I call this the net method because- its like droping a net on a object. It is probally one of the most tidious and long ways but can yeild great results and is great for modelring true asymetrical faces, so the time is often rewarding below is a template to use you can draw or find your own if youd like just make sure key features line up one method steven stahlberg (www.optidigit.com )uses is to overlap several photos and line up the features which gives his women beauitiful features !

here is a large image for those wishing to use this template!

1:line up key features if they are a little off it is ok ! your finished result will just look a little different

2: next creat a flat box or sheet make it 10x10 or whatever you feel comfortable with i use 10 x 10 but i can always use band saw or knife to add moore lines! if your app supports a tool enabiling you to subdivide then try and start with as low of number as you can adding when needed if not start with a higher amount 15x15 so you dont get stuck

select 2 rows in from each side and the chin and extrude them forward

3: Next select the first verticle row of boxes on the sides and extrude them bask the oposite this will leave teh 3rd line from the sides inbetween the 2 different steps for now

4: This is a good point to rotate your model and take a look at the cage to make sure you didnt miss anything

5: At this point you should focus only on one view line up the facial features by draging your points around note: this is not the best modeling for models that will be animated for animated models i d suggest learning subdivided polys using edge loops which ill do a later tut explaing these terms and techs

SIDENOTE : Notice how the face isnt really symetrical at all. You can in alot of programs, cut the models face in half and then mirror, make adjustments ! I'd suggest at least trying this way to take the time and do both sides to see the difference in the end result, not that its better just different!

6:This is a good point to finish moving the front point around i always try to leave the last row out a little it will make it alot easier to see and move around at this stagege take another look at your cage or model

cage so far

7: now do the same for the side view as you did the front check in perspective view to see that it is going good you should easily be able to see where youll need to start adding lines if you started with a 10 x 10 mesh like me this is good and will build the thought process on how the lines should go this is all i have time to post for nopw and is a good resting point to study your net and see what youd like to move around and where could use more polys for detail until tomorow thanks eveyone anyone wanting to add to what ive done so far is bothe free to and welcome to Regards Trav

just a preview of the almost finished project

anyone using this or any other tuts i do please post your progress good or bad so that we can learn or help thats what this forum is for so dont be shy

Your final image has the inside lightwave 6 span setup. Why not just have done the inside lightwave tutorial to get to that point, or do you find this box method is quicker/more intuitive for you?

the inside light wave is a good method but the point of this is to demonstarte other techniques this method is not my favorite but a good starter also there is another box method in wich ill do later ! that also is easier but it depends on the modeler i find the box easier but others i know prefer this method for using templates i do like this method sometimes

also once you get used to this method it goes rather fast

Hi TRAVISB look what I found http://www.3dluvr.com/content/artz/3dsmax/std/nhead.php

Great this helps alot it looks as if this forum is working great i tend to like to do the whole mesh but thats just the way i do it the poly count on that tut looks really high so it will probally be a nice render too !

I'm new to lightwave 6.5, and I could really use this, but the tutorials I've found haven't quite taught me how to use all of the tools. It angers me when you say something as simple as 'Extrude the chin' and I can't even do that...I guess I might as well give up on lightwave and stick with poser 4 and bryce 5. Lol.

Kag sometimes this is iratating especially when there are so many terms and tools that do the same function to extrude simply means to grab those polygons or points and pull them outward if your using lw then you will probally want to use the drag, move and bandsaw tool for this tut drag - grab a point and move it move- select a point or points and then move them or "extrude" i hope this helps some !

Yes, that did help some...but It's still very frustraiting. After I reread your previous posts, I figured out that you probally ment to just move it, since the only other tool that would so something like that was the bevel. But I still get the feeling that I'm doing it wrong, and moving the points around to get the shape of her face is hard. Ack. I'll try and tag along though :) After a few dozen tries I should have it down. Heh.

One of the things that really threw me off, you said that you were using a flat cube with 10x10 segments...but in your picture, your actually using a 9x9, correct? Heh. And another thing. When I use the perspective view, my texture is on the wrong side. I mean, when I try to look at it from the front, it's all black, and then gray on the other side. What did I do wrong?

The extrude thing kind of got me confused too at first because I'm using 3DStudio Max and it has an "extrude" function that is quite differnet. It mounts an identical polygon on top of the original and does the sides too. it looks like you're putting a brick on top of the first one. Like in the picture, the box on the right is the original and the box on the left is the same one with the top polygon extruded. It doesn't move it by itself, it creates a bunch of new polygons. CoL

If you are using Lightwave, you can easily flip the a selected polygon/s (f). Sounds like the normals are facing the wrong way. You could also use double-sided (Surface panel) so that both sides of the polys are surfaced.

creature! thank you im sleeping about an hour a day so anyone that can help please do and is great seeing how well this forums working with cross apps thanks clouded !

i will be posting the second set to this tutorial on the weekend since it gets alitlle harder and i dont want to loose any detail in the steps if anyone has started this tut before then please post what you have so far so we can see where your at cheers!

For what its worth, here is my effort at this tut, this is my first serious attempt at modelling so it was a bit of a struggle! Not helped by Amapi 4 seeming to have a mind of its own at times! The toughest part for me was making sure I was moving the right point when I was working on the profile, especially the right (hidden) side. the only way I managed it was to select the point in front view and then switch to right view. REALLY slow! Anyone know of a better method? Great tut by the way, can't wait for the next installment. Thanks TRAVISB!

Her's the front view, a little bit messy, but I'm reasonably happy with it.

excellent work atrice your exactly where you want to be at this point i hope you dont mind but i made a highlite on your pic if you notice the four blocks on the eyes are exactly where youd like them to be we will be adding geometry to this area and creating the eyelids and socket and having the poly ligned up like that is what you want to make it easy also the mouth position is looking good those six polys will ve used to create the lips so your definetly on the write track and thanks for posting thats what this foum is all about great job !! also the mesh will tend to be a little messy i usually go back and clean up or tweak for hours after the general shape is done lets see some more post everyone

Thanks again TRAVISB, I'm looking forward to working on this some more!