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Can ZBrush and it's HPolish brush help me with filleting edges?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi all,

I’m using Rhino3d to make designs from letters and I keep running into 2 major problems:

  1. Rhino cannot interpret properly the Beziers curves I make in Illustrator properly so I have to redo all the curves
  2. Filleting edges in Rhino is hell, fails very often if there are any closed angles, kinks etc.

I’ve been watching a few videos that show ZBrush’s HPolish brush and I’m wondering if it can help me.
Would the following workflow be possible?:

  1. import Bezier curves from Illustrator into ZBrush
  2. extrude a solid
  3. use the HPolish brush to soften all the hard edges
    Then maybe re-import into Rhino to finish the piece

Would that be possible??

Thanks for letting me know

#2

Rhino doesn’t do text? Should be easy to do in ZBrush by using Shadowbox with an alpha image to mask on it with.

#3

Thanks for the reply,

Yes it does but even so I find myself often having to redo the curves.
I don’t know enough about shadowbox to understand your advice.

So my suggested workflow wouldn’t work?

#4

I don’t use Illustrator, so I don’t know.
I did find this post from a long ways back with the info you want.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?185975-Noobie-Shadowbox-Question&p=1082497&viewfull=1#post1082497

#5

I still don’t know whether Zbrush can help me or not.

If I have a vector shape in Illustrator like the example below, what are the steps I would need to do in Zbrush in order to turn that shape into a solid (for example 2mm thick) with smooth filleted edges?

I would have attached the sample Illustrator file be .ai files aren’t accepted.

Thanks a lot for your help
S

Example-HR.jpg

#6

Did you visit the link I posted? Once you have your mesh out from Shadowbox you should be able to round down the edges in a controlled fashion.

#7

Yes I did read the thread and watch some videos on the Shadowbox, but I’m too beginner to see if this can get me the result I need, fast and clean.
I’m thinking of trying to find an expert and pay for an hour of consulting. Is there anywhere I could post for that?
Thanks

#8

Have you spent an hour in ZBrush trying to do it and have nothing to show?

#9

No I wouldn’t know where to begin.
I do this with Rhino and it’s very inconvenient and often fails so I’m trying to see if Zbrush can do this faster.

If someone could just tell me the steps involved, I could know if it would be easier than with Rhino.

#10

what he said… this would take 4 seconds in shadowbox.

in rhino
command. ApplyEdgeSoftening can you a chamfered rendering effect …but not a rounded edge.

#11

Shadowbox would work… but I don’t think it will be the best way to do this.

Workflow would be something like this:

  1. Save your Illustrator file as a square jpg (2048px or something), white text on black background.

  2. Import file as an alpha

  3. Create a 1024 shadowbox

  4. Assign the alpha to your masking brush with Rect stroke, square and from center

  5. Drag it out in shadowbox:

shadowbox.jpg
shadowbox.jpg1280×720 282 KB

The problem with this method is that this is really high poly, and you’ll have to mess with it quite a bit.
This is the way I’ve dealt with this kind of thing in the past - or apply a jpg as a texture to a hipoly plane, create mask from texture, edgeloop the mask, extract.

But in looking into this (based on this thread), I’ve just discovered a game changer for me.

I found this video:

Save your Illustrator files as .svg

Import into Blender
Modify, extrude, bevel, etc
Export .obj
Import into Zbrush

blender-text.jpg
blender-text.jpg1485×960 308 KB

I don’t use Blender very much at all, but I was able to do the above in about 2 minutes.

This new workflow is going to be HUGE for me.

#12

Oooooooh yes!
Thank you soo much for this.

Rhino command ApplySoftenEdges isn’t useful since you ExtractMesh will only result in half the edges softened because half the radii are too low.

I’m off to trying Blender right now.

Thanks again