ooook i procrastonated enough.. gonna write the arm tutorial now...
ok gonna learn some new stuff in this tut. first thing were gonna do tho, is delete the two image planes, then select both mirrored halves of the body, right click and choose "hide selected" this will get rid of it for the time being. save right after this so you can always go back if you want. in future, to look at the body, just right click and go "unhide all".
ok now make new image planes the way we did before. using the ARM imaged davidskiwan drew. remembering to make the planes the same dimensions as the image is in pixels. so this time the planes need to be 50x50. then use the material editor, select a blank slot, use the diffuse map, and find the arm image. and apply it to the plane.
this time i actually made a third plane, to help build the back of the arm. this wont however, be easy to line up till weve started building properly.
so, lets get onto the building. ill take a screenshot in a moment. first thing to do is make a smaller plane, any size you like. convert it to an editable polygon. then delete the polygon, this time, when it asks you if you want to delete isolated vertecies click NO. now. go to the vertex editing tools. and position the vertecies along the bicep, then, using the polygon tools like earlyer for the neck. right click, and click create, then create a polygon using all the vertecies as shown here.
http://img97.exs.cx/img97/1089/174lt.jpg
yes i know your wondering why didnt i just move the vertecies of the origional plane.. the reason was to get you re-familiarized with the tools.
now, move the verticies on that polygon till your comfortable. now, click the vertex toolset, right click, and click create, and outline the basic shape of where you want the vertecies to go. remember that each vertex should define something. so only place them where the most prominent points are. and dont place too many at once, or youll get lost when you come to creating the polygons afterward.
http://img76.exs.cx/img76/9959/180yx.jpg
http://img100.exs.cx/img100/2746/198qh.jpg
note that i made the image grayscale to try to make the vertecies more visible. but it didnt work, so i created the polygons instead which should help demonstrate. also, be aware that creating new vertecies, places them at the 0 point on the axis. so they will be totally flat till you move them. this pic shows how i positioned them along the side referance.
http://img30.exs.cx/img30/4562/209we.jpg
ok now we have a rough guideline so far. (very rough) but you should be able to see some shape forming. the next step is to build the side of the arm using the same technique as above (not that we arent building the shoulder. we need to wait till later for that.) so, using the same technique, build the rest of the upper arm, and then use the skills we learned before to refine the shape of the bicep. you can also line up the back referance to the outline we have of the front of the arm. this will help build the side/back of the arm. when placing the vertecies, remember only to place them at the most defined points. try to keep to quads as much as possible, but arms are difficult to define with quads alone, so you can make triangles...just make sure they count for something!
http://img84.exs.cx/img84/1189/219et.jpg
ok now work your way round the back, using the same techniques. untill weve gone all the way round the arm, unfortunately dave didnt draw an inside view for the arm. so look at ur own, and see how it should go, based on muscle structure. take a look in perspective view to make sure its looking ok
remember how polyflow is important? ive finnished my upper arm, and defined a small ammount of detail and now ive painted over the image to show which polies are flowing where. you should be able to see something similar in your model.
http://img52.exs.cx/img52/4269/225sj.jpg
ok so now were going onto the forarm... at this point we just need to focus more on shape than definition of muscle structure. so it shouldnt be too hard. just lay out your vertecies like you did before, and create the polygons. be aware, that once you get down to the wrist, we should be trying to get arround 6 edges. 8 is the maximum, or your hands will be very hard to build onto it. here are screenshots taken at intervals to show progress.
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/8734/230yw.jpg
http://img69.exs.cx/img69/3435/247yg.jpg
http://img52.exs.cx/img52/6352/251um.jpg
ok now we have the arm done, im gonna teach you to attatch it to the body! first thing we do is delete the referance plains, its best to learn this bit without referances. if you can get it right like this, you can get it right every time! then, right click, "unhide all" then select the left half of your torso, right click "attatch" and select the arm. notice how the mirrored body has the arm too? good, we can now start making adjustments
now, the first thing ull probably notice is that the arm is nearly the same size as the torso :O not to worry. click the Element edit toolset, and then scale the arm down using the scale tool. move it to a position next to the arm, and use the rotate tool to get it to about 45 degrees.
http://img98.exs.cx/img98/5127/266bs.jpg
ok it doesnt fit like a glove, but we were smart and got the torso ready for this earlyer.. all we need to do is create a few polies here and there, using the techniques weve learned so far, move arround a feew vertecies, and just get the arm connected. DO NOT BUILD THE SHOULDER YET! you should get something like this when your finnished.
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/592/271dr.jpg
now, to build the shoulder, i simply used creat poly to link the shoulder to the torso and upper arm, then connected the edges and welded vertecies, aaaall the techniques weve learned so far... it is however VERY important to notice the flow of the polygons, the blue lines show the main flow, and the red show the outlining flow... it basically conforms to human anatomy, but building the shoulders with this flow will greatly help with animations...
http://img92.exs.cx/img92/8976/286gx.jpg
next part coming soon. detailing the back and building the legs. (gonna be wearing trousers. but still follows some guidlines.)
