Creating the Pants

Modeling a Low-Poly Body

Creating the Arms

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials >  Modeling Tutorials > Modeling a Low-Poly Character > Modeling a Low-Poly Body > 

Creating the Torso

In this lesson, you create the torso for the helicopter pilot: mostly the T-shirt he’s wearing. In previous exercises, you started with simple primitives such as a box or a cylinder and you mostly extruded polygons to modify the shape. In this exercise, you'll use a slightly different approach. You'll start with an even simpler primitive, a plane object, but you'll do most of the work using edge sub-selection. This method of modeling is powerful and intuitive.

Create the T-shirt

1. Continue working on your scene from the previous exercise, or load the file soldier02.max from \tutorials\low_polygon_modeling.
2. Zoom in on the pilot’s midsection in the Front viewport.
3. From the Create menu, choose Standard Primitives > Plane.
4. Drag in the Front viewport to create a plane object.

   You'll expand this object into a T-shirt.

5. On the Modify panel, set Length to 20.0, Width to 12.0 and set Length Segments and Width Segments both to 1.
6. Position the plane so that it intersects slightly with the belt and with the symmetry plane.

   

7. In the Top viewport, move the plane to the front section of the pants.

   

8. Convert the plane to editable poly format.
9. On the Modify panel > Selection rollout, click the Edge button.
10. In the Front viewport, select the top edge of the plane.
11. In the Left viewport, move the selected edge slightly to the left to conform to the reference image.

    

    

    NoteBecause the plane appears as a line in the Left viewport, it takes some practice to properly visualize where the selected edge is at any given point. The transform gizmo is always useful for finding a selection.
12. Press and hold the Shift key, and then move the selected edge up and to the right to extrude it once, always conforming to the reference image.

    

    

13. Continue using Shift+Move to extrude the selected edge around the profile silhouette of the helicopter pilot.

    

    

Edit the T-shirt:

1. Ensure that you're still at the Edge sub-object level.
2. In the Front viewport, select any of the vertical edges on the left side of the viewport.
3. Click the Loop button to select all the edges on the left side of the viewport.
4. Hold down the Shift key and then move the selected edges to the left by about the same amount as the original width.

   

5. In the Left viewport, scale the selected edges on the horizontal axis to bring them closer together. Keep also an eye on the Top viewport for reference.

   

6. Repeat the procedure to create an additional edge extrusion, as shown in the following illustration.

   

7. In the Left viewport, select the inner vertical edges, just above the belt line.

   

8. On the Edit Edges rollout, click the Bridge button.

   A new polygon connects the two edges.

   

9. Repeat the procedure for two more levels of edges to bridge.

   

10. Switch to Vertex sub-object level. Use the Move tool to fine-tune the position of the vertices, based on the reference images.

    

Create the sleeve:

1. On the Selection rollout, access the Border sub-object level.
2. Select one of the edges around the sleeve opening. The whole perimeter is now selected.
3. In the Front viewport, use Shift+Move to create two extrusions that will make up the sleeve.
4. Adjust the vertices in the various viewports to follow the reference images.

   

Add detail:

1. Access Edge sub-object level.
2. Select an edge under the armpit.
3. Click the Ring button to expand the selection.

   

4. Click Connect to add a line of edges connecting the previously selected edges.
5. Adjust the positions of the edges and vertices to get a better sleeve opening.

   

Create the collar:

1. Make sure you're still at Edge sub-object level.
2. In the Top viewport, select the edges shown in the following illustration:

   

3. Connect the selected edges.
4. Switch to Vertex sub-object level. Use the Move tool to fine-tune the shape of the collar based on the reference images.

   

5. Go to Polygon sub-object level.
6. Select the polygons above the collar line.

   

7. Press Delete to remove the unwanted faces.
8. Exit the sub-object level.

Add a symmetry modifier:

1. Make sure the partially built T-Shirt is selected and that you are not at the object rather than sub-object level.
2. Apply a Symmetry modifier.
3. Leave Mirror Axis set to X and turn on the Flip option.
4. In the modifier stack, expand the Symmetry modifier and click Mirror.
5. In the Front viewport, move the mirror line to the right until you get a properly adjusted T-Shirt.

   

6. Exit the sub-object level and rename the object: Shirt.
7. Save your file as My_Soldier_Tshirt.max.