Week 2-Starting to Model my Face

To begin this week, I opened the 3Ds max file created last week. With the line tool set to corner I traced the topology of the frontal photograph. Before doing this I selected snap to vertexes to allow accurate alignment of the quadrant edges.

This went well and I completed the task quite easily. I did not include all the segments as instructed and left the nostril area blank. Next I selected one quadrant and made it into an editable poly. In the modify menu of the editable poly I opened the attach window and selected all the splines. I selected to view the edged faces.

The next step was to create depth with the aid of the profile photograph, but first I selected all the vertexes in editable poly mode and applied weld. I was careful not to weld too many vertexes together as this would ruin the topology created so far and so in the weld window reduced the weld threshold to 0 so I could ensure the value was only increased by one step. Also, I straightened the vertical line of vertexes which run down the centre of my face so that an invisible seam could be created when the left and right parts are joined. To do this I used the make planar tool in the modify panel and applied this along the X axis. Lastly I set the object properties to see through.

Following these initial steps I entered vertex mode and used the move tool to position the vertexes in reference to the profile image. To do this I started at the centre of the face by aligning the first line along the edge of my face and then worked inwards. During this task I was careful to only move the vertexes along the X axis so that their positioning on the front facial view would not be affected. To begin with I really struggled with this part of the assignment, more so as I was wary of placing the vertexes in the incorrect place. However, I did become more confident the more vertexes I positioned.

At this point I went on to focus on the nose. Here I realised I had placed the vertex for the nostril edge in an incorrect place and so made this change before continuing. Despite this part of the face having several blue lines I could use as guidelines I did find this slightly more difficult than the chin and ended up making many alterations to the positioning of already placed vertexes, but I believe this is due to me not begin certain how quickly the nose descended towards the face. In reflection it may have been beneficial to mark the join between the face and nose before working outwards.

Next I went on to the eye. I knew this was an area which would be more difficult as part of the eye was not visible in the image. To begin I aligned all the points around the eye which were visible in the profile view.

Afterwards I went on to estimate the position of the remaining vertex points on the inside of the eye. I was not sure where to place these to start with, but by looking at the shape of my face in the photographs and referring to the instructional video I believe I positioned these reasonably well. When I was happy with these vertexes I arranged the others between the eyes and nose.

I then positioned the remaining vertexes on the forehead and cheek. On the forehead I was careful to keep the first few rows of vertexes close together so that quite a flat surface would be created. The last step I took on positioning the vertexes was to make slight alterations so that there was better alignment with the blue markings.

To check that there was a resemblance to my face I turned off the see-through setting and looked at it from different viewpoints.

The next step was to create the opposite side of the face. The best way to do this would be with the symmetry modifier. The object was mirrored along the X axis and flip was selected so that the whole of the right hand side was reproduced on the left. To begin with the line of symmetry was not along the centre of my face resulting in overlapping, and so with the mirror tool in the symmetry drop down menu I repositioned the new section so the inside edge of each part aligned along the middle of the face.

Following this I looked at the flow of the segmentation lines, in particular across the join. I tried to identify any sharp points as these may affect the smoothness of the final outcome. The badly positioned vertexes, such as a couple above the nose, were then repositioned to create fluid, flowing lines without points.

I then selected NURMS subdivision to smooth the surface. This would allow me to identify any areas which were not smooth and vertexes which still needed to be altered. Overall I was very pleased with the surface appearance, but did identify areas where alterations were necessary.

Firstly I worked on the cheek as there was a fairly deep ridge under the cheek. To resolve this I worked in the profile view and moved the vertexes which were causing the problem further towards the centre of my face.

Secondly I made changes to the bottom of the eye. Initially from the eyelid to the top of the cheek was very straight which I felt was unrealistic as there is a slight curve around the bottom of the eyeball. To resolve this issue I used the move tool in vertex mode to locate these points slightly further back on the profile image. With these alterations I believe the eye area has a much better appearance.

The final alteration I made was to the nose. I felt the bridge looked to slim in comparison to the rest of the face, therefore I selected all the vertexes which were meant to be on the edge of the bridge of the nose and repositioned them slightly towards the ear.

I feel these adaptations have given the model a much greater realistic quality.

Afterwards I went on to create the nostrils. To do this I went into edge mode and selected all the edges of the nostril on the outside of the nose. Then, with the scale tool I dragged out new quadrants.

I then joined the two end quadrants to the inside of the nose. So that I could assure that all the vertexes were correctly aligned I turned on the snap tool and set it to snap to vertex. When I was happy with the positioning of these vertexes I welded them together to make them one. I then used the connect edges window to segment the new quadrants further, allowing for easier and more effective modelling later.

The previous stage led to one of the segments having five sides and so I needed to segment this further. To do this I selected the cut tool from the editable poly menu and used this to create more segments. Firstly I created a quadrant in the corner of the segment and then split the remainder into two.

At this point I noticed that I had accidentally included another pentagon which also needed to be divided further so I followed the same process as before to overcome this. However, any alterations I made to this section resulted in a pentagon being created somewhere else. The only solution I could think of was to continue segmenting these shapes until I reached the top of the lip.

The nostrils have gone well so far, but it would work better if there were continual loops as currently one is intercepted by a line. To solve this I removed the line which cut the segment incorrectly and then with the cut tool split the area in a more suitable way. I then realigned the vertexes so that the lines were as fluid as possible.

After this I closed the gap in the centre of the nostril. For this I used the create tool in the polygon toolbar and with this drew around the four vertexes which I wanted to be the corner of the quadrants.

At this point I looked at the nostrils overall and felt their shapes were unrealistic. I found arranging the vertexes in this area quite a struggle and spent a lot of time positioning them over and over again. I did try doing this with the see-through setting applied to the face so I could use the guidelines underneath, however I did not find this a great deal of help.

I was happy with the shape of the nostril so far and so went on to create the nostrils indentation. To do this I selected the segments where I wanted the indentation to be and opened the extrude window. From this I entered a negative integer so the polygons were further away from the base of the nose than they were originally.

When I was happy with the level of indentation I chose the move tool, and with the polygons still selected repositioned them closer to the centre of the nose to get the anatomy as realistic as possible.

I then turned on NURMS subdivision to see its appearance of the nostrils when smooth. I was quite pleased with the nose area, but believed it would benefit from further alterations. I felt the nostrils were too narrow and the formation of the inner nostril was the incorrect shape. To resolve this I repositioned the vertexes again to try to remove these errors.

I was now satisfied with the nose and am very pleased with the progress I have made this week. Next week I will continue to model my face.