3d-collage effect??

[upham]

I've been given an assignment to create a 3d felt-collage style picture
much like the picture below....
(made in Xara-X by Dušan Kastelic) ....

user_image-991735191jbm[1].jpg
(I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws here!)

I've fiddled around in ZBrush with the Single-Layer brush tool painting
different colors on different layers and then moving the layers forward
and backwards (by holding the titel-key (~) and the alt/option key and
click'n'drag in the document window) - but I get pretty jagged edges around the
painted blobs. I've thought of creating several flatish objects and painfully
shaping and coloring and manuvering them into place....
Has anyone else got any bright ideas??
Thanks in advance.

Upham. :)

PS. I think Kruzr and Impending had a thread similar to this at the ZAcademy,
but I couldn't understand it! (a black stick-figure guy with shorts on?) Remember?
Kruzr made a tree with an alpha channel in Photoshop ... ???

[juandel]

ola, upham! :D
i think you are referring to the alphaman pics (golden trousers et.al) i did as a try to help kruzr. my approach was to draw something with simple brush, mrgbz-grab it and then use the newlywon alpha with 3d-brush and dragrectangle stroketype... (rotate/scale/move... all possible) in front of a background layer. kruzr finally came up with something very nice for his tree... i'm sure he is having a good one ;) and will share his insights soon!

[Kruzr]

'Morning Upham & Juandel...Geezzz, that looks like me about 15 years ago.

Upham, you'll have to give me a little more info on what problems your having.

I did a little test image (posted below). What I did was to create 6 layers, starting from the bottom layer which I filled with a solid white for background, using the "Simple Brush", I started going up layer by layer & in each layer I used a new Material with a different color. All I did was make a few scribbles in each layer for this test. But as you can see, there doesn't seem to be any problems with the edges or anything else? I also did the adjustment of layers, the same as you.

This is why I'm not understanding why you should be having edge problems??? :confused:

Also, this image was only rendered in the default image size, can't remember exact size, but it's around 600 by 800.

Anyway, if you want, you can e-mail me & explain a little more or I can just e-mail you a similar ZBrush file to see if it'll render the same on your system, as it did on mine??? :D

Hey Juandel...I haven't seen you in a long time, where have you been??? I don't get to ZBCentral too much lately, been busy over here trying to make a little money to pay all these bills. ;)

You guys have a good one & Upham, let me know what's going on over there with that new project your working on. You shouldn't be having any problems at all with what you want to do.

See'ya later guys..... :cool: Mark.

user_image-991762153gob[1].jpg

[Kruzr]

Hey Upham...Here's another example of "Painting on different layers" with shadows, in a little higher image size, then reduced in Photoshop. ;) This image has 10 layers in it.

I don't know if this is what your looking for or not??? :confused: If this isn't the effect your looking for, let me know what the effect is, that your looking for & maybe I can help??? :D

I hope this helps some? See'ya a little later... :cool: Mark.

user_image-991771099ogi[1].jpg

[upham]

Hi guys
Thanks for your replies - and humblist apologies to Juandel!! Sorry, my mistake! All credit to you my friend.
I'll post some experiments later today. Due to different timezones you'll proberly get them tommorrow. I've got to shower and shave and zip off to work.
U :)

[Kruzr]

"ZIP OFF TO WORK"??? :confused:

I read in the New Zealand "City Voice", that you won the big $6 million dollar lottery!!! :D

Boy, if I won that kind of $$$, I wouldn't be zipping off to work. But then, some people really love their job & wouldn't quit for all the money in the world. ;)

See'ya tomorrow - your time & have a good one... :cool: Mark.

[juandel]

ola Kruzr & upham! :D

as it seems i am prolongating what i did back at the ZAcademy (in general - but in an enforced way in this very) thread in question: confusing everyone :confused: (no wonder you did not understand any of my displaced blahblah! :D ) - so in respect to the somewhat likely quick-link-section-future of THIS thread i will get out of it asap this time...

just wanted to tell you, that

a) seeing all these incredible ZMasterpieces in the forums lately makes me feel more like a newbie every day (hey, those were the times! anyway: i’m even a bit afraid of 1.23! :D)

and

b) my loooong & desperate quest for the infamous "tilde"-key on my obviously made-for-yodeling-purposes-only keyboard finally ended successfully this very afternoon when i tried to figure out uphams problems - what a fascinating :tu: :cool: feature! (for other tildesperados out there: at least on my alpine keyboard it’s right beside the shift-key). thank you, upham, once more! :D

[Pixolator]

Hi :)
Upham: Is it the layering effect that you are most interested in? There are several methods that you can utilize in order to create such image (quite easily). I have found one of my old Arts&Crafts tests which has a ‘layering’ effect.

user_image-1032057794wbi[1].jpg

This image was created by using a 3D Cylinder tool. I am not sure whether this is what you need, if it is and you (or any member) are interested to learn about an easy method to create such images, please let me know and I will post a mini tutorial.

