Day 9

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Using Panel Loops

– Panel Loops can be used in conjunction with Planes to create structured 3D geometry easily, eg teeth, capes, walls. A 2D plane is used to create the form with limited geometry then converted to a 3D solid.

– eg to create teeth: draw a plane3D then use the Initialize sliders to create the amount of geometry required for the model to be made.

Use the plane3D tool and initialize sliders to create the base geometry for creating structured objects.

– Make PolyMesh3D then append the plane to the model it will be part of. Use the move brush to adjust the position of the geometry. Using as few polygons as possible will make the process easier.

Append the plane3D to the model and use the sculpting tools to create the form.

– Once the geometry is positioned convert each polygon to a separate object; use the Tool > Polygroups > Group By Normals button with the MaxAngle slider set low then convert each polygon to a separate polygroup.

Use the group by normals button and the selection tools to separate each polygon into its own polygroup ready for separating.

– Use the Tool > Geometry > EdgeLoop > Panel Loops button to extrude 3D geometry from the plane with the following considerations:

– the Thickness slider determines how thick the 3D geometry is created

– the Polish slider determines how crisp the 3D geometry is

– the Double button extrudes the geometry in both directions

– the Loops slider determines how many loops of polygons there are in the new geometry

– the Bevel slider determines how bevelled the edges of the top and bottom of the new geometry are

– the Elevation slider determines where the origin of the extruded geometry starts, eg elevation = 0 extrudes the geometry equally from either side of the source polygon.

Use the different panel loop settings to vary how the new geometry is created from the source polygons.

– To modify each tooth individually, use the Tool > Polygroups > Auto Groups button to make each tooth a single polygroup, then use the Brush > Auto Masking > Mask By Polygroups slider set to 100 to ensure any actions only affect a single polygroup. This allows for individual sculpting while the teeth remain a single subtool.

By grouping polygroups and using the auto masking slider you can manipulate individual parts of a model quickly without needing to mask parts.

Day 8 part 2

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Projecting Detail onto Meshes

– Zbrush can project the sculpted detail from one mesh to another. This can be useful for transferring the detail from a multi-subtool model to a single-skin model for eg 3D printing. It is also useful for transferring detail that has been previously sculpted on another model to a new model.

– Tool > Subtool > Project > ProjectAll transfers the details from any visible subtools onto the active subtool. Before projecting make sure the target mesh has enough resolution for the projected detail.

Sculpting and polypainting can be transferred from one model to another using the project tools.

– Project > Dist Slider determines how deep below the surface of the target mesh Zbrush can look for sculpted detail to project. If there are artefacts on the target model increase the distance.

– The projected detail is applied throughout the subdivision levels of the target mesh.

If the detail isn’t properly transferred try increasing the distance Zbrush looks for detail.

Day 8

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Remeshing Geometry

– Zbrush contains tools for creating a new unified mesh from individual parts. Tool > Subtool > Remesh > Remesh all creates a new mesh from everything in the current subtool. Symmetry options can be used to make symmetrical models from asymmetrical subtools.

Subtool > Remesh all can be used to create a single mesh form a group of objects.

– Objects within the subtool can be set as additive or subtractive objects for boolean operations.

– The Res slider under Remesh determines the resolution of the new geometry.

Subtools can be used to add or subtract from the new mesh.

– Tool > Geometry > ZRemesher contains tools for changing the resolution of a mesh or improving the flow of polygons in the geometry, for example making sure the polygon flow on a face follows muscle groups.

– ZRemesher > Target Polygons Count determines how many thousand polygons are in the new mesh. Press ZRemesher to complete the action.

– Use the ZRemesherGuides Brush from the brush palette to lay guidelines for the new mesh. Use the Zremesher > Curve Strength slider to determine how closely the guidelines are followed.

Zremesher can be used to change the resolution and polygon flow of a mesh.

Day 7 part 2

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Insert Mesh Techniques

– The Insert Mesh brushes can be used to draw previously created geometry onto an active tool without automatically merging or creating new subtools.

