Back when we started this whole mess, we talked a bit about having to compensate for using photos as our reference. Basically, since any photo you take has perspective, you can’t always rely exclu-sively on the photo when adjusting geometry.
The eyes are one of those features that tend to get distorted in photos, so we need to compensate for this as we move forward.
We’ll discuss a few tricks to compensate for these issues in Chapter 11. We should also look to some of the reference photos of the head in various poses to help our cause. Please refer to the additional images on the companion CD, in Chapter 5\sourceimages. So let’s move on to the eye.
1. In order to get the eyelids and the area surrounding them the proper shape we will create a stand-in eyeball. Choose Create
| NURBS Primitives4Sphere p. When the dialog box opens, set the Radius to 0.30 and the Axis to Z, then click Create.
Figure 5-68
2. Move the sphere up to match the reference in both the front and side view.
3. Rotate the sphere roughly 4 degrees on the Y-axis so that the center point of the sphere is facing slightly right.
The reason we are using a NURBS sphere at this point is so we can take advantage of the Make Live command. When you make a NURBS surface live, all of the vertices we move along the eyelids will snap to the surface of the sphere. This in turn will make it considerably easier to get the eyelids to look correct.
4. So with the NURBS sphere selected, choose Modify | Make Live. The sphere’s surface is now a live object. This means that the vertices we move should snap to the curved surface of the sphere.
5. Select your geometry again and, starting in a front view, adjust the vertices on the innermost edge loop to match the refer-ence image.
Figure 5-69
6. If you switch to perspective view, you will see that the interior edge loop is following the curve of the sphere.
Figure 5-70
Figure 5-71
7. Rotate to a side view and adjust the vertices to match the ref-erence image.
8. Select the sphere and turn off Make Live by selecting Modify
| Make Live again.
9. Add a new edge loop using Insert Edge Loop tool so that it mimics the interior edge of the eyelid. With the edge loop selected, pull it out a bit from the sphere on the Z-axis.
Figure 5-72
Figure 5-73
10. Create a new edge loop around the eye. Move the vertices to start to define the eyelid itself. Match the points to your refer-ence in both the front and side views.
11. Add another edge loop. We will move the verts to help define the way that the eyelid sort of tucks itself under the ridge of the eyebrow.
Figure 5-74
Figure 5-75
12. Create another loop. This one will be used to define the ridge of the overlap of skin over the eye and the pocket that is formed under the eye.
13. Create two loops that start at the outside corner of the eye and wrap around to the back of the head.
Figure 5-76
Figure 5-77
14. Add one last loop around the rim of the eyelids.
Let’s go in and do a little bit more tweaking. The inside part of the eye contains a little fleshy area known as the lacimal caruncle.
Figure 5-78
Figure 5-79
15. So let’s select the two points on the inside corner of the eye and move them back on the Z-axis and then in toward the nose on the X-axis.
16. Select the face on the inner part of the eye and then extrude it out a bit on the Z-axis so that it looks like Figure 5-81.
Figure 5-80
Figure 5-81
17. Select the innermost edge loop and extrude it back into the head on the Z-axis.
18. Take a few minutes to move the vertices on the side of the head near the eye so that the eye socket smoothly transitions into the head.
Figure 5-82
Figure 5-83
19. We’ll add two additional edge loops that will give us some addi-tional polys to work with when crafting the ear. Using the Split Polygon tool, start at the bridge of the nose and continue around to the back of the head.
20. Collapse the triangle that was left on the cheek.
Figure 5-84
Figure 5-85
Finally, we can add a few additional edge loops to make sure we have enough geometry to capture the likeness and account for animation. These last few loops will also ensure that we have no issues with the geometry not appearing smooth.
21. Using the Insert Edge Loop tool, add three more edge loops that wrap around from the forehead to underneath the chin.
22. Add an edge loop that starts at the eye and flows down to the upper lip.
Figure 5-86
Figure 5-87
23. Insert another edge that flows from the inner eye around the tip of the nose.
24. Create a loop that crosses the tip of the nose and wraps down under the chin.
Figure 5-88
Figure 5-89
25. Create a loop that wraps around the outside of the lips.
26. Add an additional edge loop around the nostril.
27. Finally, we add two edge loops that will give us some addi-tional geometry to create the ear.
Figure 5-90
Figure 5-91
This should just about do it for the face, aside from some final adjustments we’ll do later on to clean up the rough edges, nail down the likeness, and account for some asymmetry. Don’t worry now about your model actually looking like the person you are trying to create at this point.
Wrap-Up
In this chapter we got down and dirty with the character’s head. We learned how to use edge loops efficiently to create a head that looks relatively good. At this point, aesthetics plays second fiddle to form as our focus here is to create a clean edge flow that will be easier to animate.
We learned quite a bit about the key elements of the face and how they fit together. You also picked up some big words that you can use to impress your colleagues.
We also learned to utilize the Sculpt Geometry tool as an effec-tive means to model. We will take advantage of this as we move forward. The head is by no means finished. We will be doing some additional tweaking before all is said and done. The next chapter will take us into the dark deep recesses of modeling the ear.
Figure 5-92