Creating Hair with Alpha Skinning

[cwahl]

Hi

Yet another way to make hair.

Thanks to Spaceman for describing a similar approach in my 'Making Hair with the Ring primitive' thread-
http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=015499&p=1

This method creates great wispy bits which the ring method didn't.

Let me know what you think.

user_image-1084261446wtz.jpg

[ron m]

cwahl! it just gets better and better! that looks great!
when i try to re create it though -using the settings you've shown - MRes 256 ,MDepth100 and MSm 1
i get a tool so poly heavy that its really really slow and difficult to transform. your sample looks so flowihg that it cant have been so awkward to shift around. have i missed something?

[cwahl]

Hey Ron

After you've resized it along the z-axis to the desired length, optimize it a couple of times and it becomes alot easier to handle.

Just playing around with the hair and using Twist produces some great results.

Also for the texture I just used the default mottled brown texture (Txtr02)

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084276601jod.jpg

[wchamlet]

Excellent! This is probably the coolest technique I've seen with Zbrush. I can't wait to try it out!

Thank you very much Cwahl!

[ron m]

thanks cwahl!!
yeah i was playing around with that too!
also seeing how low you can go with the MRes to start with.
that new batch of variations you just knocked out looks great. i'm trying some too- i just can't churn em out as quick as you ! i'll post something as soon as i've got something worthy!

- isn't it bed time in OZ? :tu:

[ron m]

so- i just thought that rows of hair would be useful-
easy to layer and add to and wrap around ahead etc.
i made an an alpha of rows of dots - then made 3d etc ...the hair length varies with the size of the dots obviously and i didn't bother getting them all exactly the same http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084282502gba.jpg
jim coe thought the wigs earlier would be good for water effects maybe thse could made nice cascades and fountains in the right materials!

[honeypie]

I'm missing something. How do you make an alpha from the spray stroke?

[cwahl]

I'm figuring this method will be great for realistic hair while the Ring method from the previous thread will be good for cartoon hair.

I'm thinking this'll work for any hair- eyebrows, moustaches, goatees, even short spiked hair.

Here are some more samples

Each piece below is made from just one alpha skinned object.

Bedtime in Oz? Yep, just burning the midnight oil waiting to do my baby's next bottle feed, while my wife has a well-earned rest.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084283321dxm.jpg

[cwahl]

Honeypie

You grab your image with the MRGBZGrabber tool found in the Tool objects. This will convert the sprayed brushstroke into an alpha.

Ron- Cool stuff. That was a similar shaped alpha I used for the eyebrows. Long and narrow.

[ron m]

that long twisted style is one alpha? wow!!
i was messing with that tool i just posted and found these nice ends - which look as though they have feather potential -- now if i could only remember exactly what i did. http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084284532wnh.jpg

how fine do you recon we can go with this system ?

[honeypie]

Thanx Cwahl

[cwahl]

Hey Ron

I think this method will replace the need for transparency mapped hair in Zbrush. Much less fuss and with alot more depth. And as opposed to the post rendered painted hair (which will always have it's uses) this hair is affected by the lighting setup and shadows.

I found a way to get equal length hair. Should come in handy.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084287300gfw.jpg

[boozy floozie]

Bravo cwahl a superb investigation and exploration. :tu:

Thanks for sharing. :)

[ron m]

yeah ,it looks fantastic cwahl! i love this playing around finding stuff!!

i spun off in the feather direction- after seeing glops dodo post .
i think there's something usable developing
waddya recon?

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084289822ssg.jpg

[cwahl]

Hey, I think you're on to something there, Ron.

Here's a high res render of some hair with a different alpha approach.

I'm also thinking the equal length method would be good for making eyelashes also...

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084291443ieb.jpg

[ron m]

yep! very nice! :tu:

[Abyssis]

Isn´t ZBrush awsome? And the guyzz, they work and explorate it too? :D :tu: :tu:

[Gary Komar]

:tu: never enough ways to make hair in z
cool stuff guys,girls?

[johnny blaze]

Thick ponytail http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084313303sjl.jpg

[johnny blaze]

use radial flatten deformation from top of hair shaft
to get this tightly spun hair. http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084314111qem.jpg

[abxy]

oh my goodness, do you all realize what you all have done? you all are on your way to creating an official new zbrush technique! I won't be suprised if this thread will be permenantly highlighted as well as this technique being mentioned in an updated version of the practical guide...

The next step is for someone to create zscripts for all 3 different hair hair creation methods we've seen in zbrush so far. Each one has their place of use.

keep exploring!!

