Maya - Hands and feet

In this tutorial we look at adding the hands and feet to our model.

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In this tutorial, we continue to build our character by adding the hands and feet. Without doubt, the hands are the second most expressive part of the body after the face. Modeling will therefore need careful consideration in order to allow for a huge range of movements during the rigging and animation process. Both the hands and the feet have contrasting upper and lower sides: the dorsal side (back) of the hands and feet is bony as the bones sit closer to this side, while the palmer/plantar side is a lot fleshier. It's important to bear this in mind as at all costs we want to avoid the look of marigold hands.

For this tutorial, we will continue to use the reference from the awesome folks at 3dscanstore. However, please note that as well as looking at the front, side and back views supplied, I have also used all the other images that come with the collection to extract as much info as I could during the modeling process. Check out what they have to offer; it's all good stuff. However, as there is no substitute for the real thing, examine your own hands and those of the people closest to you – with their permission, of course. Examine them in terms of the way they look, feel and move.

For this tutorial, we will continue to use the reference from the awesome folks at 3dscanstore. However, please note that as well as looking at the front, side and back views supplied, I have also used all the other images that come with the collection to extract as much info as I could during the modeling process. Check out what they have to offer; it's all good stuff. However, as there is no substitute for the real thing, examine your own hands and those of the people closest to you – with their permission, of course. Examine them in terms of the way they look, feel and move.

Step 1: Thinking about topology

First off, I've produced a quick draw-over (thanks again to 3dscanstore) of the proposed topology which I think will work well for the hands. This could change slightly as the modeling of the hand progresses but I like to have a simple plan in place before I start pushing and pulling vertices around. I've only drawn the topology for one finger as we can simply duplicate a completed finger and re-purpose it for the remaining fingers. I've also indicated the styloid process of the ulna, which I want present, as well as the tendons on the palmer side of the wrist.

The proposed topology of the hand

The proposed topology of the hand

Step 2: Blocking out the finger

Once I have my topology draw-over, I bring it into a clean scene in Maya as an image plane. We could continue to model the hand in the current pose, but I find it easier to work when looking at the hand flat on. We will later import it into an up-to-date scene with the current model and attach it.

Now create a polygonal cube and scale it to roughly match the size of the index finger. Delete the bottom face (where the finger would attach to the palm) and run 2 edge loops, one through the height and one through the length of the cube, followed by a further 2 edge loops running through the width of the cube, dividing each phalanx bone. Once you have added the extra detail, move the vertices around to match the reference.

Blocking out a finger from a polygon cube

Step 3: Adding extra loops

For each phalanx, add a further 2 loops around the initial loop created in the previous step. On the dorsal side of the finger, move the points around to create the oval-esque wrinkle shape that you should see visible on your own finger as you bend and straighten it. On the palmer side of the finger, bring the edges closer together and push the center edge in slightly. In-between each phalanx, add another edge loop and use this to add volume to the palmer side of the finger, creating a fleshier appearance than that of the dorsal side.

For the fingernail, select the relevant 2 faces on the top of the finger and go Edit Mesh > Extrude. Scale the faces in slightly and rework the shape to sync up with the reference. Select the newly created faces and perform another extrusion and lift the new faces up slightly. Add an edge loop to cut around the width of the nail and use the extra detail to add some roundness to the region.

Refining the index finger

Refining the index finger

Step 4: Creating more fingers

Once we have the first complete finger, select the object and duplicate it by hitting Ctrl+D or going Edit > Duplicate. Translate it over to match the position of the middle finger and go into component mode to edit the vertices to match the reference. Repeat the step to create the ring and pinky fingers also. It's worth studying your own hand as you place the fingers and pay close attention to the arc created by the knuckles as you look at your fist, palm side up.

I also duplicated the original finger for the thumb, only I deleted a few edge loops to allow for only 2 phalanges. Again, simply pushing and pulling the vertices should do the trick to get the thumb sized up. Also note the orientation of the thumb and its position. Again, study your own thumb to inform your modeling decision-making. You may want to use Soft-Selection to speed up the process of moving points. Hit B on the keyboard to activate or de-activate the setting or turn it on in the tool settings for the Move tool. You can also interactively change the falloff of the tool by holding down the B key and left-mouse dragging in the viewport.

