3D Metropolis

Now:

It seems like this was a point in my artistic development that I was just beginning to gain some confidence working in 3d, and suddenly started biting off more than I could chew. I can remember some very ambitious plans for characters that were simply hands, fighting each other with all manner of Asian weaponry like kusari-gama, nunchuku, etc. They were going to be animated pivoting and kicking as if fingers were legs, all the while performing complicated manuevers with chain weapons. No wonder I never finished such a project.

Then:

Demon hand is simply a working title for this modeling project, where my current goal is to make a fairly life-like hand. To begin the model I used the technique of box modeling, extruding and scaling faces on a primitive mesh to get the rough shape down. The hand will be modeled in a relatively neutral pose, for easier animation setup later.

Reference lights get added, a different color used on the top, bottom, and side to help define the model’s shape. Rough adjustments to the model happen at the low-poly level, before meshsmooth takes effect.

Gross refinements show the palm beginning to take shape.

The fingers start to take shape with tapers and narrowing near the joints. No creases or significant folds at this stage though.

Vertices are alternately pushed and pulled in the region of the thumb to provide bulges near the knuckles after meshsmooth takes effect.

After adding additional faces near the knuckles of the index finger, the vertices around each knuckle are moved and scaled to provide more tapering and bulging.

Indents are made underneath the knuckles on the fingers, where small crease details will likely be introduced as textures. Larger folds may be carefully introduced during flexing animation.

The knuckles and other major features of the hand are nearly complete. Next the modeling stage is finished up with the addition of fingernails, and the hand gets mapping coordinates for textures.

A close-up of the middle finger’s tip after carving out a depression for the fingernail and meshsmoothing. The depression is still in a rough stage.

The tip of each finger, and the thumb, is carved out for a fingernail depression. Each starts with a boolean subtraction, then is refined with vertex welding and manipulation, to smooth things out and extend the “cuticle” area slightly over the base of the nail. All five nails are in place now, even though the angle of the thumb makes that nail hard to see.

Another close-up showing one of the fingernails in place. The skin on the sides of the nail should be pulled tighter and fitted closer to the shape of the nail. For testing purposes, the fingernail material is slightly transparent.

With all of the fingernails in place, the next stage is setting texture mapping coordinates. With an organic model such as this, mapping can be tricky; here the hand is shown with a different set of coordinates for each finger. The fingers and thumb get cylindrical mapping, which should wrap textures somewhat evenly around each one’s circumference and along the length. The palm has planar mapping, projecting textures onto the surface as if it were completely flat. Very simple grid textures are used to show how well the textures will wrap around the model; in most areas the grid lines look evenly spaced but there are a few areas of stretching and distortion, and those indicate possible texture mapping problems. The seams where the fingers join the palm may also be future problem areas.

Here the hand is shown after meshsmoothing. Texture mapping is performed on the rough, low-poly model since that is the version that will be animated, and then meshsmoothing is performed to form smoother, more organic shapes and curves. Unfortunately, this process also warps the existing texture mapping coordinates; the grid texture is being used as a shininess strength map here, notice how the lines are warped and distorted below the knuckles.

Another view of the meshsmoothed model, with the grid texture as a shininess strength map. The joints on the fingers, and especially areas near the fingernails, show distortion to the mapping coordinates.

From here, work on this project will involve creating texture maps and materials to cover the hand and give detail to it, particularly bump detail to simulate the small wrinkles and lines of the joints and the palm. Then, hopefully, will be the addition of a skeletal system for motion and mesh deformation. Ultimately, this hand model may be destined for use as several “Thing” type characters in a unique sort of martial arts animation, though that’s a very ambitious project and solid plans have not yet been laid out.

This project was active during 2001.