3D models - 02
For the last few weeks I’ve been struggling to get to grips with the concept of “hard surface modelling”.
Creating smooth cool looking sci-fi mechanical objects is not an easy thing to do.
Like most things that I try to learn I worry about how hard it will be later on.
This at least helps me get started with learning new things.
Along the way I also discovered the concept of Subdivision Modelling.
This was thanks to Mike Doscher over on X. He’s a concept artist who works in 2D/3D. It’s been fascinating to see what he was doing with this technique. i love his style and what he creates.
Perplexity gave me this summary of what Sub-div modelling is.
”Subdivision modelling is a 3D modelling technique that creates smooth, detailed surfaces from simpler polygon meshes. It works by recursively dividing the polygons of a coarse mesh into smaller, more refined polygons, resulting in a curved surface with scalable detail.
This method is particularly useful for creating organic shapes, ergonomic designs, and models with flowing lines. Subdivision modelling allows designers to manipulate control points on a mesh, pushing and pulling them to shape the model intuitively, while the software automatically subdivides the polygons to create smoother, more rounded forms”
Cool, but how?
It was hard to find any clear tutorials on the subject until I found the fantastic Youtube channel of PzThree about modelling hard surfaces in Blender.
There wasn’t any clear order to a lot of the videos so I just dived in and started to follow along.
I think his calm delivery and explanations are fantastic, kind of like Bob Ross but for hard surface modelling.
I then purchased a license for Quad remesher, a fantastic add-on for a beginner like me to reduce the poly count of a model and keep most of the topology.
Then it was time to start trying to combine the two.
It’s been a lot of trial and error but I started to get much quicker and better results than with doing retopology over the sculpts from Zbrush, that method didn’t have any of the tight clear mechanical lines and curves that I love to see on sci-fi sculpts (due to a lack of knowledge and skills on my part).
Some pieces of the TAC are hard to get right while others are a lot easier.
Due to most of it being non destructive it allows me to go back and make alterations after I learned things I didn’t know before. I’m really enjoying the learning process so far.
Here’s some screenshots of what I’ve got so far with remodeling the high ploy sculpts with the subdivision method.
I’ve also been getting some new soundtracks for the upcoming videos from a fantastic musician who was in a band I had back in the day.
He doesn’t have a web page set up yet so I’ll post more about that later. I absolutely love the direction it’s taking. Can’t wait to share it.
I’m currently in the middle of moving out of Germany so it’s been hard to get much done on the go.
It’s going to be hard to release regular content with the move going on but I’ll do my best.
I’m also on the hunt for a decent FDM printer so I can finally start to make these models and Interferion a physical thing.
Thanks for dropping by.
All the best
