with Subdivision Surfaces
By Rich Suchy
Introduction:
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In this short tutorial I will cover some of the modeling techniques I
use to model a foot with subdivision surfacing in mind.
This tutorial assumes that you have a basic knowledge of the Lightwave
Modeler. It should be translatable into any other package
as well by using whichever tools are applicable. I've taken screen captures
of Lightwave Modeler frequently to document my progress. Often, the thumb-nail
images on this page link to an entire screen grab. This should answer
any questions that the thumbnails do not.
Getting Started:
Early planning
can help you save time and avoid endless editing. I've scanned some
images, of feet I drew, to use as background images in modeler. Make
sure that your z axis and y axis images line up vertically. For those
who would rather not draw thier own feet, I have included a link (the
blue image at the right) to my background sketchs. They are very rough
but good enough as a starting point. Some of you might want to do
toe images for individual toes. This is a good idea but one that I
did not use and so do not have any such images to give you.
I choose to model to scale and have sized these foot images to 8"
in length so that they match the perportions of my body object (created
in the "Modeling a woman's body" tutorial). I find that working to
scale aids later in surfacing.
For those of you who have started with the "modeling a woman's body"
tutorial, you may notice that these background images do not align
to the leg positions of the body object. Right now its more important
to align the feet in a position that is easier to model. Aligning
the feet to the body later is a simple task provided that the scale
is already correct.
Use the Sole of the Foot as a Foundation: Model with a thought to Minimalism and Subdivision (or Metanurbs). Subdivision smooths out the geometry as it splits surfaces once or more. You want to use as little geometry as you need to to define the character of the surfaces you will model.
This model will serve as a general type of foot, without geometry wrinkles. A more specific model, complete with wrinkles, can be built in with later modification if need be.
The bottom of the foot proves to be a good place to start for two reasons. It is relatively flat and easy to work with. Also, you will more easily see how to arrange your quadrangles to prepare for smooth-shifting out toes later.
Mold
the Sole of the Foot:
Choose
points from the top view and drag them in the y axis to conform to the
shape of the bottom of the foot. Between each toe I have a triangle shaped
quadrangle. Its forward edge is split with another point. This middle
pointwill go miles towards shaping the ball odf the foot as it indents
towards between the toes. Grap those between toe points and raise them
in the y axis apropriately.
Again I stress, use reference if you need it. Even if you don't need it
it's a good idea to have it around. Over time, memories of form tend to
become stylized. Reference is a good way to stay fresh.
View as Subdivision Surfaces: Frequently check how your model is coming
along by viewing as a "subdivided", "Metanurbed", or "smoothed" object.
In lightwavejust hit the "tab" key for Metanurb mode (in Lightwave 5.X)
or Subdivision mode. (in Lightwave 6)
Now
we add Sides to the foot, one row at a time. Plot points around the foot
in the z axis, and somewhat higher than the sole in the y axis. create
quads from these in a row around the sole of the foot. Edit them into
place using your background sketches to guide you.
Checking
our model in subdivisions again shows how much we've added to our model.When you are finished with one row of Quadrangles, begin another. You will notice I left the toe area alone. After the second row is done, I'll switch out the bottom foot background image for an image of the top of the foot. I'll need it for placement of the tendons and first knuckle of the toes.