Introduction
I have often been asked how I model my characters, and now that I am discovering how I do it, people would be really surprised to find out that there is no magic behind it, or any special 'big secret'. Actually I really don't use a lot of modelling 'tricks' for my characters, not even for the high end modelling for the movie that I am doing at work on a day to day basis. At the end of the day I am using the same tools and almost the same workflow, no matter which application I am using, but I do find that I am fastest in modo because I can approach my work in a more artistic way, without having to bother too much with the technical aspect of things.

This tutorial is targeted at the modo user who has a farily good understanding of the tools at their disposal, and want to explore a different workflow.

At a later a date we will release a tutorial about vehicle modelling, but it will be targeted this time at a beginner level. 

In the following tutorial, we go over the creation of a cartoon character in modo. The workflow and modelling method described in this tutorial should under no circumstance be understood  as ''gospel'' or as the one and only right way to do things. Some people will tell you that you have to start with a box or any other kind of primitive, others will tell you that you have to build your object in the good old LightWave fashion of point by point and then build polygonal surfaces out of them, and still other well intentioned people will tell you that you have to go edge modelling all the way.

If that isn't enough, some others will command you to avoid any triangle or n-Gon*, most of the time not even knowing why, but believing it just because they saw it somewhere on a forum.

Well for my part, I will not tell you to use any of the above cited methods.

No...no...no...Why should you restrain yourself to only one, when you can have them all in modo!

Modelling methods are like the tools that we use in modo. We should use the right one at the right moment, and on top of that, the one that we are the most comfortable with.

modo possesses a lot of modelling tools, you can achieve the same results using different methods or different tools. This simple fact allows you to just go with the one you feel that fits most to your modeling style.

*note: concerning the 3 sided polygon or n-gon:
My philosophy is just to avoid them as much as possible, and to place them in an area that would not be deformed or would not be in focus of the rendering.

However, from time to time the odd poly-flow would be dictated by the shape of my object, and if I cannot avoid them, then I will tend to accept it, and place them as stated in an area where they would cause as few problems as possible, and move on with my work instead of trying to fanatically eradicate them.

We have provided some preliminary movies which show off some of the steps involved while model making, whenever you see the QuickTime Logo in an image, just click on it to open the movie.