Hi,
This is my first post to this forum so I hope this is going to the right place. I am a developer who has been making 3d software for a very long time and I think its time I learn to use some of the software instead. My idea for a project is very simple (although will take me a long time to do).
Firstly I would like to model, texture and light a 3d model of a head and face. I want to get this as close to photo realistic as possible. I have been looking for some books, tutorials or dvds but have not found anything on this topic. If anyone can recommend some good books (or perhaps a single good book/dvd) that uses Cinema4D then please let me know. If not Cinema4D then any other package is fine as it at least can give me the theory of what I should be doing.
Do people like modeling in mudbox, zbrush and later import into Cinema? Is this a good way to create a model that can be animated later on?
The most important part of what I am looking to learn is really how to get it looking photo realistic by use of Textures, lighting, shaders and render settings ( Global illumination etc...).
After I get my photo realistic face then I will start taking a look at trying to tackle the animation tools in Cinema4D and see if I can do some realistic facial animation. Again if anyone knows of any books/dvds etc... that could teach me how to do this in Cinema4D that would be really great. And if people say that this is too difficult to do purely in Cinema then what tools/packages/plugins/other 3d apps could I use to do it? If there are no such tools then I will just write one myself, but I would like to have a good look at what people do currently (which I am guessing is most likely a pile of blend shapes for visemes and different facial expressions).
Thanks for your help in advance.