ZBrushCentral

Portrait/Likeness discussion

Community
#1

Hello zbrushers.

I have to create a likeness of an actors face. And the likeness has to be spot on from all angles.

As working for a deadline with these things can be a bit of a pain I thought we could have a little thread containing technical tips and tricks for speeding up the proccess.

Right now I have a front, 3/4, side of the actor. All shot with the same camera and the actor is roughly at the same distance from the camera.

The problem I (and I guess lot of people) have is that I do not know anything about the camera (focal length and so on). So lining things up is a bit of guesswork.

This is what I’ve tried. Let me know what workflow you prefer for creating likeness (on any type of model really).

  • Lining up in orto views in maya (Does not really work since it will look wierd in 3/4 because of the perspective distortion.

  • Lining up to perspective camera in Zbrush using image plane plugin. (Also looks wierd since perspective in Zbrush is a bit funky i think).

What is your workflow for organic models that has to be true to the concept/ref your given? What are your thoughts on lining up to cameras?

Lets use this thread to answer technical questions. Not comments like “Use your eyes and model as best as you can”, as this is quite obvious.

Hope something interesting comes out of this.

Thanks

#2

I work in xsi but it’ll be pretty much the same thing as maya…

If the face has to be exact I’d start off in xsi with a 3/4 view and match the perspective camera as perfectly as I can. A 3/4 view is better than the orto views IMO, it sort of covers for the front and the side at the same time, while eliminating the problem of making the face too flat, which often might happen when working with a full frontal shot.

I’d then bring the mesh into zbrush [once it’s as good as it can get in xsi - pretty high res poly modeling] and refine the secondary shapes and details. I often take screen captures of the zbrush work and overlay it on the front shot in PS to check if I’m off at this point…

anyway, just the way I’ve learned to deal with it… hope it helps

#3

I would’nt bother with getting any sort of likeness in Maya - I would do a rough sculpt in ZBrush, re-top, then hone those details. Match the screenshots you have with the ZBrush sculpt and do passes over the whole head, running through the scerenshot reference you have. Takes time I’m afraid. Don’t be afraid to make big changes to proportions if you notice they are a little out.

#4

yeah hence the camera match in the beginning, that way you avoid hours spent on correcting your proportions.

#5

There is a good article in the recent issue of HDRI (#28, pp. 36-42) where artist Court Jones goes through his process of using software to create caricature likenesses. ~S.~

#6

Matching things up in 3/4 is probably a good way to go at it.D

How do you guys deal with different focal lengths (when switching between softwares).

I guess you have to line up in maya and try to match the focal length from the plate (ref). Then in zbrush try to mimic that flength as best as you can (probably by taking print screens and comparing to your maya model).

Any thoughts on this?

Will check out that article as well. Cheers

#7

I never worry about focal lengths, I just compare features on the head in relation to eachother, rather than try to exactly match the focal length of the reference photo. Do this for long enough you will get the likeness.

#8

true - to each his own - I’d rather not do it too long though - especially in production where you don’t have ‘long enough’ anyway that’s just MO

leffa - once you get the good match in a 3d package you later don’t have to worry about the focal length in zbrush, to answer the question

#9

Thanks for keeping this discussion going.

Intervain: But if the focal length in Zbrush differs from the one in maya/xsi the facial features wont be in the same place (because of distortion). So when you bring it into zbrush the risk is big that you will begin to “counter model” to make the model (with this new zbrush focal length) match the ref.
Then when you bring it back to maya/xsi things have changed a bit because of the different focal lengths.

Maybe it’s best to do the 3/4 lineup in zbrush directly? That way all modeling is done with the same kind of focal length. When you know you have a good likeness you bring it into maya and in there you try to match the focal length to the one in Zbrush (as best as possible)

Any thoughts on this?

#10

well I’ve never had that problem - I did quite a few likenesses and it always worked perfectly fine. LIke it was said, if you’re worried about distortions then you can make it directly in Zbrush. I personally feel the other way is more accurate… personal preference :slight_smile:

#11

Allright

I’ll try both ways (guess I’ll be doing this for a while now) and get back and tell you how it went.

#12

for some more pointers: http://www.selwy.com/