ZBrushCentral

Zbrush and lowpoly content

Hi everyone;

This character was made with Zspheres and brought to Silo for some edge
manipulations. Polycount is 2822 and she is gonna be textured with GUV-
tiles, then bones and muscles will be implemented and finally get posed/
animated as is, at same poly count. For the time being i’m not so sure
weather to use disp. maps or normal maps, I still have one week to figure
it out.
She is part of a series along with three other characters, around the same
build.
Thanks for viewing!

:slight_smile:

Attachments

press1.jpg

Dude I mean this in a good way, my advice to you, coming from somebody who’s been trying to use Zbrush for low poly content for years is to do as much as you can in zbrush, that is go up to a couple hundred thousand polygons and do all the pushing and pulling you can to mold the character and then drop down to the second level subdivision and import into Silo. The models I make always come out so much better and are so much easier to form when I do all the organic modelling in Zbrush. Especially the breasts. For normal mapping I’m personally gonna try the ATI thingy they have here http://sv3.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77037

peace and hair grease.

Hi DarkInk;
Thanks for the advice and the link, very useful indeed!
I actually did exactly as you said, uping the res in Zbrush and get the shape
I wanted, without the head of course, then exported as level 1, because I
made the adaptive at the 2. level which gave me just enough polys to keep
it low still shapely. Then inside Silo head and body were stitched and the hair
and extra loops added. I intend to do as much as possible within Zbrush and
find the best possible workflow. Zbrush is both fast and intuitive and my first
choice of software ever scince day one!
Thanks again for your advice!
:+1:

Great looking model :slight_smile:

The thing I like most about Zbrush is how fast you can do some concept scetching, whip out the Zspheres and model them ontop of your concept art… and then you can hit the AUV tile button , and finish up on the textureing…

the Ability to pose the mode is totaly unmached by any application I have tried… Even while painting your texture you can move things around to make sure you get paint everywhare :slight_smile: it is also nice to see how the texture bends with the mesh when poseing :slight_smile:

later on while you are doing Morph targets for Expressions , you can touch up the Texture immediatly if you see any Odd looking things…

Zbrush is still the greatest tool in my toolbox :slight_smile:

Hi matvara and everyone else. I do alot of modeling and texturing for games and one thing I’ve found to be absolutely invaluable for creating low poly models in ZBrush for games is a script that TVEyes made called XYZAdjust.

I wouldn’t even attempt to try doing low poly modeling in ZBrush without that script - it allows you to finetune mesh resolutions along the XYZ axis individually for each ZSphere on your model. Also it lets you adjust membrane settings for each individual ZSphere too. This overrides any global settings and the IRES setting. This is a great way to keep poly counts down on hands and feet and other areas that usually get too many polys because of the IRES control. Click HERE to go to the thread with TVEyes script. I strongly urge anyone trying to use ZBrush for low poly modeling to experiment with this script. I probably use this script more often than any other that I’ve downloaded from this site.

Geez, thanks Tantramancer. I didn’t know about this script. Did everything just get that much easier? vbmenu_register(“postmenu_177281”, true);

OMG I did not know about this script either!!!

I use heavy membrains when makeing hands and feet… for the rest of the body I would prefer to keep the membrain Off…

For makeing Wings and Stuff this si totaly essential!!

Thankyou verry much for posting this link :slight_smile:

(Thankyou TV eyes for makeing the Script ;):+1: )

The XYZ Adjust script definitely has my vote to become a core feature of the next version of ZBrush like the way Projection Master did. For ZBrush to be taken seriously as a good low poly modeling solution it really needs something like this. I’m glad TVEyes saw that need and did something about it.

I usually block out a model with ZSpheres with all the usual ways you see everybody else do then when the ZSphere layout is about 80% complete I’ll start using this script to modify certain problem areas that have too little or too much mesh density. Usually hands and feet need this the most since because I keep the IRES slider kept at a value of 1 most of the time, I end up with a little too much detail in places like that.

Any sphere that needs adjusting I’ll start off by setting the XYZ resolution to 1 for all 3 axis then experiment with adding a little more resolution along one axis or more. This can add more loops at joints or along the lengths of arms or legs without having to resort to box modeling methods to cut more loops for detail.

I’ll also keep an eye on the contours of the model while I’m working and use the membrane slider in this script to fine tune the tightness or looseness of the skin in different places for a more natural look. That’s a nice finishing step for tweaking the aesthetics of the model. Just that fine control of the membrane settings alone makes the XYZ Adjust script worth using by itself.

A word of warning to anyone using XYZ Adjust: Beware of symmetry problems. Sometimes it seems that XYZ Adjust can cause the model’s symmetry to drift pretty far out of alignment if you don’t catch it early. If you let it go too long such problems may be a bit difficult to untangle later. When I first started using the script that frustrated me a bit and lost me some modeling time until I got used to it. Now I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the symmetry frequently so I can catch potential problems early. I don’t mind this problem one bit since this script is so damned useful in keeping the polygon counts nice and low and helps finetune nicely the contours of a model at the ZSphere level.

