Ok... well since there are a lot of new max users out there with no idea how to use max, ill do a simple tutorial showing how to use the basic tools of editable poly. and show 3 different techniques i use in modeling, which will be Primitive manipulation. Poly by poly, and Edge extrusion. i tend to edge more toward a mixture of primitive manipulation, and edge extrusion, but understanding how all three work is key, and will help a lot in the creation of almost anything.
now, im going to be using the referance images davidskiwan drew for this tutorial, and ill start with the torso.
torso ref:
First open 3dsmax (im using version 6 but the tools on most versions are similar, even with Gmax if you are using that). now, i usually set up Max so that my perspective port is the biggest, and the other 3 viewports are smaller, but for this tut ill leave it on the standard settings.
make sure that your Front, Left and Top viewports are set to view "facets and highlights" you can do this by right clicking the viewport name, selecting other, and then facets and highlights. the reason for this is that it will show you an un-smoothed version of the mesh, whether smoothing groups are on or not.
http://img21.exs.cx/img21/2731/12dj.jpg
also, hit F4 in each viewport to turn on edgeview. itll make things easyer to see.
Now, we need to start by making ourselves a referance plane. this will show us whether the model is in proportion or to scale or not. to do this simply click plane, in the create standard primitives menu, then in the front viewport, click again and drag to the desired dimensions.
http://img85.exs.cx/img85/8530/24xy.jpg
make the plane so it only has 1 segment high and long, so its just a blank plane.
now, hit the "m" key, this will open the material editor. go to a blank material slot go to maps, and choose diffuse, in the next menu that opens, choose bitmap, and browse for the file we want. in this case its the torso ref Davidskiwan drew, you can find it in this thread
http://img68.exs.cx/img68/558/31qo.jpg
ensure that the "show map in viewport" button is on (ive circled it in red.) and then edit the plane to be the same size as the image is in pixels divided by 10 (or you have a rediculously large plane.) in this case width: 70.4 and length 40.2. zoom in to the viewport and position the plane to your own preferance. To get the material onto the plane. Click and drag it onto the plane.
http://img42.exs.cx/img42/879/49oo.jpg
now we will need another plane of the same dimentions for the left viewport. you can either repeat all the above steps, or, choose the rotate tool. Holding the shift key, rotate the plane 90 degrees, the shift key creates a new plane. an option box will open up on completion, make sure you choose copy.
now position this plane, so that it is half way through the front referance torso. as shown in this picture.
http://img107.exs.cx/img107/6051/52rs.jpg
this is just the beginning of the tutorial, ill update it within the next hour or so with the main modeling part. (its nearly 3am here).
edit:update
Now,we have our planes set up with the images on them as referances, in the create standard primitives section, create a new cylinder with 8 sides, and 5 hight segments. Hit ALT+X to make the cylinder transparrent, then scale and position to roughly fit the referance, as shown.
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/1482/69mt.jpg
now, right click the cylinder, go convert to-editable poly. and a new group of editing options will appear on the right hand side, these are, in order. Vertex, Edge, Border, Polygon, and Element. pretty self explanitory, but this is a tutorial so here goes.
Vertex: allows you to select 1 or more vertecies and move them arround, this is important as every vertex
should define something on the mesh.
edge: allows you to select one or more edges to and edit them as you wish.
Border: will select all the edges on an outside part of a mesh (ie. a hole).
Polygon: will select one or more polygons to be edited at your will.
Element: will select all polygons in an element, an element is defined as a group of connected polygons.
select the all the vertecies on the right hand side of the cylinder, and delete them (be aware this will also delete the top and bottom polygons on the cylinder. your screen should now look like this.
