I recently got into 3D Modeling with MAX, and I'm just a bit confused. I keep noticing that when I try to make a rounded organic object (such as a human) and manipulate certain vertices, the polygons that are involved with the vertices become bent / slightly twisted. I was told that it's okay by someone, but I don't know if I believe that. The way I thought 3D modeling worked, was that there are no round areas on a model. What appears round only looks that way to the human eye, but when you zoom in close you can notice that it is composed of flat polygons that angled to make something that appears round. Can anyone explain this to me so that I can have a better understanding? I'm having a hard time progressing because of this confusion.

To me, this picture looks like to create the rounded shape, each polygon remains flat and doesn't twist in different directions. I don't know if it's the angle of the image, or if it's the lighting, or whatever. But I just thought polygons should only be angled, and not twisted.

http://i.imgur.com/k0rynOB.jpg

In this picture, it looks fine from the left and perspective views, but if you notice the front view, the polygon selected is being twisted in different directions. I'm very new to the whole thing, I've only started a few weeks ago, but doesn't that seem kind of strange?

http://i.imgur.com/sZEk2ZU.jpg

I keep having the issue too. I can't model any organic shape without it happening. And when I notice it, since I THINK it's wrong, I'm discouraged from progressing. I keep trying to think of ways to make it not twist that way. But again, I'm a beginner and I don't even know if it IS wrong or not. Can anyone enlighten me on this? Please / thanks.

When your thinking about the simplest polygon on your model, your envisioning a quad. In reality, every quad is made up of two tris, the computer just isn't displaying that diagonal line because it would confuse your eyes.

So envision that polygon you selected as a piece of paper. Now in your mind fold that piece of paper diagonally. That what is happening to your polygon. Its a little bit ugly but something that you will learn to fix later, its a massive waste of time to be stressing out about one polygon when your model is made of hundreds.

Ideally you want all your quads to look as flat as possible, so that they can deform nice and better describe your forms. To do this you have to have something called "edgeflow". Edgeflow is kind of a tough topic to explain with few words but look up some tutorials on it.

If you are new to 3d modeling though, I would advice just getting comfortable making things that look good when you zoom out without worrying too too much about topology or smoothness. Theres plenty more advanced tools you can use to just re-topoligize a model or smooth sculpt out problem spots. Do lots of tutorials before you dive in and try to make something original, and follow every tutorial to the T and start with flat surface before organic.

I've made a bunch of props composed of boxes (door, window, dresser, ladder, bed, stuff like that)
I thought I would be ready to try something round next because I was getting bored with the easiness of box shaped props. I felt like I wasn't improving, so I decided I want to make a character for the level that I'm designing. I'm happy with the shapes I can make (the character shape in the screenshot for example I think is pretty decent for a beginner low poly model) I just felt like I couldnt begin to obtain true skill with this unless I'm doing it the right way, and so when I saw my polygons bending like this I felt like if I continued doing what I was doing without fixing it, I'll keep picking up bad habits with new projects and doing things wrong

I wouldn't worry too much about bad habits, just keep practicing worry free, if your not getting too frustrated with this model, keep going with it for sure, just know that the jump from a door to a human is massive. A few things you might try in between might be a telivision>a flower>a tree> a bird> a cat> a human.

"true skill" really just comes from mileage, the more hours, the more true skill. Edgeflow only matters when you have a nice sculpture, so work on getting a nice model before you worry about topology. As I was saying, theres plenty of tutorials online for modeling humans. Find one and follow it. I doubt your current model is following a tutorial because the chest and hips wouldn't be set up like that.

My current model is from a tutorial, but it isn't supposed to be a realistic looking character
I was aiming for an anime/detailed cartoony build
Also I don't follow tutorials to a T, because some tutorials I watch are done in blender or maya with different tools
I just try to do as close of a job as I can, and if I run into issues I use techniques that I apply from other areas as well