Thank you for your words
I am impatient to look at your crits.

Ged: I don't understand what you mean about the inside of the nostril. Can you try to explain it again, or make a paintover In the nose section that would be better.

But like I said the nose really is my weak point.

Hello. I am just an observer, watching you guys do this awesome work. You are all obviously very into it. I am just experimenting with Mudbox, and Z-brush a little.. and I have a question. What kind of base models are you useing to start these tests.. Vlad.. You seem to get to what you want again and again quickly and with great detail. Are you starting from a quad model that you rough out in a 3D program like Maya, or starting from a sphere in mudbox, etc.? It would help me understand the other extreme, which is the detail and finish work that you are getting to..

Thanks,

Hello. I am just an observer, watching you guys do this awesome work. You are all obviously very into it. I am just experimenting with Mudbox, and Z-brush a little.. and I have a question. What kind of base models are you useing to start these tests.. Vlad.. You seem to get to what you want again and again quickly and with great detail. Are you starting from a quad model that you rough out in a 3D program like Maya, or starting from a sphere in mudbox, etc.? It would help me understand the other extreme, which is the detail and finish work that you are getting to..

Thanks,

Thanks Meathead. As a base mesh I only use cubes and flat planes. This way I concentrate not only on the details but on the base volumes also.

I just take a cube and extrude it a few times. Then I bring it into mudbox to sculpt. Once I get it to where i like the forms i do a quick retopologizing in Topogun to cut down the poly count and to make nice topology. Then i finish it in mudbox. This seems like a lot of work, but it is actually a very fast way of working and you have the greatest amount of freedom. It also has the side benefit of really solidifying your technique and anatomical knowledge. Working this way will very quickly give you a library of meshes that you can of course, reuse over and over again.
I posted a base head mesh in the goodies section. Feel free to use it if you like.
http://theartofanatomy.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Thanks.. Yes I guess a simple cube shape or a couple of extruded cubes in the shape of a creature with arms, wings etc.. could be really simple, like under 100 polygons and really have potential in Mudbox.. I have never heard of Topgun before,, but I will read about it.. I think it is good to work without detailed base meshes too, for the sake of learning the skills too.. I guess you could subdivide the 100 polygon mesh a few times.. and skulpt it into shape with eye sockets, and a mouth, and use that as your low resolution mesh in Maya or other programs.. Though I can see how there is a little bit of forthought necessary and learning, when it comes to getting the geometry of the eyes and mouth right, for future rigging and animation.. like closing eyelids..

Thanks.

That is exactely where Topogun comes in handy. I use a similar way of approach like mookiemu's.
Starting out with a primitive cage shape with no apparent topology, up some levels, block in the shapes, and build a low level cage with good topology around it in Topogun.
Afterwards I always tend to retopolise the thing again for the sake of minimising baking errors, and make the whole mesh more animation friendly. Because then you don't have to worry that much about evenly spaced polygons as you would when building your low res cage.

But for practices I usualy stick with the first primitive shape, unless I want to texture the thing.

About topogun: http://www.topogun.com It's still in beta right now, but the guy said he's nearing the point of releasing.

I certainly hope that topogun is nearing completion. I've had my eye on it for a long time, and the new video that he released look wonderful. I use a similar approach as Maph and Mookie, i used to rebuild a quick low poly cage around a quick sculpt in Maya using D raster's nex, and ive been doing it with zbrush lately, but it's not the best solution ever. Topogun looks like a sweet piece of candy

Topogun is a gift from God (or whatever deity that floats your boat ), and I enjoy every session with it.
I'm hoping for a commercial release soon, since I'm ready to buy this for a while now. And not being able to use the beta after a month untill the next update is a bit tedious imho.

Anyway, MORE SCULPTING, PEOPLE!

topogun does sound useful. Considering that it is essentially just a small part of a process and not a means to an end I hope the price is fairly low. though their userbase isnt going to be massive so they will probably try to get every cent out of us they can

Christi mentioned that topogun is just about ready to be released. Apparently it will also have AO baking and it will have non-destructive compatibility with mudbox.

my try at some eyes:

very nice study, I think you should work on the shape of the eyelids.

after some time a new study of a simple eye, a veri hard thing for me to do:



I hope this forum will not die because an anatomy forum is a very good idea!

Sorry for my english!

very nice clean forms! I love it. I love how you've simplified the forms.
Remember the upper eyelid is sometimes twice as thick as the lower one. It has all the active muscles in it. Also the shape of the upper eyelid takes a bump in it that follows the shape of the cornea. This is very important in order to make it real.

mookiemu - I will do a lot of eye studies because is a dificile zone for me. This is the first. It will study the form but I will study the tehnique also, how is the proper way to sculpt an eye.

second one: