Figure 1
Figure 2
STEP 1: Load torso06.lwo into Modeler (if you did not follow the previous tutorial sections and just want to practice the art of Smooth Shift, you may load torso06.lwo off the CD-ROM). Ignore the spline layers. Go to the layer that contains the left half of the torso.
STEP 2: Set the Perspective window's display to Wireframe Shade.
Note: One of the best new features of LightWave, Wireframe Shade lets you perceive a model as both wireframe (with clearly outlined polygons) and shaded volume at the same time - useful for helping you untangle convoluted geometry, or for finding points that have gone astray. For celshader artists, Wireframe Shade has the additional benefit of lettting you "preview" the possible ink lines of your model, since Edges occur only on the edges of polygons.
STEP 3: The round form of a breast can be Smooth-Shifted from
an eight-point circle. To help us move the points of the chest into the
shape of a circle, let's first create a guide for the base of the breast.
We have a perfect eight-point circle on the end of the stump of the arm.
Select the four polygons that form the flat part of the stump of the arm,
and type c to Copy them. (Figure
1)
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
STEP 4: Go to an empty layer and type v to Paste these four polygons. (Figure 2) Select these same polygons, then hold down the Shift key and select the layer containing the torso. You can now see both layers in the Perspective window.
STEP 5: Type t to bring up the Move tool. Move the disc guide to the front of the chest, between the four polygons of the chest that surround the breast on the model sheet. Type Shift-h to bring up the Size tool. Size the disc until it just fits within the previously mentioned four polygons of the chest that surround the breast on the model sheet. Type y to bring up the Rotate tool. Rotate this disc until it appears to lie as flat as possible on the four polygons that surround the breast. Use a combination of Move, Size, and Rotate to get this disc to look like Figure 3.
Figure 3
Artist's Note: The size of this guide will determine the initial "cup size." The angle of this guide will determine the initial orientation of the breast. (If it points outwards at a 45-degree angle, for example, the breast will also point outwards at a 45-degree angle). The placement of this disc will determine the initial placement of the base of the breast on this elf-girl's chest.Don't worry if you make a "mistake" - this guide disc just sets the initial direction. You can always tweak the geometry later, so just make the best guess possible for now. Use your sense of anatomy and design to decide how big the breast should be (Size tool), what direction it should point in (Rotate tool), and where it should start on the chest area (Move tool).
And stop blushing.
Technical Note: Do not exceed the boundaries set by the four polygons that currently form the "breast area" of the chest. In fact, make the guide slightly smaller, as in Figure 3, in order to give the points surrounding the breast some "breathing room." Points spaced too closely together will cause sharp angles in the curves of the SubPatches - inappropriate for an area like this.
STEP 6: Make the disc guide layer a background layer again, and
make the torso layer the foreground layer. In the Right View, select the
four polygons in the front of the chest that surround the disc guide. (Figure
4) Type Shift-f to summon the Smooth Shift tool (Multiply
> Extend > Smooth Shift). Move the pointer over the selected polygons,
and right-click on them once. You have just inserted geometry inbetween
these selected polygons and the points surrounding them, as the next step
will demonstrate.
Figure 4 |
Figure 5 |
STEP 7: Do not deselect these polygons. Type Ctrl-t to activate the Drag tool. Left-click on each of the points on the corners of the selected polygons...and Drag each of them in both the Back and Right Views, until they match the position of the points nearest to them on the disc guide in the background layer. The torso geometry should now look like Figure 5.
STEP 8: With these four polygons still selected, type Shift-f
to activate the Smooth Shift tool again. Move your pointer over the selected
geometry. This time, left-click on this selected geometry and drag to the
right until it looks like Figure
6.
Figure 6 |
Figure 7 |
STEP 9: Type Shift-h to bring up the Size tool. Move your pointer over the center point of the selected geometry. In the Top View, left-click on this point and drag to the left until the geometry looks like Figure 7.
Note: When you left-click on a specific point with the Size Tool in a particular view, its two-dimensional coordinates in that view will remain fixed. Its third coordinate will be shifted slightly towards or away from the origin, depending on whether or not you decrease or increase its Size.
STEP 10: With these four polygons still selected, type Shift-f
to bring up the Smooth Shift tool yet again. Left-click on them and drag
them to the right until it looks like Figure
8.
Figure 8 |
Figure 9 |
STEP 11: Type Shift-h to bring up the Size tool yet again. In the Top View, left-click on the center point of the selected polygons and drag to the left until the geometry looks like Figure 9.
STEP 12: Let's see how it looks in SubPatch Mode. To keep these
polygons selected while converting everything into SubPatches, go into
Points Selection Mode, deselect all points, and hit the Tab key to convert
everything into SubPatches. (Figure
10)
Figure 10 |
Figure 11 |
We've roughed out the form of the breast -- now we must fine-tune it. If the profile of the breast in the Perspective looks conical instead of hemispherical, the following two steps should take care of it. A cartoon figure should look as "rounded" as possible, if only because it will look better when celshaded.
STEP 13: Return to Polygon Selection Mode. The four polygons at the center of the breast should still be highlighted. Type t to bring up the Move tool. In the Right View, holding down the Ctrl key to restrict movement to one axis, raise the four polygons until they look "centered" in the profile view of the Perspective window. (Figure 11) Then, in the Top View, move them slightly to the left and back - the opposite of the direction that they are facing. (Figure 11) Now the breast is starting to look more rounded and spherical.
STEP 14: Type t again to turn off the Move tool. Hold down the
Shift key and select the eight polygons that surround the four polygons
currently selected. Type t yet again to reactivate the Move tool. Rotate
the Perspective view until you see the profile of the breast. Then, in
the Perspective view, Move the selected polygons towards the torso. Stop
when the breast looks more like a hemisphere, and less like a rounded cone.
(Figure 12)
Figure 12 |
Figure 13 |
STEP 15: Yet a true breast is not a perfect hemisphere. If anything, it looks more like a teardrop. Deselect everything. Go into Points Mode. Hit the Tab key to turn everything back into polygons. (There are two points that you must select, and turning the SubPatches back into Faces it easier for this tutorial to point them out to you).
STEP 16: Look at the eight points that form the base of the breast. Select the topmost point, then the point right above it. (Figure 13) In the Right View, use the Move tool to raise these points up slightly, until they form a gentle arc with the points on either side of them.
STEP 17: If you converted these faces back into SubPatch surfaces now, you would notice that the profile of the breast looks much better. Save this object as torso07.lwo.