ZBrushCentral

Let's get shperical...

I am refining my technique… Last night I dreamed about my spheres aghhhh. An animation is next. After I figure out how to create similar materials in XSI. ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW grrrrrrrrrrrrr… Let me know how you like it.

[magmaball.jpg]

Have a great day!
LemonNado

Can you make a small tut?

…my spheric design research :smiley:
[attach=11769]frenchy_pilou1075821229.jpg[/attach]
Pilou

Attachments

frenchy_pilou1075821229.jpg

Sure Bas!

Here are the rough steps:

  1. Mesh generation
  2. converting data into ZB importable geometry with Rhino3D
  3. importing into ZB
  4. Adding texture in/from ZB
  5. Adding material
  6. render

Details to the steps:

Step 1

The spehres are not based on textures but on calculated hulls. Engineering/Math skills help. Enter on your own risk, your head might explode… And you will have abstract nightmares!

Here are the sites I gather my base material from:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jrs/mesh/
http://www-users.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~roberts/meshgeneration.html

In my former life I became a chemical engineer and from structural analysis and finite element calculations I still had a few fragments left in the back of my head regarding mesh generation which finaly broke loose while working with ZB…

The two links also contain a few programs (which I have not tired yet) which will generate all sorts of interesting stuff importable into ZB. Including sphere’s with hulls like mine. Happy exploring!

Step 2
The tools will mostly generate data in some format students software, CAD packages, structural analysis programs, or CNC machines will accept. I have not found a single script or program which generates OBJ or DXF formats. I am as lazy as the students and create ‘flat’ files. I load them into Rhino3D and assemble/edit the raw data into a valid mesh. Then I .obj export it and the fun can start.

Update: As of last night I have overcome my phobia regarding the .obj format thanks to a nice definition I found on the web:

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/geomformats/obj/

The result is my first self generated .obj which can actually be loaded into ZB. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (I am having way to much fun here…).

Here is the file for your experiments:

spikels.zip (attached)

However, if you’re not into scripting and messing with software but you used some generators you found in the links I provided then you probably have to use Rhino3D or another CAD-alicious program to convert/create the data for ZB.

Step 3
DOHHHH Tool-> Import. Take cover as your amateur data might scare the heck out of the ZB importer. I made ZB do all sort of weird tricks with the onslaught of my early and eraneous data… But after a few tries you will see the geometry as tool. Now the real fun can start.

Step 4
I am having a terrible time creating UV’s and painting textures. So I leave it to ZB. I ignore the fact that there is something like UV’s and chose a default texture or generate one with texture maker(.com) (the ultimate tool). I chose the colored clouds texture for the surrounding spheres of my last geometry. I am going through the practical guide and the Ken Brilliant texture tutorial and maybe I start liking that aspect 8-).

Step 5
Material for the outer spheres is the noise material. The purple material on the center sphere is from the SouthernFlesh material pack which is available in the forum and the golden sphere IN the purple sphere is from the materialpack also from the forum.

Step 6
Render: I didn’t touch anything. Result is out of the box. Later I played a bit with the aliasing to eliminate all of the jaggies but that also removed detail from the noisy material which I like so much. Again, I am a noob regarding render settings and textures/uv’s…

The composition is simple. A dark blue background. A hollow center sphere (purple one with the geometry) filled with a 3d sphere (golden glow). Then I plopped a former sphere wildly around that and adjusted the depth so they do not ‘cut’ into the forground sphere. The dark background eliminates the fact that those secondary sphere’s are actually hollow. I had to switch off the ‘display->double’ setting or it would look way to busy as the elements on the backside of those spheres would shine through the gaps which are now filled with/by the background color.

Enjoy a trip to MathCountry
Lemmo

PS:If you’re into geometry you might want to check out the attached stellation of an Octahemioctracron. Can you say Hemi???

hemi.jpg

PS:The purple sphere is based on the attached file. I used the ‘set morph target then inflate and build diff’ method to enlarge the cells and then twisted them a bit with the tool->deform menue. Manually changing this already complex geometry is fun as it results in mathematically not or extremely diffult to achieve patterns.

ZBRUSH ROCKS !!!

Lemmonade, thanks for your perfect explanation :+1:

some great stuff going on in here :+1: :+1: :+1:

We have to have an eye on Frenchy Pilou’s posts. He’s gyrating towards his 10,000 Post! I suppose we all draw him a nice pic to honor his involvement in this forum!. Maybe the Almost 10,000 posts frenchy Pilou Challenge 8-))).

Cheers
LemonNado

Great idea, you make the new thread!!

…I have don’t seen the counter :eek:
So please wait the “dead line” :wink:
Pilou