Modelling with Subdivide

Question

I am super new to this but decided it is time to learn. For a first project I wanted to model an Easter Island head because I figured that should be easy enough. So far it has been going well but now I have hit a roadblock. I believe my main issue is simply my lack of basic workflow knowledge so any help is much appreciated.

I have checked out a few tutorials and people seem to be modelling in a way where they use the "Subdivision" modifier starting from a cube they then add extra faces and edges to. I have been doing this as well and gotten the general shape down. However, now that I want to add the brow or nose of the statue I run in to weird issues where the subdivision modifier doesn't behave as I would expect (see images).

How should I go about adding these features to my head?

Answer 1

Your subdivision is way too high and you don't have enough geometry to work with the subdivision, your object is basically a cube. add more geometry and use "Extrude along faces" to extrude in different directions at the same time to create the "head shape"

Here is a quick example

i added a mirror modifier just to show you half of the geometry

Answer 2

As I understand the question, you want the subdivision modifier to "know" where you want things smoother and rounder and where you want sharper edges.

In Blender there are (at least) two methods for doing this:

Supporting Edges

This is the most common way (this way can be used in any 3D software that uses Catmull-Clark subdivision).

Just add supporting loops close together where you want edges to be sharper. The closer the loops are placed, the sharper the edge will be.

Original unsubdivided mesh:

Now with supporting loops (notice how I placed the top supporting loop farther away from the top and the ones of the brow edges close together, as I want the top of the statue to be rounder than the brow edges):

Result with supporting loops:

Result without supporting loops:

Edge Crease

This way is more specific to Blender, as not every 3D software supports this option.

In edit mode, select the edges you wish to be sharper and go to Edge > Edge Crease, then set the value to something between 0 and 1 (1 being totally sharp and 0 being totally smooth)

You can also edit the edge crease in the transform menu

The creased edges are marked with a pink-purple color:

In this case, I set the crease of the brow edges to 0.5 and the top of the statue's edges to 0.25. Here is the result with subdivision modifier:

Answer 3

Whenever you want to have a "sharper" edge to you model with subdivision modifier, the trick is, to use loopcuts, which are near enough.

So you can insert loopcuts here:

then select the 2 edges:

and move them with G -> Y as you need it to get this:

add another loopcut here

select this edge

and move again with G -> Y

so hopefully this was, what you were looking for.

Answer 4

When working in Blender, it is best to start with a low poly model (a small amount of polygons), and then use the subdivide modifier to increase the polys. When you subdivide your mesh straight away, the polygon count increases and can become more difficult to manipulate and work with.

This is how I would start.

Make sure to subdivide the mesh AT LEAST TWICE before using a subdivide modifier as there isn't enough polygons for it to look right

From there you can start manipulating the shape and sculpting.

I hope this helps :)