most can get the hang of a knife or eye very easily, there aren't enough mid-range tutorials. Do a basic character or something with a rolling introduction to the tools.

yeah, But I don't want to spend hours putting together the first video to find out that theres some technical problem and i have to scrap it.

If there are going to be teething issues, id rather it be on something smaller and easier to redo.

Oh, and besides that, making a character right away would also require me to either make or get orthographic character reference. In that case I wouldn't be able to release a video right away cause id have to prepare first (AKA: remember how to draw or beg someone else to).

Aside from that though, If someone needs an explanation of basic tools, as you said, I really doubt that a character modeling tutorial is the right place to start. If I'm doing a character tutorial, really at that point I would expect the watcher to be familiar with things like extruding and edge looping.

Now, of course, no one ever said I had to start off with a real beginners tutorial, I could skip the boring part of explaining the basics entirely. If enough people want me to start with a character then I will, But just in case I have a problem with the video, Ill probably start with just making its head or something.

I want to know how to get to Sesame Street. Do that one!

Go for making a really basic figure based on a front/side drawing and building it from scratch. No need for a complicated drawing really, do something really simple like Mr Bill which was a clay figure.

An eye is fairly simple, even the pupil bump isn't too much unless you're going into texturing as well. However a knife can have a lot of details, and is a good way to start showing how you go through the motions and what kind of workflow you go with (i.e. start with a simple cube, or a pre-subdivided one, or whatever).

So I think the knife would be better. Can't wait to see it either way, I love watching modeling videos, especially by really good artists.

Also show UV mapping please! I've yet to have someone really explain it well, and mine always end up with the faces being squished or stretched and thus harder to texture in photoshop.

yes, I will definitely be going over UV mapping, Since it seems to be a problem for alot of people when its really pretty basic.

As far as the eye, the way I model the eyes, I don't just make a textured sphere. I actually model the cornea and iris and use a bunch of different layered transparent shaders as well as radial ramps for the texturing. Its a lot more complicated then you think. But in this way you get a very realistic look, and best of all, its all able to be keyframed.

As for a knife, If I did that, it would be an M9 bayonet... mostly because I have 3 of them sitting on my desk. Plus they have lots of little details like teeth and a fuller and hand grips. That makes them great for this kind of thing because I would have to go over the use of alot of different tools and techniques.