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/6065/74vk.jpg
now, were going to mirror this half, as an instance, this will allow us to work on one half, while the other stays an exact replica. you can also have one instance transparrent, and the other not. so you can see how it looks smoothed up whilest editing... ive circled the mirror tool. upon pressing it, a box will appear, asking for what type of mirror. select instance. from now on, we will only be working on the transparrent half. your screen should look like this.
http://img22.exs.cx/img22/521/81cl.jpg
now, using the vertex editing tools, first work in the front viewport, positioning the vertecies to the outside of the referance (this includes the vertecies on the inside of the mesh, so as to keep your polyflow neat). Then, work on the side, being sure to do the same thing. notice how ive used the middle column of vertecies to show the spinal movement of the model (yes even models need to be postured correctly). observent people will notice that there is an extra row of edges/verts that i needed to help the shape in the front viewport. to create these, i selected the ring of edges shown, right clicked the mesh, and clicked connect. this created an extra rown connecting all the selected edges. your mesh should look roughly like this. but if it doesnt, dont worry. as long as its close
http://img85.exs.cx/img85/1397/99nv.jpg
now, using the above technique of moving vertecies and edges, (and adding a couple more edges) we create a better sense of the shaper we are looking for, using the perspective viewport to look around and check how the mesh looks in realtime, rather than just front or side on.ive also circled the instance where ive created a triangle. you may have noticed that so far everything is in quad polygons (4 sided) this is very helpful for later when we come to uvw map, and texture. it also helps keep the flow clean. but sometimes you need an odd triangle here or their. to do this i used target weld. simply use the polygon edit tools, right click the mesh and select target weld, click the first vertex, then click the vertex you want to weld it to. carry on with these techniques to get a better shape.
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/628/105sh.jpg
Ok, so now we have the front and side shaped pretty much how we want it to be. great, but ehm...we cant make a neck using the techniques ive covered so far, because we deleted the polygon at the top of the sphere ages ago. so now were gonna learn to make a new polygon. simply select the polygon editing toolset, right click the mesh, and select create. Then, click each vertex that you want the polygon to become attatched to, in a ring, ive selected all the open polygons at the top of the mesh, so i just have 1 flat polygon with no segments. not that creating new polygons with this method creates a new polygon with no smoothing groups attatched. we will learn more about smoothing groups later.
http://img51.exs.cx/img51/2342/110ry.jpg
now having created that polygon, we need to shape it to the neck in the referance picture, the fist thing i did was connect the two edges, then positioned the new one to look like this:
http://img28.exs.cx/img28/2551/129ha.jpg
then, using another new technique, select the edge editing toolset, right click the mesh, and select "insert vertex" then click the new edge, this will insert a vertex on the edge, that you can connect to other vertecies nearby (the same way you do with edges, select the vertex edit toolset, right click, connect). continue to shape the neck to your liking using the techniques weve learned so far (all of them not just the ones in this update).
also, during the process of making the neck, following the side and front referances, you should be making preparations for the arm to be attatched to the model. this is important, as bad preparation could lead to complications later on.
ok so now we need to move the neck up. were gonna use another new technique, polygon extrusion, this will allow us to pull polygons out from the mesh, and keep them attatched. very useful.
using the polygon editing toolset, select the polygons you want to extrude. right click and then where it says extrude, youll see a little box next to it. click that, it will open an option box, with different extrusion options.
choosing group will make the polygons extrude to all kinds of weird and wonderful angles. choosing local normal will extrude all the polygons outward as defined by the entire group in general. and by polygon will extrude individual polygons. were gonna use local normal.
change the distance to one that suits you, then move the extruded polygons to fit the neck using all the above techniques (note that the extrusion has created 2 polygons we dont want. these are the ones that we wont be able to see because they are facing the referance picture. delete those. (ive marked them in yellow) you may be asked if you want to delete isolated vertecies (ones that are on their own with no polies attatched) and since we wont be using these verts anymore, click yes.
http://img45.exs.cx/img45/4729/149ve.jpg
this next pic is what you should (roughly) have after shaping the neck to fit the referance. i say roughly because i expect everyones outcome to be different, dont use this tutorial as a be all and end all. explore your own styles.
http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1187/153fg.jpg
ok, now we can start using edge connection, target welding, and insertion of vertecies to start adding details to the mesh, like the indentation in his pectorals (the central line down the middle, so they arent just flat) his neck muscles and general shoulder area. when finnished, you should get something like, but not exactly like (i hope) this.
