A Simple, Clay Based Method for Braided Hair

[kadewey]

Inspired by Ryan Kinglien's "Bust with Flowing Hair" Tutorial from Gnomon, I've been doing "Hair Studies", modeling one hair style after another on the same bald bust. One of those styles was braids. Because my roots are in clay, I adapted a clay based method. While not as elegant as the Alpha based method I've subsequently found, it's simple enough for the ZBrush novice.

1. Load the Cylinder 3D Primitive and turn it on end. In Initialize set X to 10, Y to 6, and leave Z at 100. You now have a long rod with an oval cross section. Subdivide 4-5 times. Adjust the orientation in the Preview Window.

2. In Deformation, Twist to the right 8-15 times only on the Y axis. This example is 10 twists, suitable for my needs. More twists will create the illusion of a longer braid.

3. In Deformation, apply Inflate on the Y axis to a value of 50. If you twisted the rod more than 10 times, Inflate to a lower value. If you used fewer twists, apply a higher value. Subtract or add roughly 10 points for each twist over or under 10.

10. Apply Balloon Inflate on all three axes (X,Y,Z)to the same value, in this case 50.

4. Convert to a polymesh and Unify. Texture as desired. I used the Standard Brush, Damian Standard and accented the grooves with the Slash 3. This is one (longitudinal) half of the braid.

5. In SubTool, Duplicate and then Mirror the duplicated half braid. In Deformation, Offset the new half to create full braid. Merge in the Subtool Menu.

6. Load the Merged Braid. In Deformation, Unify and Taper.

7. Append a Zphere to the tapered end, scale the sphere down and enter ZSketch. Hit Edit. Use the armature brush to add a tuft of unbraided hair. Hit A to preview Skin and play with the texture. Snake hook is nice for an added bit of detail. Add Universal skin. Delete the ZSphere and append the skinned tuft. Merge, load merged braid, finish detailing.
braidsteps.jpg
Here is the bust with appended braids, crown hair made in ZSketch:
briadscomp.jpg

[SpiritDreamer]

Thanks for sharing the technique.:tu: .Will be useful for sure..:)

[shrikant09]

Thanks for sharing..

[EricShawn]

Cool. Seems you could have put the longitudinal striations representing hairs on in step 1, no?

[kadewey]

I did experiment with Mask All, Collums and achieved a good striated texture that vanished after Inflate. So, no.
Alas,
Katherine Dewey

[DerLandvogt]

Great. Thanks for sharing!

[kadewey]

I stand corrected. As the program was acting sluggish, I rebooted and a made second attempt with higher, more visible values (12) in Column under Mask All. After inflating, clear mask, when twisted and inflated, the striations were still evident. While it lacked the natural look achieved by hand, it must have applications. The oblate cross section (with its two radii) effected the way masking was applied. That was interesting.
Katherine

[Jerick]

Zbrush does share it's roots with classic clay sculpting so variations of such methods are very fitting here.

[kadewey]

Want a longer braid? After Step 5, Duplicate the braided section in the Subtool Menu. In Deformation, apply Offset as needed only on the Y Axis and then Merge. The braid on the left illustrates Offset in action. The braid on the right has been duplicated, merged and the process repeated with the longer merged section. It is four times as long as the original braid.
braidplay.jpg

[jmeyer]

Nice technique.
Instead of merging subtools you could also try the mirror
and weld feature.
Keep experimenting,J.

[mix_mash]

That's not how braided hair actually braids (unless it's a specfic style that I'm missing). Still it's good for 'fake' braided hair.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[kadewey]

You're right, Paul. I was using round braided cord as a model and, as a result, forgot to create the offset that comes from plaiting what are essentially flat sections of hair. This is easily remedied by offseting one half just a bit on the Y axis before merging the two so that it looks likes this:
braidoffset.JPG

Still, it is an illusion,
Katherine Dewey

[Urchinator]

That's an interesting technique, thanks for sharing it!

