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.