Zbrush T Pose question

dsalin34

If you are sculpting a character in Zbrush intended to be used in a video game, should the figure be in a T Pose with arms spread far apart like the guy in the first picture or can they be slightly lowered like in the 2nd picture?

Alex_J

either way is fine. It really depends on how you might rig it.

I think A pose is a little more preferential because it gives a better idea how the character will look in more common poses once in the game. For instance, you might not know exactly how the size of the shoulders will read if you sculpt him in the T pose but never lower the arms until he is rigged.

But you can get around that problem just by setting up some morph targets in zbrush and make sure you check the character from multiple poses during your sculpting.

For rigging, maybe t pose is slightly easier sometimes, at least for an intial skin bind. But its not really an issue either way. There is no right or wrong and you can relatively easily change the bind pose so, just go with what you prefer.

Neox

It really depends on your range of motion, the more a character is going to do, the more you will likely end in a T pose, as its the medium of a lot of poses (ie arms up vs arms down)

If all your characters do is holding guns and firing them, the arms could be lowered a lot more, elbows bent, fingers already somewhat bent as well etc.

I personally prefer them slightly lowered but not not an A pose where they just barely move away from the body. Just down enough to still have some nice shoulder definition. Too low is always nasty if you wanna raise the arms. Even with corrective Blend shapes to cover the mesh deformation, your UVs in the armpits will stretch like crazy.

dsalin34

Thanks a lot Alex_J and Neox for explaining in detail to me the merits of each pose. I appreciate you both for taking the time to share your expertise on the matter since I'm new to Zbrush modeling and I wasn't sure if it was a dumb question. Anyway, take it easy.