by Robert A. Landry, Central Mass Caricature Carvers, 12/5/14, Rev A

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FaceGen Modeler by Robert A. Landry, Central Mass Caricature Carvers, 12/5/14, Rev A If you are interested in creating a bust, or a bottle stopper carving please consider using the following software.

1 FaceGen Modeler by Robert A. Landry, Central Mass Caricature Carvers, 12/5/14, Rev A If you are interested in creating a bust, or a bottle stopper carving please consider using the following software. You may also have a pattern for a body that you like and are looking for a new head. You can generate one using this free software. Scale it and overlay your existing pattern views. You may also take photographs of yourself or a friend and add it to the existing pattern. This certainly would make an interesting gift. All you need is a good front shot of the face, and without moving the subject, a profile view of the face or side view. How you get your friend to pose for the needed photographs is up to you. FaceGen Modeler is a great program for making your photos into usable patterns or modifying the existing head in the program. On the homepage of their website ( they have a description of the program and a video of how to use the full version of the software. The description on the homepage of the website is: The easy way to create realistic faces 3-D human faces from one or two photographs or at random. Adjust age, race, gender and 150 other controls.

2 Apply faces to any polygonal mesh and UV map. (This would be for those that have knowledge of 3-D tools, see below) The free version is great for those who have no knowledge of the 3D editing CG tools. If you are knowledgeable and have 3D tools such as Blender, 3DS Max, Maya or Zbrush you may want to purchase the full version. The prices for FaceGen and its options are listed under the products tab of the website. The free version has the full functionality of the paid version except that it won't export to 3D file formats and it will display the 'SI' logo on the forehead. It runs under Windows XP, Vista and 7 To learn more about what this product can do please visit the following site: Let s Have a Go!! Okay so you have decided you would like to try this software. We can guide you through the steps if you would like in this section. Installation: First go to the site by clicking on the following link ( Next go to the download section by clicking the tab in the navigation bar. Select Modeller 3.5 Free, then one of the two download options available. By selecting the first one the.msi file you can install the program on your computer from the website. If you would like to have the zip file on your computer the second option is for downloading it to your computer. If you elect to have the zip file you must extract file using the unzip program of your choice once downloaded. Now you should see the Modeller353FreeInstall.msi file. Double-clicking on this file will start the program installation. After installation you can delete the zip file and the install file from your computer. Now the program is available on your computer. Running the program: Find the program under your start button (lower left-hand corner of the screen, Windows 7), then finding FaceGen Modeler 3.5 Free. At the time of this writing December 2014, 3.5 is the version available. So if your software is a higher number than 3.5 that s okay. The startup screen should look like this:

3 If you would like to use the On-line users manual you may go to it under the help menu in the upper left-hand corner. If you want to get started right away we will guide you through some of the basics of the program. Using the program to create custom faces: The image window located in the upper left-hand corner is going to be your pattern. If you do not like the black background there is a way to change it. You may choose any color you like, but we feel a white background is the best. The reasons are the contrast of the head to the background might be easier to see, and if you print out this on your printer it will consume a lot of ink. Now if you would like to change the background color please follow along. On the view screen tab (default view) find the box that has Background Colour and selected it. These sliders represent the RGB color system. Right now it is set to 0,0,0 this is black. To change the color of the background used the sliders to select the color of your choice.

4 If you would like a white background move each slider from left to right. This will give you the RGB number 255,255,255 this is pure white. Notice that the background color has changed.

5 The Generate Tab: To the left of the view tab you will see the generate tag.

This is the location where you can change the various attributes of the face. Male, female ethnicity, and age can be changed. You can also characterize the image.

6 This is the location where you can change the various attributes of the face. Male, female ethnicity, and age can be changed. You can also characterize the image. Experiment with the various sliders and options until you get something you like. The Shape Tab: By selecting the shape tab, you will have many options that will modify the face with.