[digital_3d]

Nice sculpts and thanks for sharing the tips.
I was searching for Braided Hair from long time but didn't get proper idea how to make them so I made them in max itself. but now able to make them in zbrush too :)

[eyadness]

Thank you, thats a nice idea :)

[K_Rider]

Every time I see these clever tutorials I have to remind myself to study up on those deformation tools. I could see that you could also use this method for just a plain rope as well.

Thanks for sharing.

[jbecana]

Nice tutorial, thank you for you time.

[kadewey]

The same braids curved laterally in Deformation and laid on the head with Match Maker. 276462

[SummerJeffries]

Really thats a nice idea! I like it and hope from you to post such points in future also.

[Giacinti]

Nice! I've been trying to think of a way to create a uniform rope pattern solely in zbrush, this helps a lot!

[ABQ]

I never post but in this case... Excellent Tip! :D:D:D

[usurpator]

many thanks for this great tip!
any suggestions on how to make a Bavarian or is it Plain German hair bun , with the braids wraps around the bun?
cheers and thanks again!

[calico1]

Anyone try this, since R3? I don't believe it still works. On the 'Y' twists in step #2 are not looking the same as the diagram here. I would like to understand why not.

[CeeKay]

Hey kadeway!

Nice work and good call on using 'matchmover' om this :) :tu:

I rmember spending a ton of time doing this in Maya some years back for a seemingly 'simple' project with deformers etc... (rinse & repeat!)

Great thread :)

[CeeKay]

OT: Can't post images..... is there some bit of 'magic' I' missing here??

[calico1]

Really? It doesn't work per instructions in R3. I'd be happy to know how following the instructions on this to a T isn't working correctly. I've done it three times with nothing like these results.

Anyone try this in R3? And if so, please post here to show us your results. Also let us know if you needed to change anything. For example, I cannot follow step #2 by using only the 'Y' - it doesn't twist appropriately.




Hey kadeway!

Nice work and good call on using 'matchmover' om this :) :tu:

I rmember spending a ton of time doing this in Maya some years back for a seemingly 'simple' project with deformers etc... (rinse & repeat!)

Great thread :)

[kadewey]

Calico1, did you change the orientation in the Preview window so that the rod is vertical (parallel to the Y axis) in the Preview window?

[calico1]

Yes. As far as I know how to do it. I used shift-mouse to upright the tube from the very first step.

Are you not seeing a problem with R3 with this?



Calico1, did you change the orientation in the Preview window so that the rod is vertical (parallel to the Y axis) in the Preview window?

[kadewey]

No, I'm not having any problems. Can you post a picture of your results at step 2? That might help me figure out what's goin on.

[Gareee]

I just replicated it here in r3 without issue. One step (after 4 is listed 10) is possibly a typo, and when you say twist 10-15 times, its not the actual amount 10-15, but is the entire right slider slid all the way to the right 10-15 times. (That threw me the first few tries.)

The instructions don't list mirror is in the geometry palette, and when I used taper, it tapered the opposite than I wanted (the top inflated/deflated, as opposed to the bottom) but rotating the entire thing 180 degrees resolved that.

Maybe a simple rewrite of the instructions to make them more clearer would help? (Adding the later offset listed for the more realistic 2nd half offset.) In no genius in zbrush, and it took me about 20 minutes to replicate it trying to follow the instructions to the letter.

But the technique does still work.. it just takes some tinkering to get the end result, and reading a bit more into it.

EDIT: BTW, I can't find any references to matchmaker in the zb wiki ... is it an old zb plugin addition?

EDIT2: Found it on youtube..(its a new ZB4 brush)

[kadewey]

Yes, I did mean "move the slider all the way to the Right (or Left) 10 to 15 times." Moving the slider fully to the side creates one full twist.

There is a cut and paste typo after Step 3, seemingly titled !0. It's simply part of Step 3, a tweak to the initial inflate.

