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Character modeling for beginners - Blender | Joey Carlino | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Character modeling for beginners - Blender
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so you want to make a character well
there are a few ways to go about it I
prefer box modeling that's what I'm
doing in this video and it's basically
just starting with simple shapes pushing
points around and slowly adding detail
as you need it another common workflow
is sculpting and then retopologizing
with sculpting the upside is that you
can make whatever shapes you want
without worrying about topology but then
you end up with a really dense mesh and
that makes it not very good for rigging
and animating so you have to fix the
topology if you want to do those things
there's also something to be said about
style like if you want to make a more
realistic model then the arms and the
legs will probably be connected to the
Torso and you have to put a little more
effort into making things attach
properly but if you're all right with
how it looks there's nothing stopping
you from keeping all of the limbs as
separate objects which is what I usually
do and it's what we'll do to make this
character because it's a little more
beginner friendly but before we do that
I want to show you how quickly you can
make a low poly human model I personally
don't really like like making realistic
humans and I think if you plan on doing
that you should just find a free human
model to use as a base mesh and then
sculpt on top of it and do some
retopology there are plenty of free
models and retopology tools just for
realistic humans and Nagi over here
actually does this in a few videos but
for the sake of knowledge let's make a
low poly human and then you can make the
lethal company squl or something like
that so let's open up blender and this
is version 4.1 but all of this should
work even if you're using version 3.0 so
don't worry too much about that also
this is a beginner tutorial but if you
don't know how to move around blender or
if you want to learn a little more a
little or if you want to learn a little
about modeling first then check out
these two videos of mine to get up to
speed and just know that you might have
to pause occasionally to follow this
video so if you want a reference picture
you can drag it directly into blender
when you're in object mode and you can
change the opacity over here but I'm not
using one in this video so I'm just
going to delete it with X okay first
thing we need is a cube so if you don't
already have one in your scene you can
press shift a and add in a cube right
here and if you're wondering why my
colors look like this and you want yours
to look like this you can just go up to
the top right up here click this arrow
set it to mat cap and choose this one or
one of the other ones from the list and
I also always have cavity turned on and
set to both and this just accentuates
the edges and makes it a little easier
to see so this cube is going to be used
for the Torso I'm just going to press
one to look from the front right here
and tab into edit mode and this should
already be selected but you can also
press a to select everything G and Z to
bring it up just a little bit right
there and S to scale it down now you
might be able to see these squares right
here each one of these squares is 1 M
and people are typically under 2 m tall
so I usually use uh two of these squares
as like a reference for human height so
I'm just going toy try to keep
everything under 2 m press s to scale
and right now I'm looking for the width
of this I'm going to make it as wide as
I think the Torso should be so maybe
right about here s and Z to scale it up
gz bring it up now let's look from the
side and I want to make this a little
skinnier so s and Y to scale it on the Y
AIS right there now I'm going to add a
neck you can either press three to go
into face select mode or click this
button up here select the top face I to
inset just a little bit and I want this
to be a little more Square so I'll press
s and x and we can scale it on the x
axis G and Z to bring it up just a
little bit e to extrude to bring this up
e to extrude again s to scale this is
going to be for the head e to extrude e
to extrude and S to scale that down so
now we have a torso and a head and I
want a spot for the arm to come out so
let's press controlr to add in a loop
cut and we'll bring this up to right
about here I'm looking for something
that's kind of close to a square shape
right here now again press three to go
into face select mode or click this
button up here select that face right
there e to extrude just a little bit we
can press s to scale that down this is
going to be for the shoulder area now e
to extrude we're going to extrude out to
where we think maybe the wrist should be
scale that down now if you want to make
this more rectangular you can I'll press
s and Z we can scale it down right about
there this is going to be for the wrist
now we can e to extrude for the hand
contrl R for another loop cut this is
going to be for the thumb we're not
going to make all the fingers this is
going to be kind of Mitten style press
three to go into face select mode or
that button up there e to extrude out
for the thumb and we can scale that down
um I'm going to scale it on the z-axis
to make it a little skinnier at the end
now don't worry about the other side
right now because we're just going to
add a mirror modifier later so we're
only going to do one side right now it's
a good idea to add some loops for the
elbow so I'll press crlr we can add one
right in the middle with right click now
I'll bevel this with crl b and use the
scroll wheel to add another loop in the
middle right here this will make it so
the elbow deforms a little better when
we bend the arm now we need a spot for
the legs to come out so we're going to
add a loop cut right down the middle
right here with contrl r three to go
into face select mode select that bottom
face e to extrude and we can scale that
down just a little bit now we'll look
from the front with one and E2 extrude
down to right about here where we think
like the ankle is going to start we can
s to scale and I also want to extrude
down this is going to be for our foot
