ZBrushCentral

How do they do it? Sharp details...

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi everyone.

As I watch the VERY helpful tuts on various aspects of ZB, I am at a loss as to how some of the better artists incorporate razor sharp detailing into their sculpts. I’ve tried using the standard brush, decreasing it’s size down to 1 or 2, but still am not satisfied that I am using the brush that “the pros” use.

for example: when watching some of the video tutorials, the artist will sculpt in “full screen” mode (i.e., no toolbars or menus showing. How is THAT done?), and the brush they use seems to be a small circle. Which brush is that? They never seem to change the size of the brush, etc.

And how do I get razor sharp details in my sculpts? As it is, I use over 2 mil polys. Do I need a higher poly count?

Thanks in advance and forgive my noob-ness. 1 week ZBrush user, but looking forward to many years of sculpting.

#2

How many polygons you need depends upon how much surface area your model has. A model of a dog house, for example, requires far fewer polygons than a mansion.

One thing that will help get sharp edges is to adjust the focal shift. By default, the brush has a gentle fall off. Adjusting the focal shift will change that to a hard edge.

As for how to work without seeing the interface, press Tab. This hides most of the interface. But keep in mind that the people making the tutorials may only be showing you the canvas portion of the interface. Screen capture programs generally let you select what part of the screen to capture. So the artist may actually be working with the full interface visible, after all.

#3

Hehe, I remember thinking the same thing.

The “pros” use any brush that will get the job done. But mostly people use, standard, inflate, pinch, clay, clay tubes and smooth

The videos you are watching don’t have the interface in them because the artist told Zbrush not to record that area. (it’s in the movie settings) The same goes for the brush size never changing. The artist is changing the brush size, you just don’t see it. You can make the interface go away by hitting “tab” though.

And the 2million polygons is a relative value. Is that 2 million polygons for an entire character, or just his hand? Is that 2millon polys on a huge buff dude, or 2 million on king kong covered in fur?

Basically, to get super detailed, you need a high polycount AND a good polyflow.

#4

Alphas are an important part of the equation, in addition to sufficiently high polycount and good topology. I’ve given some tuts on my blog (link below) for “mechanical” work, but the ides there might help you envision how to apply the tools to get crisper edges. You should also learn about edge creasing as a technique for preserving detail.

HTH,
-K

#5

I also highly recommend checking out Sebastien Legrain’s architectural detailing tutorial on the Zclassroom video page. Here’s the link:
http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/

Also it is sometimes helpful to just include extra edgeloops in your models where you want hard edges. I find this particularly useful for certain things like weapon edges, clothes, etc. There’s a good illustration of this here:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=37779&highlight=bevel

Other than that, masking with lazymouse and the inflate deformer, and you’ve got a lot of ways to get crisp edges! Good luck!