Solving Hair issues

I finally found a method that'll work effectively when creating the hair for my character. As I was searching through various videos on YouTube, trying out different methods and later on failing on them, I finally found the right one. There was a video on YouTube that showed very clearly that by importing the model from Mudbox straight into 3DSMax, I can then use the tool under Object Paint to select an object such as plain or a cube (it does't matter what object you use, as long as its not big) and paint onto the surface of another object. Using this technique I tried to play a round with it into order to understand the tool more better. After feeling confidant about how it works, I applied hair texture to a diamond shaped plain with opacity along the ends of the hair lines, just for realism. I then used the tool by selecting the plain with the hair texture on it, saying that I want to paint with this object. Right after that, I select the object that will be the one that will allow the hair to be painted onto; this would be my character's model. Next all I had to now was simply stroke where I wanted the hair to go, and what this will do now is paint my hair on to the model.

Update of character

Just an update to my present models development. added more lines to the eyes to make them less creepy and more normal. I asked some of the people I know in my class who do the same course as me if they had any options that may help improve the character's model. Seeing that I couldn't see anything wrong with it, I wanted to make sure that I'm not looking through my eyes only. more than one perspective can really help open the mind to more creative ideas.

I was told from a few people that she looked slightly creepy because of how she stared, plus her face was quite flat which couldn't be help because that all to with skill and technique seeing that I only started using Mudbox quite recently. 

Right now am finally happy how she turned out and I'm now moving on to doing the hair, hopefully finding the right method through tutorials on the internet. 

Re-done Textures

Just to come back to what happened to my model when make the hair, there was a lot of issues I saw with it  later on right after seeing a friend who knows quite a bit on modelling. After been told that they could be some issues with this method, we couldn't really point out what it could be. I then saw one of my Tutors who teaches modelling, to have a look on my model and see if he could point out anything wrong with this method of doing the hair.

He said that the hair needed to be separate because when it comes to texturing the hair, it'll become hard for me to get the finer details right underneath the hair. Not only that, the UVs were a mess. He did say that if I wanted to carry on doing this, I would need to import the model with the hair into Maya and try to use a tool called 'Quad Draw'. This tool basically draws quads onto the model's surfaces. If done right, is will turn out perfect but seeing how much time it will take to do this, I would need to find a different method soon. 

Right after all that complication I gave up on the idea of doing this method and opened my back up model from back before I did the hair. Because, if kept on trying to do this method, I know it would turn out a messing seeing that there were overlapping vertexes and how unsure I was
Basically I re-textured the backup model and gave her a cleaner more finished look. I re-done the eyes, reshaped the ears, lips and head shape to look more stronger and define. Comparing the older version, its more cleaner which is good when its comes to texturing.

Using Mudbox to do Hair

As you can see, by using the sculpt tool in Mudbox, I sculpted the hair. In order for this to be made possible in Mudbox, I first made sure that the rest of my model would be ok by using the freeze tool which highlights parts of the model you wish not to be altered when modelling. I froze only the head area, leaving an open area that wasn't frozen. I then used the sculpt tool to then extrude that area out into a afro like style to start of with. Next all I did was concentrate on putting time using the both the sculpt tool and the grab tool to get the style and shape I wanted.

This right here is the final development of what I ended up with. With satisfaction of how it looks, all that is needed to fully finish the hair is to texture it by using the paint tool provided in Mudbox.

Of course the sculpting of the hair was a long processes. Sculpting the hair was difficult, because I choose to do this method, the hairstyle I planned out on my concept art fro my character became something completely different.

But overall I'm happy that after looking and comparing the hairstyle to the face, it turned out slightly better than I thought due to how the waviness makes her seem to look more anime-like which is what I'm after.
Still not sure if this will have issues in the future because of its shape or maybe that I have stretched out the wrong parts of the head that may cause complications later on during the development. Just to make sure that everything I make is safe, I made a copy of the model without hair as a back up.

Level creation

While using 3DS Max, I found it difficult to handle and took to long to make 

 was a bad idea because it was hard for me to bend around the shapes in a way that made it seem hard and not what I was planning it to look like.

11/03/14

Objective: Create a environment in 3dx max

Done: nothing usable

Next to do: Re make level in Mudbox 20/03/14

11/03/14

Objective:

Create a environment in 3dx max

 Done:

nothing usable

 Next to do:

Re make level in Mudbox

20/03/14