now if you want it to snap to the zero
point perfectly you can go up here to
snapping settings leave it set to
increment but we can turn on absolute
grid snap now when you're moving this
around with G you can hold control and
it will snap to the grid so we can snap
it to that perfect point right there and
you can even see over here that the Z is
set to 0 m so we know it works right now
I'll look from the side over here make
sure you're in face select we can select
this front face and E to extrude this is
going to be for the foot you know maybe
zoom out to make sure that it's the size
you want go into Edge select mode with
that button or two and we can bring this
top part down and if you want the foot
to be able to bend in the middle a
little better you can also add a loop
cut here press contrl B to Bevel it and
again you can use the scroll wheel to
make sure that there's a loop in the
middle also to shape the foot a little
little more let's press one to look from
the front alt Z to go into x-ray mode or
you can press this button up here one
for vertex select and I'll just select
the whole bottom of the foot and press s
and X to scale that out just a little
bit right here and I'll select these two
points right here and pull this out for
the heel now we can add a loop for the
knee with contrl r and again contrl B to
Bevel that and make sure that there's a
loop in the middle another thing I like
to do for the hip area is again press
alt Z to go in into x-ray mode select
these points right here and just bring
them up slightly like that now we should
probably mirror this to get the arm and
the leg to the other side so I'm
actually just going to select everything
on this side right here again I'm in
x-ray mode for this so I am actually
selecting all the way through press X
and delete all the vertices now we can
come over here to the modifier panel it
looks like a little wrench click the add
modifier button and you can either type
in Mirror just start typing mirror or
under generate you can add the mirror
modifier right there now if this isn't
working right for you it might mean that
your origin point is not actually in the
center so just select your model right
here press crol a and apply the location
and that should make this work now we
can also smooth this out with a
subdivision surface modifier you can
press contrl 1rl 2 or contrl 3 and
that's just going to change the viewport
level over here and now we can go into
edit mode again and start smoothing this
out so it's a little less boxy you can
see it's pretty flat in the front right
there so what I like to do is select the
whole Center Loop right here you can do
that with alt and left click and I'll
press seven to look from the top s and Y
and we can scale this out just a little
bit and you can see it's getting a
little more round and if you want you
can do this separately for the head and
for the body but I just did it for the
whole thing I'll make the head a little
bit wider also so again I'm in x-ray
mode for this with alt Z I'll just
select these two points right here and
we can bring it out so it's a little
more round and if if you want to mess
with any of the proportions you know
make the legs a little longer anything
like that you can make your character uh
skinnier now is the time to do that it's
also a good idea to press crlr and add
one or two Loops in the body right here
and that will make it deform a little
bit better as well this is low poly but
when you rig it up it will deform pretty
well isn't that [Music]
right if this is too low res for you you
can add more detail by applying the
subdivision surface modifier and then
you'll have more verts to work with
there are also ways of making the joints
to form better and you can find some
topology guides if you look around I
like searching on Pinterest but this is
definitely enough for a beginner video
so let's put this stylized character
together now the main difference with
this one is that all of the limbs are
separate pieces and I think this makes
it much easier to get complex shapes
because you don't really have to worry
about connecting them you'll see what I
mean but first let's talk about Playbook
who was the sponsor for this video
Playbook is a cloud storage website that
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watching first off it definitely excels
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and it kept the folder structure which
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Playbook is still pretty new so they're
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when you support them you're also
supporting me all right back to the
video so for the next character let's
start a new file just make sure you save
first so for this one I do have some
reference photos let's just make a new
collection by hovering over here and
pressing C so I have them right here I
have three of them and you can get these
by following the link in the description
I'm just going to press one to look from
the front and then I'll drag it in I'll
press three to look from the side drag
in the side picture and seven to look
from above and these are the numpad
shortcuts you can also just use this uh
widget in the corner from the top let's
just drag in the top right here and we
can select all of them press alt G and
that will snap them to the center now
from the front I'm just going to bring
this up G and z and we can scale it down
again I'm just looking at these two
squares so we can scale them down until
it looks about the right height and they
should all be the same size so you don't
really have to resize them now with all
of them selected you can press this
button over here and we can turn on
opacity but while you're checking this
hold alt and that will toggle it for all
of them at the same time now we can turn
this down slightly and again I'm holding
alt while I change this otherwise it's
only going to change one now just so
they don't get in the way of anything
I'm going to push them around and now if
we want to turn them on and off we have
all of them in the their own collection
up here and I'm just going to make it so
none of them can be selected by pressing
this button right here and if you don't
have that you can turn it on with this
button over here in the corner now let's
