ZBrushCentral

character composition in ZBrush

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

hi guys,

ive been self learning maya for a while and only recently started ZBrush.
so be nice :stuck_out_tongue:

im trying to build an animated character which has a detail level
of somewhere between realistic and cartoony.

what this means is that it will have basic form of limbs (to allow the rig)
a reasonably detailed head that allows some facial expressions,
and cloth/armor pieces on the body.

my questions are as follows, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

  1. im thinking the head and the body should have different levels
    of poly divides (body doesnt need as much detail as the head),
    should i model them seperately? i see heads being modeled individually
    all the time, but how do i combine them in the end?
    or during my Zbrush modeling (where i need to check).
    what would be the workflow that 3D animators use?

  2. ive done some research about making the clothes and
    accessories(armor pieces). looks like masking and inflate brush
    can do the trick.
    im just wondering how these components compile together in ZBrush.
    (obviously i need them to “fit” well with each other but im pretty sure
    they are modeled seperately)
    i think this is related to the Sub-tool,
    is there any recommended readings/tutorials about this topic?
    im also a bit unsure about whether you import these things 1 by 1 into
    maya or is there a more correct way of doing it.

  3. if anyone could point me to a good Zbrush->maya character creation workflow (best to contain accessories), that’ll help me a great deal too.

thank you for your time and happy Halloween :smiley:

#2

You can easily split a model into multiple pieces in ZBrush through the SubTool menu. Each of these pieces can be divided to have as many polygons as you need. If your model has UV’s before you split it, then you’ll still be able to animate the original model and transfer the details to it from ZBrush via displacement and/or normal maps.

Of course, if your animation is going to be simple enough that he doesn’t need such maps, you can just design the topology to have more resolution where you need it. How you go about getting that topology is dependent on how you create the model in the first place. In ZBrush you could do it by constructing your base model with ZSpheres and then using different Transform>Xres/Yres/Zres settings where necessary.

For more learning resources about SubTools, mesh extraction, etc. see the links in my signature.