Group Tutorial

Hints for Modeling and Animating an Entire Body
Proportion and structure are the keys to modeling and animating the human form. The ability to use templates provides an important tool for maintaining facial and body proportion. This makes the job of creating realistic human models much easier. The FACE SCULPT tutorial provides a more in depth description of the process.

Developing the appropriate hierarchical structure is important for effective character animation. This tutorial provides you with the steps to be followed in importing and setting up templates and provides a detailed list of hierarchical components that make up the human model.

Tips For Using Templates
A helpful step to creating a model that maintains proper proportion is to import into Modeler some PICT files of sketches or photographs that show the front and side views of a model.

When importing PICT files into Modeler for use as templates, be careful not to overload the program's memory either by bringing in too many PICT files or importing them as large high resolution files.
Before bringing them into Modeler, use an image editing program like Photoshop to convert them to black and white images, crop closely around them, reduce their size and sample them down to 72 dpi.
To import PICT files into Modeler, go to the Windows menu and select Display Image/Movie...

Illustration 50 - Creating an outline of the head
Once you've opened a PICT file, click on the name of the PICT file on top. You should now see a pop-up menu that says Copy PICT into Database. Select that option and close the PICT file by clicking in the small top left square.
If you click on the fit to view square in the Front window, you will see your file in Modeler.
You can click on it to select it or go to the Groups palette and click on its name.
If you brought in a side view use the Transform command to rotate it 90 degrees so you can see it in the Right window. Bring in your other views.
You will find it easier to model the figure starting at the bottom and working up to the head as shown in Illustration 50.

Setting the Group Hierarchy

It is very important that you create folders and put them in order while you model each part or you will find yourself in a big mess of objects when you are finished. Rotation points can be set after you are done modeling everything.

In the previous lesson in which you modeled two legs and a pelvis, you learned a little about hierarchies of folders and objects. By putting them in the right order you were able to animate the legs. Illustrations 47 and 48 show the hierarchical structure your folders and objects are supposed to be for the entire figure.

Illustration 47 - Notice that the main folder 'Body' contains two separate folders - 'upr body' and '*lwr body'. These are shown below and slightly to the right of the main folder.

Illustration 48 - Showing the expanded hierarchical arrangement of folders and objects.

Notice that the 'upr body' folder opens up into several hierarchical levels of folders that contain the head, neck, arms, chest and stomach elements.

The 'lwr body' folder opens to reveal the pelvis object and two leg folders.

Illustration 49 - Showing a detailed view of the left arm folder revealing all the folders and objects within it.

The arm folder opens to reveal the upper arm object and the lower arm folder. At the next level, the lower arm object and the hand folder are displayed. The hand folder opens up to reveal the hand object and the five finger folders. Each finger folder contains the finger composed of three segments.

Notice the asterisk in front of the last digits of the fingers and thumb. They are some of the few objects that have a rotation point. Normally, only folders have rotation points.

An important rule to keep in mind is that rotation points are set for every folder and never for the objects within them, except the last object in a folder that has movement such as the last digit of a finger or a foot.

Illustration 50 - Creating an outline of the head

Illustration 47 - Notice that the main folder '*Body' contains two separate folders - '*upr body' and '*lwr body'. These are shown below and slightly to the right of the main folder.

Illustration 47 - Notice that the main folder 'Body' contains two separate folders - 'upr body' and '*lwr body'. These are shown below and slightly to the right of the main folder.