Link: http://www.makehuman.org/blog/index.php

I recently discovered a very fascinating open source software project called the Make Human Project. It's been around since 2001, but I only heard about it recently. As a programmer and sculptor with a fascination with anatomy and the sheer diversity of the human form, this is right up my alley.

The goal of the project is to create a single mesh — a 3D representation of a person — that can be transformed (or morphed) into any possible human shape, regardless of age, ethnicity, level of fitness, or other individual factors. But the project is not only about making a mesh, it's about a whole platform - a computer program to allow you to modify the mesh with intuitive controls (without needing to know how to sculpt in 3D). The program will allow you to create a base 3D model to represent any individual, real or imagined, and export that figure to be used in other programs, or Make Human can render images itself.

The program is still in alpha (early testing with features still under development) and there are many features that aren't available yet (hair, the ability to pose the figure, the ability to generate low-resolution models for games, clothes), but the results are still impressive. Since Make Human will export files in a widely-used, industry standard file format called Wavefront OBJ, you can use the program today as a starting point for digital sculpting, finishing up in another program like Maya or Blender.

Because the program is open source, if you're technically minded, you can actually make changes to the underlying data models to suit your own needs, and if you're a competent digital sculptor, you might even consider contributing to the project as an artist.

When you first launch Make Human, you're presented with the "universal mesh". This figure is designed to be completely androgynous, with features that are completely ethnically neutral:

There are four sliders on the left side that allow you to mix different full-body features. Move the top slider to the left and the figure becomes more feminine, to the right it becomes more masculine. The second slider changes the apparent age from the figure from twelve to seventy. The third and fourth sliders let you adjust the weight and muscle tone of the figure. Here's an example of the female figure in Make Human age progressed from 12 to 70.

On the right side of the screen, there are four maps that contain ethnic morphs. These contain morphs with facial features common to certain geographic areas and/or among certain ethnic groups. Although this feature is still under development, it's amazing to see the variety of human features that they've captured already. They've got six major ethnic targets from Africa alone. And these targets are not all-or-nothing. They can be mixed and matched, so you could create a figure with features that were, for example, partially Koisan (an ethnic group from the southern part of Africa) and partially Sudanid (ethnic group dominant in the Northeast of Africa).

Although there are fewer ethnic targets for Europe and Asia and none yet for the native American populations, I've spoken with the project members and expanding the ethnic targets is one of their highest priorities. They are actively recruiting digital sculptors and creating composite reference images of the different ethnic groups.

If this were the extent of Make Human, it would be impressive, but it's not. You can also modify the attributes of specific portion of the body, both on a macro level (leg, pelvis, upper torso) or on a micro level (belly button, clavicle, etc). Do you want long legs, or a short neck? No problem. Want a fat figure with muscular arms? Again, no problem. Long torso, big feet, off-center belly button? Want a pretty girl's head on a muscular man's body? All okay but, ummm... you might want to talk to a psychiatrist about that last one.

The roadmap for Make Human is fascinating. They have plans for adding pose tools, different emotions, clothes, different shaders, more textures (skin types), low poly exporters to allow making figures for games. When completed, it's going to be an amazing program. Scratch that - it already is an amazing program. When it's done, it's going to be phenomenal.

If you've got a few minutes to spare, you should download the current alpha and try it out. If you've got a little more time to spare why not consider contributing some of your time to the project (if you can't, you could also donate some money). This is a community-based project, which means that nobody is paid to work on it, and nobody has to pay to use it. It is, and will remain free.

Philippe Faraut, a phenomenal sculptor, has just released a new book called Mastering Portraiture. He has released a video showing the process of sculpting one of the pieces used in the book:

Click to watch in full size
I'm lucky enough to have had Philippe as a teacher and also consider him my friend. As a result I was given an early look at the new book being advertised by that video.

Now, I was already quite a big fan of Philippe's first book. I read it regularly and often recommend it to others. But, I was a little nervous when Philippe asked me to give him my honest opinion on his new book. As an author, I understand the value of that kind of feedback, however, so I was determined to be critical and give him the harsh feedback he wanted.

I completely and utterly failed to find any flaw in the book other than a few easily corrected typos. Mastering Portraiture, completely and absolutely floored me. I stayed up into the early morning hours reading it on the day it came in the mail because I just couldn't put it down. Philippe has pulled together and distilled down the most important things that he's learned from his years of sculpting experience, his extensive research into the anatomy and psychology of facial expression, and his keen observations on the affects of aging and the characteristics of race. The result is just unbelievably good.

It's a book that would be worth buying just for the privilege of looking at the pictures. The sculptures that Philippe created for the book are phenomenal and the photography and printing are gorgeous. But all those lovely pictures are accompanied by words, and those words tell a story that will both help you and inspire you to take your sculpting to a new level.

You should know that this is not a beginner's book, however. If you don't have some experience and haven't ever touched hands to clay, then buy Philippe's first book and put some time in sculpting first, But if you've got some experience and want to become better, then you absolutely should check Mastering Portraiture out. It covers things I've never seen covered in a sculpting book and the information is easy to digest and understand. There's no unnecessary jargon, it just reads like the words of a patient teacher. Despite having sculpted for years and having taken several classes with Philippe, every chapter held new information and inspired me to want to try new things.

I don't often gush over products, even those created by people I like, but this is a book that's really worth checking out. It's truly extraordinary; a beautiful book that I will cherish for years and recommend without reservation.

Well... my life-size bust jumped off the modeling stand. Twice.

Okay, maybe it didn't jump, maybe I didn't do a very good job with the support. I lifted the sculpt up to give me room to do the head and shoulders, but in doing so, I lifted the neck above the dowel. My first attempt at fixing it failed, and now the head is squished beyond all recognition.

Ah, well. I'm jumping all over the place and finding it hard to find time to sculpt. I've been doing a little bit of work in epoxy, and have a small wax study going. I've still got the dancing girl, but haven't done much with it for a while. I'm paralyzed because I can't figure out what I should do for her hair, so she's just sitting on a shelf.

Bit of a rut. Oh, well.

I've started another book. I'm going to try and keep it from taking over my life this time. I've been sculpting the last few nights. I've got a full-size bust in water clay, but the other night, I just didn't feel like working on it. On a whim, I decided to work with wax. Now, I've tried to get into wax literally a dozen times. I have all the tools and several kinds of wax, but I always get frustrated with it. I've never gotten over the learning curve far enough that it became enjoyable.

Which frustrated me, because I like a lot of things about wax. I like that they don't need an armature, that they don't dry out, and that wax holds incredible amounts of detail.

Well, oddly enough, I'm thoroughly enjoying it now. I've spent two evenings sculpting on a little piece. It's not coming together very fast, but it is coming together. I'll post pictures in a few days of what I've got so far. It's not particularly impressive in its own right, but it's exciting for me that I finally seem to be coming to terms with wax and can actually create something with it.

This image, posted to PostSecret.blogspot.com a while back (it's no longer available there) amuses me to no end, so I thought I'd share: It's a note and doodle sent on a hotel postcard.

Delightfully adolescent.