ZBrushCentral

First attempt - pendant

ZBrush Artworks
#1

I hate to qualify this post but think I must because I’m a little embarrassed even posting this considering the ridiculous amount of talent and skill in this place. Right now I’m just learning zBrush, just learning jewelry making, just learning how to draw, just learning how to sculpt (digitally or otherwise) and am altogether a complete newb to this but, I am totally excited about the potential of using zBrush for making jewelry.

That said, I do have some background in woodworking including CNC routing so I can meander around Rhino to build basic geometry, which is what I did for this model. Basically, I created the plain pendant body and then imported into zBrush.

I’m pretty sure I did some things wrong along the way because the edges aren’t really sharp, etc. so if you have any advice along the lines of how to best import and keep things clean it would be appreciated (I did do a number of searches on the topic) but the main question I have is around the back of the pendant. I need to keep it perfectly flat so I can lay the model flat on the build table for 3D printing, plus, even if I stood it up, the back would look terrible.

The distortion on the back occurred when I textured the recesses areas on the front. I attempted to fix it a number of ways both using flattening, polishing and trying to build up the surface some but clearly have no idea what I’m doing.

Within zBrush, how could I fix this issue?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. There are a few anachronisms in the design if you look closely. I had no idea where I was going with it initially so please don’t look closely. :slight_smile:

Attachments

zbrush-pendant1a.jpg

zbrush-pendant1b.jpg

#2

Howdy Bob,
I know where you’re coming from, I’m just learning also but I’m way behind you. I’m also wanting to use my designs for Lost Wax Jewelry Casting. Right now I’m trying to get a handle on saving PSD’s in Photoshop to use as texture maps on ring bands. The trouble is the masks aren’t sharp enough so I lose details and sharp edges. I look forward to seeing more of your work
Newton
tn_IMG_1949.JPGSkull Ring.jpgSkull Ring2.jpg

#3

Hi Bob

Great start. Don’t be embaressed, we all stared not knowing what we were doing, i still don’t half the time. For the distortion on the back go into the brush menu then sub menu auto masking and turn back face masking on, then that won’t happen anymore. But you have to do it for each brush. If you want to keep things very sharp, i would say ditch rhino and use zmodeller or build simple geo in rhino and use zmodeller using the rhino geo as reference with transparecy or something, then you can use creasing and stuff, which i think will help with what youre after. Otherwise i think dynamesh and polish brushes would work best.

#4

Hi Newton,

Those look great. Did you have them cast?

Thanks Ylog! Thanks for the tip on the back masking and fixing the back of the pendant.

I think you’re right about starting with Zmodeler and that’s actually what I was hoping to start doing once I get the hang of it. Guess I need to spend some time going through training videos.

Do you have any suggestions on what I would/should use to deal with scale? For example, once I start doing rings I’ll need to make sure the band is a specific size plus if I start doing stones, I’d have to make sure the settings were right too. I’ve already tried decimation and then importing into Rhino and it looked a little messy. I like Rhino’s ease of use but maybe it’s not the right tool… and I’m definitely not spending the coin to get Matrix. At least not in the foreseeable future.

#5

Howdy Bob
The castings were all done by me - Centrifugally
tn_IMG_2007.JPGtn_IMG_2009.JPG

#6

That is very cool! Casting will be one of the last disciplines I plan on tackling. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

#7

Let me know if you have questions about casting, maybe you can help me with ZBrush
Newton

#8

Thanks Newton, really appreciate the offer!

I’d really love to help with zbrush but will need a couple thousand more hours at it before I could do that! Seriously, I am just getting started and probably have 40 hours between watching videos and playing around with it. So much power in this software and I’m really looking forward to getting to know it.

#9

That’s OK I will just keep trudging along

#10

Hey Bob & Newton,

Those are nice, and quite solid pieces.
Bob, did you cast the pendant?
Is there a way in Zbrush to make it hollow ?

@Newton, is the work showed in the casting process hollow?
How do you proceed, do you print the wax model?
My questins correspond to my beginner status :slight_smile:

Lisa

#11

Hi Lisas,

I didn’t get that one cast since it was my first attempt in zBrush and the depth of detail was far too shallow to be useful. I’m currently taking a course with Tomas Wittelsbach that is really helping me understand zBrush but even moreso, helping with the creative side of things.

#12

Hi Lisa
The ring was made by wax buildup and carving, no 3D printing, ring was not hollow, it should have been hollowed out some to reduce weight. I was afraid to remove anything because so much time had been spent on this one and previous versions that were canned. This ring weighed in at a little over 3 1/2 ounces of silver
Scootin-Newton