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ZSpheres attempt 01
ZSphere attempt 02
Dynamesh 01
I found this base mesh difficult to work with. For some reason after dividing the mesh, using the clay build up brush, as the LinkdIn learning video tutorials led me to follow this as the workflow. In retrospect, I realise that I was working at a too high subdivision level meaning that all brush strokes and additions to the mesh were at a really high level of detail and were difficult to work with. If I had used the lowest/lower subdivision levels of the model, I'd be able to work more easily to mould the mesh into a shape that is more befitting of the desired outcome however I gave up and went to a different method.
Screenshots of the early attempts using Zspheres to try and create the base mesh for the sculpt - the shape and form are awful, there is little to work with and build up on here as the tool looks rigid and completely out of proportion, There are several ways I could try and correct this however this would take a lot of time to try and make this model more suitable, especially when I'm not particularly well equipped when using Zbrushes interface. I instead went for a much simpler method for me to tackle a base mesh by creating a very simple base mesh in maya. By creating this, I'll be able to import an OBJ file into maya with much better topology and shape, which when I dynamesh, the mesh won't lose all it's shape and I can build up muscle forms on top of better.
I could've definitely taken the maya base mesh a lot further with the details. I should've defined the shape of the breasts and exaggerated the features of the character for example a larger arch in the back or defined the shape of the face, hands and feet. I could've gone one step further with this still and made all of the details of the hands (fingers, finger nails, knuckles), the face (mouth, eyes, lips, nose) and feet as this would have made my life easier due to having done this in the GAMA2000 module however this would make my work pretty much a maya project and I wouldn't be able to gain any skills in Zbrush which is the purpose of this module.
ZBrush Attempt using Maya Base Mesh 01
Took the base model and started by adding muscle forms by looking at anatomy diagrams to help create the details of the body. A lot of the body will be covered by clothes so I don't have to worry about the fine details, just the major forms that will comprise the base shape. The mesh was collapsing around the wrists and arms due to there not being much of a mesh and a low subdivision count. To build up the form to become more natural, I move up and own subdivisions to manipulate the details of the model, at a lower subdivision level the model becomes easier to work with however using the higher subdivision levels, I can work with the thinner areas of the mesh like the arms without causing destruction to the mesh.
ZBrush Attempt using Maya Base Mesh 02
I used the clayb build up brush in order to allow me to define the major shapes of the body, smooth out the mesh after building them up to create a smooth even finish and a more organic flow across the mesh. When it comes to modelling the face, I spent too much time trying to define the major shapes and the minor details instead of just trying to map out the different areas of the face. I decided to change my plan when it comes to sorting this area of the model. By making defining the major shapes, I can come back later when I'm more comfortable in the software and create the stylised face I desire for the model. By laying the ground work for the facial features, I can see how the model will vaguely look from a distance and plan my proportions.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 21.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 138.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 42.
By looking at the Anatomy for Sculptors book by Uldis Zarins, I was able to look into many different views, angles and diagrams for how the anatomy of the female body is formed. There are a lot of diagrams that depict how the muscles of the body are layered and how the different muscles shape the body. By using these layers and the clay build up brush, I can gently shape the body towards a more realistic form and depict muscles. Without a strong foundation for the body, the model will look wrong, especially due to the character being almost human, even if I am going down a stylised route.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 74
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 60
Bird, R. 2015. Sculpting Creature with ZBrush and Photoshop - Adding to the anatomy with Dynamesh. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/sculpting-a-creature-with-zbrush-and-photoshop/adding-to-the-anatomy-with-dynamesh?u=57075897 (accessed on: 05/02/2020)
I made sure to look into how people create the general anatomy of a character using the recommended guides on LinkedIn learning. The author of the videos, Rayce Bird gives some very helpful advice and his guides are kept very simple and give the information you need without confusing you. I'm confident that using his guides will allow me to make some great progress with my sculpts. I need all the help I can get when it comes to creating a character in Zbrush since I'm very new to the software.
ZBrush Attempt using Maya Base Mesh 03 - Clothes Attempt
Using the Z brush tutorials on LinkdIn, I looked into creating clothes for my character. By using the mask tools and the extract feature I was able to simulate some form of clothes for my character however, the edges of the clothing were messy and horrible, I wanted to ensure nice clean edges to the different components of my model, I'd have to explore more into the different features of the masking to see if I can achieve the cleaner edge flow I want. I could take the easy route and model the clothing over my characters body in maya however that would defeat the purpose of trying to learn Zbrush. The extract tool is a simple feature however I find the masking tools difficult to use precisely and accurately. There are other areas I can work on in the mean time.