Mirror is in the Deformation Pallet. If Mirror creates a braid with the chevron effect of braiding pointing up, instead of down, rotate the merged braid 180 Degrees as you noted. Then tapered accordingly, with the chevron pointing toward the tapered end.

Thanks for your help; I'll work on clearer instructions,
Katherine Dewey, not all that wise in the ways of ZBrush

[Gareee]

Hey... you were ahead of a lot of other people! ;) I woulda never thought up this trick!

[calico1]

Here is step #2 - where I don't think it's what you do.

[kadewey]

Hmmm. That's the effect I get when I twist on the Z axis. Try Z rather than Y and see what happens.
Katherine, aka Kathy, Kath or Froggie

[calico1]

Kathy,

The last one I sent you (above) was Y. Check the image (may need a magnifying glass). This is on the Z.

[kadewey]

Again, hmmmm. I have no idea what is wrong, but then I don't know enough about the program. It almost looks as if Smooth was turned off when you divided (it must be On), but other than that I don't know what to say. I tried every axis and combination of axes and could not replicate that effect. I do know it's important to Divide the rod and do all of the Deformations before changing it to a polymesh; the Deformations respond differently to a Primitive. (I tried that, too) I am at wit's end here.
Perhaps one of the real wizards here could help,
Kathy

[calico1]

Smooth was on, but somehow Z is my Y. Not sure how that happened, so it is something I don't understand. I can get this far, but the braid will not taper and I believe this must be due to the Y / Z confusion in my tool...not sure where to go. But, THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP! :D298366

[kadewey]

That braid looks good, as does your Z Twist. My viewing of the Z Twist last night looked very strange, hence my response. Obviously, I should have re-booted; next time, I will.


Kath

[calico1]

Do you mean you did use Z instead of Y...?? Thank you so much. I've been learning so much and it's about time. I love this program.



That braid looks good, as does your Z Twist. My viewing of the Z Twist last night looked very strange, hence my response. Obviously, I should have re-booted; next time, I will.


Kath

[kadewey]

I assumed you used Z instead of Y because of your original Y Twist post. That propeller form is the result I get with a few Z Twists, and the spiral rod is the result I obtain with a series of Y Twists. By the way, the image I saw last night in your post resembled a stack of twisted cubes.
Aside from that puzzle, I wonder if your Y/Z problem resides in that particular Primitive or in the program.

Katherine

[calico1]

Katherine, I even attempted to just not rotate the primitive to see if that was the problem, but this did nothing to change the need for me to use Z. I wish someone who knew would happen on this and say, "This is the reason..."

[kadewey]

Katherine, I even attempted to just not rotate the primitive to see if that was the problem, but this did nothing to change the need for me to use Z. I wish someone who knew would happen on this and say, "This is the reason..."


Z is the original axis of the Cylinder 3D when it first loads to the screen with its circular base facing you. This means the axis didn't change when the cylinder was rotated in the Preview window. Talk (write) to Pixologic and tell them this. It should help them to determine where the problem resides.

Katherine

[calico1]

Kathy, I didn't do this in step #1 - "Adjust the orientation in the Preview Window." I simply did not understand it. That was the problem.

[kadewey]

That was my fault for not clarifying what I meant by the phrase "Adust the orientation in the Preview window".
I should have said "Adust the orientation in the Preview window so that the Cylinder is vertical (parallel to the Y axis) and Store it."
Yup, that's what I should have said.

Kath

[calico1]

Kathy, I'm glad you're being humble about this, but others understood it. I was simply ignorant and thanks to you and others (especially zber), I learned something new.

Great tutorial. Keep sharing your creativity when you can.



That was my fault for not clarifying what I meant by the phrase "Adust the orientation in the Preview window".
I should have said "Adust the orientation in the Preview window so that the Cylinder is vertical (parallel to the Y axis) and Store it."
Yup, that's what I should have said.

Kath

[KaiserKloud]

Very useful tutorial thnx a lot ^^