– Brush > MeshInsert Dot allows you to add mesh instances. To define which mesh go to Brush > Modifiers > MeshInsert Preview which brings up the tool palette to select a mesh from. Once a mesh has been selected it can be drawn on the surface of the model.

The InsertMesh Dot brush can be used to add new meshes to the tool once the mesh has been defined.

– When a new mesh is drawn, the rest of the model is automatically masked. This allows you to modify the inserted mesh like dynamesh, but the geometry will still be separate pieces.

– The Tool > Subtool > Split commands can be used to separate out inserted meshes into their own subtools.

– Tool > Subtool > Split > Split to Similar Parts will split all the instances of the same mesh into a single subtool containing all the instances, even if they have been moved and rescaled.

– Tool > Subtool > Split > Split to Parts will split all the visible inserted meshes into individual subtools. Hide any subtools made of inserted meshes before performing this action to control how inserted meshes are grouped.

Inserted meshes can be split off into separate subtools using the split commands.

– Some InsertMesh brushes create open geometry which will leave a gap between it and the model. To make joins first create a new polygroup in that area, draw the new InsertMesh then unmask. New geometry will be created to bridge the gap. This is similar to dynamesh but without replacing the existing geometry.

Open geometry can be added and bridged to the existing tool by first creating a new polygroup in that area then unmasking after adding the open geometry.

– Curve brushes can be used to create inserted meshes. CurveTube creates geometry along a defined curve that can then be manipulated.

– Stroke > Curve Modifiers contains options for changing how the curve creates geometry including tapering. Click on the manipulator ends to apply the effects.

Curve tools can also be used to create inserted geometry.

Different curve tools can create different geometry.

– InsertMultiMesh brushes combine several different meshes into a single brush. When using a MultiMesh brush press M to bring up the MultiMesh palette.

Multi Mesh brushes combine several different meshes into a single brush. The palette can be opened by pressing M.

– You can create new insertmesh brushes using Brush > Create InsertMesh. The active tool can then be a new insert mesh brush or appended to an existing multimesh brush.

Any tool can be turned into an InsertMesh brush in the brush palette.

– How deep in the tool the inserted mesh is drawn can be modified using Brush > Depth and moving the circle up and down.

How deep in the tool the mesh is inserted can be modified using the depth setting

– X / Y / Z / Radial Symmetry can be used when using InsertMesh brushes to quickly add lots of detail across a model.

Day 7

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Mesh Creation Dynamesh

– Dynamesh is a way of modelling that protects the geometry from the stretching effect making large scale changes to a model can have.

– To enable dynamesh have an active tool and go to Tool > Geometry > Dynamesh.

– When dynamesh is enabled, at any time during sculpting Ctrl + Drag off the model and the geometry will be recalculated to give an optimal mesh.

Dynamesh allows for re-skinning a model with a new, optimised mesh at any time using Ctrl + drag.

– depending on the severity of the distorted polygons, the model may need smoothing after dynameshing.

– dynamesh can be used in conjunction with InsertMesh brushes by creating a single unified skin after the new mesh is inserted.

Dynamesh can be used with the InsertMesh brushes to unify a model.

– Tool > Geometry >Dynamesh > Groups makes the dynamesh tool work by polygroups. If a mesh is split into separate polygroups then dynameshed each group can be moved and manipulated separately, before dynameshing the whole model once more.

Dynamesh used with groups active splits the model by polygroup when dynameshed, allowing for chunks of model to be manipulated before skinning the whole model once more.

– Tool > Geometry > Dynamesh > Create Shell can be used with a subtractive mesh to create a shell with an opening based on the inserted mesh. To activate it, hold Alt while drawing (or enable ZAdd) the InsertMesh, then click Create Shell. The model will be hollowed out with a thickness determined by the Thickness slider, with the opening cut by the inserted mesh.

Dynamesh can be used in conjunction with subtractive meshes to create hollow shells.

Day 6 part 3

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Mesh Creation SHadowbox

– The SHadowbox is a method for creating geometry that uses masking tools on the inner face of a cube. By applying masks on any face Zbrush creates geometry anywhere the masks intersect.

