Hi All,
I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to get a clean curve on a cylinder. It seems I’ve tried most everything and I’ve searched google but still not getting what I need.
I’m sure though that this is a common need so there has bound to be a common procedure. Can someone clue me in please. As you see in the attached pic, the last thing I was trying was matchmaker.
Hi EZRA52,
Try SBend (Smooth Bend) in Deformation submenu.
Hi zber2,
That’s sort of where I went 1st.
I get this though.
You just have to pick the right axis to bend on.
I opened a new Zbrush scene with only a cylinder polymesh to play with. I wanted it to be exact center of the scene thinking that was my problem (tool not centered). The cylinder you see is on the X axis (end to end). The camera is looking at it along the z axis. I am trying to curved around the Z axis to get your results but this is what I get. Sbend on the cylinder using the y axis does the same except I have to camera from the top to see it.
Obviously I’m doing something wrong but I can’t sem to determine what that is.
I should have metioned to select the axis on the SBend slider. Sorry. See the second pic I posted.
yes zber2, that is where I’ve been making the axis selection to bens around. As you see in the bottom right corner of my image I used the z axis to try and curve around as it perpendicular to the X axis that the cylinder is on (end to end). But all I get is what you see in that last image I posted. Depending on wether I slide to the + or the - the cylinder only gets narrow at one end and widens at the other. Using the Y axis and looking from the top view I get the same effect. The X axis does nothing, natch.
I’ll keep working at it now that I see your getting the effect I need. I’m obviously doing something wrong
Well, I rotated the cylinder around the Y axis 90 degrees so that the cylinder was running along the Z axis end to end instead of the X In that configuration the cylinder seems to curve as expected (like yours did) using the Y axis as the pivot.
I then rotated it back in the original configuration (end to end along the X axis) and tried curving using the Y axis again as a pivot and got the same wrong results as I was getting before.
It seems that it only likes to do the proper curving when your curving off of the z axis (curving to either side of the X axis).
Interesting
Thanks for your help zeber2
I guess that was my discovery also zber2. That you need to do your curving with the tool still in the position (along same axis) it is when you 1st draw it onto the canvas. If you rotate 1st it the Sbend affects the tool in a different manner.
No worries mate! Glad you got it sorted. 
Well, I did get the job done finaly but this is one of the few things I’ve needed to do in Zbrush that I didn’t find the Zbrush tools to be, relativly, on par with working with a polygonal modeling program. This was really a pretty tedious way of getting the job done. Oh well, on the other hand, so many other things are MUCH easier to do in Zbrush. I’m trying to do everything in Zbrush, start to finish.
I hear ya! That’s why I usually model a base mesh in one of my other 3D apps first. It’s what I’m used to, and besides, I get a lot of enjoyment out of doing it the old fashioned way also. You can’t beat ZBrush for fast organic stuff though.
Your bike is looking good so far. Looks like you have your work cut out for you though. Best of luck.