7 The user interface is quite self-explanatory. The default tab selection on the main body of the user interface is the Symmetric tab. This means whatever adjustments you make will be done to both halves of the face, left and right. The Asymmetric tab will make changes only to one side of the face. If you do not like the side that was modified press the mirror button on the bottom of the screen, this will apply the changes to the other side and flip everything. Notice there is a set all to zero button at the bottom of the user interface. This will restore all settings that you have made to the face back to the default face. By experimenting with the different sliders you can get a different look. Experiment with these sliders to get something you like. Change the color (Colour, European spelling): By selecting the colour tab, you can change the color of the face. The use of the sliders and settings is very close to the shape tab, described above. You may not need to change the color of the face for what you are doing but it s there if you want it. The Generic Tab:

By selecting the Generic tab you will see something a little different than the last two. If you want to see the program give you other examples of your face click the generate button.

8 By selecting the Generic tab you will see something a little different than the last two. If you want to see the program give you other examples of your face click the generate button. The face you have modified in the shape tab will be in the center of the matrix. The other eight examples surrounding your image will be generated by the program. To change the randomness move the slider back and forth and see what happens. You must move the randomness slider is then click the generate button again to get the results. By selecting one of the generated faces your model will be changed to that face. The Tween Tab: Since this is beyond the scope of this article please refer to the following link for an explanation of what the tween tab is.

9 The Morph Tab: This in our opinion is the most exciting part of this program. This is where you can change the look and expression of your character. By using the sliders (described earlier) one can change or morph the look of the character.

10 As you scroll down through the various morph targets provided you will get to the bottom and see that there are pheromone selections. These pheromones will move the mouth to the position where that sound would be heard. So in the following example I have set the pheromone to eh sound.

Notice how the mouth has changed from the previous screenshot. By using the morph tag, shape, and generate tag together you can create some very interesting characters.

11 Notice how the mouth has changed from the previous screenshot. By using the morph tag, shape, and generate tag together you can create some very interesting characters. As you can imagine, the faces that you can generate just from the provided model is only limited by your imagination. The PhotoFit Tab: If you are using photos to generate your face this is the area that you will do it. Follow the instructions that are given to proceed through the steps. Pattern Making: Now we come to the point where you want to print out your patterns. We are going to export from the program 4 to 6 views of our head. Only 2 views are required for you to cut out your

12 project on the band saw. The front view and one of the side views is all you need. But you must make sure that the front view and side view is exactly the same scale to each other. So to think about what you want to carve, you need to decide how high your head will be. Measuring from the chin to the top of the head is a good way of measuring your carving. The views generated will contain the neck as well so allow extra space for the neck. Yes we did say 6 views. This is the maximum amount of views necessary to completely understand the carving. You may want to only rely on 4 views, but we think it s a good idea to have between 5 and 6 views. The basic four views for carving will be, front, right side, rear, and left side. The other two views that may be helpful are, the top and bottom views. We believe that 5 views will suit the needs of the carvers. These are, front, right side, rear, left side, and top view. When trying to understand the shape of the face the top view comes in very handy. Now that you ve created your first character face you may be ready to make a pattern. I would suggest that you save the work you ve done in the native file of the software. If you want to go back and make other changes after closing the program you have a file to load. You may also want to save the current image as a three-quarter view. The Camera Tab: The camera view tab is where you will position your head for exporting to electronic images.

13 We will start from the top and work our way down. The first thing we want to do is change the radio button from perspective to orthographic. Now you will see the perspective controls have been grayed out. You may also notice that the head is bigger than the window.

To make the head fit the screen move the slider labeled orthographic controls to the right a small amount. You should now see screen space above the head and below the neck.

14 To make the head fit the screen move the slider labeled orthographic controls to the right a small amount. You should now see screen space above the head and below the neck. Now we will move on to camera rotation. We ll be starting with the pitch angle. Use the slider to rotate the head looking straight on or to the way you want the head looking. We need to position the face for the first image export. We will be starting with the front view. Adjust the Yew Angle to zero by using the slider or entering zero into the box to the right of the slider.

15 Now we have the most important view of the head. Now from the file pulldown menu select Save Image. The first file type to come up is the bitmap or BMP file. This is not our best choice of file types. Without getting too technical this is a lossy file, this means if you work on it, it degrades. A better file type to use would be the TIF format. Select the location of where you would like put your images on your computer. After that type in the filename front or any description that you would like to put, the word front should be in the description.

16 If you go to that directory you should find the image that you exporting.

Now you must not change any scaling or pitch angle settings. It is very important that all views be the same scale. Now we will create the right view.

