Basic figure setup in 118 Stages (not including modeling)

I sometimes get email asking advice on how to organize making a figure whether person, animal, clothing, etc. Here is a basic list some may want to save for reference.

Hope you find it useful. Some steps take longer than others. Joints and morphs take the longest. But overall here is a rough guide for a high quality poser figure.

Again some take more than others so I averages the days per stage. Say 55/6 hours per day. A novice can make a high quality figure. Just takes longer.

Novice: 5 days per stage
Intermmediate: 4 days per stage
Advanced: 2-3 days per stage

Default Mesh Shaping(5 stages):

1. Ensuring skeletal proportions
2. Ensure age and weight proportions
3. Shaping subtle human detail
4. Ensure ethnic proportions
5. Creating hybrid shape compatible with morph list

Mesh Cutting(5 stages):

1. Determining Part list
2. Testing basic torso cuts
3. Ensuring polygon compatibility
4. Testing basic extremities cuts
5. Ensuring polygon compatibility

Torso Jointing(5 stages):

1. Setting up basic joints
2. Refining basic joints
3. Setting limits
4. Testing
5. Refinement

Hand Jointing(5 stages):

1. Setting up basic joints
2. Refining basic joints
3. Setting limits
4. Testing
5. Refinement

Foot Jointing(5 stages):

1. Setting up basic joints
2. Refining basic joints
3. Setting limits
4. Testing
5. Refinement

Misc.(genitals, body handles, etc.) Jointing(5 stages):

1. Setting up basic joints
2. Refining basic joints
3. Setting limits
4. Testing
5. Refinement

Torso Scaling(4 Stages):

1. Setting up basic scaling
2. Refining basic scaling
3. Setting limits
4. Testing

Head Scaling(4 Stages):

1. Setting up basic scaling
2. Refining basic scaling
3. Setting limits
4. Testing

Hand Scaling(4 Stages):

1. Setting up basic scaling
2. Refining basic scaling
3. Setting limits
4. Testing

Foot Scaling(4 Stages):

1. Setting up basic scaling
2. Refining basic scaling
3. Setting limits
4. Testing

Face Morphs(13 elements in list):

1. Creating basic facial shapes
2. Creating ethnic shifts
3. Eye Morphs
4. Nose Morphs
5. Mouth Morphs
6. Jaw Morphs
7. Phonemes
8. Interior Shaping
9. Exterior Shaping
10. Age
11. Expression
12. Teeth
13. Tongue

Body Morphs (17 stages):

1. Weight
2. Age
3. Musculature
4. Hips
5. Torso
6. Chest
7. Neck
8. Head
9. Shoulders
10. Arms
11. Forearms
12. Hands
13. Thighs
14. Buttocks
15. Shins
16. Feet
17. Toes

Cr2 Setup(9 Stages):

1. Testing for anomalies or errors
2. Organizing part list for display
3. Managing body morphs full and partial
4. Hand Setup
5. Foot Setup
6. Genital Setup
7. Arm IK
8. Leg IK
9. Bodyhandles

Body Uv mapping(8 Stages):

1. Basic grouping for mapping
2. Basic map
3. Material assignment
4. Unwrapping
5. Proportional Template assignment
6. Testing
7. Integrate with other maps
8. Testing

Head Uv mapping(8 Stages):

1. Basic grouping for mapping
2. Basic map
3. Material assignment
4. Unwrapping
5. Proportional Template assignment
6. Testing
7. Integrate with other maps
8. Testing

Hand/Feet Uv mapping(8 Stages):

1. Basic grouping for mapping
2. Basic map
3. Material assignment
4. Unwrapping
5. Proportional Template assignment
6. Testing
7. Integrate with other maps
8. Testing

Final Pose Testing(5 Stages):

1. Standing
2. Sitting
3. Crouching
4. Hand holding
5. Running

Final Morph Testing(4 stages):

1. Reversibility
2. Blending with other morphs
3. Distortion range for dial value
4. Uv distortion for morphs

Testures and modeling not included above.

Message edited on: 09/14/2005 18:49

Message edited on: 09/14/2005 18:59

Now obviously, if you copy an existing design(not my recommendation), you save a lot of time. This is why we see so many rip offs, knock-offs, and copies.

PS: This is based on one person doing the work. For team averages, divide time by number of people working on project. Lower quality also reduces time. As does recycling mesh, morphs and joints. Hope peeps finds this useful. :)

Message edited on: 09/14/2005 18:55

Anton, This is some good stuff and thank you! Now if we could only get you to do a tutorial on UVMapping. I'd love to see how you do that since most of your merchandise has simple, practical and very usable UVmaps. mike

I'm gonna try to digest all this later but for now, thank you to take the time to do this very helpful overview! Pmatic

I would change what I said from: Novice: 5 days per stage Intermmediate: 4 days per stage Advanced: 2-3 days per stage to: Novice: 4 days per stage Intermmediate: 3 days per stage Advanced: 1-2 days per stage

BkMrq

Thanks for the info, I would like to read alot more about this process. I am particularly interested in UV Mapping edification. What app are you modeling your characters in btw?

:) Wings3D for base mesh. Final shape through Poser and Zbrush. Mapping with UVmapper and DeepUV.

Thanks for the info.

no problem. It is always fun when someone asks. :)

Well, I wouldn't call this Basic figure setup, this is a list for a full fetched human setup with all bells and whistles, in most other cases you could get away with only half of those points.

Anyway, thanks for this list, it will store it for future reference.

Actually it is basic. There really are no bells and whistles in the list. This is what is involved. And you really can't get away with less these days. hehe.

bm

Personal opinion:
All those face and body shaping morphs are counterproductive. Look at V3, her mesh breaks if you give her a ethnic morph and a smile morph at the same time.
Most 'Poser consumers' want a high versatility from their figures, because they equate this with a high value of benefit for their investment. I strongly disagree. All the morphs of V3 can't make her a new mesh, most V3 renders have a high feeling of 'sameness' to me.

I'm probably in a minority. I buy new figures like Miki because they are different and I don't care if they are backwards compatible with textures or clothing from other figures.

Anton> And you really can't get away with less these days. hehe.

This is only true if you want to sell human figures to the Poser mass market. This is not my objective, so I can get away with less (or rather different) points on my list.

hehehe.

Please Help how do I get the genital to stay in the correct place on the Micheal figure PLEASEEEEEEEE help. I have tried parenting to his hip but it ends up coming out of his stomach

I believe Daz designed them to conform like clothing does.

thank you for the overview :0) I would also like to see a good prefessional's approach to uv mapping a human figure, I'm at the mapping stage at the moment of a humaniod type figure and it's looking like it's going to take me until next year..lol so I'd love to find some really in depth tutorials on the subject. -3dz

Novice: 4 days per stage Intermmediate: 3 days per stage Advanced: 1-2 days per stage So you are saying it takes 118 * 3 days to create a model for an intermediate? If so, we need some better tools.

that's not including modeling time I don't think,just poserizing.

FOr a high quality figure at what is considered high quality Poser standards, yes. It would be about 11 months for Intermmediate. That is to ensure no mistakes or flaws.

bookmark :-)

OMG.... now that is exactly why I will never model, no way. :] Fish

Probably me, too, FishNose! :) At least, if we're just talking about figures & probably clothes. I'm working on modeling my first simple prop (aside from a tutorial wineglass), which is going okay so far.