Rhino Skin

[skycastle]

More fun with Zbrush.
For this image I used custom stencils
to help with the more fine areas of detail.
The image below is just the raw polys!
All this detail and I can still sculpt the
mesh. Zbrush is cool.

You can see when I dont have much time I dont have to care much about the topology on the lowRez ( done in Maya ). Zbrush's speed allows me to get right in and flesh
out the design in 3d.

Dave http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200404/user_image-1083233129ghn.jpg
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/uploaded_from_zbc/200404/user_image-1083233156udb.jpg

[wierdPal]

ohhh.. Man that is top notch. It looks incredible. Congrats on job well done. You could get to photoreal easily using that map. I think so any way. It looks that good to me. :tu:

[Fouad B.]

Dave! Photography are prohibited here!
only CG work :p
Nice done! :tu: :tu:

[Luki]

Sky castle i must say it, you are God of modelling, I love every sigle model you've made. And it's not because of details wchich of course you add with sense of it, but because of the whole shape which I think is most important in model. So keep working and give us more inspiration :).

[mickatt]

very nice work !!!
did you made the uv on maya or on zbrush ??

[skycastle]

Thanks for the comments.

As far as UVs go I did not worry about them
at this point. Remember with Zbrush you
can go back and update the UVs at any time.
This is an important feature since in production work the UVs can change on a model several times.

So I can detail all I want then update the UVs later. There are no maps on this model now what your seeing is just the geo.

thanks

Dave

[YMO]

mother of god...incredible work..
maybe one day you will made tutorial :rolleyes:

sorry 4my bad english

[Mahlikus The Black]

Nice! I used to use the stencil alot with 1.55b. Now, with the new Z, its another modeling tool, and that makes me REALLY excite...just plan forgot about it.
Thanks skycastle! :tu: :tu: :tu:

[KrisTaylor]

Hey man great stuff, by custom stencils do you mean you would make your own brushes and import them into the alpha palatte, then use them with projection master?

[Sleepwalker]

I totally agree with KrisTaylor's
curiosity, how can one use the stencil in projection master ?? Do you make alphas ?
THX a lot, great model M. Cardwell, I wish you could polish your black man off.

[boozy floozie]

Now that's horny.

Superb work. :tu:

[JOHNVQ3]

:) Thats a great rhino,awsome details and custom stencils, very nice :tu: :tu:

[Mahlikus The Black]

If I may answer.
Stencils work with alphas. So he could easily import a rhino/elephant skin alpha into Z.
Then all he as to do is use pm to drop the model. The model is now a snapshot on the canvas. Because of this, a stencil can now be used on it, turn it off when done, and pick the model back up (hotkey g to drop and pickup with pm for the shortcut lovers). Nothing to it really. The big difference between brushes and the stencil is the stencil can conform (wrap) to a model based on pixol normal. This allows one to take, oh let say a skin alpha, and have it follow the folds in a model.
;)
The possibilities......

[BazC]

Superb, your work is just staggering!

[Sleepwalker]

Thx you very much Mahlikus The Black, Indeed your precisions are precious, i didn't get the difference at first between stencil and brush. Very good to know.

[wchamlet]

http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=013874&p=3

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Wchamlet,

Yes. I think as has been stated in earlier
threads on this forum.
You can bake out Displacement Maps, ( Which we used on ROTK )
Normal Maps, Color maps or Color with lighting and shading.

Its all in there. Its fast and painless.

Thanks for everyones comments!

Dave <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry to hijack your thread a bit Dave, but I wanted to ask you a question.

A few months ago, I had asked wether or not you can bake the shader, material in Zbrush, to texture. You said you can do that in Z2, but for the life of me I can't figure out how. It's probably super simple, and I may sound like a fool for asking, but I wanted to see if you could elaborate a bit on baking shaders in Z2.

I can imagine that with the right materials, low-poly texturing for games could be made a lot easier in Z2. Especially if you can "Bake" lights and shadows with the shader too.

I was thinking it had to do with the normal map features, but I haven't tried messing with that yet.

And I still think your work is awesome! My only critique is where are the bodies for all these heads you're making!

[KrisTaylor]

How do you go into stencil mode, I cant find it anywhere?? and is it called stencil, or is it called something else?

