Torso Modeling

This tutorial teaches one way to build an upper torso, using a vertex-to-vertex approach. By using this method, you're able to trace in the details that stand out before any facing is done. This tutorial was made quickly, it's not the greatest, and the result is low poly, but the techniques can be applied to any resolution mesh, any part of the human body, and anything else you'd want to model. After creating this low resolution torso, you can easily use loop cuts and subdivisions to add extra detail like collar bones, individual ribs, belly buttons, wrinkles, hideous scars and everything else.

Step 1: Setting up your reference images. Download blueprints here. When you're using blueprints(these aren't the best, but they're the best google had to offer in a 20 second search), you want to uvmap them onto planes in blender so you can work with them. So load the blueprints in the image window and map them onto two planes, setting them up as I have below.(You can also steal my setup by opening the blend offered at the bottom of this page, they can be found in layer 2)



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Step 2: The main outline. Starting in the front view, start laying down vertices, tracing the borders of the chest and stomach. Try to anticipate where you'll need vertices to be, like in areas of higher detail, or following the contours of the rib cage and chest. To better understand the steps in this tutorial, try to mimic the setup I've made below. This is the rough layout, and vertices will be added to this main outline later on.



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Step 3: Inner contours. I've chosen to start with the four main sections of the torso to continue drawing my outlines, the chest, the rib cage, the stomach, and the hip. Select each of those accommodating vertices and begin to draw a path that closely follows the one in the blueprints. Make sure to check the top view from time to time to make sure that your outlines are rounded off, and not straight. Eye it up from all angles to be sure it looks natural for the body shape you choose to make.



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Step 4: Extruding the chest. Selecting the two bottom-most vertices of the chest's outline, shown in green, and extrude them up three times. Shape them to reflect the blueprints and your best judgment of how a chest should look. Vertices shown in red were added by subdivision to the main outline to help shape the chest better.



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Step 5: New rib section and more outlines. Start off by adding the extra vertices, shown in red, then create the new outlines by extruding from one vertex until you can connect to it's partner at the end. Here you'll be outlining the neck, the collar bone, and the rib section above the previous rib cage outline we made. Check your top view and perspective to be sure everything looks smooth.



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Step 6: Facing everything! This looks like a big step, but it's as easy as the others. Start by adding the new vertices shown in red and creating the outlines they're meant for. The new outlines you'll be creating are for the lower stomach, the area right above the chest, and an outline directly below our first rib cage contour. The new vertex beneath the armpit will be used for cleaner facing, and the new vertex on the arm socket connects to the collar bone contour. Now begin selecting 3 or 4 vertices at a time and press F to create your faces.



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Step 7: Outlining the back. In this step you will repeat the initial steps of the front of the torso for the back. Outline the arm socket, neck, and the back from the side view, then go into front and top view to shape them correctly.



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Step 8: Adding contours. Begin to add new contours for the back, tracing around what will be the shoulder, and shoulderblade. This can be done a number of ways. Since I had no reference picture of the back on hand, I took a best guess at how things look back there. There are muscles back there somewhere, and part of the shoulderblade sticks out more, but meh, let's move along. Do what you can to make it look like what's shown below. This technique for the back may not lead to the greatest topography, but you'll get something, and it can easily be reworked into something more realistic if you or I wanted to spend the time.



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Step 9: Facing the upper back. The new vertex shown in red was added so that it could connect to a vertex on the main outline. The vertices highlighted in green were moved up to correct the shoulder's shape. Now face everything and let's move to the next step.



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Step 10: More contours. Here you'll be adding contours for a mid-rib section, the rib cage, and lower back. There is usually a depression that runs vertically in the center of the back, so make sure your outline reflects this by having a vertical contour run straight down beside the main outline, but have it extend further out in the side view so the middle of the back sinks in. The depression is actually wider and smoother then the narrow path I've drawn, but that can be fixed at any time once we see the end result.



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Step 11: FACE IT ALL.



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Step 12: The arms. This is not a hard step at all. I just selected all of the vertices in the arm socket, extruded it seven times, and matched it to the blueprints. I pushed around some vertices to better match the shape of areas like the bicep, and the elbow. I had no top view so I did what I thought looked right, which doesn't always, so it's best to always look at reference photos, or, your own arm if you realize it's there. For a really detailed model of an arm, this method is a pretty cheap way of attempting it. It might be better to work with each section of the arm at a time, outlining the muscles and paying close attention to anatomy and the way things flex and fold.



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Step 13: Relax the arms. For a more natural look, edit the lay of the arm to make it look more relaxed.



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Step 14: Mirror the body and hope for the best. Remember to place the pivot point on the left of your body mesh. You can do this by selecting the vertices on the left and press shift+s, choose 'cursor to selection'. Get out of edit mode and in the editing window choose 'center cursor'. Now add the modifier 'mirror', on the x axis.



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Step 15: Modify modify. Now is time for some changes. The chest came out too squared so round it off. I also moved vertices at the outer edge of the chest further out towards the armpit to make the chest wider. Push around some other vertices if you see anything out of place or out of the ordinary. I also chose to suck in his gut since I had the rib cage showing a little.



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Step 16: THAT'S IT. You can download the completed blend file here, which includes the blueprints uvmapped onto planes in layer 2. It's a convincing low poly torso, but work is still needed to make this detailed in a higher resolution. This tutorial hopefully taught you some useful principles for modeling. - Blengine