[ron m]

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084369870nlj.jpg

so- this is my latest attempt to refine the hair thing.
it's a departure from the alpha method = this is more fiddly but once you've made -say an eyebrow tool -thats it -
you just reuse and modify it as needed. i'm sure you can do whole wigs this way, that you could custom style once you've made a basic model
also because of the nice long taper you get with this method its getting into the realm of fur rather than simply 'hair'.

when i've figured out how to- i will do a zscript . but basically you start with modified 3d cones making multimarker objects - making polymesh and multimarking again until you build up usable sized patches of hair.
anyway i'll try and put together a demonstration of some kind if people are interested.

[tdrs]

very cool£¬i'd wait for your tur¡££º£© :tu: :tu:

[mapsle]

All your topics are very interesting and brings really something. :tu: It would be great if someone could create a script based on hair's creation.

[ron m]

heres a basic how to..

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084382628ueh.jpg

let me know if there's any glaring errors.

[Frenchy Pilou]

Hairs by hairs with micro chirurgy :)
Cool tut :cool:
Pilou

[Sleeperservice]

So now all we need is a new Tool type; Comb! & perhaps some way to apply hair gel :)

[mapsle]

With this method, i done a try for vegetation.
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084387495jgl.jpg

[ron m]

fantastic mapsle!! great jungle!
:tu:

[BazC]

There's some impressive results here, the poly counts must get scary though, even by Z-Brush standards!

[cwahl]

Hey Ron.

Great new technique! :tu: :tu: :tu:

[cwahl]

Hey Ron. Thanks again for that new approach.

Here's a technique which combines both our methods. A quicker way to build a full wig, instead of doing it strand by strand.

We make a pretty good team. :tu:

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084420308nlw.jpg

[tdrs]

but i think the last methods is very ...like fibre brush or fibre shader.i see£¬these effect....i maybe choose fibre brush because it¡®s fast ...

[Giantsun]

That last one looks awsome, please post a full hair style. Would love seing that done with this tech.

[Dan R]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> That last one looks awsome, please post a full hair style. Would love seing that done with this tech.
________________

I said "Hi" ...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heh ... when I saw ur sig ... and thought about my sig .... it made me laugh :)

Its like ur answering me. hehe.

[cwahl]

tdrs- Yes it does look similar to the Fibre Brush/Fibre Shader, but the above method creates an editable object which can be styled to your own tastes, whereas the Fibre brush/shader is a post Render effect and is limited to the brush settings.

[Frenchy Pilou]

Hi Cwahl
Just a little precision :)on for the waiting demo users of the Zb2
In each of your super tuts I don't see the moment where the "3d creation" is building (like a sort of "make alpha3D" Zb2 ?
What step I have missed ?
Or it's the Alpha skinning who make automaticly the 3D ?
Pilou

[ron m]

hi cwahl!
i like your variation ! you can do exactly the same thing with groups of my cone hair
once youve made a batch -with the added benefit of each strand having a much lower poly count because they can be as primitive as your prepared to go with the initial strand.
applying the bunches with dragdot is ace though isnt it! that was forum user mestela's cool idea when we were brainstorming yesterday. makes it so easy to apply.
i cant wait to see what comes up next!

[cwahl]

Hi Frenchy

Firstly, this isn't a Z2 process. I'm a Mac user, so all hair processes shown by me are done using Zbrush 1.55b! So anyone can do them...including Z2 users. ;)

Secondly, making an alpha into 3D hair is done in the alpha-skinning stage, by choosing the Alpha-skinning settings then pressing the 'Make 3D' button. This 3D object is then stretched using the Tool/Size (along the Z plane), to make it into long hair.

Ron- The added advantage of using the skinned object with your method, is that since the hair object is based on a flat alpha, the created object is already aligned to the flat plane. No need for offsetting. And optimizing the object makes it as easy to handle as the primitive.

...but now it sounds like I'm trying to outdo you, Ron. Which is not the case. ALL of these methods have their own individual uses. And if we can combine ideas to make a better process, all the better. :tu:

[ron m]

absolutely ! cwahl ! this bouncing back and forth is just the best way to come up with stuff ! i'm gonna try some more samples today . :tu:

[Frenchy Pilou]

Hi Cwahl
That's was that !
The moment "pressing the make 3D button" was not signify :)
All is clear now!
Pilou
ps because I had very often used this button, I was confused to not see it on the text :)

[mestela]

An extension of the techniques ron and I discussed yesterday, here's a quick stab at feathers/scales:

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084435017bnz.jpg

A few other things we worked out; using the 'm' hotkey to mark makes drawing out your objects incredibly fast. You quickly work up a rhythm of drag, m, drag, m, drag, m etc..

The other thing, which isn't strictly needed, is you put your base object on one layer, and do your hair/feathers on another. That way your base object is protected, allowing you to try several approaches if need be.