http://img75.exs.cx/img75/264/163zo.jpg
next update will cover: poly by poly building of an arm. and the connection of that arm to the torso. and correct shoulder polygon placement for good deformation.
now, im going to be using the referance images davidskiwan drew for this tutorial, and ill start with the torso.
torso ref:
First open 3dsmax (im using version 6 but the tools on most versions are similar, even with Gmax if you are using that). now, i usually set up Max so that my perspective port is the biggest, and the other 3 viewports are smaller, but for this tut ill leave it on the standard settings.
make sure that your Front, Left and Top viewports are set to view "facets and highlights" you can do this by right clicking the viewport name, selecting other, and then facets and highlights. the reason for this is that it will show you an un-smoothed version of the mesh, whether smoothing groups are on or not.
http://img21.exs.cx/img21/2731/12dj.jpg
also, hit F4 in each viewport to turn on edgeview. itll make things easyer to see.
Now, we need to start by making ourselves a referance plane. this will show us whether the model is in proportion or to scale or not. to do this simply click plane, in the create standard primitives menu, then in the front viewport, click again and drag to the desired dimensions.
http://img85.exs.cx/img85/8530/24xy.jpg
make the plane so it only has 1 segment high and long, so its just a blank plane.
now, hit the "m" key, this will open the material editor. go to a blank material slot go to maps, and choose diffuse, in the next menu that opens, choose bitmap, and browse for the file we want. in this case its the torso ref Davidskiwan drew, you can find it in this thread
http://img68.exs.cx/img68/558/31qo.jpg
ensure that the "show map in viewport" button is on (ive circled it in red.) and then edit the plane to be the same size as the image is in pixels divided by 10 (or you have a rediculously large plane.) in this case width: 70.4 and length 40.2. zoom in to the viewport and position the plane to your own preferance. To get the material onto the plane. Click and drag it onto the plane.
http://img42.exs.cx/img42/879/49oo.jpg
now we will need another plane of the same dimentions for the left viewport. you can either repeat all the above steps, or, choose the rotate tool. Holding the shift key, rotate the plane 90 degrees, the shift key creates a new plane. an option box will open up on completion, make sure you choose copy.
now position this plane, so that it is half way through the front referance torso. as shown in this picture.
http://img107.exs.cx/img107/6051/52rs.jpg
this is just the beginning of the tutorial, ill update it within the next hour or so with the main modeling part. (its nearly 3am here).
edit:update
Now,we have our planes set up with the images on them as referances, in the create standard primitives section, create a new cylinder with 8 sides, and 5 hight segments. Hit ALT+X to make the cylinder transparrent, then scale and position to roughly fit the referance, as shown.
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/1482/69mt.jpg
now, right click the cylinder, go convert to-editable poly. and a new group of editing options will appear on the right hand side, these are, in order. Vertex, Edge, Border, Polygon, and Element. pretty self explanitory, but this is a tutorial so here goes.
Vertex: allows you to select 1 or more vertecies and move them arround, this is important as every vertex
should define something on the mesh.
edge: allows you to select one or more edges to and edit them as you wish.
Border: will select all the edges on an outside part of a mesh (ie. a hole).
Polygon: will select one or more polygons to be edited at your will.
Element: will select all polygons in an element, an element is defined as a group of connected polygons.
select the all the vertecies on the right hand side of the cylinder, and delete them (be aware this will also delete the top and bottom polygons on the cylinder. your screen should now look like this.
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/6065/74vk.jpg
now, were going to mirror this half, as an instance, this will allow us to work on one half, while the other stays an exact replica. you can also have one instance transparrent, and the other not. so you can see how it looks smoothed up whilest editing... ive circled the mirror tool. upon pressing it, a box will appear, asking for what type of mirror. select instance. from now on, we will only be working on the transparrent half. your screen should look like this.
