The main steps of creation in ZBrush are very simple, but very necessary. As Zbrush works mainly on sub dividing geometry the lower subdivision levels must be established before moving onto higher ones as the ability for creation and sculpting becomes much harder the higher you go. For instance, moving 8 polygonal faces in much easier to do and get in the right place than it is to move 32 and position them in this right place. For this reason, doing a majority of the blocking out comes in the lower sub divisions, and then the intimate detail added at a higher sub division level.
With the initial import of the objects, my piece was coming out to be around 1000 polygons overall.
With the objects in, the default material works well in order to see the geometry of the piece. As I would need to sub divide each individual section at a time, then manipulate it to fit the way I needed it to, it would take a while, but it would allow me to really get a feel for the program. Throughout the process i'd need to move certain areas of the piece to create the anatomical structure. Although I was following a tutorial, after I had grasped the basics of the program I thought it best to move on on my own. This way I would be able to create the model my own whilst using the basics of the workflow suggested.
Sub dividing the geometry already created was easy enough and really showed me what I needed to get to work on. Having the basics down anyway, I began by subdividing the torso and using the move brush to change the geometry to fit my idea of the piece.
Before and after subdiving the torso.
Following my previously established workflow, I moved round the character, sub dividing and using the move brush to establish contour and shape. As in the images below, sub dividing the foot changed the geometry completely. Going from a 60 polygon shape to then sub diving it made the geometry shift, having these extra shaped to manipulate gave me the opportunity to establish a basic toe nail shape.
I decided this would be the area that I would really reinforce the inhuman aspect of the character. Having already given him 3 fingers, I thought 3 toes would not look anatomically incorrect. I wanted to give this character the illusion of size when comparing him in a human space. Because of this, I elected to go with a more elephant looking foot. Having the toes spread out like this in 3's, I could then establish an intricate bone structure in the back Below shows a before and after sub dividing. Although on the right we can see the ideal shape of the object, the left shows the power of subdiving and sculpting. Using this process I was able to create something that is very unique and would not be possible in the mediums i've used before.
Through further subdivisons I was able to establish a basic skin form in the back. Pushing the forms in this lower sub division level will really help me to concentrate and refine areas such as veins and bones later on.
Sub dividing the face really showed me the power of preparation in Maya. Adding the ridges to the nose before sculpting helped the sub divisions find their own place and really embed the idea of this snarl. Cutting away at the nose further I was really able to reinforce this expression. Although as stated before this could have been done straight into ZBrush, having this structure to work on really helped me move forward with learning the software and gave me a very solid foundation to work upon.
With the expression becoming more and more refined, I wanted to further accentuate the bone structure in the face. Concentrating on the eye area I could bunch up the skin to create another fearsome form of expression. As with the structure in Maya, I didn't want to move too far ahead with one section. With this in mind, keeping my sub tool palette open, I would only sub divide one thing at a time so they were all on the same level, with the exception of the weaponry. The weapons themselves were unique in that I hadn't created them with the same polygon count in mind and leaving them out meant I could work on the hands independently, make them look realistic, and then fit the club within the hand instead of having to work on the weapon whilst in the hand. Although soloing objects is possible, I did not want to have to resize anything to fit. This way, when sub dividing the club, I could maipulate it to fit inside the hand instead of cutting through the geometry.
Sub dividing the legs allowed me to create subtle muscle groupings under the skin and create the illusion of skin folds before the sub division levels got too high.
Establishing these basic creases in the facial expression was rather challenging as the face was not completely symmetrical. Inside ZBrush the brush itself can be manipulated to work on opposite edges of a sphere. In the case of the face, that would have been perfect. Unfortunately as the face was looking slightly to the right, it did not fully sit on the axis. Having this hurdle did make it difficult to model, but I also think it gave a very unique look.
Using this image as much of my inspiration, I tried to create creases that seemed natural and not go too over the top with what I was introducing. Obviously the face I was creating was much more of a human face, but I wanted to pick some of these stand out features as inspiration, specifically the surround of the eyes.
Sub dividing the face further allowed me to get to work on the detail. As before, the sub divisions could still be seen on the face, but the higher I got in levels the more I could see my initial idea becoming reality.
Having not considered the mouth originally, I realised I had forgot to include teeth in my model. This was okay as I could append another object to the current one after creating teeth in Maya. Taking this opportunity to model the inside of the mouth was one I may have overlooked otherwise. Modelling the mouth without teeth proved to be one of the best decisions I have made so far. With the sub divisions still relatively low I could not work too much on the inside of the mouth, but still being able to establish the uvula would allow me to refine it later on.
With the torso becoming more and more developed I was able to introduce some interesting muscle groupings. This, and establishing the pectorals a slightly flabby and fleshy part of the body allowed me to progress all the way round and establish a theme for the entire piece. At this point I knew I wanted something obviously muscly, but something that had hard, rough and hanging skin.
Having this theme then allowed me to refine the face further. Adding more harsh ridges to the face not only helped develop the screaming expression, but really reinforced the main features of the piece as a whole.
Looking from the top down, the more sub divisions included allowed for more bones to show through the skin. Sculpting inwards and cutting away allowed for the smooth protrusion of bones through the skin whilst also making them look harsh and uncomfortable.
As with the weaponry, I wanted to model the hands separately from everything else. Looking here after modelling the arm, comparing it with a base sub division hand really shows the contrast these sub divisions have made to the piece as I made it develop. Having these ridges creating the bone texture really helped me to match up all these different sections.
