

Organic modelling takes a lot of practice and requires a lot of reference images to learn the anatomy of what you’re making to make it as realistic as possible.įor example when I’m making anything muscular, human or otherwise, I look up images of bodybuilders.

It’s much easier to make wrinkles and skin folds in ZBrush or Mudbox than on a polygonal level.įrom there it is exported as a texture that gives your model all the extra details. While it is possible to make entire organic objects in polygon modelling software, they are often brought into sculpting software for finer details. This is important as “N-gons” (polygons with 5 or more sides) can act erratically when subdivided or animated.įor this reason it is good practice to avoid them in all models but more importantly in organic objects. The shape usually isn’t as important, as long as the number of sides equals four. This means that all the polygons used to make the model are 4 sided. Organic models will usually want to be entirely quads.

Organic models are also typically used in animation, so there are some important rules to follow for the best results. These range from trees and plants to animals and people. Organic ModellingĪs previously stated, organic models are generally accepted as being models of living things. The other side is if you have a model of a modern aerodynamic sports car with lots of smooth flowing curves.Ĭars are inorganic objects, but due to the many curves of the mesh some techniques more commonly used with organic modelling may be used to get the end result.

Something that would obviously be classified as a hard surface model.īut since it is animated and squashes and stretches some may argue it’s an organic object for this model. Some people say that anything that becomes animated is an organic object. Though many of the principles of modelling between the two are similar, it takes a lot of practice to be able to master both or to specialise in just one.Īnother important thing to note is the line between these two categories is often disputed. Hard surface modelling is usually focused on inorganic objects such as buildings or furniture. Organic modelling is usually creating 3D models of living creatures such as people or animals. In a nutshell, the difference between organic and hard surface modelling is exactly what the names imply. Although different techniques are used between the two. That means if you buy something we get a small commission at no extra cost to you( learn more)īoth hard surface and organic modelling are at their core still polygonal modelling. Tips 3D Written by Thomas Denham Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
