November 30 2015

Today, I FINALLY finished modeling, and started UV Mapping.
The whole premise of UV Mapping is basically telling blender where the texture will go when you make the textures. So to start, You would select whichever object you want (after switching your view to the UV Mapping preset) then hit the [U] key, and select unwrap. You would end up with an image like this minus the checker pattern, you would add that by selecting add image, and then select the uv mapping preset.

Now, you will notice that it is in 4 different parts, that is because it would not be proper if I did it all in one. So, I elected where a seam would normally be on a real life shirt, then hit [Ctrl+E] and selected mark seam, then I did unwrap. I did that with some pieces that I did today, and then you go to the node editor, make a new texture, add a node, an image texture, and select that texture pattern from before. 

Then your model should look something like this once you switch the mode to texture from solid or wireframe.

As you can see, the majority of the blocks are the same size, that is what you want. If you have really large squares, (you would get really big ones if you don't mark seams in the proper points) then you have to fix it. That is all I did today besides finished modeling the belt buckle which was relatively simple after I did the buckle for the buckle on the flap on the helmet. 

Tomorrow, I will continue to UV Map. 

November 27 2015

I actually finished less than I thought I would. I basically just have to model the buckle then the belt is done.

I basically just modeled it using previous methods that I used for things like the strap for the goggles. You can see that I put a little bit of detail into the belt by making the end of the belt bend out and won a little bit.  There isn't really much to be said here today, it was pretty uneventful in terms of amount done. 

Tomorrow though, I will finish the belt, and finally start texturing. It should progress relatively quickly, and I am excited to take a small break from modeling now. 

November 26 2015

Today, I FINALLY finished the Boots. And I actually like how they came out. When I finished my boots, I learned I can still select anything that isn't connected to it, so I just combined all the components of the boot excluding the laces, and joined them together, and if i need to, later I can just take them apart again. I mainly did that so my menus are easier to navigate through, and also so it would be much faster to UV Map and add the mirror modifier.

I also modeled the pants, I didn't really feel like doing a bunch of different modeling, so I just made it so the wrinkles are the same on both sides. But the good thing is, is that it works on both sides, and you can only really tell that they are the same if they have the same amount of lighting on both sides like if I were to look at it dead on in the front view. 

I also started work on the belt. For the belt, I just selected the faces approximate to where I want it to be, then duplicated the faces, used the shrink/fatten tool, then separated it from the pants and named it belt so it is easy to find in the menu. 

 Tomorrow, I will finish the belt, it shouldn't take that long, I just need to shape it to the body, apply the mirror modifier, then I need to use the edge split tool down the middle in the front, and make one side go over the other, then apply the solidify modifier, then model the buckle, then it is done. 

It sounds like a lot of work, but it is really easy, I should be able to get it all done in one class, then I can finally move on to the UV Mapping and Texturing. 

November 25 2015

First of all, I would like to address a problem I had. I needed to make the aglet of the shoe lace, but I had no idea how, but upon some hard research, I found that I needed to convert each lace to mesh from curve, which I did with [Alt+C] which I can either convert Mesh to Curve/Text or from Curve to Mesh.

You can see that it is no longer a spline, but it is a mesh, so I can freely move each face. So with that in mind, I made the aglets to the laces, and closed up the holes on the bottom of the aglets.

So, now I am officially done the boots. But I still have yet to mirror it and do the pants part. Once I am done everything, modeling wise, I will organize everything so my menu will be a lot easier to look through, so it will be easier for me to find what piece I need when I am texturing. 

But I did end up with one problem, one that I cannot easily fix. 

Do you see it? I accidentally made the wrong lace go over the other on the last grommet of the boot. And they are already made into mesh's. I do have a previous save file that didn't have it like that, but I would have to model the aglets again, which I don't really want to do.

So, tomorrow, I will do the pants, and mirror the boot. then I am thinking I will finish the pants tomorrow, then start work on the belt so I can hurry up and get to texturing. 

November 24 2015

Today, I just about finished the laces to the boot, but just cut short because of time. But I did make very well progress.

You can see that the laces keep the same patter all throughout the boot, but it does change a little bit when it goes to the last 2 lace grommets.

To make the laces, I just created one spline path, then made the resolution 9, and upped the thickness of it while making it a full model, not the default half. Then once I got the very first lace, I just duplicated it, then re modelled accordingly to make the criss-cross pattern. Then once I got the first one, I then just duplicated each one while making small changed to fit the other grommets which is pretty tedious. I then went through it all and made it look like the laces were tied together tighter. 