ZBrush Attempt using Maya Base Mesh 04
I wasn't looking to create human ears as my design incorporates fox and cat like ears from my earlier research however I did look into how other people create ears for human ears and their approach is to use cylinders or hemispheres, adjusting the shape of them to suit my design. I attempted with the hemispheres but I wasn't happy with the shape and thickness of them so I resorted to a different and weirder method. I took a chance using a mask and extract to pull some geometry out of the mesh and moulded that into the basic shape of the ears, playing with them until I can create a shape I'm happy to continue with. I will eventually add some texture to them to create a fur like effect on the outside and the inside, I don't want them to look plastic or sharp.
Zbrush - Horns 01
Zbrush Horns 02
Zbrush Tail Modelling 01
Zbrush Tail Modelling 02
It actually took my a while to figure out how to create a tail properly. I though I could use the extract feature within Zbrush however I think due to the meshes subdivision level and the fact I couldn't draw a perfect circle for a mask, the tail didn't form properly. There wasn't enough mesh for me to manipulate the shape into a long, thin tail that reaches the ground. A different approach that I took in order to achieve my desired goal was to export my model into Maya, from there I could model a tail much easier using a cylinder and extruding it to create more geometry and ensure that the tail was also symmetrical, for modelling properly in Zbrush.
Zbrush Clothes 02
When it came to modelling some of the base shapes for the clothing, I followed along with the tutorials on lynda where they were showing a simple method that involved masking off the area of the mesh where the clothes would be and extracting the mesh so that a layer of mesh would lie on top of the body, following the shape and form of the body (ideal for my character due to their design having tight fitting clothing). I could then manipulate the mesh without worrying about affecting the mesh of the body due to the clothes being on a separate layer. I had a few difficulties masking off the areas I wanted perfectly (probably due to not having subdivided the mesh enough) so the clothes edges were jagged. I could manipulate some of the shapes of the mesh e.g. the collar of the jacket using the move topology brush.
Zbrush Hair 01
Zbrush Hair 02
I didn't find modelling the hair all too difficult. I had a quick look through youtube to see how others had approached hair within Zbrush. Some used some append feature. Others masked off the head and extracted a section of the top of the head where they could build the hair off from. I extracted the scalp to use as a base and then followed along with a guide shown here. They used their own special brush where I could click and drag out strands of hair that I could manipulate, using simple curve tools.
We aren't allowed to use any form fibre mesh that others use for hair creation. This produces much more realistic hair that flows much more naturally like human hair. We can't use them due to us having to actually sculpt all hair and fur in this module. I would've preferred to experiment with fibre mesh as that is another skill I think I should learn as I imagine it's industry standard, especially as I'd like to learn more about creating realistic characters, potentially for next year or later in my career.
Mayle, C. (2019) ZBrush - Stylized Hair. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=222&v=myhVfFlPuU4&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 23/02/2020)
Yaremchuk, A. (2013) Make braided rope in Zbrush. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rLugNbZnj4&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 01/03/2020)
I followed along with yet another tutorial in order to create my own custom brush that will allow me to use a curve tool on a IMM brush that will click and drag to create a twisted braided rope that will feature as the belt rope of my character. It's not quite what I had hoped as using this brush doesn't let me create a twisted rope knot in the middle so I will have to create something that can hide where the rope crosses over in the centre. I had to create this rope brush in multiple attempts as the rope did cause zbrush to crash one machine and I lost the progress I had made in creating the brush but apart from some technical difficulties, I didn't have too many problems with this. I actually learnt a little about custom brushes, I had no idea I could insert objects as a brush before this point and could be a very handy feature when it comes to creating all sorts of objects and creatures. I imagine this is how people would approach creating scales or feathers on a mesh for example, creating one and then making a brush that would let you practically copy and paste them.
I had no clue how to approach attaching limbs like hands and feet to the body. I wasn't sure how to sculpt the complicated shapes of the body so I figures I would take a simpler approach. Seeing as I'm quite familiar with modelling in Maya at this point and having already modelled a character within Maya during semester 1, I didn't have too much trouble creating some feet and hands within Maya and exporting them to the Zbrush file. I initially started with stumps for hands as shown above so to remove them I had to hide them from the model and delete hidden within the geometry tab. Once I had imported the low poly base models from Maya in Zbrush, all I had to do was position them in the correct place and then merge the meshes together, dynamesh them and then I could use the claybuildup brush and the smooth tool to fix the join between the feet and ankles and hands and wrists. I made sure to model some toenails, fingernails knuckles and hard areas where there are bones located. It's much easier to model the details into the mesh within Zbrush due to the variety of brushes I can use and not having to worry about topology (that would come at a later time when retopologising).
Modelling the Sandals
Modelling the Sandals
Møker, A. (2016) How To: stylized Wooden Planks Texture [Part 4]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoLspry8sRo&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 16/03/2020)
This is the video I used in order to create some aspects of the sandals as I want to create some stylised appearance. Having used this video for my GAMA2005 project, I know content in this will help me to create some form of stylisation for the sandals.
