fatty cowboy monster

[Bretton]

Im starting on my third ever model.. done i milkshape.. ive never used another modelling program but i hear milkshape isnt very good :[ so im not really sure how much easier it would be with a better program. anyway heres my progress...

ill put a few more faces on those cheeks cause they are kind of sharp. This is for a contest at polycount btw.

http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v16/bretton/fattycowboy.jpg

http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v16/bretton/fattycowboyscreens.jpg

[juicy_fruit]

for unreal?

[Bretton]

:] prolly for fun

[Bretton]

wow i am realizing i am pretty lame at this.. any tips for starting the body?

[Bretton]

bleh. here is some progress.. major critiques needed

http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v16/bretton/fascreenshots.jpg

[juicy_fruit]

sorry im more into the sculpting.. but its a nice low poly model.. keep workin man round it off make it smooth n nice

[usagi yojimbo]

hey, what i do is look at how other people's models, see how they have theyre mesh layed out, i use poopinmymouth's (http://www.poopinmymouth.com/) site for reference alot. also id suggest using max or maya

[John]

Well here you are. Ah the joys of lowpoly modelling, i've done a fair amount of that too. A great and free program for that is gmax (http://www.discreet.com/products/gmax/). Depends on what game you work for, but milkshape can still handle the converting.
As for the model, put more polygons into his face, and give his head a cranium, that helps working with the face.
You may want to work on the limbs seperately and join them to the mass of the body when you're done with them.
I'm no pro, so i'll stop ranting now :)
How's Thunderdome coming along? Remember, there are only 9 days left...
Edit: I'll put something up in the next 2 or 3 days. I have everything roughed out, now i'm figuring out how it'll all come together.

[Bretton]

thanks for the replies

kitten: yeah i tried using gmax before but it didnt work on my computer so yeah i stuck with milkshape.. there is a poly limit for the contest and im not quite sure how my polies should be distributed aty this point so i figured id just rough it out for now and go back and add more polies later.

as for thunderdome... i just started inking my final peice then i will get it scanned and fill in some flat colors on the pc. i did my page of sketches. I am working on what to do for my comic. I have the basic idea down im just trying to figure out how i wanna go at it? how about you? (reply in our thunderdome thread) finished the design for your character yet?

[benzo]

Don't worry about making everything tri's until as late as possible. its easier to model and texture in quads first

your last step, after uv mapping, is to triangulate the model, and, if necessary, you can also reduce more polys.

its easier to reduce the poly count sometimes by reducing tri's because you only loose half the detail as you would with quads so you therefore can usually take out more detail.

hope that makes sense and helps!

-benz0

[Bretton]

i dont think i can sculpt with quads in milkshape.. i have only ever been able to do it in tris..

[benzo]

then my best advice would be get a decent program

i use maya, but any program- lightwave, 3dsmax, and xsi do the trick too. i would recommend lightwave- its cheapest and great for modeling

[Bretton]

thanks for the advice benzo :] i appreciate it a lot. i tried the free version of maya (i think thats what it was) but it would not run on my computer. I can't afford much... I'm a 16 yr old with no job so im not really rolling in the dough.

I think i will put 3d modelling off to the side until i can afforad a decent program. I mostly just started this model because I liked the concept :]

your thunderdome piece looks beautiful by the way.