Cartoon character modeling

Here is the face of Mongi that I will be modeling. I had to re-do him again from scratch. Completed version got wiped off when my PC crashed a few days ago. As you can see knowing what to do to recover from disaster is very important. I hope you won't have to go through that, but if you do, start things from scratch again. It can be a great learning experience. 

 

Mongo, the Hunter.

The most difficult part of modeling the human face is done when you see these result 

 

Select plane from Add menu. Use G and S keyboard shortcuts to move it ...

...closer to the axis of symmetry as shown below. (The blue arrow pointing upwards is sitting on the Axis of Symmetry)

Apply the Mirror Modifier

For a problem-free modeling, make sure that the settings of the Mirror modifier are as indicated below

 

Basically modeling involves extruding, and then using G, R, and S keyboard shortcuts to Move, Rotate and Scale your extrusions. When and how to use these tools depends on he result you want

A list of keyboard shortcuts you gonna need

I have highlighted all those shortcuts that you are most likely to use more often than others to model your 3D character(s) or just anything else for that matter.



Select: Right Click

Pan: Middle Click

Zoom: Mouse Wheel

Make Face: F

Extrude: E (Key function for 3D modeling!)

Move: G (Grab selection and move it)

Rotate: R

Scale: S

Toolbar: T

Properties: N (You’ll need this to load your background images, then hide it to make some extra space)

Save File: Ctrl + S (Blender doesn’t remind or prompt you to save when you quit it)

Render: F12

Undo: Ctrl + Z (Yes. As in normal Windows Applications)

Top View: Numpad 7

Front View: Numpad 1

Side View: Numpad 3

Ortho View: Numpad 5 (important for tracing your reference / background imges)

Pictorial summary of the Ref Image Setup for easy Recall

Opening Background Images. Things work a little differently in this version of Blender.

Blender's File browser is completely different from Window's. 

After you have located your files, it is a good thing to ensure that the views are exactly as indicated in the picture. This is very important.

3D character modeling from ref. images

Now that we have setup the reference images, you may start tracing them.

•  The main reason I’m using these hand-drawn images is that I want to show you that it takes a very simple start to achieve great results, the challenge is knowing which options to follow from start to finish.
•  The other reason is that since this is about making your own movie (without spending a cent, of course), why not pick up a pencil and paper and start outlining your own envisaged cartoon character if you have some drawing skills. 
• Alternatively, you may already have a character that you may wish to model into a 3D cartoon character and animate. Why not use that character right away, right now?

When I started with 3D modeling I found the nose to be the most difficult part of the face to model. Things may be quite different for you. So I will start at the nose because it is lying on the axis of symmetry. You may start anywhere as long as it is along the axis of symmetry.

(The Blue Z-axis arrow in this image is sitting at the Axis of Symmetry)

Press Shift+A to bring up the Add Menu: click Plane to add a plane to your view. Resize it as shown. (Resizing = Select the plane, press S and drag).

My PC crashed a few days ago...

....and as a result some of the material that i had prepared for this resource has been wiped off. I'm currently trying to re-do and rearrange things. I have managed to recover some few items while I will have to do the rest from the scratch. I should be back in a few days to start where left off.

Setting up the background / reference images.

I am working with Blender 2.6, so I will advise you to use the same version to keep things simple between us.

I will be using the above picture as reference images to model my 3D character. You may be using a different picture. That’s fine as long as it has both the Front and the Side view images.    

Fig. 3

You will have to hide the Tools window to add some more space to the views. You can always access your Tools quickly through keyboard shortcuts. Toggle between hide/show by pressing T on your keyboard.



Fig.4











After splitting the Viewport into two, move your mouse to the left view and hit 5 and then 1 on your NumPad. (Make sure the NumLock button is ON). Then move your mouse over to the right view and hit 5 and then 3. This will change your views to Ortho Front and Ortho Side, which is what we want to be able to trace our ref. images accurately.

After clicking "Open", browse to the Folder where your reference picture is stored. Load the image.

Browse for your reference images...

Blender uses a different kind of window for saving or opening your files.

Your viewports should now look like this...

You have finished setting up your reference images. Next we will be getting to the fun stuff.

I hope you managed to get to this stage successfully. If you have any queries about this resource do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. The might be errors, tyops, etc here and there or just a statement that doesn't make sense to you. If you pick up any such nonsesnse, please bring it to my attention. 

There'll be more resources coming up....