Creating a simple base mesh wasn't too difficult at all, within Maya I just used some simple cubes that I shaped in order to fit the feet of my character. I just had to dynamesh the sandals so there weren't any gaps within the mesh and so I could work with the mesh and sculpt in details.
To create a worn and rough looking wood, I took the TrimDynamic brush to the edges so the edges weren't sharp and unrealistic. I wanted to create a more stylised look for these sandals in order to fit within the theme of my character as they are also stylised. As someone were to walk using these sandals, they would get worn down through natural wear and tear.
I picked up this brush from the video above for the stylised wood tutorial. This allows me to create narrow cracks within the wood and stylised damage as I had hoped. I came across this tutorial for part of my GAMA2005 module when creating stylised wooden assets so I decided that using those techniques I'd gained, I'd be able to tackle this quite easily.
On the right you can see some of the details I've carved into the wood, with some stylised engravings to really push that stylisation I want.
I combined the wooden sandals with the rope brush created earlier to create some simple sandals. I could definitely have improved them. They don't appear too high quality and the they actually look a little rushed and too rough in retrospect however these won't be seen too much due to them being right at the bottom of the character and being relatively small and unnoticeable amongst the rest of the design. Luckily I was able to use the rope brush I had created earlier for these sandals too however this brush adds a fairly large amount of points to the model making it harder to work with within the program.
Adding details to the face
Adding details to the face
I've never been too good at faces, drawing and creating them since they are incredibly difficult and with more human like faces, any differences and discrepancies with the faces are easily noticable, for example the eyes being too far spaced apart. I found it incredibly difficult trying to complete a face using just my own concept art as creating the ideal shape of the face and the contours that help define the form is very difficult without proper references. I started out using my anime styled character as the reference which wasn't a good choice for. One reason for this is the design of the face. The concept art has a simple pointed nose that a lot of anime characters have however i don't want this for my character. Therefore I have to change my design to that of a more stylised character. I also wanted my character to have eyelids and more stylised eyes as opposed to general anime eyes which don't have depth or volume. If I were to have gone down the route of using anime eyes, they would look flat and weird from any angle other than the front.
I started by carving in grooves where the eye sockets would be located. I proceeded to define the areas around the eyes to give them more definition and form to match the stylised appearance I'm going for. Human faces take their shape from the skeleton beneath the skin so there are areas of the face that will have the bone of the skull supporting and giving form. Therefore the face will still have collarbones, the jaw will have a sturdy, solid shape and the eyes will have a harder edge around the socket. I tried to define the shape of the nose however I had a bit of trouble getting the shape correct as the nose looked too pointy and the bottom of the nose was too prominent so you could see too much of the nostrils.
I attempted to add eyes to my character so I could better define the face shape using the eyes as a guide to do so. I gave this several attempts, using spheres for the first 3 attempts that I inserted and moved into the sockets I had created. I then took the mesh of the face and using the claybuildup brush I was able to build the face up to surround the spheres in an attempt to create eyelids however, as you can see I didn't succeed at all. The eyes look sunken in and like lumps that just stick out of the face instead.
The last attempt appears more like an alien face rather than a human face. I have a major issue with this one as I lost all the shape and form that I had previously tried to create. There aren't any facial features besides the eyes and nose but those look unnatural. Not using spheres for eyes isn't the way to go here, as I have shown in the fourth attempt.
DannyMac3D. (2017) How to Sculpt a stylized head a in Zbrush – Tutorial Part 1. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjZt0ICfutQ&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 29/03/2020)
Once again I took to youtube to see how others have approached sculpting faces and the features. DannyMac3D has a particularly nice guide to creating stylised faces and characters within Zbrush from scratch. He describes in detail how to create the basic forms of the face and then goes into all the other details that help define the shape and breath a more realistic and natural feel for my character whilst keeping the stylised look I want to achieve.
In the video, there is a guide on how to create eyes for stylised characters. The best solution for this is to create a sphere and mask off the centre of the sphere straight through the middle. This works better, the thinner you make the mask. Then by inverting the mask, you can extrude the masked sections out from the eye. Using transpose tools you can then rotate each eyelid so the meet at the back of the eye (this won't be seen on the model as this section of the eye will be hidden within the face). This is a much more effective way of making the eyes as the eyes can be shaped much easier this way with movetopological tool. You can see below that the eyes looked much better than any of my previous attempts and once I dynameshed the eyelids and the face together so that they are part of one complete mesh. I kept the eyes separate so that I could move them and paint them individually, not at the same time as the skin. To define the shape of the eyes better, I used the damstandard brush to chisel in some details around the eyes and give more shape to the eyelids themselves.
