Poly-Modeling
Here are some notes on poly-modeling (as opposed to box-modeling, where you start with a basic shape and extrude / refine from there)
I'm drawing heavily from his talk on this page. Of course he works in Blender and we're dealing with Lightwave here, but this approach is not software specific.
In poly-modeling we start from a single polygon, which you simply draw using Create → Pen → Draw. When wanting to create something symmetrical like a face, start by drawing the first polygon clockwise in Back View, just right of the Y axis ("hugging" it)
Switch to Edge Selection mode, select an edge. To quickly build from this one plygon:
- hit t for Modify → Translate → Move
- hit e for Multiply → Extend → Extender Plus
- This will extrude the edge. Note that your move tool remains active!
- pull out the edge, now you have two connected polygons. Hit e again, and so on.
- To quickly change the size of the edge, use stretch (h), to adjust its orientation use rotate (y)
Other usefull shortcuts (since you do not want to be limited to just moving the new edge around) are
- Hit y to rotate your edge (Modify → Rotate → Rotate)
- Hit h to scale your edge (Modify → Transform → Stretch)
Symmetry
If the model you are building is symmetrical: start building one side, the quickly mirror your object and turn on Symmetry. Keep building on the right side, everything you do will also happen on the left side. Well, most everything: some tools, like the Knife tool, do not work symmetrically. If you want to add an extra subdivision, instead of the knife tool use Multilply → Subdivide → Cut (SHIFT-U) on selected edges.
Loop Selection
Near the top of the toolbar which is usually located on the left of your screen, right under Help, there is a select button. Here you can find the Select Loop option. If you build you geometry right, it can a very powerfull selection method.