Week 2

Week two is focused on duplication of the body segment and the head of the centipede. I was going to do the tail, but because I have been UVing as I modeled, I decided that would free up week 3 for more modeling and UVing.

So I started off by duplicating the original segment and connecting it to it's copy. I ran into numerous problems here so hang tight because everything get's resolved.









I started off sewing them together, but because I had problems seeing my work area, I decided to go inside and stitch him from there.

What I noticed was that when I first stitched them together, I was getting the dreaded six pole issue. (For those who don't know what a six pole is, it's where six edges come together at one vertex) This image does not accurately represent that, but this is just showing the connection was an issue.





So what I did to fix that issue is what I like to call the Extrusion Solution. It eliminates one edge from the area you are trying to fix. This only works BEFORE you stitch them together. Then again, you could go about stitching and then remapping the whole area of it's edges and vertices so that you have nothing but four sided polygons and four and five poles. I tried that and I'll admit, mapping is tough, so I came up with this as a last resort.

The next part was that when I stitched the two segments is that the two shells seemed to collide. So I had to quickly modify and reshape it to allow space for movement and bends.

Now the problem with connecting these two segments is that the UVs get messed up. So all my work last time has to be remapped. An unfortunate, but necessary process. (This is one of the frustrations that is now eliminated due to a different process)






Next is the head which is just another block to be modeled. Again, the shape is square but also round in appearance with these two legs curved forward.

I had to prepare the back of the head for connection, so I deleted the rear faces and gave the shape the necessary number of edge loops to match the first segments front section. (This is eliminated now so stitching is no longer necessary, but still, these things can be useful in the future when connecting separate models)

Next were to create the forward pincers which are basically just extrusions from the lower outside of the head. I creased the inner edge loop to get that necessary connected shape which isn't as apparent with body segments as it is with leg segments.




The antennae were pretty simple but still had a few mischievous moments for me. I extruded out from the top outside frontal area of the head and then creased back the beginning edge loop, not only giving it that segment feel but also dipping in the head in those areas to give it less of a basic geo shape and more complexity.

The length is apparently 3 to 5 head segments long for centipedes so I just drew them out to the appropriate length. The antennae of centipedes are more like connected bulbs than segments, so it's like looking at a chain of pearls. This means that they are extremely bendy, so numerous edge loops were needed.

After receiving some advice, I decided that the connection method I was going with was not optimal for what my project was about. So I cut off the previous segment and sewed up the holes that were left.




BEHOLD!! I duplicated the segments out in a straight line to my desired twenty segments. Because I eliminated the sewing method, my UVs are unaffected and I get that more exoskeleton look when viewing the model up close. This method will allow texturing to be easier in the future.

Next week I will be moving onto the tail end. It's not the same as a regular body segment so it needs a separate model.










Also, I will be trying to work on those little mandibles in there if I think I can get them in, to allow an eating animation in the future. Because I have been UVing as I went, this has freed up next week to let me get some additional things onto my centipede.

Week 1

Week 1

 Alright, so pretty much I first started by creating a box and shaped it out with a broad top with a smaller bottom section. The reason being is that when I looked at how a centipede segment would look, I noticed that it had overlapping plates at the top to give it a protective shell.







Here is an example of that overlapping shell:

So here is that lip I had to make for the segment. The smaller back panel will be deleted and connected to a duplicate of the segment so that it will be a stream line of over lapping, connected plates that will move independently of the connection.









So the difficult thing for me here was trying to get that square yet round appearance. I saw several centipedes models had hexagonal plates or square plates, but looking at real centipedes, I noticed some had something that looked more like a scale of some sort in appearance, not really a bland shape, but one that flows in one direction when placed with others of its kind.

I had troubles trying to create that shape because no matter how much I tried, the corners looked way too sharp and square. I then began to pull at the back and front edges and it rounded out perfectly.

After getting the main body created, I ended up just extruding from it to create the legs. I had thought long and hard as to how I was going to make the legs, but I decided for animation purposes, it would be better to just extrude, leaving fewer complications with the mesh.

What I did with each leg segment was create two edge loops. One to hold the shape of the previous segment, and one to allow movement of the next segment. There is really no fluid bend like our elbow, it's just this mechanical change in position so I thing two edge loops will be fine. I also scaled the y axis of both loops of each segment, squishing it to give it a less cone appearance and more of a sort of insectoid shell.



I also have to make sure I have good, equal geometry, so including some edge loops along the legs will help prevent stretching when I apply textures.

Finally I have to UV the segment. Fortunately, I made sure there was an edge loop going around the middle, allowing me to planary map the y axis and splitting the segment in half horizantally.

I cut the UV edge and smoothed out the UVs, scaled them, flipped where appropriate, and then laid them out.
















Voila, a centipede segment! Next week, I will be deleting the front and back connections of the segment, duplicating it, and connecting them. My goal is to have the head and tail modeled by next Friday.