Using Soft-Selection to speed up the process of moving points

Using Soft-Selection to speed up the process of moving points

Step 5: Bringing the fingers together

With all the fingers in place, it's a case of creating the remainder of the hand and bringing it all together. First, select all the fingers and go Mesh > Combine, followed by Edit > Delete By Type > History. To connect the index finger to the middle finger, select an edge from either finger and go Edit Mesh > Extrude. Now go Edit Mesh > Merge Vertex Tool and weld the newly extruded edge to connect the fingers together. I like to make sure this gap between the fingers is present in my hands as it allows for the presence of the 'webby' regions that exist there. Repeat the step to add extra geometry between all the fingers to bring them together and then create more extrudes to attach the index to the thumb.

Adding the

Adding the 'webby' regions between the fingers

Step 6: Building the hand

Once all the fingers and the thumb have been connected, we can select a row of edges and perform some larger extrudes to start to fill out the hand. I've built up both the dorsal and the palmer side together so I can make sure the flow of the topology between the two sides comes together. The area of most interest will be the fleshy pad of the thumb, and here I decided to cut into the model using the Interactive Split Polygon tool to rework the direction of the flow of edges. Once you have the hand in place, push and pull the points to reduce the rubber glove look. And although I may sound like a broken record at this point, remember to examine your own hand as you go: study the crease lines, the areas that bulge or stretch and implement those features into the model.

Continuing to build out from the fingers to create the palm and the back of the hand

Continuing to build out from the fingers to create the palm and the back of the hand


Step 7: Appearance of tendons

To finish off the hand, I added some detail on the palmer side of the wrist so I could create the appearance of the tendons and a noticeable bony landmark named the styloid process. This protrusion lies on the pinky side of the wrist and can be modeled by extruding out a couple of faces in that region and then point-pushing. On the dorsal side of the hand, I continued to push the edges closer together in places to bring out some of the tendons as well. This should again help to avoid the rubber glove syndrome.

Adding the appearance of tendons and bony regions

Adding the appearance of tendons and bony regions

Step 8: Connecting the hand to the arm

Once the hand is ready, I open up the scene file with the current body model and Import the hand in. A little translating, rotating and scaling to get the hand in place and then it's a matter of connecting it to the arm. First I noticed that I have too many edges coming out of my hand to make a direct connection to the arm. I decided to terminate a couple of edges early on the hand as illustrated in the below image and also run some extra edge loops through the arm to equal the connecting vertices from the arm to the hand. To clean up the extra edges that I added to the body that ran from the arm, I used the Sculpt Geometry Tool (set to Relax mode) and then pushed and pulled the vertices until I was happy with the main mesh once more. Then it was a case of selecting both parts of geometry and going Mesh > Combine. Once connected, I used the Merge Vertex Tool to weld the vertices of the hand to the end of the arm. Some minor tweaking later and the hand should be fully connected.

Connecting the hand to the arm

Connecting the hand to the arm


Step 9: Playing footsy

For the foot, you can pretty much repeat the same procedure as for the hand. I actually used one of the fingers as the base for my first toe and then duplicated it for all the other toes. Like the thumb, notice how the big toe has only two phalanges when you create its topology. Build the foot out from the toes as we did the palm from the fingers, making sure to include the arch of the foot before combining the foot to the ankle.

Once in place, we should be ready to move on to the face.

The final foot and hand connected to the body

The final foot and hand connected to the body

Top tip 1: Use the animation tools for modeling purposes

When moving major forms around, I like to use the animation tools to speed up the process. One of my favorite tools to use is the Lattice which you will find under Deformers > Non-Linear Deformers. This tool will create a cage around the selected mesh or a group of vertices and by using the lattice points (hold the right-mouse button down to access component mode), you can push and pull the geometry with ease. You can also set the resolution of the lattice deformer within the Channel Box or the Attribute Editor to give you more or fewer points to manipulate. Test out the other Non-Linear deformer tools to see how they may be of use for modeling.

Taking advantage of the Lattice tool for modeling

Taking advantage of the Lattice tool for modeling


Click HERE to see the previous tutorial in this series.

Want to start from the beginning? Click HERE to see the first tutorial in this series.

To see more by Jahirul Amin, check out Beginner's Guide to Character Creation in Maya
and 3ds Max Projects

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