Essential Skills in Organic Modeling

317 Pages·2018·28.459 MB·English

by  Zeman, Nicholas Bernhardt

Essential Skills
in
Organic Modeling

Essential Skills
in
Organic Modeling
NICHOLAS B. ZEMAN
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed on acid-free paper
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-5449-1 (Paperback)
978-1-138-50376-2 (Hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher can-
not assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The
authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in
this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not
been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know
so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.
copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
(CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organiza-
tion that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been
granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Contents
Author xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 ◾ Organic Structures 1
WHAT IS AN ORGANIC STRUCTURE? 1
An iPhone 1
A French Bulldog 1
A Weeping Willow Tree 2
A Skyscraper 2
A Volkswagen 3
Quartz Crystal 5
Curved Shapes 8
Two-Point Arc 8
The Spiral 8
The Ellipse 9
The Horseshoe 11
Tapered Tubes 11
Growth 13
Branching 16
Folds 18
Segmentation 18
Spherical and Ovoid Shapes 20
Ovoid 20
Spherical 21
Bulbous 21
Bolus 21
v
vi ◾ Contents
Angles, Ridges, and Hard Edges 21
Radial 24
Regularity and Symmetry 27
CONCLUSION 29
Chapter 2 ◾ Plant Physiology and Construction 31
INTRODUCTION 31
ROOTS 32
BRANCHES 34
Dichotomous Branching 34
Lateral/Axillary Branching 36
LEAVES 37
FLOWERS 41
FRUITS 43
VINES 46
WATER PLANTS 47
Underwater Plants 47
Freshwater Plants 47
Saltwater Plants 49
CONCLUSION 50
Chapter 3 ◾ Animal Physiology and Forms 51
INTRODUCTION 51
LEARNING THE STRUCTURE OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 53
SIMPLE SOFT STRUCTURES 54
Folds and Wrinkles 54
Squishiness and Volume Retention 55
Flagellum and Cilia 56
Segments 57
HARD-STRUCTURED ANIMALS 59
Shells 60
Legs 61
Contents   ◾   vii
MULTISTRUCTURED ANIMALS AND VERTEBRATES 64
Fins 65
Arms 66
Tentacles 70
Wings 70
The Spine 76
Bipeds 83
The Tail 85
Fish Tails 87
Reptile Tails 88
Mammalian Tails 88
Serpentine/Legless 90
Muscles, Skin, Scales, Fur 91
Chapter 4 ◾ Organic Modeling Techniques 95
INTRODUCTION 95
Detail versus Complexity 96
Adaptive Geometry 98
Adaptive Modeling with Primitives and Edge Loops 101
Adaptive Modeling with Polygon Smoothing 106
Adaptive Skinning with Wrappers 109
Adaptive Detail with Normal Mapping and Ambient Occlusion 109
ORGANIC MODELING WORKFLOW AND
METHODOLOGY: VERTEBRATES 111
Reference Images 113
Polygon Primitives 116
Symmetrical Modeling Setup 116
In-Software Symmetrical Selection Tools 117
The Mirrored Instance 118
The Half Model 119
Rough Sculpting with Cross-Section Edge Loops 120
Phase 1: Shaping along the Spinal Length 121
Phase 2: Shaping on the Cross-Section Perpendicular Axis 123
viii ◾ Contents
Phase 3: Shaping the Cross Section 125
Phase 4: Contouring the Creature 127
Selective Detail Inclusion 129
Transitioning Detail Areas 130
Limb Extrusions 131
Quadrupeds 131
Shaping the Head 135
Radial Edge Looping 136
Global Polygon Smoothing 138
Mirroring Geometry 139
Fine-Tuning with Deformers 139
Lattices 140
Nonlinear 140
Proportional Modeling/Soft Select 141
Clusters 141
Sculpt Polygon Tool 142
CONCLUSION 143
Chapter 5 ◾ Modeling Essential Organic Structures 145
TAPERED TUBING: EXTRUSION ALONG A CURVE WITH
TAPERING SCALE 146
Step 1: Laying out the Tubing 146
BRANCHING GEOMETRY: FROM ONE COME MANY 150
TAPERED SEGMENTS 150
RADIAL EDGE LOOPING 152
Concepts 152
Creating with Extrusions 153
Poke Face 158
The Manual Method 160
BRANCHING 163
Branching with Extrusions 165
Square versus Radial Branching Geometry 167
Radial Edge-Loop Branching 167
Contents   ◾   ix
BUILDING RIDGES 175
Curve-Based Ridges 176
Extrusion Ridges 179
FOLDS AND WRINKLES 181
Modeling with Wrinkled Curves 182
Inserting Wrinkles and Folds 184
CONCLUSION 187
Chapter 6 ◾ Modeling Plant Structures 189
PART 1: THE MAGNOLIA LEAF 189
Step 1: Creating the Blade 189
The Leaf Whorl 191
PART 2: THE TRUNK 193
PART 3: THE ROOTS 197
PART 4: THE UPPER BRANCHES 201
Primary Branches 202
Secondary Branches 203
PART 5: THE FLOWER 207
POPULATING THE LEAVES 210
PROCEDURAL TREE MODELING 211
Chapter 7 ◾ Organic Modeling Workflow 215
CREATING THE TAIL 223
EXTRUDING THE LIMBS 227
MODELING THE HEAD 240
Step 1: Detailed Reference Images 240
Creating the Eye Socket 244
Building the Ears 249
DETAILING THE BODY 251
Inserting Edge Loops 251
Working with Smoothing 253
Mirroring and Completion 254
FINE-TUNE MODELING WITH DEFORMERS 257
Sculpting 259