Difference between revisions of "Blender/Custom Cuirass (part 1)"

Blender/Custom Cuirass (part 1) (edit)

Revision as of 22:05, 3 July 2007

1,785 bytes added , 22:05, 3 July 2007

Continued improvements and edits to tutorial.

Anonymous user

imported>Sickleyield

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 =The Torso and Neck Line=
-Click on the middle of the female torso to select it.  Now go to the dropdown that says Object Mode and switch to Edit Mode.  The torso goes from a featureless surface to a network of connected dots, the vertices and faces of the mesh.  With the default game topless mesh, the surface is smooth, and you can go straight to making a top out of it.  This is why we use the topless one and not the lumpy bra version (that one is far too difficult to model with, at least for me).  If you’re using a different body mesh like Corwyn’s or Biu’s, you might need to shrink the nipples so they don’t stand out and make it obvious this piece is from a body mesh.
-Select a random vertex anywhere on the body by right-clicking it.  Press g.  Move the mouse around and observe how the vertex is dragged away from the body.  You can use g and x, y, or z to drag the vertex on just one axis at a time.  This is good, because otherwise you can get odd-looking results from the third dimension that you can’t see.  Before you go hog-wild with this, I recommend going back to Object Mode, duplicating the torso section (shift-D) and scaling it to be a little larger than the body sections.  This will drag it out of sync, so you might have to move it upwards using g-z.  Try to get it to where there is no overlap or clip between the underlying torso and the duplicate that will become your mesh.
+Right-click on the middle of the female torso to select it.  Now go to the dropdown that says Object Mode and switch to Edit Mode.  [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=6.jpg Pressing tab key should also do this].  The torso goes from a featureless surface to a network of connected dots, the vertices and faces of the mesh.  With the default game topless mesh, the surface is smooth, and you can go straight to making a top out of it.  This is why we use the topless one and not the lumpy bra version (that one is far too difficult to model with, at least for me).  If you’re using a different body mesh such as Fantasy Figures, BAB, etc., you might need to shrink the nipples so they don’t stand out and make it obvious this piece is from a body mesh.  I've already done this for the pics you've been seeing in order for this to be a more or less all-ages tutorial.  Sculpt Mode is your friend for that kind of work, but I'm not going into that for now.
-Now you have a body section and a proto-cuirass over it.  Here’s another reason why we use the topless female mesh – now you can make a sleeveless or strapless look if you wish and not worry about the ugly bra straps.  Select the larger duplicate and go back to Edit Mode.
+Select a random vertex anywhere on the body by right-clicking it.  Press g.  Move the mouse around and observe how the vertex is dragged away from the body.  You can use g and x, y, or z to drag the vertex on just one axis at a time.  This is good, because otherwise you can get odd-looking results from the third dimension that you can’t see.  Before you continue with this, I recommend going back to Object Mode, duplicating the torso section (shift-D), and then switching back to Edit.  Scale the copy  to be a little larger than the body section using ALT+S, not just s.  Try to get it to where there is no overlap or clip between the underlying torso and the duplicate that will become your mesh.
+You can check the overlap by switching to [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=7.jpg wireframe mode].  Press the z key.  You can see different sides of your mesh by pressing numbers on the numpad, or ctrl + any numpad number.  If you're scratching your head because your mesh looks like that already and has been driving you crazy, find [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=8.jpg this] button and click it off.
+=Important Tip: Proportional Editing=
+'' Here's something much more useful than plain g.  At the top of your buttons window, below the 3d window, there is a line of little symbol buttons.  If you hover your mouse over them, it should say what they are.  One of them looks like a little orange circle.  This is the proportional editing button.  Click it and choose [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=9.jpg on.]
+Pick any random vertex and grab it again.  Notice how when you do that, it pulls more than just the one vertex?  This lets you smoothly edit parts of the body instead of having to do it vertex by vertex.  Also, if you hold the mouse still and move the wheel, you can grow or shrink how much is affected around the vertex you chose.  This is ridiculously useful when you're making clothing and armor. [/i]
+Now you have a body section and a proto-cuirass over it.  Select the larger duplicate and make sure you're in Edit Mode.''
 Now it’s time for the fun part – making your cuirass torso look like a cuirass instead of just like smooth skin.  I can’t tell you exactly what to do here, because it will depend on your preferences and art skills, but I’ll give you some suggestions based on my own projects.
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 -Distort vertices too far.   This mesh is already weight-painted – it’s already been told which bones it should move with.  If you move a vertex from breast level up to head level, it will still move like part of the breast section.  And if you stretch a vertex very far from others near it, it will stretch the texture oddly.
--Add new vertices.  They won’t be part of the weight painting or the UV map and will therefore screw your project royally.  This is important because it will affect how your mesh looks with a texture on it, and even whether you can make that texture at all.
+-Add new vertices by extrusion.  They won’t be part of the weight painting or the UV map and will therefore screw your project royally.  This is important because it will affect how your mesh looks with a texture on it, and even whether you can make that texture at all.
 -Accidentally make your cuirass intersect the body sections under it.  This is known as clipping, and it looks terrible in-game.  To help avoid this, make sure you look at every change you make from more than one angle.
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 DO:
