3D Sandbox : Penguin

I read somewhere that an obsession with penguins is the first sign of insanity. Chair-dancing to 'Scissor Sisters' is the second. So I'm pretty much doomed. Despite this, I wanted to try something a little bit tricker on 3D Studio Max. For some really odd reason, the idea of a penguin seemed perfect. So as soon as I started to get the hang of the software, I gave it a shot...

Okay, your best bet is to start off with a sphere. Due to the sheer number of vertices that adorn it, it appears to be the most versatile shape to use for anything with a round shape to it (Like said penguin). Drag the vertices out along the Z axis, to extend the penguin's hieght. Do it in steps though, so you can slowly narrow the body. If you move the hieght in one go, you will just end up witha giant medicine pill. So select around half of it, pull it up. Select a smaller section along the top, and pull it a little bit more. Morph and tweak as you see fit. The eyes are easy. Make a sphere, position it and clone it.

The beak is simply a cone

The wings start to make things difficult, particularly if the body is an odd shape. To start off with, create a simple wing-shape with the line tool, then extrude it. Clone and place on both sides. From here, use the 'bend' modifier and pull the vertices to mould it to the torso. It's fiddly, but shouldn't be too difficult. Just do it in small steps and you should be fine.

Creating the feet requires the 'convert to - editable spline' tool. It works in the same way as converting to an editable poly, only it appears to be reserved for editting 2D shapes. Making the feet just requires the vertices of the elipse to be pulled a little bit to stretch the feet slightly. Once happy, clone and position near the base of the penguin. Extrude.

Penguins. Quack Quack.

Making the 'belly' of the penguin works along very similar lines to the wings. Create the 2D shape, morph and edit until you are happy with it. Then extrude and attack it to the front. From here, you can pull the vertices to morph it around the penguin. Colour it and render and....

We have a penguin! 10-20 minute job. It's a very basic penguin though. I'll probably be back with more penguins soon...