Blender Basics … continued

The best way to learn how to use the application is to actually use it. There are however very important things that you will have to know before you get started. You will have to forget much about how you use the mouse in Windows applications. For an example, usually to select something in Windows Applications you right-click it. And to access the properties of the selected object you may have to right-click it. Well in Blender things work a little differently so keep the following in mind:

1. You want to select something in viewport? Right-click it!

2. You don’t have to click to make a window active, just move your mouse over it.

3. Use keyboard shortcut to select a Tool (e.g. S to Scale, R to Rotate, etc), then just move the mouse (no dragging), to carry out the command.

Get the above tips into your genes from the start if you really want to work quickly in Blender.

Blender Basics

One thing that I really enjoy about modeling with Blender is the quick manner in which I work. This is made possible by all the keyboard shortcuts that you use while working on your model. In fact, the ideal way to work quickly with Blender is to use both hands: Your left hand on your keyboard (to quickly access shortcuts), and your right one on the mouse.
When you first launch Blender you will realize that there are 3 default objects on your workspace: a cube, a camera and a lamp. We will be manipulating this cube to model the head of our first character. There are three(or so) keyboard shortcuts that we will be focusing on (at least for today) to achieve this, viz E (to Extrude whatever is selected), S (to Scale/reSize whatever is selected ), R (to Rotate selection) and maybe G (to Grab whatever is selected).

Oh yes you will also be using the TAB keyboard shortcut to toggle between the Object Mode and the Edit Mode. (You will be switching back and forth a lot between these two modes as you work).

Here are some of the few things that you should keep in mind before we begin.
 Unlike other major 3D applications, Right-clicking and Left-clicking have a different implementation in Blender. You will be Right-clicking to make a selection, while Left-clicking will be used to carry out the command of the selected tool. For an example, you want to move or resize the cube on your space right now? Select it (by Right-clicking it, of course). Press S to select the Scale tool, then right-click and drag (to the left to make it smaller or to the right to make it bigger). Left-click to stop the resize action if you are happy with the new size OR right-click to abort the operation altogether, in which case the cube will jump back to its previous size.
Using both the mouse and the keyboard at the same time has proven to be a very powerful and faster way for me to work. I hope you will also find it helpful.

 Blender User Interface

On 2nd thought...

Since you do not want to pay a cent to create your movie, I have on 2nd thought decided to show you how to create a professional production without spending a dime.

I am still going to come back to Max to help you create other characters for your movie, I promise.


There is a very good modeling and animation software called Blender. It is very powerful despite its smaller size compared to other commercial options such as Maya or Max. But most importantly, Blender is absolutely FREE! Download this software here. Installation on all major operating systems is very easy and straight forward.

If you are used to softwares such as Maya or Max, you may find Blender a bit different and not so user-friendly. At least that was the impression I got when I first started with Blender a few years ago. But once you have appreciated this different approach to 3D modelling,  then you will see how quick you can achieve good things with Blender.

MODELING A 3D CHARACTER

Modeling a 3D character - Intro

The other reason I prefer starting with the head is that the personality of your character can be communicated by the character's face better than any other body part.(Nature itself starts with the head when it creates humans).


Even though i will be using Max to model my 3D character, the technique I will be using can be applied in any other 3D modeling software. It basically involves tracing background images with extruded edges of the polygons. This is very basic, so even if you are new to Max (or any 3d modeling software) the technique is the same. Creating an organic shape such as ahuman head can very tedious, so a lot of patience is expected from you.

If you are new Max you may decide to start with the torso which is much easier to model than than the head. That way when you move on to model the head you will be familiar with basic techniques.

You will use the Front and the Side view of the images to create your 3D model. When you have finished with head we will move on to make it talk and do all sorts of funny expressions such as smile, frown, etc. Once that has been completed we can now connect the head to the torso and animate it.

Let's begin...

Characters

First thing that you need to create is the characters for your movie. You may search the web for inspiration on creating exciting characters for your movie.

once you have decided on the character you would like to model, you can oppen your 3d modelling software. Even though I have some experience with apps. such as Maya and Blender, for this tutorial i will be using 3DS Max 9.

I dont know about you but i prefer to start with the head when I'm modelling a human character. Basic reason for this is that i tend to achieve so much so quick: For an example, once the head has been completed, I can start making my character talk right away with morph targets. (This is simply a process of making a number of duplicates of the head you have just modelled, then tweak them around to achieve a wide variety of facial expresions with each of them).

 That way your character can start talking and making all sorts of expressions even before it has the rest of the body! You may even start using your Close-Ups right away.