Topology experiment.

Hi folks, been ages since i've posted anything, i've spent the last year trying out lots of different software and have come to the conclusion that i want to create a zbrush only workflow. This is just an experiment trying to model good topology in zbrush, i didn't think it was possible but now i'm convinced it is, its all down to the order in which you do things. This is my first atempt ,starting from zsperes, with only the eyes added and then converted to a polymesh and box modeled. Will have another go tonight as i messed up the jaw line by adding a loop too early.
If anyones interested i'll do a step by step when i have things finalised.
Nice to be back

steve 8)

and of course i want to see your step by step for sure will be of great help for the zbrusher!
Waiting for more:D
Andreseloy

Great head, that should deform nicely!
Lemo

Thanks Andreseloy, here's a view that might be more readable

Thanks Lemo, i think it should work, i've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to avoid six point poles, which is a problem if you go the usual roll-polly man rout.

Steve 8)

You isolated your 'problems' to the cheek bone and the temple. Where they do not pose a challenge. And if... the deformation taking place will be something 8).
Lemo

Cool elegant ZBrush work flow - look forward to your tute / zscript.

Also I love the purple cucumber slices for rejuvinating the eyes.:tu::tu:

i would be interested in an explanation as to how you have done this. Not just simple pushing and pulling while its a zsphere?

This looks very nice. I would be very interested to see how you achieved this without blocking it out in another program. You aren't leaving C4D are you? Love seeing those renders. Looking forward to more.

OK here's the basic steps to form good topology, from here it's easy to add more geometry to isolated areas as all the loops are in place. Hope it helps someone.



Steve 8)

Good work, it looks ok! :tu:

Thanks for share handlebar!
Andreseloy

I'd say it looks very helpful, especially since I've been spending the last week trying to do the same thing with some very frustrating results!!! I'm going to study your pic here very closely and give it another go. Thanks

What a great workflow, thanks for posting.:)

Thanks for the comments folks 8).
Here's a little update on ear topology for better sculpting, its just to show how edge flow around the ear area is very important, i could add a lot more edges but would make for a very long tut. The reason i left the ears out on the original zsphere model is because ,this way, i'm left with a lot more topology to work with.
It's been fun doing this, i think that's enough to get you up and runnin'



Steve 8)

thats smart ;]

Thanks!
More Please :)

Thanks folks, if you want more i'll put together a quick tut on animal head topology that can be used for anything from dragons to dogs etc. Give me a few days and i'll see what i can come up with. I've got the basics worked out, just need to refine it. I never intended on making a tutorial thread but if you find it useful i'm happy to continue.

Steve 8)

as you can see your thread is very usefull, lot of interest and lot of things to learn....and is ZB2!!!!:tu:
Andreseloy

Ok ZBrusher's, here's the deal........ Your mission is to model a simple cartoon head at level one subdivision. You may start off with zspheres and then continue to box model from a polymesh. Just post your progress in this thread and if you have any questions feel free to ask. Open discusion about all things meshy, good edge flow, poles etc is what this little venture is all about, so if your in just say 'ygolopotyzarc' and we'll see if we can turn this subject on its head.



Here's just a little example to give you an idea of the low poly aproach, but yours can be anything.... rat, dog, amazonian tree ferret, the choice is yours.
Hope you join in, many brains are better than on a subject like this. Have fun.

Steve 8)

Thanks Handlebar:tu: . Great tute. I have owned zbrush for about 8yrs.... I never bothered with this type of modelling until now.

I have learnt following your instructions a couple of 'don't do's'... never add an edge loop twice to the same area in succession (one edgeloop tends to get lost), and secondly 'smart symmetry' actually works on lowpoly models.

I shall post a couple of low poly models shortly. I would have now but I got carried away and mangled the mesh of the model in this image..... another quickie special.......

Great model ED, great point about the edge loop, best to keep geometry as low as possible at this point.

