Final Rendered Images

Final Face Render

Left Render

Right Render

Front Render

Far Away Render

Unrendered Image

Creating the Eyes

The creation of the eyes was extremely quick and I found that the best effects gained from the eyes were to use an image sourced from the internet.

Sourced Image:

Image reference:

Sourced from:  Anime Tutorial Blogspot

Link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWJlVr784Y3LqSigFq_4hbZYJ4hIUScV6-HtSdQMLNnrZmaOy7CJ_rTqyV4956wkopq2b6GArZgPK-14z89EkL2Hj287v0JUhyphenhyphen-fwwVnGDpCkGNTrVPBSUT1vff2mPJmK_BM07Frg2vcC/s1600/eye.jpg

Date Sourced: 16/10/2011

I began this process by creating a sphere then using the ‘move’ and ‘scale’ tool to shape the sphere into the correct size so that it could then be placed in the eye.

Now that the sphere was the correct size I duplicated it using the clone instant tool and positioned the other eye into the other eye socket. Using the instant clone option would enable me to apply the material image onto both spheres and use just one UVW modifier to position the eye image.

After Cloning:

Once I had done this I then used the material editor and applied the sourced image file on the spheres.  Using a UVW Map modifier from the modifier panel I could now use the ‘gismo’ tool so position the eye images correctly.  

Using the Hair Modifier

I choose to use the hair modifier tool as I felt that it gave my head model much more detail. To use the hair modifier I selected it from the modifier list and applied it to the head. Using the polygon mode I could now select the polygons that I wanted the hair to grow from.

The process can be seen below:

Now that the correct hair polygons had been selected I could now select the style hair from the style hair modifier panel. This would then transfer all the hair onto the selected polygons.

Image of style panel:

Using the comb tool made the hair flatten onto the head. It could now be styled into my general hair style using the brush and scissor tool to shape and trim selected areas.

Once I was happen with the overall positioning of the hair I could now use the hair length and colour tool under the general parameters setting.  

Below is an image of the hair before rendering:

To give the head more realistic detail I used the same process of the eyebrows and the eye lashes. The hair colour was changed to a deeper black colour than the hair and modified to appear a lot shorter. I selected the polygons on the eyebrows were I wanted the hair to grow from and began the same process as above.

Selecting eyebrow polygons:

Creating Eyebrows and Styling:

I also applied the same process to create eye lashes from around the eye:

Photoshop UVW Mapping Process

This process begins with importing the exported Jpeg file that I created in 3DS Max and using it in Photoshop as a guide to align the materials to build the face.

Once the jpeg file had been imported to Photoshop I created another layer and named it guide. This layer was created with a full blue filled background.

I then selected everything on the lower layer and created a layer mask. By selecting the lower layer and using the mask tool I could now extrude the lines that build the UVW mapping and turning them into a blue coloured guide by pasting them onto the blue filled layer. Adjustments were made using the modify border tool to increase the width of the newly created guidelines.

As detailed in the image below:

In this next process, I begun by opening the original image that I used to create the reference plane in 3DS Max. I removed the layer that contained the splines and begun cutting out sections of my face and transferring them over to a new layer underneath my newly created guide layer. The guide layer was extremely useful as it enabled me to position the sections of my face in the exact position so they would line up in 3DS Max on my face. I then saved a copy of the UVW mapping and uploaded it to 3DS Max and onto my face. This way every time that I saved the Photoshop file the newly saved contents would automatically be uploaded to 3DS Max and I could monitor my progress.

Cutting from the original:

Transferring to the UVW Mapping Guide:

Once I had finished the transferring of the facial sections it was now time to blend in all the edges of each of the sections. This process could be done with either the ‘stamp’ tool or the ‘patch’ tool.

These tools can be found on the right hand panel within Photoshop as detailed below:

I found the patch tool more useful in blending in the edges of each of the sections and the ‘stamp’ tool extremely useful to blend in sections of the hair and where the edge of the hair met the skin. It was vital I ensured that the colour tones across my face remained the same throughout as it had to look as realistic as possible to the original image.

