ZBrush mouthbag workflow? techniques?
polycounter lvl 9
I'm curious how people go about making a mouthbag. I've done a couple at this point and am finding it pretty awkward.
In my current project I've got a LP and MidP version of a full body model in TopoGun from a ZBrush base model and am doing a HP now, which needs a mouthbag. Since I'm trying to match the LP and MP sculpts this means the mouth is pretty much closed and I'm working with closed internal geometry with folds.
So far my plan in progress has been
1. model top teeth, bottom teeth, and mouth separately in zbrush
2. separate/open the bite slightly after matching top and bottom teeth up, so I don't have planes on top of planes
3. take top half and bottom half separately to TopoGun (because topo is a nightmare for seeing inside closed geometry), make the HP and bake it, ensuring the HP model has texture space in the unwrap for the added mouthbag.
4. attach all parts in Max and clean in Photoshop. leaving the mouth pretty much closed to match up as close as possible to the LP and MP models.
So I'm curious if this process makes sense or if there's one or more better ways to be doing this. It seems like there must be a better way.
What process do you follow for making a mouthbag like this? ZBrush retopo tool? TopoGun techniques? other software?
How do you add this bake to the texture map if you have to bake the mouthbag separately? Do you just plan to save a corner of the map?
Do you have light through model problems if you don't close the internal mouth geometry entirely? ie. do you close between the lips and the bottom of the teeth, the polys that would probably be unseen anyway?
How much of the internal mouth do build vs how much do you fake or leave out entirely? I'm finding it a challenge to build interior mouth folds between teeth and lips plus tongue is a pretty crowded space.
Thanks! I really could use some advice on how to make this a less boggling, more successful operation.
In my current project I've got a LP and MidP version of a full body model in TopoGun from a ZBrush base model and am doing a HP now, which needs a mouthbag. Since I'm trying to match the LP and MP sculpts this means the mouth is pretty much closed and I'm working with closed internal geometry with folds.
So far my plan in progress has been
1. model top teeth, bottom teeth, and mouth separately in zbrush
2. separate/open the bite slightly after matching top and bottom teeth up, so I don't have planes on top of planes
3. take top half and bottom half separately to TopoGun (because topo is a nightmare for seeing inside closed geometry), make the HP and bake it, ensuring the HP model has texture space in the unwrap for the added mouthbag.
4. attach all parts in Max and clean in Photoshop. leaving the mouth pretty much closed to match up as close as possible to the LP and MP models.
So I'm curious if this process makes sense or if there's one or more better ways to be doing this. It seems like there must be a better way.
What process do you follow for making a mouthbag like this? ZBrush retopo tool? TopoGun techniques? other software?
How do you add this bake to the texture map if you have to bake the mouthbag separately? Do you just plan to save a corner of the map?
Do you have light through model problems if you don't close the internal mouth geometry entirely? ie. do you close between the lips and the bottom of the teeth, the polys that would probably be unseen anyway?
How much of the internal mouth do build vs how much do you fake or leave out entirely? I'm finding it a challenge to build interior mouth folds between teeth and lips plus tongue is a pretty crowded space.
Thanks! I really could use some advice on how to make this a less boggling, more successful operation.
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