– To use Shadowbox start with any piece of geometry then go to Tool > Geometry > Shadowbox. A mask will be drawn that matches the piece of geometry.

– Clear the mask by Ctrl + Dragging off the model then begin drawing new masks using the mask tools learned earlier.

Shadowbox can be started form any piece of geometry and creates new geometry using masking tools.

Modifying existing geometry and creating new geometry form scratch in shadowbox.

– The Tool > Geometry > Shadowbox > Res slider controls the resolution and therefore quality of the masks and geometry.

– Clipping brushes (Ctrl + Shift) can be used to smooth and refine geometry created with shadowbox.

Day 5

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Working with Polygroups

– Polygons can be hidden at any time, holding Ctrl + Shift  activates the SelectRect tool; dragging a rectangle then releasing hides everything that isn’t in the green box.

Ctrl + Shift enables the selection tool, which hides everything outside the selection box.

– Ctrl + Shift + LMB click outside the model reveals the hidden polygons – Ctrl + Shift + Drag outside the model inverts the visibility, revealing the hidden polygons and hiding the visible polygons. – Ctrl + Shift + Alt hides any polygons in the red box.

Ctrl + SHift + Alt hides any polygons inside the red box.

– models can be modified once polygons are hidden eg Tool > Geometry > Delete Hidden will delete any hidden polygons, making an open mesh.

– Polygroups are a quick and easy way to handle visibility by hiding entire parts of a model with a single click. – There are several tools to create a polygroup which can be found under Tool > Polygroups: the easiest way is by selecting some polygons then pressing Ctrl + W which assigns any visible polygons to a new polygroup.

– other options for creating polygroups include From Masking which converts any masked polygons into a new polygroup and Group Front which merges any polygons facing the camera.

POlygroups can be made based on visibility, colour or masking using these tools.

– Ctrl + Shift + LMB on a polygroup hides every other polygroup. Ctrl + Shift + LMB on the visible polygroup again to hide that group and reveal the hidden groups.

– Polygroups created at a low subdivision level are retained at higher subdivision levels.

– Polygroups can be made by masking areas then pressing Ctrl + W. This works the same as Tool > Polygroups > Group Masked.

– Use the PolishGroups slider next to Tool > Polygroups > Group Masked to create smooth-edged polygroups at higher subdivision levels. This modifies the geometry around the polygroup.

The polishgroups slider can be used to create smooth-edged polygroups from masked areas at the expense of deforming geometry.

– Slice tools can be used to quickly create polygroups: Ctrl + Shift brings up the Slice tool menu.

Slice tools can be used to quickly create lots of polygroups on a model.

– Holding Ctrl with the transpose tool selected eg Move or Rotate then clicking on a polygroup aligns the transpose tool with the normal of that polygroup while masking all other groups. Holding Shift while dragging the transpose line moves just that polygroup along the transpose axis.

An example of using polygroups and the transpose tool to manipulate a mesh.

– POlygroups can be used to easily break a mesh into subtools by hiding a polygroup then using the Tool > Subtools > Split > Split Hidden command. The hidden polygroup is separated into a separate piece of geometry.

POlygroups can be used to create subtools by selectively hiding polygroups.

– POlygroups can be used to maintain crisp edges when subdividing using the Tool > Geometry > Edgeloop > Edgeloop command: Hide all but the desired polygroup, select the crisp button then press edgeloop. A new ring of polygons is added around the polygroup close to the border. Now when the model is subdivided this edge will stay sharper.

POlygroups and the edgeloop tool can be used to create features that stay crisp-edged even when the model is heavily subdivided.

Day 4

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Basic Sculpting

– Sculpting Brushes can be found in the top left of the Left Shelf, or by pressing B.

– Specific brushes can be selected by pressing the first letter of the brush name followed by a specific letter eg to select ClayTubes press B > C > T.

Sculpting brushes can be found in the brush palette or by pressing specific letter combinations.

– The red rings represent the Draw Size and Focal Shift of the brush, and can be modified using the Draw Size and Focal Shift Sliders. The Draw Size Slider can also be brought up at the cursor position using S, the Focal Shift Slider using O.