I tend to model in as much of the form at this stage as i can, i was put off organic modeling when i first started with zbrush by so many posts saying that it cannot be done effeciently, well hopefully this thread will put an end to those myths. I too started a dog this morning and the whole process has taken me just under an hour to get to this stage, about the same amount of time as it would in any other 3d package.

I started out with the bace zsphere model as you can see, but i found to get the edge flow, that is important for the mouth loop, you need to swith on y symetry to draw out two spheres from the bace sphere and then change to x to draw out the muzzle.

this is an open eyes tutorial!:tu:
Andreseloy

Box modeling at the Zb saucer :tu:

Right I shall continue.... now that I see what you are doing to get the shapes right for your model Handlebar.

I lapsed back into organic modelling after I subdivided the mesh... shame on me.... but I do find that the mesh is far easier to work with if it has initially been box modelled.....
I'll be back into this... method tomorrow... and I will post the results and the tool.
Anyway here is my play.... unfortunately I destroyed the low poly mesh for this.
It is another quickie.............but fun to do. Bit off track really, but will keep the thread alive hopefully.

Cool ED, thats what this thread is all about, if the underlying mesh topology is good then it will be much easier to sculpt and animate at a later stage.
Here's the finished bace model of my Rottweiler, will try and figure out how to model a low poly hand next, as that could prove to be quite a challenge.

This is a terrific thread Handlebar and I'm sure it will become a classic in time. Keep up the good work. I'll post something later.

great work man. You open my eyes And here is my picture

krysar, that looks wonderful...would you post a picture of that head with polyframes off? I'd like to see it smoothed.

handlebar, you've started a very informative and interesting thread here. I keep trying the methods you are showing and have not had the same success, but I'm sure it's just a matter of practice. Do you find that it's best to only add the eyes in the initial zif, or do you recommend doing the muzzle/mouth area as well? I have found that the more loops I add in the zif stage, the more 5 point intersections I get, and that causes me problems.

How would you suggest dealing with this?

Cool, lookin forward to seeing more from you folks.
Krysar, that's a mesh to be proud of, and its great to see the progress shots.
Slosh, the reason that i only add the eyes to the original zsphere model is to avoid the problems with six point poles, and it also gives me a choice of polys to extrude the ears from. I will put a little tut together on my thinking behind box modeling in zbrush and to clarify why i do things, i think if you understand the simple concepts first the penny will drop.

Here's my first go at modeling a hand in zbrush, lightning fast to do, and all thanks to Lemo for his guitar tutorial that you will need to watch to understand the principles.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=43175
I haven't tweeked anything into shape yet, just created a good platform to work from.



Thanks Lemo.

Well produced another dog. Still not getting the clean mesh I want, I need more practice. One ear gained an extra poly thing somehow. I shall try again. I did try the technique you used for the mouth Handlebar, but x and y were awry, and straightening the spheres was a headache.... I gave up on that technique and reformed a human low poly I did earlier to produce this dog here...

Krysar can you show how you select in each step to get your results?
handlebar thanks man for this superb tut:D
Andreseloy

Andreseloy

to andreseloy: sorry, but I don't have more progress screenshots
to handlebar: hand is
to Slosh: ok, here is smoothed version

good

I am still having troubles with this thread. I dont understand how you guts are progressing. Do you make the initial zsphere with the eyes in and then convert it to a polymesh then tweak it as if you dont i get vertices exploding everywhere.

Also is there a tut anywherre on how to split and extrude these vertices as you do?

Magician:

In the ZBrush software Help, look at the zscript tutorial and pic the Edge Loop Modelling tutorial and before run it press show actions and notes to see step by step.

Andreseloy

Handlebar hi,

Just wanted to throw in my head so far made following the first page. I got lost a little but worked this head out so far. Im relatively new to modeling and wondered could I ask (please) if you can tell me what issues may occur continueing with this mesh .
I really appreiciate the help so far ,
cal

learning alot from this thread, would like to see some tools posted of some of these base heads.

Useless model, it didn't follow handlebar's tutorial.