3dworld anatomy tips eaton
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TUTORIALS | Anatomy tips
052 WO L
3D WORL March 2006
However far tec no ogy a vances, anatomica now e ge wi sti form t e asis of goo c aracteresign. Fo ow t is set of expert tips to get etter resu ts from your own wor BY SCOTT EATON
Anatomy for 3D artistsTIPS & TRICKS
Our expertt s ssue
Scott Eaton
is Creative Technical Directorat Escape Stu ios, w ere efounded and now teachesAnatomy for Digital Artists.He as consu te for manycompanies, incu ing Sony,The Mill and Double Negativewww.escapestudios.co.uk
An image from the authors Anatomy for DigitalArtists course. The archer is posed to illustrate the
complexity of the back muscles under tension. Themodel was originally a rigged, low-resolution mesh,posed in Maya. The musculature was sculpted inZBrush and the model was rendered back in Maya.The corch was composited over the original render
n aspiring character artist might ask: How
is anatomy important to my work? The
emphatic answer is that as a character artist,anatomy should inform every aspect of your
work! Anatomy is the structural foundation that grounds
characters in the physical world and makes them believable,
even if they are cartoons or imaginary creatures.
c
ourse, every artist nee s to now ow to
use so tware app ications, ut w at rea y separates an
ccomp is e artist rom a mere operator is artistic vision an
firm grounding in the fundamentals of human form. Artistic
ision cant easily be taught, but the enterprising artist will find
that theres a wealth of resources available that will help them
iscover more about anatomy.
Fortunately for us, the fundamentals of artistic anatomy
have been known for thousands of years. Unfortunately, theres
little opportunity to learn these anatomical fundamentals in art
schools today. Like most of the knowledge of the great masters,
the subject has fallen out of favour in education and, as aresult, there are currently very few people who are qualified to
teach the subject. This makes finding good instruction difficult
and it transfers the responsibility of learning anatomy onto the
artists t emse ves.
is co ection o tips wi e p you on your way towar s t e
mastery o t ese un amentas. nce youve finis e , w y not
c ec out t e ist o recommen e oo s on anatomy so you
can increase your skills even more?
These tips are intended to provide a foundation for your
own learning. Some relate to muscles, some to bones and
others to proportion. If you can assimilate these principles and
combine them with your own anatomy study, your character
work will go from strength to strength.
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Anatomy tips | TUTORIALS
APPROACH BIG SHAPES LIKEA SCULPTORAlways subordinate small details to the big shapes. In computer
graphics, especially in newer programs that let you sculpt fine
details quickly and easily, its simple to start right into the details
(wrinkles, texture, veins and so o n) of a character before the larger
shapes are correctly established. If you approach the task of making
a mo e e t e scup tors o o ap proac e wor ng n stone , tw e p to structure t e construct on process.
n o ow a stone scu ptor as to carve a c un o stone nto
a oc y mo e rst, ta ng care to esta s t e correct proport ons
an g s apes. n y once t s stage s compete o t e actua
muscu ar s apes an eta s get carve n.
CHECK SILHOUETTESChecking the silhouette of your model is a good way to assess
the larger proportions and gesture of your model, without being
distracted by the lack of finer details, which will be established later.
Set your model to a flat, unshaded colour and zoom out to where
ts sma ut st rea a e on t e screen. ec t e o ut ne o t e
mo e , oo ng or t e g s apes an proport o ns. ar , uns a e
coour e ps you concentrate on t e g s apes an gnore t e act
t at t e mo e snt n s e .
STUDYING A SKELETONThe skeleton is the foundation of any character human, animal or
otherwise and must be understood before the muscles will make
sense. Say a client asks you to model a coat hanging in a closet.
Being a dutiful artist, you would have to ask two questions to makesure the client gets what he or she was looking for: most obviously,
w at n o coat s t owever, per aps more mportanty, you
a so as , w ats t e s ape o t e anger ust as t e anger ctates
t e s ap es o t e angng jac et , t e s eeton ctates t e s ape o
t e o y an ang ng musc es. es es e ng t e sca o ng t at
esta s es t e proport o n o t e o y, t e s e e ton serves as t e
start pont an en pont or a o t e s eeta musces.
MASS CONCEPTIONSIt s important to have a mental simplification of the large shapes
of the skeleton. With a simple mass conception of the skull, rib cage
and pelvis, a figure can be sketched quickly to show balance and
proportion. Each of these masses is decidedly complicated when
xamined in detail, but its enough for the artist to understand the
large masses of these forms and use them to establish the large
hapes and planes of the figure. Both Bammes and Loomis present
xcellent simplifications of the main masses of the skeleton see
urt er rea ng on page .