http://img22.exs.cx/img22/521/81cl.jpg
now, using the vertex editing tools, first work in the front viewport, positioning the vertecies to the outside of the referance (this includes the vertecies on the inside of the mesh, so as to keep your polyflow neat). Then, work on the side, being sure to do the same thing. notice how ive used the middle column of vertecies to show the spinal movement of the model (yes even models need to be postured correctly). observent people will notice that there is an extra row of edges/verts that i needed to help the shape in the front viewport. to create these, i selected the ring of edges shown, right clicked the mesh, and clicked connect. this created an extra rown connecting all the selected edges. your mesh should look roughly like this. but if it doesnt, dont worry. as long as its close
http://img85.exs.cx/img85/1397/99nv.jpg
now, using the above technique of moving vertecies and edges, (and adding a couple more edges) we create a better sense of the shaper we are looking for, using the perspective viewport to look around and check how the mesh looks in realtime, rather than just front or side on.ive also circled the instance where ive created a triangle. you may have noticed that so far everything is in quad polygons (4 sided) this is very helpful for later when we come to uvw map, and texture. it also helps keep the flow clean. but sometimes you need an odd triangle here or their. to do this i used target weld. simply use the polygon edit tools, right click the mesh and select target weld, click the first vertex, then click the vertex you want to weld it to. carry on with these techniques to get a better shape.
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/628/105sh.jpg
Ok, so now we have the front and side shaped pretty much how we want it to be. great, but ehm...we cant make a neck using the techniques ive covered so far, because we deleted the polygon at the top of the sphere ages ago. so now were gonna learn to make a new polygon. simply select the polygon editing toolset, right click the mesh, and select create. Then, click each vertex that you want the polygon to become attatched to, in a ring, ive selected all the open polygons at the top of the mesh, so i just have 1 flat polygon with no segments. not that creating new polygons with this method creates a new polygon with no smoothing groups attatched. we will learn more about smoothing groups later.
http://img51.exs.cx/img51/2342/110ry.jpg
now having created that polygon, we need to shape it to the neck in the referance picture, the fist thing i did was connect the two edges, then positioned the new one to look like this:
http://img28.exs.cx/img28/2551/129ha.jpg
then, using another new technique, select the edge editing toolset, right click the mesh, and select "insert vertex" then click the new edge, this will insert a vertex on the edge, that you can connect to other vertecies nearby (the same way you do with edges, select the vertex edit toolset, right click, connect). continue to shape the neck to your liking using the techniques weve learned so far (all of them not just the ones in this update).
also, during the process of making the neck, following the side and front referances, you should be making preparations for the arm to be attatched to the model. this is important, as bad preparation could lead to complications later on.
ok so now we need to move the neck up. were gonna use another new technique, polygon extrusion, this will allow us to pull polygons out from the mesh, and keep them attatched. very useful.
using the polygon editing toolset, select the polygons you want to extrude. right click and then where it says extrude, youll see a little box next to it. click that, it will open an option box, with different extrusion options.
choosing group will make the polygons extrude to all kinds of weird and wonderful angles. choosing local normal will extrude all the polygons outward as defined by the entire group in general. and by polygon will extrude individual polygons. were gonna use local normal.
change the distance to one that suits you, then move the extruded polygons to fit the neck using all the above techniques (note that the extrusion has created 2 polygons we dont want. these are the ones that we wont be able to see because they are facing the referance picture. delete those. (ive marked them in yellow) you may be asked if you want to delete isolated vertecies (ones that are on their own with no polies attatched) and since we wont be using these verts anymore, click yes.
http://img45.exs.cx/img45/4729/149ve.jpg
this next pic is what you should (roughly) have after shaping the neck to fit the referance. i say roughly because i expect everyones outcome to be different, dont use this tutorial as a be all and end all. explore your own styles.
http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1187/153fg.jpg
ok, now we can start using edge connection, target welding, and insertion of vertecies to start adding details to the mesh, like the indentation in his pectorals (the central line down the middle, so they arent just flat) his neck muscles and general shoulder area. when finnished, you should get something like, but not exactly like (i hope) this.
http://img75.exs.cx/img75/264/163zo.jpg
next update will cover: poly by poly building of an arm. and the connection of that arm to the torso. and correct shoulder polygon placement for good deformation.