[Zeddicus]

You've once again made my doctor happy Dave. Do you have any idea how expensive this is getting? I mean, it's a real pain to keep getting my jaw reattached everytime you make it fall to the floor! :p :D

[skycastle]

Well for color maps its not a true 3d color
bake ( its not like Displacement helper ).
I have just been getting my model into the
right view then setting up my lights and
shader. Next go to the texture menu and you will find a button to grab the canvas. Use that
canvas grab while in projection master to project you hiRes color/texture onto you lowRes. Works really well.

For stencils I just import a proper image from photoshop into the Alpha Menu. Then
I hit the make modified alpha button ( convert the 8bit to 16bit! ) and set my blur for the alpha to 1 or 2 to soften the alpha a bit using the 16bit color values. Then press the Make ST ( make stencil ) button. This
will throw the alpha into the Stencil Menu up top. You can now brush through the stencil while sculpting or in Projection Master. If your in projection master mode be sure to chage your alpha for the brush to something other than the imported one. Or you will be brushing through the stencil using the imported image as your brush! Which could be cool as well. Have fun.

Check the docs for more info on the Stencil
and Alpha menus.

If anyone else has ideas on color map baking
I would love to hear em.

Thanks

Dave

[brook]

hrm not sure about the shader baking. would be usefull tho.

hey Dave i was wondering if you could give a little more info on your stencil method. or maby post an example. are they hand painted? or are you using photos? painting over photos? layering stencils? im trying a bunch of different methods and cant seem to get some of the effects your getting. thanks

[remus]

Skycastle incredible work.
Do you build models using the box modelling method or the poly by poly method?

[Whargoul]

Thanks for the stencil tip Dave, my productivity shot up %500 percent right there!

I like using the stencil, pushing in the skin cracks, then inverting it and texturizing the skin itself without messing up the cracks.

[SpaceMan]

skycastle very excellent work.

I ran the zscript that comes with Z2 on the DecoBrush which has three parts to it I think and the last one shows applying the ZBrush logo to a lizard type creature that conforms to the contours of the model (least wise it looks like it to me)- would the DecoBrush add different skined type textures to different areas of the model over the main texture of the model? If you have tried the DecoBrush in that manner what was the results?

[rdf]

Your work is spot on!

But I too wish I understood this a little better. Got any scripts or tutorials you could share? ;)

[swampthing]

What did you do to get that skin? I've been trying for days to get almost exactly that skin effect and i can't do it. Any tips?

[skycastle]

Here is my general workflow with skin.
In this Z2 script I dont use any custom
alphas for texture but I did for the Rhino.
I recommend a trip to your local Zoo for
good skin ref( thats the ref I work with).
The better your ref the better the final look will be. When you do import your alphas
you can use them the same way that I have outlined in this little tutorial. Sorry its
just a plane. Maybe one day I can do a full
creature tutorial.

DaveskinTexture.TXT (http://www.pixolator.com/ubb/uploaded_files/user_file-1083356106kml.txt)

[brook]

yeah thats the next step i was thinking the zoo. wow if those are hand painted you have def spent a lot of time examining how those pores move and crack etc. the top of the neck is very nice. and i can only imagine the stencel for that area. i am trying to reduce the elements of the skin to a system of brushes that can be used together for a variety of skin types. long skinny cracks fat cracks non uniform bumps etc. but it migth end up that to get the variation of detail you just have to have a lot of large non uniform maps. but thanks for the info tho.

[mike hovland]

Dave,

I watched your script, and am confused. When I try to duplicate the procedure, and choose the deco brush, my object is dropped to the canvas. It doesn't apper that your object is dropped when you use the deco brush.

What am I missing?

[Kircho]

Hi SC,
Thankyou for posting an example from your workflow, it was very entertaining and I've learned or rather realised the virtues of utilising in different combinations zbrushes sculpting tools.

As for you Rhino...I some times wonder if your from Mars or Pluto :)!

Thankyou

Kircho

[skycastle]

Thanks again for the comments,

Mike hovland,

Yes when I use the deco brush I do have the
mesh droped. It just may not show up in the
recorded script. So drop then deco.

You dont have to use deco if you dont want to. I just found that it allows me to draw with a bit more care and stick to a design or reference. The idea with your main character lines is to push the surface in then inflate the gap. I feel skin done this way has a lot more weight. Painted/Texture maped wrinkels dont have the same feel.

Thanks

Dave

[Fouad B.]

Dave, I just saw your script.

Many thing to learn, I never use the stencil tool, and use it as a mask to modelise detail is very good.
thx a lot! :tu:

[SpaceMan]

skycastle - ran your zscript :eek:
A very educatiional zscript - Thanks :cool:

[SpaceMan]

edited- double post

[TuSo]

WoW

[KrisTaylor]

When you etch a groove in the skin and then pull the sides together back over the groove to make the skin folds do you encounter any errors in the displacement maps?