-matt

[cwahl]

Hey Matt.

Good to know there's a shortcut for marking.
The 'M' key. Derrr...I should have known. :rolleyes:

That's an interesting armoured look you have going there. It's obvious that this is not just a process for making hair.

Ron- A bit of friendly competition's always good. ;)

[cwahl]

Results from Alpha-Skinning using the 'Double-sided' option.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200405/user_image-1084439941hro.jpg

[Frenchy Pilou]

Alpha Skinning = Make3D :)
Pilou

[sirquadalot]

Thank you for sharing, although I don't make hair often, this could be an interesting method for creating grass and other types of plants. If I can knock something out, I'll post an image. Keep up the experimenting! :D

[Jinxius]

Hi mestela, that image looks like the one I saw on evasion|3D site look at meshpaint gallery and see what I mean.

See ya,
Jinxius.

[mestela]

Heh, so it does:
Their gallery is a great source of ideas:
http://www.evasion3d.com/mp_gallery.html

Thanks for the link!

Cheers,

-matt

[Forlocks]

I love what you two are doing and i been trying to get the hang of it. I'm still pretty newb at this as i am not the best at experimentation.

So, i got 3 questions

- where do i find the Optimize button?
- how do you get the hair to taper near the ends like that? My attempts don't seem to do that.

last one, - When you guys style it with deformations are you using the gyro or clicking edit?

[herdmann]

Forlocks,
thats a pretty old thread - we havent heard from Cwahl in a while.
heres a thread with a zscript he posted to make this kind of hair.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=40704#post40704

Optimize is in the the geometry section of the tool pallette -
I think this hair was figured out in 1.5b from reading the threads -so there might be slight procedural differences.
Deformations is in the tool pallette too

H

[saltapiedras]

Excelente manera de resolver el pelo cwahl:tu:

[anandmatrix]

can u anybody tell me how to do the alpha stoke

[Papiea]

i guess im the only person that cant do this tutorial for strands of hair... i just dont really follow any of it..

"making dots uniform"?

"alpha shin with mesh with smoothness at 1?"

i dont suppose you could dumb it down a little more or maybe even just make a simple video?:(

[aurick]

i guess im the only person that cant do this tutorial for strands of hair... i just dont really follow any of it..

"making dots uniform"?

"alpha shin with mesh with smoothness at 1?"

i dont suppose you could dumb it down a little more or maybe even just make a simple video? :(
Choose the Tool>SingleLayerBrush and the Spray stroke type. I also recommend Alpha 14 for its hard edges. I use the single layer brush because it allows you to adjust RGB intensity and Z intensity separately.
When you have the Spray stroke type selected, go to the Stroke palette. There you will find settings that affect the stroke. Set Placement to 1, Flow to .25 and Scale to 1.
Set Rgb Intensity to 100 and Z Intensity to 2.
On a blank canvas, use a couple very brief strokes to create your alpha. It should a pattern somewhat similar to the Spray stroke's icon -- fairly round if you want just a lock of hair. Of course, if you wanted a layer of hair you could create a line of scattered dots instead.
Select the MRGBZGrabber tool. Drag a stroke on the canvas that boxes in the alpha that you just painted. When you release the mouse, you'll have a new item in the Alpha palette called DepthGrab01.
Now that you have your custom alpha, you can clear the canvas. If you want, you can create more alphas as long as you have everything set up for it.
Make sure your custom alpha is selected. In the Alpha palette, set MRes to 256, MDep to 100 and MSm to 1. Turn off DblS. Now click the Make 3D button (which is right next to those modifiers). A quick message will appear, then a new tool will appear in the Tool palette. This is a 3D mesh created from your 2D alpha. It will become your hair.
Draw the new mesh on the canvas and enter edit mode. Rotate the view a bit so you can see what's going on.
In Tool>Deformation, turn off the X and Y modifiers next to Size. Only Z should be active. Now repeatedly set the deformation to 100. Your hair tool will double in length each time. After several such deformations, it'll look like a lock of hair.
At this point you could use deformations to shape it. But ZBrush 3 makes it easier. Try appending the hair to a head and position it so that one end is barely inside the scalp. Now you can use TransPose to style and shape the hair. With multiple strands like this, you can quickly build up an effective hair style.

Don't want every hair in the strand to be the same length? Try this: Before you convert the alpha to a 3D mesh, increase the Alpha>Rf (radial fade) setting slightly. Values of 2-5 should be ideal. Then press Make Modified Alpha to convert that setting into a new alpha. The resulting 3D mesh will have the longest strands in the center.

[SpaceMan]

Cool walk through aurick:tu:

[cwahl]

Good to see that the latest Zbrush has ways to make this technique even more effective. Thanks Aurick!