Cubes/Bricks having a 45 degree edge

[decorix]

Hi all,
I’ve been experimenting with some brick designs. And I’m wondering if its possible to create a sharp 45 degree edge.
The problem is that I have multiply bricks, so I want to do like a (deformation) approach. The trim dynamic brush works
great the only problem is that I have alot of bricks to do. The brick is a box from 3ds max and also lined up on the grid to make tilable. Perhaps I need to add more edges first in MAX. The problem is that the brick is very smooth when divided also tried some polish. Perhaps my base model is wrong. If anybody has a soultion for this…

Thanks in advanced.

Attachments

[MentalFrog]

What’s your end result suppose to be?

You’d probably save a bit of time doing bump map instead, but it depends on what you’re doing and why.

[decorix]

Hi MentalFrog,

I’m looking for something like this.(see image) Basicly I have lots of bricks. Done this using trim dynamic brush!!

What’s your end result suppose to be?

You’d probably save a bit of time doing bump map instead, but it depends on what you’re doing and why.

[MentalFrog]

I would bevel the brick model in 3D Max before bringing it into Zbrush. It should have a quick Bevel modifier you can apply to it. A consistent hard bevel in Zbrush can be tricky and can take a bit of practice to get just right. A bevel in 3d max should take less than a minute to apply.

What I mean by the end result is what are you planning on doing with your model of the bricks. The final output should help determine a quick but effective workflow. There are many different ways to obtain the same or similar result. There are also many shortcuts and limitations. Because of this an artist can spend more time doing something that isn’t going to matter.

For example let’s say the bricks you’re modeling are going to be used to pave the yellow brick road to the Wizard. So if in your final output you have the characters of Dorothy and company skipping along the brick path you’re probably wasting time on details that won’t be seen in the final film. Not because the bricks don’t have the detail but because of the camera angle and distance loses that detail. Now let’s say you’re making a film in which a group of mice are following the yellow brick road. The small scale of the mice means the camera may be zoomed in much closer. In this case you’d want more of that detail and individualistic cracks and chips on the bricks to show up in the film.

Now if you were going to use it in a video game of ‘Dorothy: Return to Orz’ then your polygon count is going to matter. In this case you’d be much better off doing a single plane or much fewer planes to represent the brick road. The detail can be added in through bumps, displacement, or normal mapping.

I’m not saying you can’t model the bricks in high detail but depending on your intended output you can save a lot of time by doing a quicker workflow. There are times when it’s better to model the high detail and other times it’s better to ‘fake’ it. A good artist knows when to do what process, as time is the greatest asset and time wasted on detail not going to be used is wasted. One reason to model a high detail is if you’re making a good alpha to use later on.

[MentalFrog]

So what I meant to say after all that is you might be better off applying an alpha texture to a flat Zbrush surface to get the tiling and general shape of the bricks but then go in with some cracks and chip brushes.

[Bonecradle]

If you want even edges, definitely model it in Max. To avoid your bricks’ edges from becoming too smooth after dividing in ZB, try dividing the first few subdivision levels with the Smooth button turned off.

[decorix]

Hi Mentalfrog,

I didn’t think of using boxes with a bevel from the start (MAX). This is because i was using a simple box with grid placement to get my box on the grid. (because of a Tiling issue). So I thought keep it simple box and divide it more later on in (zbrush) and bevel the edges from there on. Guess I made it hard on my self. I definitivly will think twice. Just thought I could get away with a deformation approach and some polish tricks. Thanks for the great tips.

I would bevel the brick model in 3D Max before bringing it into Zbrush. It should have a quick Bevel modifier you can apply to it. A consistent hard bevel in Zbrush can be tricky and can take a bit of practice to get just right. A bevel in 3d max should take less than a minute to apply.

What I mean by the end result is what are you planning on doing with your model of the bricks. The final output should help determine a quick but effective workflow. There are many different ways to obtain the same or similar result. There are also many shortcuts and limitations. Because of this an artist can spend more time doing something that isn’t going to matter.

For example let’s say the bricks you’re modeling are going to be used to pave the yellow brick road to the Wizard. So if in your final output you have the characters of Dorothy and company skipping along the brick path you’re probably wasting time on details that won’t be seen in the final film. Not because the bricks don’t have the detail but because of the camera angle and distance loses that detail. Now let’s say you’re making a film in which a group of mice are following the yellow brick road. The small scale of the mice means the camera may be zoomed in much closer. In this case you’d want more of that detail and individualistic cracks and chips on the bricks to show up in the film.

Now if you were going to use it in a video game of ‘Dorothy: Return to Orz’ then your polygon count is going to matter. In this case you’d be much better off doing a single plane or much fewer planes to represent the brick road. The detail can be added in through bumps, displacement, or normal mapping.

I’m not saying you can’t model the bricks in high detail but depending on your intended output you can save a lot of time by doing a quicker workflow. There are times when it’s better to model the high detail and other times it’s better to ‘fake’ it. A good artist knows when to do what process, as time is the greatest asset and time wasted on detail not going to be used is wasted. One reason to model a high detail is if you’re making a good alpha to use later on.