This is the sort of thing you should be able to make in 10 minutes or so,
(give or take.)
All it takes is an understanding of some of the more basic
tools available in Lightwave3D modeler.
O.K then, roll up your sleeves &
let's get stuck in!
(the objects I use can be found at the end of this
tutorial as a zipped file to download.)
Step 1:
Start of with a simple box, (use your own
dimensions, it's all relative. I used x=220mm 3segs, y=70mm 1 seg & z=200mm
3segs) just be sure to have 3 segments on the x plane as these will become our
three fingers. (If you want four fingers, then have four segments!) Looking at
your box from the top view select the back middle polygon, this is going to be
our wrist. Bevel the polygon (the "b" key) with a negative value on the inset.
This bevels "outward" instead of in, & pick a shift value to suit. Now
without deselecting anything, bevel the polygon one more time with NO inset
value and just a little shift to achieve a nice "wrist" effect.
Step 2:
In point mode,(still from the top view) use the "drag"
function (Control"t") to manouvere the points on either side of the wrist into
more of a hand shape.(If you use lightwave 5.0 or before you'll have to select
the points & move them)Now select the 3 polygons opposite the wrist. Apply a
bevel to them with a small negative inset value and a larger shift. These will
become the first joints of our three fingers, dont worry that they seem to
overlap each other, we'll fix that in a minute. Because each finger is different
the best way to go is to now work on each finger seperately. Select the end poly
of the first finger. Give it a bevel of a small positive value for inset & a
larger number for shift. This is our second joint. Do the same again with
smaller values. This creates a finger that gets a little fatter then tapers to
the fingertip. The width and shape of our final product can be seen by
deselecting everything and running the metaform plus plugin found under
Tools/Custom. Tick all three boxes and choose a subdivision level of 2. This
shows us what the finished hand will look like. Make sure to press "u" for undo
after this to resume making our hand. You might've noticed that our finger
intersected the middle finger? No worries, just select all the polygons of the
first finger, being careful not to select any of the hand, and rotate them away
from the others. This is all done in the top view but if you want some "life" in
your hand just select the other knuckles (always with all the polygons selected
to the end of the finger) and rotate it from the left so the joint bends into
the palm. Do the same again for the remaining two fingers. Voila' A three
fingered hand, but wait, wheres the thumb?
Step
3:
The thumb is the hardest part for me, to create it you must first
position the points in such a way as to be able to bevel a good sized thumb.
Using the drag points tool (control "t") try and drag the side points into a
good position, then bevel the polygon the same way we did the fingers. Continue
to use the metaformplus plugin on the object to see how it's coming along.If you
think a finger or thumb or whatever doesn't look right just undo the metaform
and manipulate the points until you're happy with the outcome. Once you're happy
with the basic shape you can stretch the points in the middle of the hand apart
in the left view to give the hand some character, or stretch & bend the
fingers. The power of the MetaForm Plus plugin is immense, like basic MetaNurbs
on steroids. If you were really keen I suppose you could just about bevel an
entire creature from this one hand, but thats another story,,,,
Here's the zip file with the object in all its stages.
download the
hand!
I've done my tutorial this way because I know from doing other peoples that
having screenshots of the steps you go through to make the hand only encourages
you to "parrot" the process. This tutorial is hopefully clear enough to be able
to show people how to create their own objects (albeit very simple ones) yet
lacking in enough detail to mean you produce an hand of your own, not an exact
copy of mine at the end.
If you have any helpful ideas or useful criticism,
please don't hesitate to let me know.
times. Thanks for the visit.