make a new collection and this is just
going to be for our cat which is named
bzo you can name it whatever you want
though and again we're just going to
start with some cubes so shift a add in
a cube right here I'm going to press
control 2 to add a subdivision surface
modifier as you can see over here now
from the front bring it up scale it down
this is going to be for the head we're
just going to get a lot of the shapes
started shift d bring this down this is
going to be for the body then I'll add
in a plane with shift a and this is
going to be for the arms and the legs
and I'm going to use the skin modifier
for this you can actually make a whole
base character with the skin modifier
and you can see that in this video over
here so let's go to the modifier panel
press the add modifier button and I'm
just going to search for Mirror you can
just start typing so we have the mirror
modifier I want the skin modifier enter
and a subdivision surface so the skin
modifier basically what it does is it
gives thickness to edges as you can see
here and then the subdivision is just
smoothing it out so now we can tab into
edit mode I'm going to look from the
front alt Z for x-ray mode and I
actually want to merge everything into
one point so M merge at Center like that
make sure you're in vertex select mode
select this point and press crl a and
that's how you scale it up and down or
you can mess with these values over here
so I'm going to scale this down until
the thickness looks about right and we
can just start moving this around again
I'm in edit mode for this this is going
to be for the leg so I'll bring it up
here e to extrude Z to bring it straight
down like that it might be hard to tell
in the recording but there is a circle
around this point right here and that
means that this is the route which is
important because if you have a line
that doesn't have a root the skin
modifier won't recognize it and it won't
make it thick so make sure that you're
duplicating the one with the circle
around it so shift d and I'll bring that
up right about here e and X and we can
bring it out we're not going to make the
hands right now we'll make those in a
little bit and just to show you how to
handle this if it doesn't have a root um
let's just duplicate this one right here
and to bring it to the center we can go
up here and for the X Type in zero and
we'll extrude that upward now this
doesn't have any thickness so let's just
select this point right here go over to
the modifier panel and press Mark rot
and now it will get thicker let's tab
back into object mode shift a and I'm
going to add in a cube and this is going
to be for the feet let's press tab to go
into edit mode
GZ1 that's going to bring it up one
meter tab back into object mode and that
just makes it so that the origin is at
the very bottom so when we scale it you
can see it's uh instead of scaling from
the center it's scaling from the bottom
of the cube so for this I actually want
a mirror modifier we can just press this
type in mirror and if we move it to the
side you can see it's not really
mirroring again that's because it
mirrors from the origin point so like I
said before you can press CR a and apply
the location and that will work but I
like being able to scale it from here so
instead of doing that let's go to this
mirror object and the modifier panel I'm
going to select the head basically you
want it to be something that's in the
middle because that's what's determining
the center point for the mirror modifier
so now we can move this to wherever we
want over here let's turn the reference
back on and just scale it to a point
where you think it looks good or if it
matches the reference now with
everything in place let's press a contrl
a and apply the scale this is important
important uh for modifiers cuz a lot of
modifiers look at the scale and this
will change how they act so it's
important to apply your scale right now
nothing is named over here you can uh
either select things over here double
click and rename it so I'll name this
head or you can do this in the viewport
by selecting and pressing F2 I'll name
this torso Limbs and feet and don't
forget to save so just like the first
model you can stop right here and use
this as a base for a bunch of different
characters let's keep going though so so
we can make this a little more polished
we'll start with the head I'm just going
to duplicate this with shift d and this
is what we're going to use to make this
mouth area that you can see in the
reference S and Y to bring this out a
little bit and we can just get this kind
of close look from the front SX and we
can bring this across if we want we can
scale this in slightly now again make
sure that you're applying the scale of
these so I'll select both of them crl a
apply scale so when we select the head
and tab into edit mode you can see that
it's still a cube and I want to make the
ears and the fur and stuff like that but
if I start adding more Loop Cuts with
controlr you can see it's changing the
shape pretty dramatically so before
going into edit mode Let's actually go
over to the modifiers and we can
actually apply this right here I like to
apply it with as little detail as I need
we can click this button press apply and
then we can tab back into edit mode and
we have all these squares to work with
now let's select these two fa is right
here I to inset I again for individual
right here and I'll scale this down
pretty small and now I want to bring
this out for this I like to use alt s
which is the shrink and fatten tool like
that look from the front and get this
pretty close and if we want we can
smooth this out back in object mode with
control 2 and we're going to use the
mirror modifier for this one so let's
tab back into edit mode alt Z I'm going
to press one to go into vertex select
select half X delete those now back in
object mode we can add a mirror modifier
you can see the seam in the middle
that's just because the mirror modifier
isn't first so we can just drag it to
the top like that and it should clear
that up now tab back into object mode
for the ears I'm going to select these
and extrude them but I want them to be
more circular so I'm going to press
contrl Z to go back and we actually want
to use an add-on for this but it's
already built in so you don't have to
