Hey everyone, This is my first post, but I have owned zbrushfor a little over a year. I am not really proficient in the software but I havebeen learning as fast as I can. I have been trying to learn Maya and Photoshopand a slew of other software programs to boot so please forgive me for notbeing a pro at zbrush. My problem is that I am trying to create a realisticfeather. I can’t figure out how to do this. In Maya if I create a plane andattach an image to it with bump and spec, I don’t think I could simulate aproper feather in animation. I also thought about making a quill and thenattaching curves to it. But then it may be hard making those curves lookrealistic. I don’t think the fur module will work well. I was wondering ifzbrush could do the trick. Does anyone have any ideas? I have thought aboutbuying shave and a hair cut, but I am still lreaning these packages I have nowso I don’t want to tackle something new yet. If anyone has any ideas on feathercreation, please let me know… Thanks
How you create a feather depends on what you want it for. You mention animation but that could mean anything from a feather floating downwards to a feather flexing on a bird’s wing as it flies. And how much detail will be seen in the animation is obviously a big issue, not to mention that feathers come in different sorts…
If you want a feather with lots of detail but basically solid then you could sculpt a plane (that has some thickness).
Alternatively you could use ZSpheres to build up strands along a center line.
And here’s an approach to ‘hair’ that may interest you:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=93462&page=1&pp=15