-Pixolator

[Kruzr]

Hi Pixolator...Although your images & message was directed towards Upham, I would like to see a "mini tut" on how you created these images. :rolleyes:

But of course, I'm always willing to view any tuts that you want to post. :D

Thanks in advance & have a good one... :cool: Mark.

[Nikko]

Pixolator, you should know better than to ask us IF we would like another tutorial of ANY kind from you. I might not be planning any "arts and crafts" type pics right now, but I sure would like the info added to my Z-arsenal.

Please, tutorialize us on this subject. That image is pretty cool and those textures are great. Very 3d. :cool: :cool: :cool:

[upham]

OOh! How cool! The 3d cylinder tool? I never thought of that! Stroke set to dots,
depth turned down ... hmmm
Hey Pixolator, if you are not too busy I would be REALLY interested in a miny tut!
Please!
Several methods, ah?? ... Since I'm a millionaire I'll have to get some servants
to research this... while I lie by the pool... being fed grapes ...
by playboy bunnies...who sing christmas carrols ... hmmmmmm... :rolleyes:
Upham. :)

PS. This is to create a childrens book illustration.
PPS I've used the single layer tool, but end up getting big black lines around the edges,
which is usually fixed by playing with the lighting.

[upham]

Heck its easy to get sidetracked in ZBrush!
I started playing with the MRGBZgrabber with this image ..

user_image-991820279ytj[1].jpg

I was hoping to get a Alpha grab with out 2.5 depth - just black & white. Oh well.
And then I exported the Alpha out and loaded it in Photoshop. When examining
the results in PS it seems to have two alpha channels and one of them is pretty
crazy lookin' ...

user_image-991820611aaf[1].jpg

I could proberly use this to import back into ZBrush as a alpha-texture!
I better get back to the oridginal thread topic!
U. :)

[Pixolator]

Hi :)
Here is a quick explanation of the method that I used when creating the image in the previous post, and the image below. I will (as soon as I find the time) write a more detailed explanation of the process because it is quite effective and fun to use, with this method you can quickly create images that do have many uses (such as children’s books, illustrations, fun web pages…and lots of fun :) )

1. Select TOOL ::Cylinder3D tool (later you may want to try different tools)
2. Select STROKE ::Dots stroke type. (Or FreeHand stroke type)
3. Locate the PICKER ::Z slider, which is located within the Picker palette. By using the slider we are instructing ZBrush draw the Cylinder in the specified depth and not use the auto depth adjustment. You will be using this slider a lot, so it is a good idea to ctrl-click the slider and bring it out next to your floating menu (this will allow for an easier access). We set the initial depth to 0. (type 0 and press enter)
4. By default, ZBrush will try to orient the 3D object based on the existing Pixols in the canvas. In this case, we want the Cylinder to be at the same orientation at all times, to do so, we need to click on the orientation (pencil) icon that is located at the top-left of the Picker pallet. Pressing this icon (without changing the orientation of the ‘pencil’) will turn off the default “Continuous” that is assigned to the orientation of the drawn objects.
5. By default, ZBrush will place the center of the 3D object in the specified depth. In this case, we want to have the front-facing side of the cylinder to be drawn in the specified depth and not its center. In order to do so, we set the DRAW ::IMBED value to 1.0 (exactly 1, no more, no less). This is an important step without which, the depth of each layer will be modified by the size of the brush and you will not get a consistent-depth surface (especially if you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet). If you click on the tool preview icon below the IMBED slider and rotate the object about 45 degrees upward, you will be able to see the impact of changing the imbed value on the placement of the 3D object. (The imbed value deserve a more detailed explanation which I will add when writing the full tutorial)
6. All is now ready. Set brush size to about 20 and draw a free hand stroke in your canvas.
7. Modify the Z Depth value to –10 (negative ten) and draw another stroke. You’ll notice that the new stroke is drawn in front of the previous stroke.
8. Set the Z Depth slider to 10 and draw another freehand stroke. This time the stroke will be drawn behind the previously drawn stroke.
9. That is all. You simply select the depth value (-20,-10,0,10,20…) and draw.