worry about downloading anything just go
to edit preference is add-ons and you
can search for Loop tools make sure this
is enabled and then you can go to save
preferences if you want that to always
be on with these faces selected right
click Loop tools is at the top and you
can just select Circle and it will turn
all of these into a circle so I'm just
going to scale this up don't scale it up
so much so that you know these points
overlap over here but I'm going to scale
it up pretty big and E to extrude right
about there I'm going to scale this down
I want them to be kind of round at the
edge you can look from the side and I'll
bring this forward just a little bit if
you want you can also make this even
more round by going into x-ray mode
press one for vertex select we can
select these and just move them up like
that I'm also going to select this and
bring it forward now if you're having
trouble seeing where the points are we
have a few options uh over here on the
subdivision surface modifier you can
either turn this off in the viewport
this works for object and edit mode this
one right here turns it off only in edit
mode and this one Mak makes it so that
it kind of conforms to it so usually I
just kind of turn it on and off and
you'll see me do that quite a bit so now
I want to make the inner ear so I'm
going to select these two faces I to
inset I again so it's not individual and
we can scale that in quite a bit going
to select these three points right here
and drag them down bring them in like
that let's select these faces again and
just extrude that and if you want you
can also scale it up slightly let's make
these whiskers next so I'm just going to
select this right here and you can see
we're still working with a cube so I'm
actually going to apply this also and
I'll press control 2 in the viewport tab
into edit mode select these three faces
right here I to inset I again and if
these aren't Square enough for you you
can do a few things you can rightclick
go to Loop tools and change this to a
circle you only have four points to work
with so it's just going to turn it into
a square basically and if you want to
scale it down further but they're all
scaling at the same time like that you
can press period and change the pivot
point to individual Origins that's also
this option up here and then it will
scale the individual faces down now we
can press e to extrude these out and you
can see they're already being pushed in
the normal Direction but if they aren't
you can contrl Z to go back and you can
use alt e instead and then you have
these other options one of which is
extrude faces along normals which should
make that work and I want these to be
sharp right here instead of smooth like
that so going to press two to go into
Edge select mode and we can select this
edge with alt and left click and you can
see when I have the subdivision surface
turned on and I change this mean crease
option all the way up it becomes sharp
right there um the shortcut for that is
shift e so let's select this one with
alt and left click and press shift e
instead you can see it does the same
thing so we can do that for all of them
let's mirror this also so in edit mode
let's just go into x-ray mode and we can
select this half and I'll delete the
vertices you can go over here add the
mirror modifier and make sure it's at
the top for the nose we're going to use
some modifiers for this too so shift a
add in a plane press
rx90 to rotate at 90° drag it up and I'm
just going to start scaling it down and
getting it into place and I want to add
two modifiers one of which is the
subdivision surface so for that we can
do control 2 and the other one is to
give it some thickness and that is the
solidify modifier so I either under
generate you can choose solidify or you
can just start typing it in and to make
this smoother we can just bring the
solidify to the top and we can also play
with the thickness amount and I usually
like to set the offset to zero so that
it's extruding from the center like that
let's bring this a little closer to the
face look from the front and we can
start shaping this if it's too hard to
see you can actually just select other
objects and press h to hide them and
then you can press alt H to bring them
back so I'm just going to hide these two
we can select the nose and keep modeling
in edit mode so I'm just going to select
these top two points and we can scale
this out quite a bit scale this one down
so in object mode I'll press alt H
rotate it from the side to kind of make
it conform to the Head now if you want a
mouth that's a little more realistic and
is actually built into the head you can
use the method that I show in this video
over here it'll show you some topology
tricks to make it pretty easy but for
this one we're going to go for a more 2D
style mouth and it's basically using the
same method that I used for the nose so
we can just duplicate the nose right
here press alt R to reset the rotation
rx90 to rotate it 90° we can drag it
down into the side tab into edit mode we
can scale this down a little scale this
one up to make it a little more
rectangular select everything with a s
to scale Z we'll make this a little
thinner I'll add a loop cut in the
middle scale this select these two side
points bring it down a little and rotate
I want it even thinner so I'll select
all of these points on the bottom and
press GG to Loop slide now back in
object mode we can rotate this a little
now this looks a little too thick so we
can select it go to the modifier panel
and turn down the thickness um if it's
moving too fast you can hold shift and
that makes it move a little slower like
that and if you don't want to have to
like rotate This and like Snap to the
face manually you can turn on face
snapping so to do that go up to the
snapping menu up here you can turn on
face turn on Center and you can turn on
a line rotation to Target that's going
to make it rotate based on the face that
you're snapping it to um just make sure
to turn it off if you want it to stop
rotating so now when you press G and
hold control it will snap like that
let's go into x-ray mode and just line
this up a little closer we can also
rotate it a little like that if you want
you can scale it down do whatever you
want to make it look good to you if you
