How to Make a 3-D Model of the Human Ear

3-D models are a vital part of the current motion picture industry, as so many movies these days use 3-D models of one sort or another for computer-generated imagery. One of the most interesting 3-D models that can be built is of a human being. Perhaps the trickiest part of a human to model is the ear. This tutorial will show you how to make a basic human ear using Hexagon.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Images of the human ear, seen from the front and side Hexagon software

1. Get two images of a human ear as seen from the front and the side, and load them into your computer.

2. 
    

   Open Hexagon. Go to "Scene Properties" and add the photos to the front and back grids.It doesn't really matter which image goes on which grid, as the images are there for reference purposes, not as a template.

3. 
    

   Go to "Primitives" and select the "Facet" tool. From the view directly facing the photo taken from the side, use the tool to outline the outer shape of the ear. Go to the bottom of the page and click the "Transparency" icon. This will make the object slightly transparent.

4. 
    

   Go to "Vertex Modeling" and select the "Free Tessellation" tool. Looking though the transparent object to the image of the ear behind it, use the tool to trace in the inner shapes of the ear you see, as shown.

5. 
    

   Start selecting sections and use the "Extrude Surface" tool to give them depth in one direction or the other.

6. 
    

   Select the "Line Selection" mode, in the "Properties" window, and click on "Soft Selection." Start moving lines around to better match the shape of the ear in the reference photo. Refine the shape further by switching to "Point Selection" mode and moving points.

References

• How to Use the Extrude Tool
• How to Use the Free Tessellation Tool

Resources

• Hexagon