ArtCAM

User Group 2004

Face Wizard
Introduction
This tutorial will teach you how to use the Face Wizard along with the Sculpting tools to
create the side profile of a persons face. The Face Wizard is an extremely powerful tool. It
does the majority of the work required to make a nice looking cameo style model. By using
the Face Wizard, the base shape of the face is created along with a great deal of detail.
However, the model generated requires some editing as it is very difficult for a computer to
create a face, since human features vary so widely. Most editing will be done using the
Sculpting tools. Knowing how to use Sculpting is as important as knowing how to use the
Face Wizard.

The creation process for a face has been set up in several steps. In this project we are using
the ladys face as an example, but you should be able to apply these steps to most faces.
Please use this as a general guide; it does not have to match exactly, as every person will
sculpt in a different manner.
Before you begin Sculpting, you should print the picture of the person you are modelling.
Study the image before modelling it. People have different facial features. This may require
you to ask yourself a few questions. Does the person have prominent cheekbones? How does
their neck blend into their head? Do they have a strong jaw line? All these items (and many
more) need to be considered. You should be able to look at a photo and pick out the strong
and weak features. Being knowledgeable on the Sculpting tools will allow you to adjust the
values in the instructions to suit whoever you are modelling.

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Preparation
Open ArtCAM Pro 7
Note: The Face Wizard will create the model in the units used in the last opened file.
This example will be done in Metric, please make sure the last file opened was a mm model.
If you are not sure, open a new model, choose MM as the units and close it.

On the Start Up page, choose to Create New Model

Set the Units to MM and click OK
Close the model
On the Start Up page, click on the Face Wizard icon

PREP STEP ONE

Click on Open Photo

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Choose Girls_head.tif
In order to make the vector easier to see, change the colour of the Layer. In this case, the
picture is very bright and it will be easy to see the vector, but if the picture you are working
with is darker, it can become difficult to see the vector, which is black by default.
PREP STEP TWO

On the Layers page, change the colour of the Default Layer to bright green

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Return to the Add In page

Check the Draw Smooth Polyline box

Checking the Draw Smooth Polyline box allows you to trace the outline of the face by simply
clicking in key areas. Typically, if you draw a polyline by clicking on the 2D view, it creates
straight lines, but by checking the Draw Smooth Polyline, the spans will be converted to
smooth beziers. Be aware, if the box is checked, do not trace the face by holding the left
mouse button down. This will create numerous small beziers and points.
The types of key points to click at are places where the contour has change.

Click on the Create Polyline Tool

Draw a profile around the face by clicking in key areas

o
Start at the bottom front portion of the neck
o
Start clicking upwards towards the chin, then continue up to the
lips and nose

Continue drawing until you reach the bottom of the hair where it
touches the neck
o
At this point choose to Close Vector With A Line
o

It is important that the polyline is closed.

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Vector boundary has been enhanced to highlight the area to trace.

Press the letter N to enter into Node Editing Mode

Adjust the vector so it fits perfectly around the face, roughly a pixel width
into the face away from the background
It is very important that the vector is just inside the persons face and hair, and not on the
background of the image. If the vector is left outside the face, it will create flat spots when
the relief is generated. The easiest way to fix this is after the vector is drawn, use Node
Editing to move the nodes into the face by a pixel or two.

Move the nodes and control points using the Node Editing shortcuts to
adjust the vector:
o
I = Insert node
o
D = Delete node
o
S = Smooth or unsmooth node
At this point, I would suggest exporting the vector, calling it something like Girls_Head.eps.
This way you will have the vector if you have to start again. There is already an export
vector for the girl called Girl_Vector.eps.

Click Next
PREP STEP THREE

On the 2D view image, click on the centre front part of the eyebrow
On the 2D view image, click on the area where the nape of the neck should
be

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Click Next
PREP STEP FOUR
On this page you could change the model size and the head dimensions. For this example,
we will leave the defaults as they are.