I have made things the same way but when I create the dis map it wont calculate correctly because of the undercuts that have been created by the skin folds. I posted an example of it in the multidirectional displacement thread(moved to QT) but I dont think (based on the replys) that I was making myself clear about what I was asking.

[rdf]

skycastle, I haven't looked at it yet, but thanks for the script

[wet-nap]

hey dave,

very inspirational work, thanks for spending the time to enlighten us. now i've got another notch in my growing zbrush arsenal - stencils.

a follow up to mike's question: i've watched the script you graciously posted a number of times and i'm still stuck at the same place mike was. i've read you reply but i'm not sure if i understand. it seems you suggest that the decoBrush step can be skip all together, however how does one proceed if they want to use the deco feature as you did?

in your script, when you switch to decoBrush your model is definitely dropped to the canvas. which makes sense. however, after you add the detail you wanted, you somehow seem to pick it back up and are able to switch to edite mode. i'm very confused. how did you pick it back up? no matter what i try i can't seem to replicate your process.

thanks

[skycastle]

Use the "G" key to drop the mesh into Projection Master mode. This is perhaps the
most powerfull feature Zbrush has to offer!

Once the mesh is droped you just paint in float
color space. Because the values are float once
you pick up ( g key ) the mesh, the verts will be deformed
based on what you painted. Its in Projection Master mode where you can leverage the rest
of Zbrush's 2.5D tools.

Dave

[madmac]

Very cool script. Thanks a bunch!

[Sleepwalker]

That is so kind of you to share such a nice workflow.I watched the script a couple of times.
THX alot again. You rock skycastle.

[wet-nap]

dave,
thanks for the quick reply and sorry for the stupid question. i use the projection master all the time so the answer should have been obvious, i guess i got hung up on how i couldn't pick up your object if i injected myself into your script. now i get it, thanks for you patience...

i doubt anyone cares, but... after some investigation i think there is a weird bug/hickup regarding scripts. if i start from scratch and reproduce dave's effort, everything works as described and i'm able to drop objects in and out of the canvas. however if one tries to interrupt a script while its in "projection master" for some reason the object seem irreparably glued to the canvas. try to interrupt dave's script after he's placed the first couple decoBrush strokes (but before he switches back to edit more) and try to pick the object up off the canvas. at least for me it doesn't work...

[wchamlet]

If you go to the tools palette the plane should still be there. Just clear the layer and redraw the plane.

[TIO_MATT]

Hi How did you manage to get that alpha detail of the Rhino Skin so sharp When I paint my aLphas and detail in my model It seems to get really blured when I project them and I dont get as much sharp alpha as yours....
Why???

Thanks:

TIO_MATT

[Kane]

Awesome work Dave!

I like the idea of learning without stencils then moving on to using them for things like this.

[Mahlikus The Black]

I have been testing things like wood, scars, cracks in rocks..all kinds of things with the deco..this is yet another tasty morsel.
Love it!
Thanks Dave.

[skycastle]

TIO_MATT

As far as sharp detail goes. You can use
the bump viewer when using painted bump maps.
Or what I did here is to just subdivide the
model a bunch. Not right away but just when it was time to get into very fine detail.

There are almost 5 million polys on screen in the image I posted. That was plenty to get the detail I wanted.

Keep in mind thats 5 million total ( the full head ). What you could do for a character is just import a little over half the creature then subdivide the model. If your UVs are symetrical then
you can detail just half the model then use
the same maps for both sides. Then go back and modify the same tool to get a third set of maps that could be used for aSymetry.

Dave

[tjnyc]

Just incredible work, very inspiring. Can I ask what your computer config is to push so much polys on screen. Are you experiencing any slowdowns working with so many polys?


Cheers,

[skycastle]

Sure

This was done on a P4 2.8 with 2gigs of ram.
I have an ATI9800 pro grfx card w/winXP.

No slow downs. When Im above a few million polys I use mostly projectin master. I only keep visible the areas that Im focused on. Zbrush gives a speed increase when
you hide part of the mesh. When I need to make
gross changes I toggle back down to a lower level of resolution. Its a good way to work
and is consistant with how you need to sculpt. Zoom in for detail zoom out for general proportins and the like.

