Basic Character Form 1

The heel of the foot is the starting point for creating the foot/shoe. By creating a small, thin box and turning it into an editable poly we can select the top polygon and extrude twice. This leaves a middle polygon than can be extruded twice and then bevelled at the end to create a point.

The leg starts with a small, thin cylinder at the top of the foot and has to be converted to an editable poly. We extrude the top polygon to the knee point and extrude a further three times to create the knee joint. From there the bevel tool is used to extrude and change the width of the leg joint, making the thigh and groin as we get higher.

For a more realistic look it is best to pull out some of the polygons on the side which represent the hip area. Rotating the leg inwards slightly improves the stance of the character as real legs don’t just go straight upwards.

With the leg and foot finished it is just a case of mirroring the objects to create the opposite parts.

The next stage is to create the body. Using a plane with no height or width segments and making it an editable poly is the starting point. From here we select the top edge and using shift click to create five more polygons, then using the method to create the top and back polygons, whilst taking care to try and make the polygons parallel.

Using the vertex selection tool it is easy to change the shape to a more realistic chest and body shape.

Clicking a side edge then using the loop tool to select all attached edges allows us to select all the edges on one side.

We then shift click and drag like before to make the chest and body wider. The extrude tool is helpful to create a layered shape.

As the object has gaps all down the side, we need to create polygons to fill in the gaps but leaving a couple of gaps near the top for the arms. Using the bridge tool and the edge selection we can pick what polygons to be filled in.

With the general shape now complete I spent some time moving polygons and vertices to create a shape I was much happier with. By this point I was trying to create a cloak/robe effect that the character will be wearing. This is the body with the ‘Turbosmooth’ modifier applied

To create a better and more realistic looking robe I thought it would be better to add some details to make it more obvious. Adding a collar and a gap down the front for example proved to make a much better looking model.

These were created by using selecting edges and using the shift, click and drag method used previously. Then I used the vertex selection to move points into different positions. Below is the model with the ‘Turbosmooth’ modifier applied.