Now if we had a good script or two that would improve and enhance the box modeling capabilities of ZBrush I’d never have to use any other 3D program again for modeling tasks. (hint hint)

Thanks Polaris! You are completely right, speed is one of the major features
of Zbrush. I read here and there people use other software to block in their
initial shape and then come to Zbrush for further detailing, where one can, as
you mentioned, do the sketching in Z in a matter of minuttes. Actually you
won’t need more than five minuttes to load your sketch in one layer and then
make a Zif out of it in another one. I use Zbrush even for non_CG based
tasks who need planning/prototyping.
Hi Tantramancer and thanks for the comment! I guess I totally forgot about
XYZ_adjust on this one, though I use it a lot. I guess I got the right shape
here (only four fingers) without much of mesh distortion, otherwise i would
have resorted to TVeyes’ script. He is really a talented person and I have
learned a lot from his replies to other members.

Have a nice day!
:+1:

Yes this symmetry thing can definitely be improved in a couple of areas. One other thing that seems possible is the ability to grab four points at a time to replace face select for manipulating verts. Ofcourse edge select in some form too. This is the only application I use that I actually don’t like closing out. If I could do everything from high to low poly, WOW!!

Don’t know what’s happening with my last post. Anyway I agree with the symmetry discussion. It does need improvement. Trying to do edge loops can get frustrating when after one is created, you have to repeatedly find and press the symmetry button. And a variation of face select where you could select four points would be a plus. That with an edge select function and the ability to extrude in a consistent fashion would make the low poly stuff fly by.

Hi DarkInk;
I know what you mean about symmetri issue. I use polygrouping prior to any
modeling/editing, this way I can isolate areas fast and apply symmetri when-
ever needed. It also makes editing and partial smoothing much easier.
Anyways, I reworked the head as I fell more and more into the temptation of
approaching a humanoid character, which was not planned. I guess it comes
from the lack of research on female aliens!! Most modelers make male aliens,
so there are more reference points in that direction.
The whole character is at 2760 poly now and ready to meet Texture Master!
Comments and critiques are welcome!

124-front-closeup-wire.jpg

Oops, it was supposed to be a thumbnail, sorry! :b2:

Wingies, red hair and blue eyes do it for me everytime. I blame it on the catoons I watched as a kid and maybe those commercials. I guess I’ll have to ask my wife to put wingies in today… :smiley:

Really like that model matvara. Is it 2750 before or after triangulation? I never really focused on low poly hair in Zbrush but you just inspired me. I’ve been trying out box modelling on some organic forms and I can’t seem to go back to it. Zbrushed spoiled me. One more thing, I can’t seem to find if there is a shortcut to the Symmetry function, and even after all this time I’m not too hype to the whole customizable UI thing. Maybe there’s a way to move the Symmetry function to a spot where I can use it freely and at ease. That;s the Silo3d talking. vbmenu_register(“postmenu_177538”, true);

Hi DarkInk;
I’m glad you liked it and I hope I can keep you interested througout the whole
process. As I mentioned before, there are 4 of these characters in this series
which are finally to animate a demo reel, in the direction of gameart.
The poly count is 2276 quads and 486 tris which is barely touching the 5K
limit after full triangulation, I hope! :slight_smile:
On your note about box modeling, you should really explore it. Very powerful
feature and very poly effective, together with creasing and edgeloops. I use
this to model ears and nose.
I don’t think there is a shortcut to symmetri, or I haven’t heard about it, but
it could be fun to have it somewhere more visible on the interface.
Have a nice weekend!

:b2:

Next character in this series is Tim. He weighs 2790 polys and was modeled
the same way as Tara. Both body and head were separate zspheres which
later were attached in Silo. My next step after rigging is to animate these
two in a rhapsodical scene.
stay tuned for updates!
:wink:

press1.jpg

Like the model. What engine do you plan on using it in? Because if it’s 2790 poly’s as quads of course it’s going to be 5580 polys after triangulation. That’s actually pretty good for certain mods like Far Cry and such but not too good for Blitz Basic or Game Studio, depending on the game and the market you’re working towards. What I’m doing is pretty much everything in Zbrush and exporting at a level 3 subdivision and working on the mesh removing uneeded poly’s from there on. It seems much easier to go down than to work up. Exporting from level 2 is cool too of course you’ll have to adjust the layout which can be frustrating after the ease in Zbrush. I really want to see the end of this. Keep posting.

Thanks DarkInk! These characters are not gonna use any game engine, but
rather a few animation tests to explore Zbrush integration into “game-style-
lowpolyish” type of environments, including normal and disp. maps and later
alpha/transparency maps. I’m gonna use Maya for this purpose. The idea of
using Z2 solely for an animation has been very tempting and I finally decided
to do something about it.
The workflow you are suggesting, as to start from denser mesh and working
downward, sounds kind of intriguing, I haven’t given it much thoughts. There
is one thing though that makes me buffle about this. When you work on a 2.
level zif, you will have 8 segments along the Y axis which is the perfect
count for lowpoly candidates, light and still shapey, but a 3. level zif will have
16 segs, so there will be an awfull lot of polys to remove. I really wonder how
to pull this off!
You are more than welcome to use this thread and post your findings/anims if
you wish to, It could be interesting!
:wink:

Here is a small example. In the top models you see the high poly version cut here and there and exaggerated a bit to give the low poly version a little extra detail. When I export, I just have to do some cutting around the shoulders and such and the model is very manageable. I personally like to create high poly Soul Caliber/ Ninja Gaiden type characters. Maybe one day Microsoft will give me a call. snakey.jpg