2 SHAPE THE HEAD
With the base model ready, I am now able to start work on the overall shape, adding divisions quickly with the connect components tool to give me more topology to play with. I also make sure Symmetry is enabled, so as I work on one side, the other is automatically updated. What’s great about symmetrical modelling in Extension 2 is it’s now been extended to all the key modelling tools, so essentially, it finally works as you would expect.
3 DEFINE THE EYES AND nose
With the foundations in place, my next task is to start to work in some basic facial details. Initially, I create two holes simply to mark the eye positions on the model; these aren’t precise but it’s important to get the shapes in place before you begin properly detailing. once I know roughly where the eyes are, I can then use the Extrude tool to pull a basic nose shape out of the front of the face.
4 CREATE THE Mouth CAVITY
The final area of the face I need to define is the mouth, and again, this begins as a simple hole that shows me where it should be in relation to the main features, such as the eyes and nose. It’s important to make sure you keep a nice flow of geometry around the mouth so it can deform correctly, therefore I adjust the topology to ensure the edge loops border the cavity, with no triangles in sight.
5 Enhance THE SHAPES
With my basic head shape and main landmark features in place, I’m able to flesh these out by firstly adding more topology into the model. This then allows me to shape the lips, add the nostrils and build some basic brows to match the reference material I am using – although at this early stage I’m not looking for these areas to be of final quality. however, I do need to start thinking about the topology layout, making sure to follow actual facial muscles.
6 ADD A proxy EYE
I find it difficult to work on the eye socket with no actual eye to form the eyelids around, so next I create a basic eyeball to help guide me. This is a simple sphere with a recess for the iris and pupil. I also like to add a small circle to act as a pretend highlight, which helps add a bit of life to the eye.at this stage, I don’t need anything else – I can worry about a more realistic eye later in the project.
7 BUILD THE EAR
Although the head is coming along nicely, I can’t get a full feeling for how everything is working in relation to each other until I add the ears. These begin like the eyes and mouth with a cavity to dictate their position. This is then extruded to give me a basic ear shape. using reference to guide me, I next work in the details using more Extrude operations, as well as the Multi-cut tool to place edge loops where I need them.
8 TAKE A STEP Back
up until now I’ve been focusing on specific areas of the head, so it’s time to pull back and look at it as a whole – which is when you see problems. I now realise that she doesn’t look right; the proportions are off and the positioning of her eyes, nose and ears needs work. I decide it’s time to bring my reference images into Maya as Image planes, this way I can adjust the head more precisely. I choose to use the Soft Selection tool to avoid making any harsh changes.
9 ADD THE SHOULDERS
There’s still lots to do on the head, but I find that if I focus on one area for too long, I can’t see the issues. I need a break, so I shift my focus to the upper torso. To begin, I use another Extrude to extend the neck down to her chest and then pull this out of the sides to form the base of her shoulders. I also begin to form the upper arms too.
10 ATTACH HER CHEST
This model is intended to be a portrait piece, so I know I don’t need to see much more of her upper body. however, I will need to build the top of her chest. Just as I began this model initially, I use another smoothed cube to give me a spherical shape, which is then mirrored, rotated and attached to the rest of the model. once combined, I can then continue to adjust the upper body and also build in any major shapes and details.
11 REFINE AND REWORK
I am more or less happy with how the upper body and head are looking, so before I move on I need to have a final look over the model to fix any topology and proportion issues. This is also a good opportunity to add in any other details I missed, like her shoulder blades and clavicle. I also decide to work in her eyelashes and eyebrows too, as these help to make her look more complete. I also take the time to build some better looking eyes.
12 BUILD THE BODICE
I could spend more time tweaking the head and torso, but there is a lot more work to do, so next I move my focus onto her bodice. To speed things up, I decide to duplicate her torso and invert it, deleting the head and neck in the process. This gives me a model which is already perfectly shaped to fit around the bottom of her chest. It’s then simply a case of extending the model and adjusting the shape to fit.
13 THE IMPORTANT cog
A steampunk portrait just wouldn’t be right without some strategically placed cogs and screws. The cog shape is relatively simple to produce; I just need to make sure my starting cylinder has an even number of divisions around its axis. I can then Extrude every second outer face to give me its teeth, before working more on the shape to add in any other details I need.
There’s still lots to do on the head but I find that if I focus on one area for too long, I can’t see the issues
14 PLACE THE cog
The initial cogs need to fit on the surface of the bodice, but rather than try to shrink wrap them or use a lattice deformer, I opt to go back to basics and use two simple bend deformers; one horizontally and one vertically. This gives me more control over the curvature, plus, I also want the overall shape to remain intact and the surface to stay as smooth as possible.
15 neck STRAPS
Following my reference, I see the neck section of the clothing needs to be connected to the bodice with two straps. This gives me a great opportunity to test the updated Wedge tool, which now allows you to define an axis for the wedge operation on a separate model. In this instance, it proves to be a quick way to add the corners on the metal loops that hold the sections of the straps together.
16 THE SHIRT
Just like with the bodice, I can get a jump start on the shirt by duplicating the torso as it’s already the shape I need to fit over her shoulders. once the head and neck are deleted, I also opt to work on her left side only at this stage. To move the shirt away from the main torso slightly, I select the vertices and switch my Move tool’s Axis orientation to normal, and then simply move the vertices using the yellow n axis.
17 EYE PIECE
Time to move onto the goggles, and I choose to use a cylinder for the starting point this time, as it makes more sense with it being closer to the shape I need. I can easily and quickly use Maya’s Extrude and Soft Selection tools to create the actual shape of each eye piece, and edit the rubber section at the base later to fit around the eye socket once it’s placed on her head.
I begin with a cylinder – once this has been reshaped, I can continue to add more and more details until I’m happy
18 goggle’s STRAP
To create the strap that will go around my character’s head, I use the Bridge tool. Traditionally, I would have used another cylinder and adjusted the shape to create the strap, but what’s great about the Bridge tool is it doesn’t always have to be linear connection. choosing Smooth path and curve in the options will give me a NURBS curve I can deform to reshape the bridge and get a nice arc.
19 RECYCLED ARMS
At this stage, I realise I want some arms in the scene. I originally only wanted to show her shoulders but I decide I want to create a nice gauntlet-style piece for her, to complete the outfit. Rather than build the arms and hands from scratch, I use a model I created previously. Why reinvent the wheel? If you have a good model already built for a previous project, which you are more than happy with, why build it again?
20 THE GAUNTLET
By now I have settled into a good workflow with my modelling, so I repeat the process to build the gauntlet, which will sit on her upper arm. I begin with a cylinder – once this has been reshaped, I can continue to add more and more details until I’m happy to move on. I also decide to reuse some of the nuts and tubes I created for the goggles, again recycling to save time.
21 Quick pose
I feel like I am getting near to completion with the model, but until she is posed I can’t add in the final details. Ideally, I would like to add some asymmetry into the model too. To help experiment with some simple poses, I build a basic skeleton and attach her body and shirt to it. I know I only want to pose her head and arms so there is no point affecting any of the other geometry at this stage.
22 FINAL polish
With all the main elements in place and the character posed, I can then move on and start to work on her as a whole – adjusting the shapes and proportions, as well as building in more details where needed. I add her hair, which takes a few revisions before she is finally ready to render. So that’s the model complete. What’s next? Texturing in Substance painter I guess, but I will save that for another tutorial.