Hi!
I was trying to model some shoes in order to pratice. However, iI'm having a hard time since they are high heels and a bit different from others.
I started with a cube, I add some loop cuts, positioned the vertices in some key areas and than I tried to extrude some faces so that I could get the shape. But I don't think this looks as it should (in terms of topology?)
Would it be better to just sculpt it? How would you do?
It depends on how 'good' you are at Sculpting, Filipa HHalliwell ,
Personally, I would use Box modeling, like you. First get the main shape right, with as little Vertices as possible.
Here's what I made (but I didn't look at the reference while making this, so it's not a great match):
You could try sculpting, but I agree it would be easier to box model. Though if you had a base sculpted mesh it would make it easier to model since you would have a mesh to guide you. Don't worry about not getting it right, modeling takes time to get used t, the more you do it the more you develop the topology Neo vision, but you have to get a lot of practice for that. So keep trying and don't be afraid to make mistakes.
Martin and Omar, thank you so much for your replies!
So I tried to look to Martin's example and my modelling and I understood that I might have complicated too much in order to get the basic shape as close to the image as possible!
I've retried again: with the box model, I ajusted the vertices to the main shape as close as possible, applied subdivision surface and than Smooth just to see how it would look like! What do you two think?
By the way, to "refine" it, would you choose to add more vertices to get the final correct shape or would you prefer to finish it with sculpting?
I've watched the basics of modeling and basics of sculpting and it makes me wonder. I always use Fortnite characters as an example: I see a lot of people modelling characters with basic shapes like the cube, but can you do such a cartoonish as Fortnite characters with it or would you have to sculpt from 0? Or a mix of both?
Sorry if the question seems out of the topic but I ask that regarding the shoe, but using Fortnite characters as an example to this exercise :-)
You're slowly getting there, but you don't have a good edge flow, you need a better underlying geometry to support those shapes. Modeling a shoe is not easy, you may want to try something more basic for now, if you feel like doing so of course.
But sculpting is not for final products, you sculpt for the workflow of getting a 3D model started, a free flowing way of messing around with digital clay. If you want to use your sculpt for a final pipeline, you have to retopologize it, because sculpting gives you very bad topology.
To refine the sahpe I'd add Edge Loops and move Vertices around as needed.
Try to get more or less square Faces. I would also change the Edge flow in the front, so that you can add some 'horizontal' Edgeloops, maybe like this:
Although I am not happy about that red circled 5 sided Pole...that'll has to be changed as well...
You can of course also do a Remesh or so and start Sculpting from here on...There are many ways to get the job done.
Omar: thanks for the advice, I actually thought this would be basic to start with but apparently it has many things underlying which I might lack knowledge of. In terms of Topology, what course here would you recommend in order to be able to do this in a more capable way?
Martin: I tried to move some vertices again to achieve a better Edge Flow. Would this be a better thing or am I missing something?
I'm sorry if I'm being too much! Just trying to understand what I'm doing wrong :-)
I guess the modeling bootcamp to get all the concepts in:
https://cgcookie.com/courses/blender-mesh-modeling-bootcamp
And Pothead for the practice:
https://cgcookie.com/courses/pothead-create-a-hard-surface-character-in-blender
Thank you Omar! I was starting out with this (https://cgcookie.com/playlists/15-learning-flow-the-fundamentals-to-become-a-skilled-blender-artist) and I still only did the modeling and sculpting fundamentals but I might switch to the one you sent as I feel like lightning and texturing, even fundamentals, might be too advanced for now :-)
For something with complex curves like a shoe, rather than attempting to model the whole upper, sole, and heel from a box in one go I would take a close look at the different parts of the shoe and where the major curves will need to sit. IMO, having those edges established with help in the long run so you aren't struggling with edges running through curves instead of defining them.
In my quick go at it I started with the upper, attempting to sort out where it would be most useful to have edges to help define the curve of the foot inside the shoe. I extruded back to start the heel, which needs edges to define its own curves. At this point I'm moving verts around to experiment where I could go next. I extruded for the top first, then straight back for the back of the foot, then sorted out the curve I needed for where the sides meet the softer part of the upper. The stiletto is a pretty straight forward extrusion.
It's not perfect but hopefully it makes sense and helps a bit!
![d] - Blender 4.1.png](https://d1tq3fcx54x7ou.cloudfront.net/uploads/store/tenant_161/image/7879/image/large-a6d1f10e2235dc696b32ab6aa586d74f.png)
Well if you ask me, it's more about just showing you what topology we would use. Modeling has this ungraspable sensation that you develop the more you do it, you need to kinda mature a sense of seeing the wireframe of objects in your mind. I know it sounds very Neo in The Matrix, but it kinda is like that. It is otherworldly when you start to try and model stuffs in 3D, your brain needs to readjust, and that only happens by modeling a lot, making a lot of mistakes, trying again over and over, that's how the Neo sight gets developed. So you are on the right path, trying out different approaches. But also go and see all the practice and theory that the courses teaches, there's a lot of gotchas here and there when it comes to modeling, you learn to avoid or encourage so many things that will slowly build up the Neo powers.