--Subdivide.  If you select some vertices adjacent to each other and then go down to the buttons window in Edit Mode, you should be able to see a button that says “Subdivide.”  Yes, you might have to hunt through a few tabs for it, because Blender’s edit screens have a lot of little buttons.  This is a good thing, believe me.  If you click Subdivide, it will double just the vertices you chose.  One square will become four squares, a line of three vertices will become a line of six, and so on.
+-Subdivide.  If you select some vertices adjacent to each other and then go down to the buttons window in Edit Mode, you should be able to see a button that says [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=10.jpg subdivide].  You might need to hunt through a few tabs for it.  If you click Subdivide, it will double just the vertices you chose.  One square will become four squares, a line of three vertices will become a line of six, and so on.  This gives you a way to add more detail than the original mesh leaves room for.
-This will allow you to make spikes, for example, without a screwy UV map.  Subdivide the area – say a circle of six vertices – that will be the spike, and subdivide it.  Now raise the vertices, then raise the ones in the middle of them, then the central triangle or vertex (you might have to subdivide the central triangle to get a one-vertex point).  Now the spike consists of several vertexes and you can put details on the texture of it rather than having an oddly stretched-looking section.
+-Use the knife tool.  This is wonderful if you want to divide faces only horizontally OR vertically instead of both at once (like subdivide does).  You can access it by pressing SHIFT + k.  You can then choose a mode; I usually use [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=11.jpg midpoint], but feel free to experiment.  You use it by left-clicking outside the area you want, then dragging across the area like [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=12.jpg this] and pressing enter.  When used horizontally, the result is something like [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=13.jpg this].
-EXAMPLE: If you’re not sure what I mean by this stretching thing, have a look at the upperclass clothing burgundy and gold outfit on a female character in-game.  See how distorted the lower part of the skirt is?  It doesn’t take into account the stretching of the fabric with player movement.  The vertices are further apart than planned, so the texture doesn’t look quite right there.  You can avoid similar problems through subdivision.
+-Mold the edges.  Subdivide or knife cut around the armholes, neckline, and hem to make an extra row of vertices.  Grab the very outer rim of vertices and pull them back into the body mesh so that your cuirass has obvious, three-dimensional edges.  This is an optional technique which is not used in some prominent mods, including much of the BAB clothing and armor.  Unless you're already really good with alpha channels and super-detailed texturing the way the BAB team is, molded edges are a better way to make your cuirass look solid and real instead of like a layer of paper over the body.
 ==Tips and Techniques==
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 -If you plan to include the upperbody section under the cuirass as part of it, you can show skin underneath.  This is why I had you copy it.  This way you can have different necklines by cutting off vertices, or you can have open sides that are closed with decorative fasteners (something I enjoy doing with my cuirasses).  I’m not promoting skimpy armor – I try to always have mine cover the important organs and so on – but it’s a valid technique for making your cuirass actually look like it was made from pieces of skin sewed together, different bits of shell or metal, or et cetera.
--Remember, collar and hemline variations help to distinguish your cuirass from the plain old body mesh.  Experiment with subdivision and grabbing to create new hem shapes, a mandarin collar, etc.  For parts of the cuirass that need to have an “inside” showing, you can do this:
+-Remember, collar and hemline variations help to distinguish your cuirass from the plain old body mesh.  Experiment with subdivision and grabbing to create new hem shapes, a mandarin collar, etc.  For parts of the cuirass that need to have an “inside” showing, you can easily make that happen in NifSkope.  I'll show you how down in the export section of Part 2.
-Select the vertices you want copied.  Press shift-D to duplicate them.  Now the duplicate vertices will be highlighted instead of the originals, which is useful.  Go down to the edit buttons and find the one that says “flip normals.”  Click it.  Voila, now that part of the mesh is double-sided and will be textured, too.
--Don’t forget to export the UV map of this section when you’re finished.  Go to UV-save UV face layout. A screen will pop up that allows you to choose the directory in which to save a .tga of the UV map. It doesn't matter where you put it, as long as you can find it later. I always put mine in textures. They're not hard to locate, since the names are generally rather odd-looking. This is what you'll use to make a new texture that will actually fit your new mesh.
+-Don’t forget to export the UV map of this section when you’re finished.  Switch to UV Face Select Mode.  Go to UVs-Scripts-save UV face layout.  Here's a [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=14.jpg picture.]  A screen will pop up that allows you to choose the directory in which to save a .tga of the UV map. It doesn't matter where you put it, as long as you can find it later.  They're not hard to locate, since the names are generally rather odd-looking.  You can use this layout to make a new texture that fits your mesh.
-''Helpful warning: Occasionally in Blender I've seen a glitch wherein Blender outputs a blank .tga file with nothing in it instead of the real UV map. If that happens, keep trying. Sometimes you'll need to change the name of your object (from "sphere" or whatever the default name was in Blender down in the edit screen). Sometimes this will also happen if you try to change the strange name Blender gives the UV map before you save it.''
+''Helpful warning: Occasionally in Blender I've seen a glitch wherein Blender outputs a blank .tga file with nothing in it instead of the real UV map. If that happens, you need to change [http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/sickleyield/Tutorial/?action=view&current=15.jpg this] so that the object button is NOT selected.  Then pick your own name for the output file.''
 Continued in Custom Cuirass in Blender Part 2: Other parts of the cuirass, and how to export all of this.
 [[Category:Modeling_and_Texturing_Tutorials]]