ZBrushCentral

Trouble modeling even make a simple wheel, please help

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,
I bought ZBrush over a month ago and can see how it is the best 3D software out there. I’ve been using Maya for the better part of a decade, but even having watched all the ZClassroom videos can’t seem to make a simple wheel in ZBrush.

I have a fairly basic understanding of how things are done in ZBrush but unfortunately am not able to put them to use. I was looking through the included documentation and saw a tutorial that would do exactly what I need to make a wheel for a project I’m doing, but I couldn’t get to work. Below is a screenshot of what I mean:

Firstly, when I do the clip curve, the inner wall of the circle is jagged. I’ve tried using the smooth brush with radial symmetry to clean this up (which does work), however it ruins the shape by making it curved inward when I would like it to have a hard edge. Using the hPolish brush also produces a similar result. Below is a screenshot of the initial clip curve result followed by the smoothed shape:

This object is also 231K polys, which I feel is excessive but at this point I would just like to be able to successfully model in ZBrush :slight_smile:

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I truly appreciate any help that can be given.

Sincerely,
Adam Lawton

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#2

see http://pixologic.com/video/video-v2-zcr.php?videoname=http://www.pixologic01.com/zclassroom/homeroom/lessons/videos/3d-brushes/selection-clipping-brushes.f4v&w=1024&h=576

#3

There are a number of ways to fix this issue. One is the use of edge loops. another is the use of polygroups. yet another is to build the base mesh in another app, or use zbrush’s powerful, yet awkward transpose-based poly modelling tools. I think in your case I’d opt to make polygroups as you mask, and simply “relax by groups” once you’ve made your modifications. This should achieve the desired result. Look into the transpose section of zclassroom to see some other useful techniques.

#4

Thank you both for your replies. I was looking at Steve Warner’s tank tutorial and on one of the steps he basically does exactly what I’m trying to do to make the wheel.

On the left-most red wheel, I can see that on the outer rim it’s fairly jagged which is similar to how mine would look at that stage. Unfortunately I can’t figure out how he made his smoothed down in the final image.

#5

Polish crisp edges slider in Deformation

#6

Just to rehash what I wrote on polycount in case it helps anyone else: I find the trick is not to use subdivision levels. Then you can use tools like the slice circle brush, edgeloop options, and also extrude using transpose. The result is clean edges like you’d see in traditional modeling, and you can then add more edge loops or crease tags to control beveling when you are ready to subdivide.