Once the blending of the face sections had been completed, I began the process of cutting out the sections of the ear and placing them in-line with the guidelines for the ear. I found this section extremely difficult as the ear had a complicated guideline structure from where I had used the pelt tool to flatten and stretch it out. Continuously saving the data file in Photoshop I could use 3DS Max as a guide to ensure that the sections of the ear were being placed in the correct sections.

This can be seen below: 

I then used the same process to blend in the edges using the patch tool and I used the stamp tool to create extra shading within the deep areas of the ear to –re-create a more realistic look.

I found that the ear didn’t come out as detailed as expected and I felt that it didn’t really show a great deal when in 3DS Max on the ear. This I thought may have been to do with the resolution of the original image and the UVW mapping resolution save file. Attempts to alter the resolution were made but appeared to make no difference to the detailing in the ear.

The final UVW mapping image can be seen below:

UVW Mapping and Editing

I found this section to be the most difficult part. Editing the UVW as an essential section of the UV mapping process as it allowed me to position selections of my face in areas where I wanted them to appear on the head. 

This process begins by applying an unwrap UVW modifier to the head. Using the cylindrical tool in map parameters I ensured that the map parameters covered the entire head. This ensured that nothing would be left out.

Mapping Parameters:

By selecting the head only, without the ear I could not enter the ‘edit’ mode under general parameters. In this mode I could now begin the process of stretching out the vertex points to enable the head to fit like a 2D image on the edit panel. By adding a checked material to the head allowed me to use the squares on the material to ensure that I was lining up the vertex points in the edit UVW panel correctly. By ensuring the squares on the checked material were as lined up as possible would ensure that the final UV map would fit onto my face correctly without any stretching or pinching of the skin. The badly tangled points could be tackled by selecting the vertex points and using either the ‘angles’ or ‘centre’ tool under the relax mode. This would automatically unwind some of the vertex points to a point so that it could then be done manually and easily.

Before editing the UVW vertex points:

After editing the UVW vertex points:

Now that the vertex points had been moved out into position, I could tell that they were in position because almost all of the squares were of square shape all over the face.  

In this next process I duplicated the side of the face in order to make a copy, to select a copy I used the ‘select element’ tool and ‘face-sub object mode’ . This copy was then mirrored (using the mirror tool) and placed into position so that it represented the other half of the head, the joining line being down the centre of the face.

Reverting back to the vertex mode, I now had to weld the join together so that the two sides of the head could now become 1 whole object. To do this I selected only the vertex points that were at the join and pressed ‘ctrl + W’ to weld.

Now that the head was welded and completed it was time to begin the process on the ears. This process was slightly different to the modelling of the head as it could be down quickly using the ‘relax’ tool.

By using the ‘point to point seam’ tool under map parameters I could select a split in the side of the ear so that when I placed it into the edit vertex mode the ear would split apart down the seam allowing me to spread the ear out more evenly, as detailed below:

Now by selecting the ear:

 By selecting the ear I
could edit the ear using the edit mode and use the same techniques as with the head to position the checked squares evenly. Once this process was completed I used the 'pelt tool' to place the ear into the edit UVW panel and be able to stretch the ear apart. I used the centre relax tool to even out the vertex points then duplicated the ear so and placed them in identical positions under the face.

To enable the face and both the ears to fit on the edit panel I had to change the size of the panel format to 512 x 256 pixels. This made the panel more of an oblong shape enabling me to fit the UVW mapping more easily.

Image of ear highlighted:

With both the head and the ear in position on the edit UVW panel I could now begin to export the image as a jpeg. This process was done by selecting the render option under tools. To render into the correct format ready for exporting the image to Photoshop it had to be a width of 4048 and a height of 1024 pixels. By selecting the render option the image UVW mapping would now be rendered as an image that would be saved as a jpeg using the save option.

This is what the final export of the UVW mapping should look like:

Ear Creation

This section of the modelling process was the hardest. I felt that my head perhaps wasn't the easiest to model due to its size and configuration. The process begins in the same way the head started off and requires Photoshop to create guidance splines on the ear in order to create quads and lines that would be used as guidance in 3DS Max, identifying the edges and creases.

Spline creation in Photoshop:

Once the splines were drawn, using the same process as the face the lines were created and turned into polygons and welded to together to create one whole object. Now the ear could be shaped into a 3D model as it is currently a 2D flat plane.