do scale it at all just make sure that
you're applying the scale afterward
again for the eyes we're going to do
kind of a two-dimensional method but if
you want something that's more realistic
you can watch this video over here I
talk about how to make three different
types of eyes and don't worry about
rigging and animating this cuz I'm going
to show that in the next video it's
actually really easy to rig a 2d style
eye like this so don't worry about that
so let's just select the nose again
shift d to duplicate and I'm actually
going to bring this back to the origin
first with alt G and ALT R we can tab
into edit mode I'm going to delete this
and I'm going to add a plane the reason
I'm doing this is basically so that we
can keep the modifiers that we already
have but I am going to add a new one
which is the mirror modifier just make
sure that's at the very top and we don't
want this to merge together unless
you're looking for something a little
more like a Sonic style eye so I'm going
to turn off merging back in object mode
I'm just going to uh set the mirror
object to the Head now I still have face
snapping turned on over here so I'll
press G and hold control and you can see
it's kind of snapping to the face we can
just scale that down over here so that
they're not like plates stuck to the
head like this I'm actually going to use
the shrink wrap modifier so again we can
go to add modifier shrink wrap which I
think is under deform it is right here
but you can also just type it in now
let's bring this again to the very top
and we can Target the head that cuz
that's what we want it to shrink wrap to
so it looks like it disappeared but it's
actually just inside of the head and
that's because it's only actually
snapping Four Points let's come into
edit mode right click and we can
subdivide once go to Loop tools and turn
this into a circle back in object mode
we can also press control a and apply
the scale and that's just going to make
it so that the solidify modifier is
actually reading an accurate thickness
right here we can make that thicker now
we can basically just scale this to
whatever we think looks good um I'll use
the reference and this is actually
pretty close already so to rotate it so
that they're not all diagonal like this
I'll press R ZZ and that's going to
rotate it on the local axis and we can
just get it a little flatter and back in
edit mode if you want you can you know
change the shape of these bring these
down a little I'll select the middle and
I'll bring that down now for the pupils
we can do the same thing I'm actually
just going to duplicate this and I'm
going to turn off shrink wrapping and we
can scale this down back in edit mode
just select everything right click and
turn this into a circle back in object
mode we can press G and hold control to
start snapping like this and and if you
don't like how the origin point isn't
actually in the very center you can
reset it by right clicking set origin to
center of mass surface like that using
face snapping with rotating um makes
this a lot easier because you don't
actually have to adjust the rotation so
I definitely recommend using that and
don't forget to apply the scale when
you're done with this because it's going
to change what the solidify modifier
actually looks like the eyebrows are
using the same method so let's just
duplicate the pupils right here we can
drag this up I'm just going to hide a
few of these with h press alt R
rx90 so that it's flat it's a little
easier to work with when it's flat in my
opinion now in edit mode Let's select
this Loop right here with alt left click
and we can press contrl X that will
actually dissolve it I believe if you
just press X you also get dissolve
options right here and I was in Edge
mode for that so you want to make sure
you're dissolving the edges now let's
just bring this a little closer over
here a little further out can scale this
down scale this down also scale the
center up and in object mode this is
where we can rotate it to you know get
it a little closer I am going to come in
here select these two press a g and then
x x and that will move it in the the
local orientation cuz I know these are
supposed to be a little longer probably
back in object mode alt H so we can
actually see everything and now we can
start rotating this and I'll snap it to
the pupils to match the rotation and we
can just drag it up like that and and I
also want to make this thicker the only
thing left is the hair and for that
shift a we can add in a cube in edit
mode gz one to Move It Up 1 meter then
back in object mode you can see it's
scaling from the bottom now I'll look
from the side and bring it up over here
to where the hair is can just scale it
down control 2 to give it a subdivision
surface scale it up on the Z and then s
shift Z to make it skinnier and I'm just
trying to gauge the thickness it should
be so the shape that I'm looking for is
going to be something like this in edit
mode make sure you're in x-ray mode also
let's just bring this down quite a bit
you can add one Loop in the center I'll
move this a little like that and for the
two ends I'll rotate them like this and
that's going to get us a shape that's a
little closer to this Arc over here can
also scale down the end and if you want
you can scale this up okay now back in
object mode we can actually get this in
place and start rotating shift d to
duplicate scale it down shift d one more
more time and we can bring it over here
with G scale it down rotate it you know
just line it up now let's make sure all
of these have the scale applied with crl
a apply the scale now in the reference
these aren't actually going
straightforward they're kind of sticking
off to the side a little so we can mimic
that by selecting the hair and rotating
on the z-axis like that bring it to the
side just a little and I want to keep
the hair looking like it's kind of in
the center so I'll just drag these few
now if you want to stay organized it's
probably a good idea to actually name
all of these things so I'm just going to
go through real fast and rename
everything next we can work on the coat
right here so for that I'm just going to
actually duplicate the body scale it up
a little and rename it with F2 I'll just
name it coat this is still a cube so
what I'm going to do is turn this down