PUT MASSES IN YOUR MODELere s ou a ways e a sense o un ery ng structure n your
o e s. s s ac eve y mantan ng your mass concept ons as
ou start to p ace t e musces onto t e o y. s mpe tec n que
in CG is to actually create simplified mass conceptions underneath
he skin of your model. These will serve as a reference for both
odelling the muscular forms on top, and also a reference during
igging to make sure the deformations dont violate whats meant toe the rigid skeleton underneath.
THE BONY POINTSe ac nowe ge t e mportance o t e s eeton an un erstan
e s m p cat o n o t e g masses o t e pe v s an r cage, ut
at next e , you nee to earn t e ey ony ponts on t e
ur ace o t e o y. ese are t e p aces w ere t e s eeton es
irectly underneath the skin. Theyre great reference markers for
stablishing the proportions of the body and for accurately placing
he surrounding muscle groups. Not only that, but these are the
laces on your model that, when youre rigging, shouldnt deform
t all they should only move rigidly with the joint. Some of the
ost important are the point of the shoulder (acromion process),
A quick silhouette check of a work in progress. Even though the basemo e is very ow-reso ution, t is e ps assess proportiona ifficuties
This word is French for flayed and
it describes the practice of drawing
or sculpting a figure without the
skin. Drawing corch figures dates
back to the 15th century and is a
great way of learning anatomy. The
technique is simple. Start with a
reference image showing goodmuscular detail and tape a piece of
tracing paper over it. Now find the
bony landmarks on the figure and
use these as reference points to
locate and place the muscle groups
in the surrounding areas. Draw in
the muscles, taking care to indicate
the direction of the muscle fibres,
and continue until i ts complete.
An image showing a few oft e critica ony points of t es e eton: 1. Acromion process;2. Lateral epicondyle of the
umerus; 3. O ecranon;4. Anterior superior i iac spine
corch image by the author, showing theback muscles. This image also highlights thesmoothing effect of skin and fat over theunderlying muscles
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IN FOCUS Observe variation
TUTORIALS | Anatomy tips
e sp ne o t e scapua, t e sevent cervca verte ra, t e po nts o
e p anteror an posteror super or ac spnes , an t e e ow
olecranon and the epicondyles of the humerus). See the diagram on
he previous page.
ORIGINS AND INSERTIONShat are the bony points good for? Well, like the coat hanger
xample, they dictate how and where the muscles originate and
nsert. n erstan ng t ese muscu ar attac ments w e p you to
etermne t e rect on o pu o t e musc e, no matter w at pose
e gure s n. s ctates ow e ge ow s ou e a out.
PULLING POWERne o t e most mportant structura aspects to un erstan a out
uscles is that they must span at least one joi nt to function. This
imple mechanical principle gives muscles their pulling power. They
riginate on one bone and insert on another bone further down the
ierarchy. Its a simple concept, but it makes the interplay of muscles
cross joints both dynamic and believable.
t t e e ow, or examp e, t eres cons era e nteroc ngetween t e upper an ower arm musc es. e orearm musces
xten we a ove t e e ow, attac ng onto t e upper arm one
umerus. ewse, t e ceps an trceps exten e ow t e e ow,
attac ng nto t e orearm. e prncp e o nteroc ng o s true
g t across t e o y, so emp as s ng t s w ma e your mo e s
ecome muc more power u .
THE FOREARMThe two most complicated areas of the body are the forearm and
the scapula. Both owe their complexity to the number of muscles
and the numerous directions in which they pull. Mastery of these
areas w requ re a t ona stu y, so o pay attent on to t em.en t comes to t e arm musces, t e or g ns an nsert ons o
t e ceps an trceps are reat vey s mpe, ut t e musces o t e
orearm are muc more compex.
s a roa map to e p you n your stu y, egn y un erstan ng
t e structure o t e ower en o t e upper arm one umerus .
There are two important bumps there (epicondyles): one on the
outside and one on the i nside. From these two bumps respectively,
the extensors and flexors of the hand originate. The flexors then
travel on the inside of the forearm, while the extensors travel over
the outside.
THE SCAPULAuc o t e comp ex t y o t e ac w c eg n ners o ten
ncorrecty approx mate w t a ew ar trar y p ace umps an
umps s ue to t e scapu a s ou er a e a n a ts mu sc e s
s ng to an ro over t e r cage. ga n , to tac e t s comp cate
area, start y un erstan ng t e ony orm o t e scapu a. e
shape of the bone is like a guide map for placing the muscle. The
spine of scapula is an important bony landmark that will give away
the orientation of the bone and the disposition of the muscles that
eside there. Approach this area like a detective.
THE SKIN AND FATour nvest gat on o anatomy w certa n y ave you stu y ng rom
e erence p ates. ese p ates s ow every musce n ne ssecte
eta , ut ts mportant to remem er t at t s s w at t e musces
oo e wt out t e r top ayer o at an s n. s ayer acts to
so ten an , n some cases, ent rey o scure t e muscu ar eta .
he effect of skin and fat on the underlying muscles is like
looking through a piece of frosted glass you can still see the
shapes and masses behind the glass, but the edges are blurred and
any of the details are lost. Always cross-reference what you see
on the muscular plate with photos or drawings of what the area
looks like in real life.
