Article Focus: In this tutorial, Jannis Labelle demonstrates modeling a head using the Edge-Extrude plugin. This is a tutorial for intermediate or advanced Modelers with Cinema 4D who already have an understanding of the modeling capabilities of the software, although enthusiastic beginners can follow also with a little bit of perseverance. Jannis has tried to include as many screen shots as possible and tries to make the instructions clear and let the pictures talk for themselves. This technique can also be easily followed with any program that can extrude edges, like Maya for instance.
Jannis has included a file of the head mesh for you to download here and use as you wish. If you do use this mesh a small mention will be appreciated.
Once a technique is demonstrated I will then mention it in passing, without going over it over and over. There is nothing like a bit of losing yourself in the labyrinth of 3d software to teach you to pay attention and also to take you to otherwise unexplored corners.
For this tutorial, you will need the Edge-Extrude plugin and you can buy it from here. Until I discovered it when I bought the book from Arndt von KoenigsmarckMaxon
Cinema 4d 7, I found modeling in Cinema very hard going. With the plugin it becomes a sheer pleasure and for subdivision surfaces for me, Cinema becomes the fastest and most efficient modeling software. Since the plugin is now integrated in Cinema R8 this could be a very good tutorial to test drive the new version. This head took me about 4 hours to model, including creating and saving over 70 screenshots, so you can see that the plugin speeds along and it is far more efficient than modeling by subdividing primitives. If you are modeling organic meshes, that is.
If you have Edge-Extrude
(01) by now dock it somewhere in your interface that suits you, it is non modal, so it will stay open after every operation. OK.. Presuming you have the plugin or you have R8, (better still), let's start with the tutorial.
01
I have adjusted two images in Photoshop so that all the main features are aligned. One for the front view and one for the profile. I have used the image of a sculpture head because it allows you into the knowledge that a sculptor has of the contours of the human face. Photographs on the other hand don't give you that, so it is good to study how surfaces have been put together by a sculptor if you really want to produce high class meshes.
Click on the images(02) (03) to bring up the larger versions. Then right-click on the images and choose 'save image as'. Save them as jpg and then open up Cinema.
In the XY
view click edit then configure
and choose path.. to navigate to where you have saved
the pictures(04), making sure that they
are saved in the same folder as the Cinema file and choose Front_Face.jpg.
Make sure also that both
the horizontal and vertical size are set to 800 m, this maintains
the original ratio of the pictures.
Do the same with the YZ
view but this time choose Profil.jpg
Now you are set and are ready
to model, so click on to the next page to start modeling the eyes.
04
This tutorial is divided into five parts, you can either do them sequentially or if there is a particular part that interests you, you can jump directly into that part. This whole tutorial is made so that you can print it out and study it at your leisure away from the screen (something I would strongly advise) and then come back and do it, or you can follow it from the screen.
If you want to print it,
in your Browser go to File, Print
Preview, make sure the pages print OK and then press
Print. Of course you will have to do this with all five parts.
Digg it