::Note: From time to time, you may want to try a different stroke type.

:b3: What is a “Stroke Type” ?
Stroke type determines the method in which ZBrush interprets your mouse clicks and movement. For example… The ‘Drag Rectangle” stroke type instruct ZBrush to create s single object in which the center of the object would be in the “Mouse Down” position and the size of the object will be determined by the distance between the “Mouse Down” position and the “MouseUp” position. The “Dots” stroke type instructs ZBrush to continuously draw the selected tool wherever your mouse is positioned while the size of the object is determined by the “Draw Size” value. The “Line” stroke type instruct ZBrush to place repeated instances of the selected tool in a strait line between the “Mouse Down” position and the “Mouse Up” position.

:b3: Why is ZBrush utilizing the “stroke type” method?
The “Stroke Type” method main benefit is that it allows each tool to behave differently based on the currently selected “Stroke Type” which in essence increases (significantly) the number of tools variations that are available in ZBrush while still keeping the number of actual tools manageable.

Here is one more of the Arts&Crafts tests…

ArtsAndCrafts39.jpg

Note: In the above image, I have slightly modified the basic Cylindrer3D tool prior to drawing. I have used the TOOL ::DEFORMATION ::SquizXZ function in order to add a bit of curvature to the Cylinder.


I would recommend to everyone (even if not specifically interested is this type of images) to try this method; you will find it easy to use, very effective, and fun. If you do try it, please post you findings and image/s.
Thanks,
Pixolator

P.S> Upham: The reason that you are getting 2 alphas is because ZBrush is internally using a 16bits alpha which allows for 65536 gray levels while standard Photoshop alpha is utilizing 8bits alpha which allows for 256 levels. When exporting ZBrush alpha, ZBrush will create 2 Photoshop channels in order to hold this information (which can be imported into ZBrush with all 16bits intact). The first alpha channel contains the most significant bits of information while the secondary alpha is the least significant bits of information. (in simpler terms, the main alpha holds the integer values from 0 to 255 while the secondary alpha holds the fraction part of the value from .00 to .99 )

[juandel]

:tu: :tu: :tu: thank you, pixolator! one more neato feature on my learn Zchedule! :D

[upham]

F A N T A S T I C !!
This is JUST what I'm after!

Thanks for creating this tutorial Pixolator! I know you are a busy guy, so extra thanks comming your way!! I really
appreciate your time!
Now I'll get creating some results..
Upham. :)

PS. Thanks for the info about the alpha channel. (a wee bit over my head - but I roughly know what you are talking about)

[brn]

Thanks for another great tutorial. Here's one more thing I don't have near enough time to play with! :) One thing I discovered is that if you have Use Tablet turned on, the depth of the stroke will still vary with pressure sensitivity. Changing the Z depth to 0 in the Tablet menu or turning off Use Tablet made the problem go away. On the other hand, there's potential for some other interesting effects if you leave the pressure sensitivity on...

[juandel]

ola, pixolator! :D

i gave your tutorial a try... this technique and your tutorial are simply fantastico! :tu: i’m sure one day you’ll show us some picker/z/stroke/alpha/materialZetc. settings-manipulations that create a 5D pic complete with smell & sound by just following your simple put & clear instructions! :D can’t wait that monitorshaking day!

:ex: anyway, this time i had some severe problems at the beginning (STEP 3, pickers Z-settings)! Mac(8.6)-ZBrush kept shutting down/collapsing when i followed the last part (type 0 and press enter) - which seems to be the default-setting when the canvas is empty, anyway (silly me)! the first time i was receiving an "error 2" message but otherwise the finder just kept telling me, that ZBrush crashed (aha!) and that i should reboot. this made me a) :mad: and b) finally relaunching/defragmenting the complete system. c) it made me :mad: again as ZBrush kept crashing even after the relaunch as soon as i touched the "0". finally, i decided to not follow the "type 0 and press enter" part of step 3 and went on to step 4 & painting. after doing so tweaking pickers Z-settings was no problem anymore... :D even retarded juandel got it by now, that probably there has to be something in the canvas to change this setting to 0 but i thought that just in case you have time to verify my problems and/or someone else is encountering the same problems i did, you might want to edit this tiny part of the otherwise fantastico tutorial!? ;)

[Jaycephus]

:tu: Here are my first two exported pics from ZBrush:

user_image-1001272590nwx[1].jpg

user_image-1001272638eyb[1].jpg

This is so cool.

