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||HardSurfaceSculpting 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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