Now, it may look like the laces are one full object, but in-fact, they are all separate objects as you can see in the next image

They don't connect, they just look like they do with the rest of the boot there, it will be good for when I have to animate and rig the character. 

Tomorrow, I will finish the laces, then do the pants part, then delete the inside faces of the boot, then I will mirror the boot, and then finally, do the belt. But I don't think I will do the pouches on the belt because of my limited time and I want to get to texturing as soon as possible while still keeping my model good quality. 

November 23 2015

Today, I finished modeling the base shoe, including the lace loops where the laces will be strung through. But I still have to work on the actual laces .

To do the lace loops, I just created a torus, scaled the Major and minor radii down accordingly. Then just placed them, and rotated them. I have them in the exact same position on both sides of the shoe, but only took screenshots of the one side. 

I also finished modeling the Ankle piece of the shoe so it fits around the tongue of the shoe, and the ankle of the leg. 

I also applied the solidify modifiers in preparation to remove all the inside faces, and so I can flatten the edges of the tongue and ankle piece 

Tomorrow, I must remove all the inside faces after I remodel the pants. Then I will add the laces to the shoe. 

November 17 2015

Today, I continued work on my shoe. I got pretty close to finishing it, actually. Well, aside from the laces.

As you can see, I have basically finished the base mesh of the shoe. I just have to finish the ankle pieces. Basically I just have to shape it to the toe piece a little bit, and make it slightly longer than what I have it at the moment. You can see that I have a piece on the end of the heel, all I did for that, was create a plane, size is down, then cut it horizontally and removed one face, curve it, then that was basically done once I added the solidify modifier, and the subdivision surface modifier. Same with the Ankle part. I just created a plan, made it big, then cut it in half horizontally again, then curved it, subdivided it some more. Then I extruded it so I can bring it across the toe part, that way it looks like it does in the tutorial. Added the solidify and the subsurf modifier, then that part is pretty much done.

As you can see, it fits nicely to the pants (which I still have to turn the legs into). I am pretty happy with these results, and am looking forward to the finished product. 

Tomorrow I will be finishing this part, and starting the laces and their holes in the ankle piece, then after that, I must start the belt. Then after that, I can FINALLY start UV mapping and texturing. 

November 16 2015

Today, I kept working on the shoe. I kind of figured out how I should go about doing it as I went.

I first started with the toes, because that is where I got an idea. I created a sphere, and deleted the bottom half of it. Then I deleted the back half which is a quarter of the whole sphere. Then I scaled it in the x axis until it fit to the toe of the sole. Then I extruded it, and scaled is down in the x and y axis' that way it fit to the sole. Then to get the part where the toe comes together with the tongue, they are actually one piece, I just made one extrusion, then scaled it down a bunch, then another extrusion, and scaled it up. Then to get the tongue of the shoe, I extruded, then rotated it, and just kept doing that until I got it to my desired position. Then I added a solidify modifier, and fixed anything that needed fixing.

I started work on the rest of the shoe, but I don't know if I am going to keep it as is. But I just created a cylinder, made a loop cut near the top, and deleted all the unneeded faces. And that is where I left off. 

Tomorrow, I will try to finish the majority of the shoe, and start of the laces. 

November 13 2015

Today, I started on the shoes of the character. They are actually really simple

I started with a cube, I scaled it down in the x axis to the width I want it to be. I then extruded it a few times, scaling it appropriately each time to make the shape how I want it. then, for the last one, I rose it to the proper height so I could add a heel to the shoe. Then added a loop cut around the center so I could round it out. 

Then I added loop cuts around the horizontal edges that way when I make a subdivision surface modifier, they stay where they're supposed to stay. Then after all of that, I added to subsurf modifier and this is what I have. 

I think it is pretty good. I just need to figure out how I am going to do the rest of the shoe now. 

November 12 2015

I finished the vest today.

As you can see, it is fitted to the rest of the body quite nicely. I just did basically what I did with the shirt, just at a thinner level. I put the buttons where they are supposed to do as well. 

I was watching the rest of the tutorial, so I can see what I should be doing, and I learned that the way i should do the pants so i can use less polygons, is to actually separate the legs from the rest of the model, and shape them like pants, so it will be less polygons, and easier for me to texture. And He also Separated the arms and head from the torso, and removed the torso. I don't know exactly why he did it, because when I watched the video, it was on mute. My guess is probably the same reason why he modeled the legs to look like pants rather then model some more pants. 

So I think I will do the pants at home, that way I can do more work here, and then work on the belt, and boots here. 