Further sub divisions allowed for the refining of structure inside the mouth. Along with the teeth later on, I will have to sculpt a tongue. Although this could be done again in Maya, I think the best thing to do would be to model it directly into ZBrush. It has potential to be a separate piece of the model, but I think it could be modelled onto the bottom of the mouth and be just as effective.
Further refining the head and back allowed me to begin to texturise the bones underneath the skin, giving them a harsh and jagged look to them.
As with the torso, I wanted to include obvious muscle groupings in the arms to show excessive strength. The extra sub divisions not only allowed me to add musculature, but also allowed me to include veins and tendons underneath the skin.
Comparing one sub division to another, below each leg is on a different level. The left leg having an established knee cap and bones in the leg, whilst the right lacks behind in detail. With this separate limb, it allowed me to model them separately and give them both unique qualities. As the stance of the character is one that requires it to be off centre, this gave me a unique opportunity to show difference in both legs.
For the weapon I wanted to create a very battle worn look. This in mind I tried to image all the battles this weapon could have been used in. The things it could have been used for and the impact that would have had. My initial thought was for it to be smashed into the helmet of other soldiers. With that, I went about denting this club in many different ways. The image below shows the imaginary dent from a helmet. Throughout the creation of this club, I switched between modelling the character and the weapon in order to give me a fresh perspective and approach to the marks I was making in it. As I wanted it to look as though it was years old, covering it in similar marks would not help with that illusion.
Taking the body up in higher sub divisions allowed me to get in closer to create veins and textures on the muscles that I would otherwise not have been able to achieve. With this level of detail I moved onto the loin cloth I had gIven the character.
Able to achieve this level of detail I wanted to work on the cloth. Being able to crease the object in this way allowed me to create shapes that I would not be able to achieve in any other. Having depth to work with allowed me to sculpt and drag away areas that could be seen in real clothing without worrying about it being correct. Sub dividing it further gave it a more leathery look that I could them create with the crease brush to give me a very unique and interesting look to it.
Moving back to the weapon I began to dent the pummel. I wanted it to look as that it had been gripped and smashed against something such as a door or wall to give contrast to the other marks. Having the ridges act a bit more like metal gave me a bit more freedom to move and shape them.
Bloating out some areas of the ridges made me begin to question the weapons origin. If the rings were there, how did they get there? Why were they so perfect? Wanting to keep the weapon in the same style as the character, I began smoothing out some of the edges to look as though these metal parts had been hammered in carelessly, looking as though unprepared but threatening.
Comparing again the sub divisions on the legs shows the effectiveness of the work and the ways in which the muscles groupings can be sculpted in this way.
Things such as the toe nails show the intricacy of using the brushes to add material and take away certain sections. Cutting away allowed me to introduce a unique texture to the nail and develop a bone structure in the foot that extended all the way up the leg.
On a higher sub division level I could create the shape of vertebrae under the skin. Using a clay build up brush along with a low intensity smooth brush it helped me to create this unique pattern.
In order to see the detail better, I decided the best thing for me to do would be to change the material. This change in material gave a better look at the contours and really reduced the visibility of the geometry. The picture below shows both the arms and the back in this new material.
With the ability to see more in this new material I decided to use a texture brush to create marks on the skin. My intention was to create something that looked battle work and sliced. Using an alpha, I could drag out a shape I wanted and cut it away. As soon on the right shoulder, there are now tiny little scars on the skin.
Moving back into Maya I was working with the base geometry again to create the teeth. Using poly cubes I created a upset peak to the teeth to create an interesting cylindrical shape later on.
Giving some variation, I added two sharper teeth to either side which would be pointed and jagged when sculpted, and a row of flatter teeth at the top.
Overall the teeth look very basic in comparison, but after working in ZBrush, now too does the basic geometry of the overall character.
Back in ZBrush the teeth transition in the same way. Using the same workflow as before, I sub divided and sculpted the teeth whilst keeping the progression of all things similar, taking the teeth to the same sub division level as the face to be merged when ready.
I added a similar texture to the teeth as I did to the nails on the toe. Giving a flat bottom to the teeth with a semi hollow look created a rather scary and rough looking tooth.
I approached the bottom row in the same way, but with the sharper teeth more pronounced and terrifying.
With the teeth finished I began working again on the inside of the mouth. Sub dividing the face to work more closely, I refined the uvula and added a large hole for the throat.
As was my original intention, I added gums and a tongue to fit around the newly created teeth. This in itself allowed the teeth to seem as though at home in the mouth of the character. The tongue is much larger in width that a human tongue, but that span also allowed me to introduce some interesting texture and muscle definition.
With the piece completely sculpted I exported some high resolution images as my final piece along with a short video.
Overall this section of the project has taught me an amazing amount about the world of 3D modelling. The main things I have learnt from this process are;
- Workflow
- Combination of Maya and ZBrush
- How to concept a character quickly and practically
- 3D anatomical structuring
- 3D sculpting
- Core knowledge on Maya 2015
- In depth knowledge of ZBrush
For my firth time using both of these programs I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment. Not only have I learnt how to use these pieces of software effectively, but I have created a character model that I am very proud of. I have acquired skills I have only dreamt of before now and I can now approach the second part of the project informed and ready.
The only thing I would change is the time I have left myself to colour the model, but apart from that I am happy with everything I have achieved so far.
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