– A Focal Shift of 0 will produce a very sharp edged result.

The cursor shows the draw size and focal shift, and can be modified by using sliders or the hotkey S and O.

– the ZAdd and ZSub buttons change between raising or lowering the mesh when sculpting. Holding Alt + LMB will switch between modes.

– the Z Intensity Slider controls the strength of the brush.

ZAdd and ZSub control what happens when sculpting, while the Z Intensity slider controls the strength of the brush.

– By default Shift + LMB is the Smooth Brush which can be used to blend sculpting. Other brushes can also be set to the Shift modifier.

Hold shift to activate the sculpting-smoothing brush, which smooths geometry.

– The Move Brush works by clicking and dragging geometry in or out. It is good for quickly reshaping a mesh but can lead to undesirable geometry if not careful.

The move brush can quickly reshape a model.

– Symmetry can be turned on using Transform > Activate Symmetry. Specific Axes can be selected using the X Y Z buttons or the X, Y and Z keys. Symmetry can be axial or radial (use the RadialCount Slider to vary how many instances are sculpted).

Radial and axial symmetry can be switched on to sculpt multiple areas of the mesh at the same time.

– RMB brings up a Quick Menu with many common commands and sliders.

RMB brings up a quick menu with easy access to most of the common drawing and sculpting commands.

– Strokes and Alphas can be combined with sculpting brushes to get different results:

– Dots and Freehand produce similar continuous results.

– Spray and ColourSpray apply randomised instances of the brush and alpha.

– DragRect and DragDot allow for precise positioning of alphas on the mesh.

Strokes and alphas can be combined with sculpting brushes to get different effects.

Day 3 part 3

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Subdividing Geometry

– Subdivision tools are found under Tool > Geometry.

– Tool > Geometry > Divide or Ctrl + D adds one subdivision layer to the active tool.

– Move up one subdivision layer using D or move down one subdivision layer using Shift + D. You can also use the SDiv slider or the Higher Res / Lower Res buttons.

Use the divide button to add subdivision layers that can be moved between using the slider or buttons.

– use the Del Lower / Del Higher to delete subdivision layers. The layers are relative to the current layer.

– Tool > Geometry > Smt smooths the mesh when subdivision layers are added. If this option is turned off polygons are added but the shape of the mesh is not changed.

Turning the Smt modifier off when subdividing adds polygons without changing the shape of the mesh.

– if the first subdivision layers are added without Smt, then the top layer is added with Smt some smoothing will be added to lower subdivision layers.

– Ztools retain their subdivision layers.

– Low Subdivision models are needed for creating Normal Maps from High Subdivision models.

– Tool > Geometry > Freeze Subdivision Levels can be used to retain subdivision information when carrying out operations that normally need a mesh with no subdivision levels.

Day 3 part 2

Introduction to Zbrush Digital Tutors

Transforming 3D objects

– The Tool > Deformation palette contains sliders for modifying many aspects of a mesh:

– Offset  in combination with the X Y Z buttons allow for repositioning a mesh on the canvas.

– Rotate in combination with the X Y Z buttons allow for rotating a mesh aorund different axes on the canvas.

– Scale in combination with the X Y Z buttons allow for uniform or non-uniform resizing of a mesh.

Resym modifiers contain options for moving, rotating and resizing meshes

– Note that the sliders only refer to the degree of change in that action ie if a mesh is rotated the slider will reset to 0 and will have no memory of that mesh’s original position.

– the Move, Scale and Rotate buttons on the top shelf can also be used by using the transpose tool.

– The transpose tool is a gumball with many points to affect the mesh. Tool tips will appear in the status line when they’re hovered over. Options include duplicating, clipping, skewing / stretching and duplicating meshes when combined with RMB and Ctrl.

The Transpose tool combined with Move allows for several affects including clipping, stretching, inflating and duplicating meshes.

– Tool > Geometry > Position / Size also contains sliders for manipulating the mesh. Unlike the other options these do remember where the mesh was before modifying it, allowing for returning it to its original position.

The geometry size and position sliders are relative to the mesh’s original position so it can be easily restored to its starting point.