Introduction: Model Animals and Bugs in Your Browser

By chaitanyak.com
About: Independant cg artist and educator. Formerly Co-Founder of a film and animation studio in Bangalore - Formerly worked on various app and mobile game projects with Mostly a designer and digital illustrator, I'v…

Easiest 3d Modelling Tool You'll Find Today

Discovered this via the Sketchfab blog .. and it blew my mind!.. its the easiest 3d modelling tool i've seen since Teddy. Its a great tool!

Will help a lot of aspiring artists, who may be intimidated by typical 3d modelling concepts like UV mapping or projection mapping.. as well as modelling.

Heres an example of what the finished model will be like:

(click the play button to load the model.. and then you can click and drag to manipulate it right here on this page!)

Grasshopper by Chaitanya Krishnan on Sketchfab


In case bugs are not your thing, heres a cute and cuddlier example.

Cat Sitting by Chaitanya Krishnan on Sketchfab

Note: this is not a replacement for traditional polygon modelling or 3d sculpting techniques, if you are working on a game or animation you will run into issues while trying to optimise or rig these models. However they are excellent for quick mockups and proof of concept models. The website is called Smoothie-3D and you can use it to sculpt a 3d model out of any side profile picture you have of.. an animal.. (Update: have tried it with other stuff like sketches of motorcycle tanks and robots etc.. works great! )

Disclaimer: Smoothie-3d liked my first few models.. and so they commissioned me to record the process of me creating a few more.. I will link to those videos in the last step.

On to Step 1 -

Step 1: Upload an Image

Step1: upload an image.. i chose this picture i had of one of my dogs.

Step 2: Trace It

Step2: trace it .. every shape you trace gets turned into a bulbous extrusion with the photograph mapped onto it as a texture! so Trace the legs, torso, head , jaw as seperate shapes

Step 3: Scale, Manipulate

Step3: Scale, manipulate and reflect/clone things like legs, ears etc..

refer to the helpful video.

Step 4: Download It

Step4: Download it in one of the formats..

or directly export to sketchfab, a site that displays interactive 3d models! (sketchfab also works in facebook posts)

heres what the model looks like now - https://skfb.ly/CLXI

(click to start rotating and manipulating the model right now!!)

Rumi the Irish Setter by Chaitanya Krishnan on Sketchfab

Step 5: Here Are Some Other Models I Created This Way

Smoothie-3d liked my first few models.. and so they commissioned me to record the process of me creating a few more..

Here are some other models i created this way.. bugs.. mech.. bike tanks.. https://sketchfab.com/chaitanyak/folders/21c5ab960c984da5b0143b7b3b8e3a7f