one subdivision like that and then apply
it and then press control 2 to add
another subdivision surface back in and
I also want this to have a thickness to
it so I'm going to add a solidify
modifier and just make sure that this is
at the top so that it's extruding and
then smoothing that out now if I come
into edit mode look from the front and
I'm actually just going to delete the
bottom point right here you can see that
it does actually have a little bit of a
thickness to it but let's make it even
thicker like that I'll select the entire
bottom Loop
sz0 and that's just going to flatten it
out on the z-axis we can bring this down
to about here and scale it out if you
want this to be more circular you can
use the loop tools add-on for that again
to get this collar what we can do is
select the top Point press contrl plus
and that's just going to expand the
selection can press three to go into
face select mode and I'm just going to
inset this with I I don't want this to
be individual so I'll press I again I'll
right click go to Loop tools and circle
extrude that up and I'm actually going
to press X and delete the faces and
that's just going to make it Hollow at
the top also I want to select this top
Loop so go into vertex select and we can
just scale this out basically what I'm
looking for for is that so it isn't
cutting into the head really so I'm
going to look from the side we can
rotate it a little like that also maybe
scale it out a little more I'm going to
select some of these points and press GG
to Loop slide to make this crease a
little less sharp and I'm only focusing
on one side because we're just going to
mirror it after I'll bring this one down
too and before doing the sleeve or
deleting half and adding the mirror
modifier um I'm going to work on this
bottom part right here you can see in
the reference it looks like there's kind
of this um almost like an elastic
waistband so to make that let's go back
to edit mode I'll select the entire
bottom Loop e to extrude S to scale and
we'll just scale in and extrude down on
the Z axis I'll select this entire Loop
right here this middle one with alt and
left click and we can just drag that up
it will start to kind of uh cut through
and you just have to move things around
until it matches the shape a little
better the bottommost loop we can scale
that out a little bit also I'll select
all of them and just uh start moving
them around a little bit it looks like
we're pretty close to the reference so
let's go into edit mode xray mode and
then delete half of this and we can add
in the mirror modifier make sure that's
at the very top and that merge is
actually on now we can make the sleeve
over here so for that I'll go into face
select select these two faces I to inset
right click and use Loop tools to make a
circle right here I'll just scale that
down so nothing is overlapping now from
the front I don't really want this to go
inward like that so I'll drag it out and
I want to scale this down to be a little
bit smaller right here and just going
around where the arm is I'll press e and
then X to extrude it outward like this
sx0 and that will flatten it on the xais
contrl r to add some Loop Cuts so we can
get the shape of the sleeve a little
better and as we move it you can see
that the loop is changing shape so if I
want to match the shape of one side or
the other you can press e and to switch
sides you can press F so it's either
going to copy the exact shape of one
side or the exact shape of the other
right here so I'll put it right there
contrl R to add another loop right here
and I forgot I actually want to delete
these faces right here so that they're
open now I can select these loops and
scale them up like this if you want this
cuff to be a little sharper you can do
the same thing as I did for the
waistband and kind of make them overlap
like this this Loop right here I'll
scale on the z-axis like that and drag
it down a little you can do the same
thing for for this one too if you want
I'm also going to select this part and
drag it in a little just to uh make it a
little more triangular again make sure
that the scale is applied and if
anything changes you can adjust it to
look how you want let's do the hands
next so we can just select this right
here tab into edit mode look from the
top hands with the skin modifier is
actually pretty easy extrude on the
x-axis a little bit and then CR a to
scale it down quite quite a bit as you
can see I only have three fingers right
here if you want you can add four you
can add as many as you want really
basically all you do is just extrude to
the tip of the fingers right here or I
guess the bottom of the fingers and then
I'll select all of them right here I'm
just going to press s x and zero to
flatten them out on the x- axis and then
e and X we can extrude it out I'll bring
this out a little further and for the
thumb we can extrude from the same point
right about here and then e y press CR a
to start scaling it up and you can see
at some point it will start to actually
connect everything together now we can
just select all of the fingers so I'm
using box select right here click and
drag and holding shift and then crol a
and you can just scale everything up
until it's the thickness that you want
another thing to pay attention to is the
thumb placement so you can see as I move
it the topology is going to change
basically just try to avoid it um
kinking and overlapping and stuff like
this so that's it for the hands we can
tab back into object mode and we can do
the shoes next I'll add a subdivision
surface with control 2 tab into edit
mode face select I'll grab the front
face right here look from the side and
I'll just drag it out right about here
I'll select these points and drag this
out and I'm going to add a few Loops now
so let's add a loop cut right here with
crlr crl r again let's select these
points right here move them down a
little bit these ones right here and
pull them up we can and just try to kind
of match the shape of the reference over
here we can add a loop cut with r right
here another way instead of pressing E
and F and stuff like that you can just
bring it all the way to the bottom right
here and then move it back up like that
and it'll be flat also so this is for
the bottom part of the shoe right here