Now you will want to Save Image like you did in the previous step, using the word right in the filename. Now change the Yaw Angle slider box by adding a - before the 90.

17 Now you must not change any scaling or pitch angle settings. It is very important that all views be the same scale. Now we will create the right view. Move the Yaw Angle slider to the left until you see 90 in the box. If you can t do this with the slider you can type 90 in the box. As you will see you now have the right hand side of the face. Now you will want to Save Image like you did in the previous step, using the word right in the filename. Now change the Yaw Angle slider box by adding a - before the 90. You will now have your lefthand view complete as you did in the previous steps. Now to complete the 4 view set, enter 180 in the box. This will be the rear of the head. Now the top view is a little tricky to produce. Return your Yaw Angle slider to 0, or front view. If you have changed the Pitch Angle setting in the previous step you will need to include that in your top view angle. So if it was -8, you will type a 9 before the 8 to create -98. This will give you the most accurate top view you can have relating to your other views.

18 To make the bottom view you must subtract the first number from 90. So in this case we will type in 82.

19 You should now have all 6 views. Printing Our Patterns: Now is the time to see on paper the fruits of our labor. So far we have used all free software. So with that in mind let s continue as if we did not have any photo editing software. As we talked about at the beginning of this article you will probably have a size in mine for your carving.

Now select the pulldown button in the upper lefthand corner.

20 Open the paint program that comes with Windows. On most computers it can be found under accessories. Open your first file the front view. This image should be of high quality as shown. Now select the pulldown button in the upper lefthand corner.. Select the triangle to the right of where it says print and choose print preview. In the upper lefthand corner of this preview you should find Page Setup open it now. Start by setting all the

21 margins as small as they will go. To do this type 0 in each of the four boxes. The numbers showing will be the minimum margins allowed. Notice the gray square on the page, this is a representation of what your page will print like. You may set the page to portrait or landscape. Now change the radio button under scaling to Adjust to:. Try a scale of 250% and print it by closing the page setup and selecting the print icon in the upper left corner. Hopefully your image will come out of your printer in high-quality. Now you have your first hardcopy image of the face that you worked hard on. Take a measurement from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin. The image that we have is 4-5/16 inch high from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin. So we have decided for the sake of this article to make the head 3 inches tall. The next time we print the image we want to come out 3 inches so we need to do some math. The first thing we have to do is convert fractions to decimals. If you are used to working in decimals you may skip this step. If we open the calculator on our computer we can do the

following calculation. 5 60 equals.3125. Now combining this with the 4 inches we come up with the number 4.3125. The second calculation is to take the 3 inches that we want and divide it by what s there.

22 following calculation equals Now combining this with the 4 inches we come up with the number The second calculation is to take the 3 inches that we want and divide it by what s there. So equals Now select the M+ button to add it to memory. Now type in 250 (that was the scale we entered when we printed it) and multiply that by the new scale. So the calculation will be 250 x MR equals Now return to the paint program open the page setup as before and change the scale to 174 by typing it in, the paint program will not take a fraction of a number so you must enter the whole number by rounding to 174. Print out the photo and measure the height from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin. You now should have the scale that you require.

Now in your paint program open up the left-hand view, and printed it out at the same scale. Test the accuracy of your left-hand view by holding it over the front view and holding it up to a window.

23 Now in your paint program open up the left-hand view, and printed it out at the same scale. Test the accuracy of your left-hand view by holding it over the front view and holding it up to a window. You should be able to see that they are the same scale. At this point you have the necessary patterns to cut it out using the bandsaw. Using a glue stick, glue these images to a piece of card stock. An old cereal box will work. Draw a line around each image approximately 1/16 inch all the way around. Cut out these images on the lines just made with the tool of your choice. Now you can transfer the outline of these images to the bandsaw wood blank. Complete the printing out of all the views that you have made in this manner using the correct scale. You now have complete patterns to use for your carving.

24 If you have a portable laptop that you can put on your workbench as you carve you can use FaceGen to help you visualize your carving. We hope you have enjoyed reading this article and are very excited about using this wonderful piece of software. Making and carving a head you designed is very rewarding and fun. Thank you Central Mass Caricature Carvers cmccc.club

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