Click Next
It may take a minute or two for ArtCAM to calculate the relief. When the calculation is
complete, the 3D face will appear in the 3D view with the Sculpting tool opened. Notice on
the 2D view, the background colour has been set to yellow and on the Sculpting page, the
Colour Usage section has a yellow square and is checked to Sculpt Excluding Colour. This is
one of the most important options to use while sculpting. It enables you to freely sculpt
around the edges without worrying about whether it will bleed or blend into the zero plane.
This works because yellow has been chosen as the primary colour and yellow represents the
zero plane of the greyscale. By telling ArtCAM to Sculpt Excluding yellow, it will allow you
to sculpt all colours except yellow, which forces the sculpting to stop when it reaches the
outer edge of the face.

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Sculpting the Relief

The 3D face appears with the greyscale image laid over top of it. Having the image on the
relief can make it very deceptive while sculpting. It is very hard to see how the sculpting is
affecting the face. By returning to the regular gold relief, you will be able to see much more
clearly. It should be noted some people like to leave the greyscale on so they see can where
features should and should not be enhanced, this is a personal preference.

On the Sculpting page, uncheck the Use colours from 2D view box
Before

After

IMPORTANT
On many of the upcoming images, the 3D face will be painted in specific areas. The painted
areas represent where you should sculpt. The pink areas require one or two passes of the
sculpting tool. The green areas require several passes, possibly 3 to 10 depending on the
desired effect. Please use the painted areas as a guideline, as the region to sculpt will vary
from face to face. Also remember every person will sculpt in a different manner, so your face
may look slightly different then the pictures in this tutorial.

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1 SMOOTH SKIN

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 100%
o
Smoothness = 100%
The goal in step 1 is to remove the orange peel effect from the skin. All the sculpting
values are at their strongest which will help to quickly clean up the blemishes. Avoid
sculpting near any specific facial features as this will damage the detail. Only smooth the
skin in the areas where the cursor will easily fit. We will do more cleanup in the upcoming
steps.

Click and drag the cursor to sculpt

Sculpt the general skin areas, do not sculpt the hair, eye, nose, lips, or ear
If you are modelling a person with glasses, ignore it and sculpt right over the glasses, they
will be created from scratch at the end of the project as shown in the Adding Facial Features
document.
Areas to Sculpt

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2 SMOOTH SKIN, SMALL AREAS

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 50
o
Strength = 100%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click and drag the cursor to sculpt
Sculpt the areas that the larger tool in step 1 could not reach, avoid the
same areas as above (hair, eye, nose, lips ear)
Also smooth over eyebrow, but still avoid the eye
The eyebrow will be re-created from scratch later on in the project.

Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

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3 SMOOTH FACIAL DETAIL

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 50
o
Strength = 20%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click and drag the cursor to sculpt
Smooth out the nose, but avoid the nostril

Smooth the flat or common areas of the ear

In this case, the girls ear is covered with hair and so this step can be skipped.
For further instructions, please see Face Wizard Adding Facial Features.doc, Step 1

Areas to Sculpt

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Smooth the nostril, lips, and eye, only passing over the areas 1 or 2 times

Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

4 SKIN CLEANUP

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 20
o
Strength = 20%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click and drag the cursor to sculpt
Smooth areas you may have missed
Smooth the common areas of the ear

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In this case, the girls ear is covered with hair so this step can be skipped.
For further instructions, please see Face Wizard Adding Facial Features.doc, Step 1
Some of the skin areas surrounding the facial details still need to be cleaned up. It can be
difficult to see a distinctive line as to where the skin stops and the hair (or eye, lips) begin.
To help visualisation, check the Use colours from 2D view box. This will clarify these areas
and therefore show where you should stop sculpting. It will also help to zoom into the areas
you wish to sculpt.

On the Sculpting page, check the Use colours from 2D view box
Smooth the edges of the skin that surround the lips, eye, nose, and hair
Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

If you have accidentally lost important facial detail, now is the time to retrieve it. In the next
step we will click the Apply button, once the Apply button has been hit, you can not erase any
prior changes.
To re-gain lost detail, use the Erase tool on the Sculpting page to erase any sculpted details,
returning those portions of the relief to its previous state.

