Pilotus Maximus

[deltacharlie]

Woot! First "soldier" post! :)

So, I decided that with all the projects I currently have planned, I really should bite the bullet and model a pilot. It occurred to me that if I do this in an intelligent manner, I might be able to use the same pilot for different eras by switching accessories/clothing. So, my pie-in-the-sky goal is to create Lt. Ubiquitous Pilot of the Unknown Squadron. Here's what I've got so far...not much XP modelling humans, so it could be interesting:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3665/pilot017uc.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pilot017uc.jpg)

[krazycolin]

duck feet!!!! seriously, i've never actually modeled a human... a duck, a cat, a crocodile and a lot of dinos.. but never a human... you are far braver than I.... good luck...

[Spinner]

duck feet!!!! seriously, i've never actually modeled a human... a duck, a cat, a crocodile and a lot of dinos.. but never a human... you are far braver than I.... good luck...

Did a female tute for an exercise. Got halfway, 'till I was pushing pixels around the bikini line and gave it away. Felt slightly perverted.:lol: My girlfriend thought so, for sure.
Deltacharlie,
Thats a great idea and really usefull to bring your other models alive. Gunners, sailors and pilots/ground crew, he'll get heaps of use, if you bring it off.

[Meshfan]

Lol. Great start. Can't wait to see him in color!

[deltacharlie]

Thanks, guys.

Haven't had too much time to work on 'im, but here's a small update...the duck feet are a bit better. :)

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2093/pilot026fy.th.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pilot026fy.jpg)

~DC

[Dann-O]

Do you planot give him a face. I usually like to model the body and head seperatly and then graft the head on the body. Depending on what kind of person it is I might even keep them seperate. (heavy coats and the like hide a lot of stuff. Do you plan on smoothing him? If so you might need an extra loop or two to control the smoothing under the arm there. Looks overall pretty good.If you have a smooth preview mode then use it so you can see what the edges will be doing. Good luck.

[deltacharlie]

Thanks, Dann-O.

Yeah, I plan to give him a face, but I probably won't worry about rigging/animating the face at all, which is why I left is as part of the body. Overall I am thinking about only making him medium- to low-poly because odds are most pilot figures wouldn't need to be high-poly.

Hard to believe I haven't touched this model (or any project) in a month! Too busy with work and other stuff.

~DC

[kevjon]

DC, if I could make a suggestion about pilot figures. I believe you should make the head, helmet and goggles medium to high poly with good textures as this part is always visible in most renders. The rest of the body and equipment is fine as low poly. It just makes your render options more flexible.

[Dann-O]

For pilots I made a few they are just torsos for ease of use. Right now I am working on a number of people models myself.

[deltacharlie]

Thanks, kevjon...that's a great idea. I'll most likely do that.

Dann-O, I want to make the whole body for more flexiblity...like pilots standing next to a/c OR in the cockpit...or parachuting out...etc...

Very small update... I worked on the crotch area :eek: and the shoes/boots a little:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7237/pilot037ph.th.jpg (http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pilot037ph.jpg)

One day I will have more free time again! :)

~DC

[baatchaamdo]

to aid you, have a look at this excellent topology thread: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=108412