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View Full Version : Zbrushing armor bits

JasonH
12-14-2007, 01:44 PM
Howdy. Been putting off learning Zbrush for FAR FAR FAR too long, just now getting it into a practical workflow, getting used to the tools etc. One thing I can't seem to figure out is how to paint hard edged things like armor or belts (or belts on armor) without modeling it bit by bit in Max before bringing it into Zbrush (thereby reducing zbrush to a tool almost entirely for adding wrinkles around eyes and pants). I try using masking and such to add hard lines, but all that accomplishes is making the character look like he's got giant tapeworms on his body. Please help, I can do ok at painting organics so far, but thats generally less than half of the character's mesh in all. Got a base character modeled and unwrapped this week, I'll probably start zbrushing his arms and head after work, but would really like to extend that extra detail pass to his armor and boots etc... thanks very much
Arcanox
12-14-2007, 10:17 PM
Yeah I hate to break it to you but for hard surfaced objects sometimes you can't beat good topology and traditional sub-d methods. If you're looking for accuracy and nice smooth surfaces, Zbrush can be a pain to work with, and it's applications are so limited that you probably shouldn't bother trying to fight the workflow.

If you want to speed up the process, do a low poly figure like that and do some nice stenciling and masking in photoshop and make your normal map off of that. Otherwise you're stuck with doing highly technical high poly work with subdivided polygons. If you do go that route, look into using floating geometry to speed up that sort of work with game models.

Zbrush is an awesome piece of software, but you really ought to use it for what it's intended to do really well.
Radon
12-16-2007, 09:42 AM
Beyond the first object I made in Zbrush when I frst started out I havn't made anything out of just ZSpheres lately. My workflow (and the workflow and almost everyone else I know) is to whip out a base model and then import it into ZBrush or Mudbox. It's the only way to get true workable topology as well as get those basic shapes for solid objects as well.

You can do it all in ZBrush, but you need a steady hand and a good eye if your going to do it right, and to be honest, ZBrush was a 2.5D program to begin with, and there for was never ment to create models from scratch in the first place. The industry itself only really uses it for detailing.
musashidan
12-16-2007, 12:10 PM
Maybe this (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=054380) will inspire you.And while you're there check the gallery for further ZB delights.
CG-Gordon
12-21-2007, 09:03 AM
The extract tool will give you a hard edged surface, and can be useful. But I agree, do most of the mechanical objects in another package, at least to get the shape, and then add detail (bumps, dents, scrapes etc) in zbrush.
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