How to make a head from a box (part one):

Making the basic head 

This is a tutorial on how to sculpt a featureless head from a cube with a minimum number of steps while attaining a model of  a high level of detail.   Some of the steps may not seem to have immediate purpose, but they're there in anticipation of later steps. This tutorial is meant to walk you through the construction of a generic head  that will serve as template for you to build upon. Almost each step is illustrated in the graphic on the right.

1. use the box tool (X) to make a cube.
2. use subdivide polygons with metaform
3. select which side you'd want as your profile
4. select a group of polygons as the lower part of the face.
5. make sure that polygons are selected thru to the other side.
6. under multiply tab, select smooth (shift-f)
   in Lightwave 5.6, change the offset value to zero, hit ok
   in Lightwave 6.5, click right mouse button without dragging
7. use the move tool (t) to pull out a a jaw on the head
8. repeat steps 6 and 7 two more times
9. unselect polygons
10. using the drag points tool (control-T) move the points around on the profile so the polygons flow around the face in curving arcs.
11. select top half of head, smooth shift it and move it up
12. repeat step 11
13. unselect polygons
14. select rear of head, smooth shift it, and move it further back
15. using the drag points tool (control-T) move the points around on the profile so the polygons flow around the face in curving arcs.
16. go to the front of the head, and select the polygons on the half of the head (left or right) you want to work on.
17. use smooth shift and move to create a strip of polygons to about half as wide as the half of the head selected.
18. then using the stretch tool  to squash the selected part of the head to be the width of the strip of polygons you had created in the last step. then unselect polygons.
19. select the half of the head again and smooth shift out again leaving a thin strip of polygons in the middle. This will be where the head will be mirrored and where the nose will be.
20. select the un-used side of the head and delete the polygons (del)
21. select and hide the polygons in the rear of the head so you can see an uncluttered view of the front of the head. Then using the drag points tool (control-T) move the points around on the profile so the polygons flow around the face in curving arcs.

  Copyright © 2001 Mike Ling

Next part: the Eyelids

Tools used in this tutorial

• merge points
• merge polygons
• metaform
• mirror tool
• set value
• smooth shift
• stretch
• subdivide polygon
• triple
  

Making the other side of the head via the mirror tool:

1. make sure the edge of the head is on the center line.
2. If not, use the move tool (t) to position the half head on the center line
3. Then switch to point mode and select the points along the center.
4. Then use set value (control-v) to zero out the positions of the points along the center. This insures that the points are perfectly centered which is what the automatic merge point feature requires..
5. switch back to polygon mode
6. use the mirror tool and then hit the "n" key for numeric input so it will mirror along the center line. hit return key.
7. use merge points (m) to merge the points along the seam between the head halves.
8. hit TAB to see the model in metanurb mode.

  Copyright © 2001 Mike Ling