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September2012

AsZBrushevolvesthatfastduringthelastthreeyears,manyartistscameupwithnewandinnovativemodelingandsculptingtechniques byusingthenewtoolsandbrushesPixologicinvented.Itriedtotestsomeoftheseworkflowsmyself,usedaconceptsketchoftheamazing AndrewLey(http://cghub.com/images/view/3730/)andmadea3dmodeloutofit.Tobehonest,Iwasmuchmorefocusedontestingthe newtoolsandtechniquesthantocreateanexactcopyofhissketch.Formeitwasimportanttodevelopafastandefficientwayforcreating complexmachineryparts.Istartedwithasphere,turneditintoadynameshandbegantoblockoutsomebasicshapes.Claybuildup, TrimDynamicandHPolishbrushesareofgreathelp.WhenIwasdonewiththeconceptIcreatedacleanmeshontopofitwiththeZSphere edittopologyfunction.AftercreasingandsubdividingtheresultingmeshIwasreadytoaddsmalldetails.Belowisaroughtutorialthat describestheworkstepsfromprimitivetothefinalmodel.Allinall,theoutcomeisreallynothingspecialatallbutthebasisformore complexandmuchmoredetailedstuffIthink

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||HardSurfaceModelinginZBrush3.1
ThefollowingmodelsaremadeinZBrush3.1afewyearsago.Backthenitrequiredalittlebitmorepreparationinanexternal3dpackage buttheintelligentuseoftheavailablebrushesandmostlyprojectionmasteralreadymadealmosteverythingpossible.Withtheintroduction ofDynamesh,abunchofnewpolishbrushes,ShadowBox,theenhancedtransposetool,tillablealphas,theinsertmeshbrushes,the possibilitytocreateinsertmeshbrushesfromalmosteveryobject,thedecimationmasterpluginandnowthenewQremeshermakesit possibletoworksolelyinZBrush,evenforthemostdifficulttasks.Dontgetmewrong,IknowitsoundslikeImdoingadvertisingfor Pixologicherebuttobehonest,Idontknowanyotherpackageouttherewhereyouarecapableofdoingsuchthings

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||ShortModelingBreakdown

1.StartwithasimplesphereoranyotherZBrushprimitiveandturnit intoadynamesh.Thedynameshresolutiondoesnthavetobesuperhigh. Afewthousandpolygonsarealreadymorethansufficienttoblockoutthe basicform.Foramorecomplexshape,turnonShadowboxanddrawthe outlinesofyourobjectasmasksontheShadowboxplanes,thenconvert theresultingmeshintoaDynamesh.Youcanalsoimportyourbasemesh asanOBJfromanexternalpackageofcourse!

2.UseMove,MoveElastic,ClipandClayBuildupBrushestocreatebasic shapes.Thenewtransposetoolfeaturesbecomehandyfortransforming themesh.Redynameshthegeometryfromtimetotimetomakeiteasier toworkwith.Ifyouwouldliketokeepsharpedgesduringredynameshing, enableproject.Alsothesymmetrymodeworksinconjunctionwith dynamesh.Whenyouaredone,increasethedynameshresolutionforthe nextstep.

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3.MakeuseoftheTrimDynamic,HPolish,Smooth,PinchandFlatten brushtostraightentheplanes.Edgesdonthavetobesuperaccurateso dontwasteyourtimeitonlyservesasaconceptmeshwherewebuild thefinalmeshupon.Atthisstageyoucanalreadystartaddingdetails,like thelinesImade,togetafeelingfortheoveralllook.Beawarethatwewill losethesedetailsagainduringthenextstep!

4.Whenyouarehappywithyourconceptmesh,appendaZSpheretothe subtoolpaletteandstartretopologizingtheobject.Makesuretoaddpoly edgesalongtheedgesofyourconceptsculpture.Dontspendtoomuch timecreatingniceedgeflows,becauseweareturningtheresultingpiece intoadynameshagainlateron.Alsotrianglesarenoproblematall.

5.UsethefantasticCreaseandUncreasefunction,locatedinthe Geometrytabtoaddhardedgeswhereyouneedthembyhidingpartsof themeshyoudontwanttobeaffected.Onyourselecttool,switchfrom rectangleintolassomodetospeedupyourworkflowwhenselecting polygons.

6.Subdividethenewpieceofgeometryuntilthesurfacelookssmoothandnopolygonsarevisibleanymore.Thenturnitintoahighres Dynameshagain.Dynameshwillcloseallholescreatedduringtheretopologizingstep.Soitsnotevennecessarytomakesurethatyour recreatedmeshhasaclosedsurface.

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7.UsetheClippingBrushtocreatestraightplanesandtogetridofany dispensablematerial.Dontforgettodynameshafterwardstogetridofthe squeezedpolygons.Ifneeded,makeuseoftheslicecurvebrushwith dynameshpolygroupsfunctionenabledtocutthemeshintopieces whenredynameshing.Usethetransposetooltomovethepiecesapart.

8.Createcustomalphasorusethestillgreatprojectionmastertoaddall sortsoffancydetails.Haveacloselookatthealphapanelandthesettings there.TakealookattheGrabDocbutton(Alpha Palette/Transfer/GrabDoc).Thisfeaturecapturesthedepthofthecanvas asanalphaveryuseful!

9.Finally,youcanturnoffdynameshifyouhaventalready.Incaseyourdesigncontainsmanydifferentparts,usethedecimationmaster plugintoreducethepolycount.Youcaneasilyconvertthedecimatedobjectintoaworkablemeshlateronbyusingdynameshagainwith highressettingsandprojectturnedon.ThenextstepwouldbetorunthenewQremesherforcreatingalowresmeshwithsubdivisions. WiththehelpofUVmaster,youcancreateyourUVs,generatedisplacementandnormalmaps,exportthemeshwithmapsandimportitin yourexternal3dpackageofchoiceforrenderingandpresentation.

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||InterestingLinks:
MikeA.Nash,pleasevisitMikeswebsite!Heisatruehardsurfacesculptingmaster!! Eat3d,theyhavepublishedtwohardsurfacetechniqueDVDswithtonsofusefultipsandtricksrecordedbyMikeJensen

||7Comments:
ThisentrywaspostedSeptember2012.YoucanfollowanycommentstothisentrythroughtheRSS2.0feed.Youcanleaveacomment,ortrackbackfromyourownsite.

MinJosays:
September19th,2012at8:40pm

Youvecomebackwithalotofinterestingposting!

ChrisWellssays:
September25th,2012at1:33am

wow,littletipslikethatmakemewanttojustliveinzbrushlandforeverthanksforcreatingthese!!! CW

PROPHETTAsays:
September26th,2012at3:10am

Thankyouforallnewtutorialsandstuff,theyareareallyhelpful!!WELCOMEBACK!

jonsays:
October6th,2012at3:44am

yousirareawesome!ihopeunevereverstopdoingthisforalivingcuzalotofyourworkisveryinspirationaltome andveryhelpful!thanks

b2przemosays:
November20th,2012at8:47pm

veryusefularticle,thanksforsharingworkflow

AneeshAbdullasays:
April18th,2013at10:44am

Thanks,alotofhelpshereforme,formyfriends.

Brendansays:
August16th,2013at11:03am

Hello,

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Iwanttodoeverythinginsidezbrushsinceitwillbealotfasterthencreatingthingsinmayathenzbrush. Iwaswonderingdoyoudoeveryoneofyourehardsurfacemodelsinzbrushalone? ThankYou

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