Jay

[aurick]

Whoa! Great work, Jay. Those look exactly like they were made from pasting layers of cut felt together. Boy, if I'd had this program at my disposal in grade school, maybe my felt projects wouldn't have turned out looking like Picasso on crack. LOL

Again, great work! Both images are just awesome.

[Muvlo]

Nice, nice images Jaycephus! :tu:
Excellent use of this tutorial. You've kinda inspired me to try it again. When I first tryed it, it looked like Pixolator on crack! :eek:
;)
Again, good job! :)

[Muvlo]

To say what Jay said, "This is so cool" !!!
I'm hoping this looks a little less like Pix on crack...

user_image-1001292264dzx[1].jpg

-Muvlo (Having lots of fun, thanks Pix!)
:)

[juandel]

VERY cool, Jay (welcome and thank you for bringing this up again!) and Muvlo! :D

[Jaycephus]

Thank you, Aurick, Muvlo, Juandel. You're very kind.

I've just started learning the demo, and the felt material was the first one I've tried to make. Pixolator did not specify how to make 'felt', and it took me a while to get it right. I also noticed that Pixolator doesn't seem to have a problem I have when using freehand: the pixels on edges tend to jag by two instead of one. This is not the case on the stencils. Given that this is simulating felt, it is not the end of the world to have a jagged edge. But it is noticeable between the stenciled pieces and the freehand pieces on my test picture. I do not see the same problem in Pixolator's pics.

Pixolator or anyone else, is there some setting that would resolve this for me?


Muvlo's texture looks like colored clay, pressed flat and cut-out to create the picture. The light on the sun area makes it really look like a physical creation and not a virtual piece. That is neat. The other thing that it looks like is colored leather pieces.

Muvlo, did you intend to have the dark edge around each piece? I had the same thing with the felt pieces originally, and it detracted from the realism of my virtual felt. Many tests with adjusting the Diffuse Curve resulted in just about the right amount of shadow and highlight along the edges. The actual adjustment ended up being very simple.

Thanks all,

Jay

[Muvlo]

Thanks for your comments Jay and Juandel. Jay, I'll give that Diffuse tip a try, thanks! And welcome to ZBC, hope to see lots more from you.
:)

[[ Vincent ]]

I love this technique :ex: :ex: :ex:
This tutorial is excelent :tu: :tu: :tu:
Thanx Pixolator.

Here my first experience:

user_image-1001419303uqq[1].gif

user_image-1001419339anr[1].jpg

[juandel]

ah, brasil... wonderful! :cool:

- juandel

[Cobra]

hi all and thx for yet another god tut..
but i cant get this part right cant find this
. By default, ZBrush will try to orient the 3D object based on the existing Pixols in the canvas. In this case, we want the Cylinder to be at the same orientation at all times, to do so,

this button
"we need to click on the orientation (pencil) icon that is located at the top-left of the Picker pallet".

as u can see it works almost all the time but all of a suddeen it draws a cylinder instead of plane dot-stroke :tu: :tu:

user_image-1041708567wfy[1].jpg

[Mahlikus The Black]

I first wanted to say that I love this look. Its a whole bunch of fun! :D
I have been asked to make a shirt design for a camp in Japan and for what I have in mind...this is the perfect style. So, I have been practicing with cool results. I have a problem though. Everything works peachy with the 3D tools but when I try and use the simple brush...nothing happens..I see the color transfer in the layers palette but I see nothing in the actual artwork...same goes for the single layer brush...any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Jaycephus]

Isn't this a case of the pixols being placed behind the clipping plane? They show up in the mini-picture in the Layers palette, so you know they are there, but you can't see them in the document window. For example, if you do a fill, you create a layer of pixols of a given color in front of this plane, and then any painting affects or goes on top of these pixols. But without the fill, they can fall to the very back or bottom of the work volume depending on what tool you are using and your layer settings.

In short, do a fill.