I experimented with some simple eyelashes that I found within the brush set for the hair however they are on a separate layer so I will remove them as they just look strange on the face.
My next feature to attempt was the mouth and nose. The first image here shows the form I started with, a flat jaw on the face. Creating a mouth wasn't too difficult. With my research I've done earlier I gave the mouth an attempt using the claybuildup brush. I made sure i had the body on the lowest subdivision level so I could add to the body more easily as with many extra subdivisions, the mesh because more difficult to add base shapes to.
By adding the lumps that form the both to the mesh, I could split them to create the two sections of the mouth using the damstandard brush again. The first attempt was no where near perfect, the mouth was too wide and didn't have a defined shape that I wanted. So to fix this I took the movetopological brush to move the corners of the mouth inwards and make the mouth thinner.
By upping the subdivisions I was able to add to and smooth the mesh to make the lips have harder more defined edges. It leans much more towards the stylised look I want to achieve. This is probably the most successful part of the face and the quickest part of the process. After having spent many hours trying to learn the software and making some already complicated shapes, I feel like I've come quite a long way in terms of my ability and as such am starting to get the hang of Zbrush now, making sculpting much more fun and actually somewhat easier.
Here you can see what could be a finished version of my sculpt. I have made a very appropriate model with a lot of intricate details however, my concept art has more to it and I feel unsatisfied leaving my model without finishing some of those details. As the model is, this is already above and beyond what I would've thought I could have made when I first started this module however having gotten quite into the process and enjoying it, I want to push myself further and create something similar to what I had initially intended to create.
This model is missing:
- something that can cover where the rope belt crosses in the middle
- my character has a cloth piece that wraps around the back of the character around the waist
- I'd quite like to add a little extra clothing around the shoulders like a smaller cloak
- I'd also like to experiment with creating some form of weaponry for my character since that gives me some options with the posing and personality of my character.
Creating the waist piece was very straight forward. I made simple mesh in may that I exported out and imported in Zbrush. That way I could add a lot of geomtery that I could use to add details to the cloth like folds and the mehs won't morph into strange shapes like if I took a cube in Zbrush and moved the topology as that doesn't increase the size, just move the points around on the mesh.
I decided that I wanted to experiment a little within Zbrush, see what I could create by pushing myself a little. I didn't spend any time concepting this design as this isn't a character design module but rather a sculpting module so I went with my gut instinct of a design. I chose a spear as a base weapon and decided I wanted to embellish the spear and had the idea of using a skull as the main part of the design.
I created a skull very similar to that of a mountain sheep/goat within maya, once again this wasn't too difficult as I have quite good knowledge of maya by now. I then took that skull and added some extra base elements to it like a spear head, pole and a loop through the middle of the spear. I wasn't sure if I wanted my character to use the spear as a magic spear where it would float so I had the circular element that the character could use their hand spread out to control the spear from that region.
The other reason is that the character could hold the spear there and use that area as a hand guard of sorts or even use that section to disarm others potentially.
I should've added all the detailed areas to the model within maya too as creating them in Zbrush was actually more difficult that you'd think. The software wasn't playing very nicely.
The skull was very easy to work with however. I could add all the details and cracks that I liked as there was more than enough topology to work with. I added a lot of shape to the bones, similar to the idea of creating the head where I added areas of bone through the head. I made sure to look at references on the internet for the skull and how the skull is shaped.
You can see the finished model for the spear on the left. It's relatively simple however I quite like all of the details I was able to create on the model. I couldn't make it much more details due to my laptop not being able to handle software too well. This will become a major issue going forward. I also modelled a cloak that sits on top of the my characters shoulders and rests at the lower back so I don't hide the details of the clothes, waist and tail.
References
References
Bird, R. 2015. Sculpting Creature with ZBrush and Photoshop - Adding to the anatomy with Dynamesh. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/sculpting-a-creature-with-zbrush-and-photoshop/adding-to-the-anatomy-with-dynamesh?u=57075897 (accessed on: 05/02/2020)
DannyMac3D. (2017) How to Sculpt a stylized head a in Zbrush – Tutorial Part 1. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjZt0ICfutQ&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 29/03/2020)
Mayle, C. (2019) ZBrush - Stylized Hair. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=222&v=myhVfFlPuU4&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 23/02/2020)
Møker, A. (2016) How To: stylized Wooden Planks Texture [Part 4]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoLspry8sRo&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 16/03/2020)
Yaremchuk, A. (2013) Make braided rope in Zbrush. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rLugNbZnj4&feature=emb_logo (accessed on: 01/03/2020)
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 42.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 21.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 74.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 60.
Zarins, U. and Kondrats, S., 2014. Anatomy For Sculptors. 1st ed. Page 138.
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