in after I'm done messing with it.

Your tutorial is fantastic and I'll start practicing with it immediately.

Thanks again!

[Muvlo]

Cool info Upham!
I have to say I'm shocked to see someone who actually makes the correct head shape. This is not one of my er....specialties.
Great ears!

Also, nice monk Vikki. I like his robe.

[Vikki]

Thanks Muvlo

Upham...

The tutorial is terrific and works a charm. With a little practice I'll be turning out ears by the dozens.

[upham]

Good to see you understood it Vikki.
Let's see some results!! (nag, nag)
Upham

[Vikki]

They's a comin'...

I want to do justice to the tutorial you wrote so I want to be sure that the head and ears are just right, not exactly as good as yours but, more conventional that what I've been doing.

I should have a finished product soon.....