November 10 2015

Today, I didn't have as much time as normal, but I still made do with what time I had. I worked on the vest and the shirt. I basically just finished shaping the shirt, and started to shape the vest to the body.

Like I did for the original vest, I selected the desired faces I wanted my vest to cover, and duplicated it, used the shrink/fatten tool, and added a solidify modifier. Then I made the thickness to my width that I wanted, and then started to shape it into the correct shape.

As you can see, I still have some work to do in that manner, make it flatter, but some of that work I can only do once I apply the solidify modifier, which I am not ready to do yet. Before I do that, I must shape it around the arms and neck hole. Then, and only then can I apply the solidify Modifier. Then once I do that, I can loop cut around the edges like I did with the shirt to make the edges flatter, but instead of doing two cuts, I will do only one. 

November 9 2015

So, over the weekend, I forgot to redo the shirt and the vest, so that is what I ended up doing today. Mainly the shirt.

As you can see, it is nicely shaped, and the inside is all removed, that is because I did the solidify modifier how is should have been done.  With that being said, I also modified a few things that I didn't do on my last one. 

You can see in those pictures that My shirt has the proper edge thickness, and it actually shapes around my arm. But the collar on the shirt I think needs a bit of work done to it. I need to shape it a bit more so it is exactly how I want it. 

Tomorrow, I will be finishing the shirt, and also starting the vest. The vest I think will end up much better than before so I am excited for that. 

November 6 2015

Today, I finished the vest... Kind of.....
It looks pretty good!

But I have a problem. I need to basically remodel my shirt and vest if I want it to be a lot easier to texture, unless i find an easier way to do it. But I don't think there is. Basically, when I go to apply my solidify modifier, it becomes really thin, but I can fix that by applying my subdivision surface modifier first. But the reason I can't do this, is because then I get too many polygons, and If I want a game that can actually run at a good fps, I need less Polygons while still keeping the integrity. and as much as I want there to be more poly's, I can't have that many, because then Emanuel will run into problems when he puts it into the game he will make. 

I think to fix this, I will just remodel it at home over the weekend, that way I don't have to do it at school and basically do the same thing in class multiple times, and just get right to the belt and pants and shoes so I can start texturing. 

November 5 2015

Today, I worked on the vest, and almost finished it!
As you can see in the images below, I still have to adjust it a little bit.

You can see that the front is basically done, it just needs to be reshaped a little bit to fit my standards.

The back needs little work to be done, it is pretty good for me.

The sides though, they need to be fitted to the arm more, and make it so the collar doesn't clip into it. 

Tomorrow, I will be adding the buttons to the vest once I finish shaping it, and applying the modifiers. 

Then I will do the belt on the character, but to make my process a little bit faster, I don't think I will add the pouches, just the belt on it's own.

November 4 2015

Today, I started on the vest, and to my surprise, it is actually pretty complicated.

As an isolated object, it looks pretty good. Not quite want I want, but almost there. 

But when I show the other objects, it just doesn't look as good as I want it to look. I can't get the shape right, or to match up with the rest of the model, which also includes the shape. Because of these problems, I am getting flustered, so I have to think tonight on how I will go about fixing it. how I will make it look as good as I want it to. 

That is what I will be doing tomorrow; making it look good.

November 3 2015

Today, I finished modeling the button.

The button was actually a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. at first, I didn't know how I would make the thread cross in the center, I played around with the path nurbs, but that didn't work out. So then I tried circular nurbs, but then I realized that it had to be a cross. So what I did was create a cylinder, made it really thin, and longer than normal. then just scaled the entire thing down to size. then I made a face, then shrunk it in the x axis so it is flat on the ends. Then to keep the center large, i just made a loop cut around the very center. Then I duplicated it and rotated it so it made a cross. 

I also placed four buttons into their respective spots. 

Tomorrow, I will be doing the vest, then start on the pants. 

November 2 2015

Today, i didn't get much done, but I did what I could. I fixed up my shirt a little bit.

I better shaped the head hole, but looking at it now, I feel I still have to shrink it a little bit. I also made the fold over more seamless, and more natural. 

Also during today, I decided to start work on the buttons for the shirt so I wasn't wasting time on something as subtle as fold marks on a shirt. 

What I did was just create a circle path, then I made a face, by selecting all the vertices then just hitting the [F] key to create a face. Then I deleted one face, then selected all the points, and merged at the center of the circle, then I edge loop cut a few times, so i can shape it how I want it to be. 

Tomorrow I will finish the button then put it on all my desired places.