[Mahlikus The Black]

I have..and I use the picker to pick my Z-Depth...still happens... :(

[Frenchy Pilou]

Hi MtB
Maybe try once to "Bake" all !
Pilou

[Mahlikus The Black]

Nevermind yall...I figured out what was wrong.

[gummie]

Hmm, I've had problems of this sort with layers before - I think that it's not a true layers per say for painting because it seems that the more layers you add the more displaced your painting becomes. I don't typically use the create new layer option but just use Duplicate and clear. That seems to maintain the same depth of the layer without adjusting manually. Maybe that will help or try Frenchy's baking suggestion. I haven't tried that one myself.

Sounds ingenious. :)

[DanRoberts]

Ran accross this thread while perusing Pixolators threads :D. Thought Id play around with it. So I just kinda did something similar to what he did .... plus I liked his killer whale :p ... so I made a baby one.

Dan

Layered2D_B_Sun_small.gif

[jotajota]

excelente metodo pero tengo problemas!!!no encuentro el comando Z DEPTH :cry: :mad:..!!! alguien podria explicarme??
ademas el resultado para mi no es igual en cuanto a la calidad de la textura...
z_depth2.JPG
alguien que me heche una mano por favor..help!!
z_depth.jpg

[jotajota]

:confused: :confused: :confused: :mad:

z_depth3.JPG

[andreseloy]

press show actions and notes to see the steps.
hope this help

Andreseloy

[jotajota]

:D :tu: :tu: :tu:
z_depth4.JPG

[jotajota]

Andreseloy :D :cool: :tu: :tu:

z_depth5.JPG

[Frenchy Pilou]

Pilou

[andreseloy]

:tu:
Andreseloy

[jotajota]

excelente herramienta!!! :tu:
z_depth5b.JPG

[jotajota]

watercolor :tu:
z_depth5C.JPG

[jotajota]

Gracias amigo Andreseloy !!
valoro grandemente su ayuda ,esta es una herramienta que me sirve cantidades, una verdadera maravilla :tu: :tu: :tu:

[jotajota]

:D z_depth5D.JPG

[pajonate]

Jotajota, you are marvelous, I loved the froggy faced model and it's cartoonish expressions. Great, man. You made me laugh.

:cool: Pajonate

[jotajota]

UNO + :D
z_depth5E.JPG

[jotajota]

Pajonate..espero que ayude.. :D :tu: z_depth5f.JPG

[pajonate]

What you posted helps a lot, and I tried it before, but if you compare it with the post on the second page you'll see that the object there are smooth inside, but I think that I figured it out. If you use the mouse instead of presure sensitive tablet you'll get that result. With mouse you are having 100% pressure all the time and than the inner roudness of the tool is covered completely, and if you use a tablet, you can't keep the 100% all the time. I hope this will help you also.

[jotajota]

oK Pajonate ,pero lo que veo es que mientras se mantenga el valor imbed
en 1 depende de el valor en depth que se vea con mayor o menor volumen
el relieve :)
z_depth5I.JPG

[andreseloy]

la otra alternativa complementaria a lo que estas explorando es en el Panel Picker cambiar el valor del slider Z a -10, 10, 10,-40 para que logres trazados en diferentes planos de profundidad y cada trazo no es desdibujado por el otro (porque esta en un plano distinto).
Buenìsimas las incursiones.....
Andreseloy

[pajonate]

Hey, Jotajota,
I don't understand spanish and I had my admin assistants help me with translation.I think I got what you said mostly from the picture, and as soon I get home I will try it. From the look of it (the picture) I think you nailed it. that is exectly what I was looking for.

THANK YOU JJ!!!

[jotajota]

ok

1- select tool cilinder 3d
2- select stroke
3- select in Draw IMBED 1
4-select in Draw Depth (this is variable + or -)
5-select in Picker orientation (variable) and Z Depth -10 -20 -30 10 20 30etc..etc

6-paint in canvas

:o

[jotajota]

:D :D :D
z_depth5J.JPG

[jotajota]

OK Pajonate !! :tu:
me gustaria ver su progreso..un saludo :cool: :tu:

[andreseloy]

what jotajota stated in numbers is what i was trying to add¡¡
Andreseloy

[pajonate]

JJ and Andre, thank you for the help. I got the lost from JJ translated and I will not be able to post something soon so you can se my progress (crazy days at work, so at home I hate my computer, :p ). I have an idea what to do next but it might take me some time. Thank you for the replies.

I am still open for talking, if not for posting new threads. ;)