Does ZBrush offer a lattice or wrap capabilities (such as those deformers in Maya?)

system · July 3, 2019, 8:55am

For instance, a lattice tool would be helpful for quickly, and intuitively adjusting parts of a character’s adaptive skin that results from Zspheres creation. Zspheres are so handy, but their inherent spherical (rather than eliptical) nature calls for a lot of adjustment, in many cases.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-334813CE-30E5-43CB-B032-CF8FE1ED96F7-htm.html

A wrap function can be helpful for quickly fitting one piece of geometry to another:
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-B98E74F5-6965-41B1-BBF8-471FB2FAD7EC-htm.html?st=wrap%20deformer

Thank you.

Extra_Dimensional · July 4, 2019, 4:42am

Yes and yes, respectively.

If you use the move gizmo on your subtool you can click the options cog and you’ll get a popup menu, what you’re looking for for lattice “modifiers” are under there. Deformer Hard and Deformer soft are your standard deformation lattices and there are quite a few speciality bounding box/control point manipulators in there very worth your time exploring, especially the bend curve modifiers if lattice shaping is your preference in modeling. It’s all there.

For a wrap modifier you want to find that as well in your move gizmo options menu under Project Primitive. That one requires a minute to grok but watch a video or two to guide you.

system · July 4, 2019, 4:43pm

Thanks Extra Dimensional.

Started playing with all the deformer options… got lost. Really fun though. Seems to be a huge potential for designing on the fly.

Got a bit more clarity about the sort of control I’m seeking, more akin to something I would set up in Maya with a wrap deformer. Essentially, I’m looking for a way to do lattice stuff with more control over orientation of the lattice, as well as range of effect.

Here’s a ‘for instance’ of something I was considering doing in Maya, to adjust the form of part of a mesh:

In Maya I could move various components of the cylinder (wrap) to shape the underlying mesh.

Took a look at Project Primitive. Pretty cool… will take a bit to ‘wrap my head around it’. Is PP something that will let me pull off what I’m considering (as shown in the picture above?)

I guess there are a myriad of different ways to get this sort of control… Zremeshing at a low resolution, then using ZModeler, before heading back to Dynamesh version, doing the back and forth with Maya, and potentially many other approaches. Guessing the best approach will involve improving my sculpting skills in ZBrush. Always like to know various options (and trade-offs) though. Probably very useful at some point down the road.

Thanks again. Hope you have a nice weekend.

system · July 4, 2019, 4:42am

Getting the hang of the project deformers, sort of. I can see the potential, for early stages in the concepting and design process.
For my initial approach, starting with append might be a good way to go. That would make it easier to create the shape I’m aiming for, do a union, create a new mesh, then continue from there.Boolean subtraction and intersection add even more possibilties.

Will probably explore some of my other approaches, mentioned earlier in the thread. Quite a lot to learn from (by doing).

As I figure out all the different possible ways to do anything (everything?) in ZBrush, figuring out which approaches are best, for what, will be an entirely different form of exploration.

Thank you for bringing my attention to these deformers. I anticipate otherworldly possibilities, once my mind gets used to all the available processes that initially seems like ‘thinking in an alien tongue’.