Let's get started with the first character.

The movie that I will be making is very short – about 2 minutes or so. 

I will be making the first character using one of the techniques I have mentioned in my earlier posts.

To ensure that everybody can participate in this project I think it is a good idea to use Free, Open Source technology- I will be using Blender for most part of the tutorial instead of Max. Feel free to use anything you prefer.

You can download Blender here

Lets get started - yes, again.

I'm back after terribly long break from this blog. I've been busy on some project and i have really learnt a lot there. i will be sharing some of those experiences later when i continue my lessons from where I left off about a year ago!

The movie that i will be creating will have 3 characters. I will use three different approches to design these three Actors.

For the first Actor I will be using reference images. You can create your own reference images, get someone else to do it for you or search the internet for free reference images. There ‘s a couple of website where you can get free reference images. Just type in something like” reference images for 3d modeling” in a search engine search field and you should find a couple of reference images that you  can use.

 But I’m sure the reason you are reading this info in the first place is that you already have an idea of a character in mind that you will want to use.

 In that case, you really don’t have to be a good artist to sketch up the side view and the profile view of that character. You could use something like a graph book and pencil to quickly sketch up the face of your character and ensure that the position of . Yes, we will be starting with the face as the rest of the body is easy once you have learned how to create the face.

 The important thing to note here is to make sure that the position of the two views: side and front view DO MATCH.

Images don't match

This is perfect!

Once you have done that you can just simply refer to my earlier posts to see how these images should be set up in Blender.

Creating characters for your movie - in more than one way

I will show you a couple of ways in which you can create characters for your movie. In my last posts i tried to emphasise the importance of good topology for  a character that will later be animated. Once we have started working with stuff like lip synching, THEN you will begin to appreciate the importance of good topology.

FIRST WAY

I will start from where i left off a couple of months ago. I was gonna show one of the many ways in which thingsare modelled in Blender, then my PC crashed with all the relevant data and documents. So i gueess i will have to start afresh on clean slate.

Important things to remember before we start modeling...

When modeling a character that will later be used in animation, you will have to pay full attention to the topology of your model. Poorly designed models tend to deform very horribly during the animation process. As we will be starting with the face, you will have to pay attention to the most busy parts of the face: the mouth and the eyes. Topology around these areas has to be good.

Here is a few examples of bad and good face modeling.

This topologgy is excellent. THE edge flow around the areas i have mentioned: mouth and eyes is so perfect. You can almost see how the eyes will shut.

You will learn to appreciate the importance of good topology as you continue to work with animations and Shape Keys in Blender (or any other 3D modeling / animation software)

 Here are some more examples for you to compare between what is bad and what is good modeling...

This is also good!

 ...and so is this one.

You see, the importance of good edge flow around the eyes and the mouth is very important when you have to create things like facial expressions. A superbly designed face model will be able to tolerate any kind of deformation extremities your character's facial expressions may require.

And as you may well know expressions can tell a story without an Actor having to say a word.

These two images clearly illustrate my point.  

 If you still don't see my point do not worry, you will soon understand it when we get to animation.

I'm back after a long break. Let's continue...

i was going to show you how to create an animated 3d movie, then my PC where i had all my prepared tutorials was stolen. It's been a bit difficult for me the past few months. I've also been busy working on some project which may be ready for release somewhere in September. I'm currently still busy putting more tutorials together that will continue the task we embarked on almost a year ago - showing you how to create your own animated movie without spending a cent.

even though i will be using new characters altogether, the basics on setting things up before you get started will be the same information i posted earlier on this blog. I will be starting from where i left off, so refer to my earlier posts to get in tune with what's coming up.

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