Even aliens have anatomy! This character design borrows from humannatomy, mo ifying t e proportions for a creature of t is stature
It must be understood that the figures presented in anatomy books are often limited to a singleidealised human figure. In reality, though, the marvellous unpredictability of the gene pool creates
remarkable variations from this ideal. This is where direct observation becomes important. Takeevery opportunity to study these individual variations. If you commute using public transport,theres no better opportunity to study the differences in facial structure and features. Buy a smallsketchbook and make notes the variation will astonish you.
A study highlighting thecompexity of t e musces of t eac . Note t e inter oc ing of t e
shoulder muscles onto the upperarm, an t e interpay of t eupper arm an forearm musc es
A drawing from life. A long posein front of a model gives an artistthe time to carefully study theanatomy and proportions of thefigure. Life drawing classes withextended poses are difficult tofind, but are very useful forcarefully studying figures
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FURTHER READING Anatomy reference books
Even a casual glance in your local bookstore
will reveal that there are shelves full of
anatomy books available to the eager
student. There are some great titles out
there, but there are also lots of bad ones
too. A student of anatomy should study
from only the best, so heres a list ofrecommended anatomy books:
Title: Artistic AnatomyAuthor: Dr Paul Richer & Robert Beverly Hale
ISBN: 0823002977 The authoritative reference in the field
Difficult text, but well worth the effort Clear, extremely accurate plates
Title: Atlas of Human Anatomy for the ArtistAuthor: Stephen Rogers Peck
ISBN: 0195030958 A classic, must-have reference
Many illustrations that explain difficult concepts Lucid text
Title: Human Anatomy for ArtistsAuthor: Eliot Goldfinger
ISBN: 0195052064
A contemporary reference Encyclopedic coverage of the individual muscles
An essential resource
Title: Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters
Author: Robert Beverly Hale & Terence CoyleISBN: 0823002810
Uses master drawings to explain a range ofanatomical concepts
Exhaustive coverage of the body Highly recommended for intermediate andadvanced students of anatomy
Title: Die Gestalt des Menschen
Author: Gottfried BammesISBN: 3473610992
Constructionist approach to the skeletonand figure
Excellent simplification of forms
Recommended for its illustrations, even ifyou dont read German!
Title: Figure Drawing For All Its Worth
Author: Andrew Loomis
ISBN 067031255X Quality introduction to anatomy, proportions andfigure drawing from a master illustrator
Text is extremely readable
Not in print, but second-hand copies can be foundonline from specialist stores or sites like eBay
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Anatomy tips | TUTORIALS
ANIMAL ANATOMYnce you ave uman anatomy un er your e t, ts qu te easy to
earn anma anatomy. ou may e surprse to earn t at an mas
ave anatomy t ats very s m ar to umans, varyng most y n
proport on. ey ave scapu ae, exors, extensors an a t e t ngs
weve ta e a out, ony n a erent s ze an s ape. e w ng o a
bat, for example, has the exact same bone hierarchy as a human arm
and hand, right down to the smallest digits of the fingers only the
proportions and function are different. Learn human anatomy well
and youll soon be able to understand animal anatomy.
PLAUSIBLE ANATOMYe pr n c p es out ne a ove can an s ou e app e to
antasy creatures as we . ven t at a creature s stuate n a
wor w t p ys c s s m ar to our own, t w ave evo v e s m ar
mec ansms or ea ng w t gravty, mass an momentum. se
your nowe ge o uman anatomy to mag ne ow t e creature
might be constructed with muscles and bones so that it can react
to the environment around it. Take into consideration all the points
mentioned here. Make note of an underlying skeleton, its bony
points, muscular origins and insertions. Consider the i nterlocking of
muscles and tendons across joints. Borrow from human anatomy
but change the proportions and functions as necessary.
IFE DRAWINGeres no su stitute or
tu ying anatomy on a ive
figure, so fin a i e rawing
ourse near you an rop in. e
poses in classes are often too
uick to complete an entire figure
tudy accurately, so heres a
recommended technique: during
ny one pose, focus your drawing
n a specific part of the body and
take your time studying the bony
n muscu ar orms in t at area.
o a finis e stu y o t at sma
ection. it t is met o , you
ave more time to o serve t e
orms an etais o t e musc es
in the area, rather than putting
own a slapdash drawing of the
ntire figure. Its time better
pent and will accelerate your
natomical learning.
A co age of rawings from ife.T ese i ustrate t e softness of t e
o y ue to s in an fatccumulation. Even on athletic
figures, s in an fat sti ave aoftening effect on muscu ar etai s