let's go into face select mode alt and
left click to select this Loop of faces
e to extrude S to scale and then shift Z
so that it doesn't scale up on the you
know the z- axis like that uh I also
want to turn merging off so that it
doesn't actually connect to the other
shoe and to make it a little more even
we can scale it on just the xais right
there two to go into Edge select mode
alt and left click right here and let's
turn the mean crease all the way up for
this like that now if you want you can
adjust the thickness of this again with
scaling on whatever axis until it looks
good to you let's select this whole face
loop again with alt and left click s and
X we can scale that out a little bit to
make these shoes a little chunkier I
know the shoes are touching each other
but I want them big and this is
something that we can remedy when it
gets to like rigging and uh setting
poses and stuff like that but if this is
bothering you you can go back into
object mode and just scale them down you
can also make the the character wider so
their legs are further apart but in edit
mode still I'm just going to select this
face right here shift d to duplicate I
to inset and we're going to delete this
face with x the shortcut to select an
entire separated piece of a mesh is L
we're in face select so we can just
hover over any face and press L and it
will select that whole piece that we
just made now we can just extrude that
upward right here L again to select the
whole thing we can scale this on the Y
let's also scale this up and I'm just
moving it into place right here if you
got the thickness wrong you can always
select this inner loop again with alt
and left click to select those faces and
then s shift Z and you can scale it all
however you want for the tongue of the
shoe right here I'm basically just going
to select this face shift d to duplicate
and I'll drag it up scale it down just a
little bit we can add a loop cut you
know to get the shape a little better we
can scale this in you know scale uh
individual edges right here I like to
scale the middle one out a little it
makes it much rounder then we can select
this top part right here and try to kind
of match this angle and the subdivision
surface is actually smoothing this out
quite a bit let's select these two faces
and E to extrude to give this a little
bit of a thickness like that if it's too
thick or too thin you can press alt s to
shrink or fatten it like that let's
select this and rotate it more I'll
press L to select the whole thing and we
can move it into place last are the
shorts and if you want you can skip this
and just change the color of the legs to
make it look more like tight pants but I
kind of like the shorts so for those I'm
actually going to use the shoes right
here we can just duplicate that I'll
press alt G to bring it back into the
center tab into edit mode a to select
everything X and we'll delete everything
and add in a cube scale it down quite a
bit and I'm just going to delete the
bottom face right here so we can press X
delete that face and I also want to add
a solidify modifier so type in solidify
and just make sure that that is above
the subdivision surface right here back
in object mode I'm just going to get
this into place and be the size that I
want before I actually apply the scale
and mess with the solidify okay I think
this is pretty close let's press contr a
apply the scale and then we can come
over to the solidify and we can change
the thickness to be a little thicker and
now we basically just have to move these
faces around until we think that it
looks good so let's just select the
bottom Loop scale it out can also bring
this up quite a bit higher all right
back in object mode we can select
everything rightclick and shade smooth
the only thing that isn't going to be
shaded smooth is what we made with the
skin modifier and we should actually do
duplicate this anyway so that we can
apply it mainly because it's going to
make it easier to texture paint when we
get to that so let's press shift d to
duplicate this and then we can find it
in the outliner and we can just hide
that right there let's select this one
that's visible and we can apply the skin
modifier right there so now if we tab
into edit mode you can see that you know
it's more than just a few edges we also
have a ton of faces and thickness and
whatnot now we should be able to right
click it and shade smooth if you want to
shade smooth with the skin modifier you
just have to use this button right here
the whiskers look kind of weird because
they're shaded smooth even where it's
supposed to be sharp right here so you
used to be able to rightclick and shade
Smooth by angle but now it's a little
different just select the whiskers go to
the modifier panel and under normals we
have Smooth by angle and that's just
going to clear it right up for you next
we can add some color there are a lot of
ways to add color in materials and I'll
be showing how to use this color palette
method but you could also use texture
painting you could make a separate
material for each color you want and
then select and assign those materials
to different parts of the model you can
find free textures from a site like poly
Haven then use the node Wrangler add-ons
shift controlt shortcut to set them up
fast or you can use a separate program
like substance painter now I'm not going
to cover all of these things but at
least you'll know what to search for if
you want to learn more so you can
download this color palette for free
from gumroad and then just come back
here to set up the color palette we
should go into the shading tab up here
I'll select the head and then we can
press new right here all we have to do
is bring in the image texture so let's
press shift a and you can just search
image and choose image texture then
press open and find the texture pette
that you just downloaded so it might be
in your downloads folder mine is over
here and then we can just press open now
just drag the color into the base color
right here make sure this is set to
closest you can also give the material a
name and that's it now we just have to
add this material to everything else so
with this still selected you can press a
contrl l and then you can press linked
materials and that should add it to
