Metaballs

In general, metaballs are objects that will begin to merge together when they are close to one another. For blender, these metaballs come in spheres, capsules, planes, and cubes. These objects are pretty straightforward to use, but if one wants to edit the mesh of metaballs they have to convert them into a mesh by pressing alt+c. This is because, like curves, metaballs do not have a defined mesh, but once converted the mesh is easier to work with than a curve.


Usually, when I draw I do not strictly follow a reference and work off of feeling and general reference pictures on anatomy. Because of this, I began to sculpt, with some modeling, to create models. With metaballs, I will be able to continue sculpting rather than follow a reference and model. With research, I have noticed that metaballs are generally used to create a basis for sculpting like the arm below:


Since I have already sculpted the face for my model, I will be using metaballs to work on the body. To start off, I tried to work off general shapes of the body and limbs on references. With these shapes, I will hopefully be able to find similar shapes with the selection of metaballs.

The Base Mesh Created From the References

The Body After Sculpting(That Arm Still Needs Help Though)

Metaball Hints: 

Converting into a Mesh: By pressing Alt C one can take the basic structure they created for modeling and make a mesh to continue working on it in edit mode.

Stiffness: In edit mode, the inner ring of metaballs will turn green. This, when adjusted in size, will change the amount of influence of the metaball. The smaller the green ring, the less stiffness there is.

Negative Influence: Rather than metaballs attaching to one another, the metaballs will repel. This can be changed in edit mode in the active element section of the metaball tab.

One Positive and One Negative Influence

Two Negative Influences

Two Positive Influences

Hiding the Metaball: This would be used if you want to use metaballs, but do not want them to be present. This can be found under negative in the active element section of the metaball tab.


Work Log:
Monday: Creating a Metaball Mesh
Tuesday: Sculpting Body and Clothes
Wednesday: Sculpting Arms and Legs
Thursday: Modeling Hair
Friday: No School