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If you lost any important detail, use the Erase Sculpting tool to re-gain it
On the Sculpting page, click the Apply button

5 EYEBROW

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Deposit
o
Diameter = 5
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Zoom into the face to include the eyebrow, eye and nose
Click and scribble (yes, literally scribble) with the cursor in the area where
the eyebrow should be, use the greyscale image as a guide
On the Sculpting page, uncheck the Use colours from 2D view box
Using the Sculpting tool, add in and fix any missing parts of the eyebrow

Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

Click the View Down Z button

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If you are happy with the result; on the Sculpting page, click the Apply
button

6 CHEEKBONE

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smudge
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click on the cheekbone area and drag the cursor towards the nose
Repeat until the cheekbone looks appropriate
When extending the cheekbone with the Smudge tool, always sculpt in the same direction.
Start on the cheekbone near (but not touching) the hair line and drag towards the nose. When
the edge of the cursor reaches the nose, let go of the mouse button. Return it to the area
where you started and repeat dragging the cursor to the nose. You may have to this 2 to 8
times, depending on how pronounced the persons cheekbone is. The lady has fairly
prominent cheekbones so it may take around 5 passes with the Smudge tool.

Areas to Sculpt

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7 CHIN

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smudge
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click on the face near the earlobe and drag the cursor towards the tip of
the chin, following the jaw line
Repeat until the chin looks appropriate
When extending the chin with the Smudge tool, always sculpt in the same direction. Start on
the face near the earlobe and drag towards the chin. When the edge of the cursor reaches the
tip of the chin, let go of the mouse button. Return it to the area where you started and repeat
dragging the cursor to the chin. You may have to do this 5 to 12 times, depending on how
pronounced the persons chin is. You will achieve better results if you start sculpting in the
same area, slightly varying up or down where the tool stops.

Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

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8 JAWBONE

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smudge
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click on the face below the jawbone and drag the cursor up towards the
bottom of the earlobe, following the jaw line
Repeat until the jawbone looks appropriate
When forming the underline of the jaw, always sculpt in the same direction. Start below the
chin and drag up towards the bottom of the earlobe. When the edge of the cursor reaches the
ear or hair, let go of the mouse button. Return it to the area where you started and repeat
dragging the cursor to the edge. You may have to this 2 to 5 times, depending on how
pronounced the persons jaw line is.

Areas to Sculpt

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9 NECK

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smudge
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click on the neck below the jaw line and drag the cursor towards the back
of the neck to the hairline
Next, click on the neck below the jaw line and drag the cursor down past
the bottom of the neck
Repeat until the neck looks appropriate

1st Areas to Sculpt

2nd Areas to Sculpt

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After Sculpting

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10 SMOOTH SMUDGED AREAS

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Using only 1 or 2 passes, smooth over the areas that were smudged;
cheek, chin, jaw, and neck
Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

On the Sculpting page, click the Apply button

11 EAR

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In this case, the girls ear is covered with hair so this step can be skipped.
For further instructions, please see Face Wizard Adding Facial Features.doc, starting at
Step 2.
12 SMOOTH HAIR

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smooth
o
Diameter = 100
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click and drag the cursor making only 1 pass over the hair areas
This removes some detail in the hair area, which will make it easier to machine the relief,
without losing its definition altogether.
Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

13 REPLENISH HAIR
You may find that if the persons hair is dark or if light has reflected off of certain areas, too
much hair detail can be lost. In order to replenish sparse areas, use the Deposit tool. Set the
diameter between 5 and 10 (depending on the hair thickness), and the Strength to 50%. Also
set the Relief Combine Mode to Merge, this will avoid adding in hair with extreme heights.
Now sculpt in new hair. Click and drag in the direction of the hair, the scribble length should
be similar to the length of the hair.

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In this case, the lady has light hair and none of it is missing. There is however a spot where
the hair blends into the face. The area where the hair covers the ear should be made more
distinctive. Since we only need to extend the hair thats already there, we will use the
smudge tool.

On the Sculpting page set the following:

o
Tool = Smudge
o
Diameter = 8
o
Strength = 10%
o
Smoothness = 100%
Click and drag the cursor towards the face to extend a few strands of hair
that cover the ear
Areas to Sculpt

After Sculpting

On the Sculpting page, click the Apply button

12 FINISH THE FACE

On the Sculpting page, click the Finish button

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Save the ArtCAM file as Lady_Face.art

This project is complete.

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