everything else now let's go over to the
UV editing tab up here just make sure
you turn on material preview so you can
actually see the colors properly and we
want to see our pallette over here so
press this button up at the top and make
sure you choose the pallette anything
that we made with the skin modifier
isn't going to be unwrapped so what you
can do is just select everything tab
into edit mode press a to select
everything over here in the viewport and
we can press U and for this method it
doesn't matter too much what the UV map
looks like most people will use Smart UV
project and I usually just set the
island margin to something like
0.5 and press enter and that should be
fine let's reset everything to White so
come over to the UV editor press a to
select everything s to scale and zero
and everything will scale down to this
single point over here and then you can
press G to move it around and you can
see as I do that all of the colors are
changing and that is basically how you
change the colors over here we can tab
back into object mode basically you just
select any of the objects tab back into
edit mode a to select everything and
then over here in the UV editor you can
just move this around to change the
color and whatever you put it on top of
that's the color that it's going to be
I'll put it somewhere around here you
can also select multiple things at a
time so I know I want some other things
to be orange I'm just going to shift and
left click on everything that I want to
be orange I'll choose the eyebrows and
I'll choose the body tab into edit mode
a to select everything and you can see
now we have a DOT on white and one on
orange because we already Chang change
part of it to Orange so what you can do
is just click and drag to select this
over here and then G and just move it to
the same spot I want the eyebrows to be
a darker color orange so I'll press alt
a to deselect everything I can hover
over the eyebrow and press l so now we
can come over here and press G and Y and
let's just move this up right there
let's select the pupil and the mouth tab
into edit mode press a to select
everything let's make this black back in
object mode I'll select this mouth part
with the whiskers I want to select only
the whiskers so I'll go into vertex
select and x-ray mode and I'll just
shift and drag to select just the tips
then Control Plus on the numpad to
select everything go back into face
select and then we can just drag this
down to make these black I want the nose
and the inner ear to be the same color
so I'll select the nose and shift select
the head in object mode tab into edit
mode alt Z to turn xray mode off we can
select the nose and let's select these
two faces right here over here I'll
press a s and zero to scale those to the
same point and we can put both of these
over to like a pale pink color like that
I don't like how the ear looks I think
this should be a little sharper in here
so we can go into edit mode press n to
open this side panel and instead of the
faces I just want the outer edges so
let's go into Edge select mode and we
can deselect this with shift click and
let's turn mean crease up until we like
the size so I think right around 0.5
looks pretty good and we can tab back
into object mode and press n to make
that panel go away let's select the coat
right here a to select everything let's
make this also a purpley color and a
little more pale tab back into object
mode select the shorts a to select
everything let's make this uh a little
darker back in object mode select the
shoes tab into edit mode I want this
part of the shoe to be the same color as
the coat so what we can do is maybe
let's select everything else it might be
easier to do that so in face select mode
all and left click right here to select
that Loop contrl plus to grow the
selection can hover over this and press
L and the same thing with the tongue and
now we can press control I and that
should invert the selection so we have
the bottom of the shoe also which is
fine now in object mode I'm going to
shift select this go back into edit mode
now we can actually see both so let's
just select the white part and move it
to the same spot I think this part and
that part should be white but maybe
let's select the tongue and make it the
same color as the nose back in object
mode select the shoe shift select the
nose like that and we can drag the white
part to this color over here so they're
the same and that's it for the color
this method is pretty easy for blocking
out solid colors with objects like this
but if you're texture painting it might
be a little easier if all of these are
joined together so let's just go back to
the layout tab right here and I'll show
you how to apply all of the modifiers at
once and join everything together what I
would suggest is turning down the
subdivision surface as low as you think
it can go so you could turn all of these
to one another thing you can also do is
press a to select everything and then
hold alt while you press this and you
can turn all of them down at the same
time obviously this looks too low poly
but we could turn it up by one maybe and
that actually looks all right then what
we can do is right click still with
everything selected we can go to convert
to mesh right here and that's kind of a
quick way of applying all of the
modifiers and to join all of these
together what you can do is just select
one of the objects again press a to
select everything and contrl J and when
you do that the actively selected object
the one that is outlined in like a
yellow lighter color that's the object
that all of them will be joined to so
you can see over here everything was
joined to the coat now if you want to
smooth this back out you can just press
control1 to add a subdivision surface to
everything again and that's why I think
it's good to set the subdivision surface
to as low as you think it and go because
you can always add one back on top sorry
what was that this isn't enough and you
want to see the character move well to
make that happen you'll have to learn
about rigging I actually have a whole
playlist about it and I'm planning on
making a video soon where I actually rig
the character from this video thanks for
watching and have a good one [Music]
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