Using the reference planes and positioning the ear in the correct plane the ear can now be pulled out like the face with the move tool on the vertex points. It was difficult to shape the ear as it has so many dips and edges to model.

Sectors of the ear required the use if the ‘inset’ tool. By selecting the polygons in the areas where the ear had depth, areas like the centre of the upper ear, the ‘inset’ tool could be used to create a drop in the surface.

Below is an example:

Selecting the polygons

Creating an insert using the ‘inset’ tool

Once the inserts had been modified so that they were positioned correctly within the ear, the ear could now be shaped and finalised. This process was made easier by putting the ear into isolation mode enable me to fully work only on the ear.

Now it was time to create the back. It was important to take note on how many polygons I had on the side of the head to be able to attach the ear to. With a combination of the create tool, the edge tool and the snap tool to generate more polygons I managed to reduce the number of polygons to a total of three on the rear of the ear.

This would make the attachment process a lot easier. The rear of the ear didn’t require any precise modelling as it would not be seen once it was attached to the side of the head.

To attach the ear to the head it requires both the head and the ear to be in ‘see through’ mode. This allowed me to see both the vertex points on the ear and on the head. This was a time consuming process as aligning the vertex points with the right ones on the head wasn’t easy.

Using the snap tool and ensuring it was in the vertex mode, I attached the ear to the head. Once all of the vertex points on the ear were attached to the correct ones on the head it was now time to finalise the attachment by selecting all the vertex points and using the ‘attach’ tool in the edit poly modifier. This would enable the vertex points to be now welded together.

Ensuring the correct settings on the snap tool:

Stiching the ear to the head:

 The results:

Creating and Modelling the Rest of the Head and Neck

Once the modelling of the face was to a satisfactory finish, it was now time to begin the process of creating the rest of the head.
The rest of the head requires the use of Photoshop in order to create guidance lines so that a sphere can be used to produce the rear of the head and speed up the modelling process. The overall shape of my head in Photoshop was draw out using the pen tool and red paint in quads across the head and down the neck. this would give me guidance in modelling the head and where to create the polygons.

Photoshop splines creation can be seen below.

In this stage the back of the head begins as a sphere. The sphere was selected from the sphere tool and was placed on the scene. Using the ‘scale’ tool the sphere could now be scaled down to size and with the aid of the move tool moved into position and aligned to the back of the head.  It was important to ensure that the sector of the sphere where the edges joined (top and bottom) were located at the sides where the ears would be. The sphere was moved using the rotation tool.

The number of segments that built up the sphere had to be reduced using the modify panel so that when connecting it to the head the segments would align to those on the face.

Converting the sphere to an editable poly using the ‘edit poly’ modifier allows me to deleted the sectors of the sphere were the segments joined to the centre of the sphere. This created a hole in the sphere where the ears would later be placed and allows open polygons for the ears to be later welded into place.

Before Deletion

After deletion

With the sphere now converted to an editable polygon it could now be modified to shape it to the face. This process was done by deleting unnecessary sectors of the sphere by using the polygon tool and the spray can tool to select polygons to delete more quickly.

The image below shows the location of the paint tool.

Now using the vertex points the sphere could now be shaped and the edges welded to the sides of the face to create the back of the head.

Welding vertex points

Once this process was completed, using the ‘edge’ tool in editable poly mode and holding down the ‘shift’ key the edges of the polygons on the sphere could now be extruded to create additional polygons that would now begin to build the structure of the neck and shoulders. This section of the model was difficult as the reference images did not give much detail to model on, such as should bones and neck shaping etc. Shaping of the neck and shoulders were made by using the move tool and adjustments to the vertex points of the polygons. The image below shows the process of the neck and shoulder creation.

During this process it was necessary to create extra edges that looped over the head. This enabled the rear of the head to have more adjustments points and would later ensure the modelling and smoothness of the head would be more accurate. This process was done by selecting the edges where new rings of edges were required. By clicking the ‘ring’ tool in editable poly modifier enable a loop of the edges to be selected and using the ‘connect’ again allows extra edges and polygons to be created over the rear of the head.

The picture below shows this more accurately.