Oh one more thing when you get 5million polys
Zbrush will think a bit when switching levels
to compact memory. But it does not bother me at all. No other software allows you to sculpt as many polys with the freedom that Zbrush does.

Dave

[Stephen Green]

Hi Dave,

thanks for posting this, it's certainly opened my eyes...

One (dumb) question - how do you reposition the alpha when you are painting a mask? All I can get it to do is to drag an alpha mask from outside the model, but I don't see the menu that pops up in your script.

I've had a look through the practical guide and the keyboard shortcuts but don't seem to be able to find out how I can just position the mask like that.

Thanks

[reboren]

What is your system specs? (thx)

[skycastle]

When you create a stencil from the alpha
you can press the space bar to bring up
a manipulator for the alpha. In the stencil
menu you can turn on a "wrap" mode and toggle
the visibility on/off for the stencil.
With the manip you can scale and rotate the
stencil.

[Stephen Green]

Got it, thanks - I thought it was activated when using the masking brush alpha rather than the stencil itself.

Cheers

[Sleepwalker]

Unless I import very big images to convert them into alphas I get very blurry results, even though I boost up the polygons subdivision. I tried a 570 pixels large on a model in a 1300 pixels layer, subdivided a couple of times but still, I'm not happy with the quality I get. I tested it up to 3.600.000 polys without success.
Your workflow is very interesting to take a look at :)

[skycastle]

Sleepwalker,

Not sure I understand your question.
I have my default document always set to 900x900 pixels (light blue color :) my monitor res is 1280x1024 ( setup for Zbrush ). The stencils that I import can be 2048x2048 in resolution ( because I use diffrent parst of the image ).

If your mesh is dense enough and you using the stencil, a 570x570 image should work fine. Can post an image that shows your results?

Dave

[Sleepwalker]

Hi Skycastle, I was working on a 1365 X 1024 layer and due to very bad weather overhere :) had to rely on small jpegs on the web, instead of chasing the elephant or the rhino at the zoo. The stencils I used were too small, 570 stencils large gave me pretty decent results in projection mode but not in 3d mode, I had to switch to 1024 stencils to get smooth pixols.
Thx very much for answering my question.

[Luki]

skycastle - can I ask you about your hardware?
4.5 million poly it's a little bit to much for my computer :( .

[Zeddicus]

Luki: He posted them already. Look a ways up this page.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>This was done on a P4 2.8 with 2gigs of ram. I have an ATI9800 pro grfx card w/winXP.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Remember, you can selectively hide/show parts of your mesh. This helps a lot. For example, I was able to play with a 3 million poly mesh today without too much trouble at all, P4 2.66 & 1GB RAM.

[Pestopants]

OMG, skyCastle your tutorial on modelling skin texture just got it to click for me, I'm gonna go practice now!

[abeer]

I am a fool, the answers are all in this thread :p

[lildragon]

When you do import your alphas
you can use them the same way that I have outlined in this little tutorial. Sorry its
just a plane. Maybe one day I can do a full
creature tutorial.

DaveskinTexture.TXT (http://www.pixolator.com/ubb/uploaded_files/user_file-1083356106kml.txt)
Sorry to dig up and ancient thread, but does anyone have this tutorial anymore? The link here is dead :(

-lild

[el-d]

I don't have a link but I do seem to recall that it involved

take your subdivded model into projection master
use the deco brush z subtract and draw a series of creases
exit PM
transform - inflate edit brush
and draw around the creases - this inflates the surrounding part givin it a more natural looking fold.

..but if someone else has the tutorial , feel free to post.

El-d
hope that helps.

[Atwooki]

Here you go LilDragon - hope skycastle's alright with my uploading this :p

[Ron Harris]

missed this thread....duh....

thnx Artwooki, I was looking for that script as well.

cheers,
Ron
catfishmn@aol.com

[kasia97]

how did u do those small cracks in skin? i can't do anything xcept in edit mode..cos if i once get out of edit mode i can't go back

[MattHHH]

Great Rhino model Skycastle! 5 Stars!!



IN THE WILD LANDS (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=31156&page=1)
ALIEN FACE HUGGER (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=25941&page=1&pp=15)

MattHHH

[slocik]

I dont think he will see this after a year, but anyway if this thread is already brought up, yep best rihno i ever saw, 5 stars from me to :]

[highlander_72]

Absolutely amazing work! Congrats! Can you share more images, perhaps the whole animal?

[Adrian00]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! that's awsome!!!!!!!!! very nice modeling....you should make a tutorial or a zscript for the rhino! Top Row!!!