Need Advice on my creature for zbrushing

kunglao

here is my very much a wip of my lo poly creature(314 tri's only one side done will mirror other side) modelled in max.It has a long way to go but i thought i would post the renders of the head as i need some help before i get in to deep.
This is my 1st attempt at modelling a character that will use zbrush for normal map.
I have Ben Mathis tut and plan to follow it.
exactly how much detail(polycount) do i need for his head?
i noticed ben's character was 1200 polys
i have never used zbrudsh and very excited,i will do some tuts that come wuth zbrush before i tackel this creaturebut i wanted to crack on with the lo poly in max now.
Can anyone offer me some advice on my creature thus far (again dont pay to much attention to the model as this is in its early stages).
If anyone can tell me do's/dont's in terms of getting my model ready for zbrush or general tips on improvements etc, i would be grateful

arshlevon

get rid of all tris... zbrush dose not like them at all.. causes wierd subdivision problems.. you dont need very many polies at all.. here is an ezample of one of my starting meshes and the finished product..

kunglao

thanks for feedback arshlevon your model is awesome.Here is an update
can anyone give me some help on modelling the teeth?
i assume they have to be part of a single mesh and preferably quads,i am stuck,anyone advise warmly received

flachdrache

If you stay highpoly take a look into this
http://206.145.80.239/zbc/showthread.php?t=3193
or if you build a lowpoly first (in zbrush) for normal/displacement -
just extrude and tweak the teeth into the jaws and "crease" there top surfaces - than divide as usual.

hth,low

kunglao

thanx flachdrache, here is where i am at.I am currently building lo poly in max then going to take him over to zbrush and add details creating hi then make normal map.
Someone on another site said to make teeth for lo poly using basic planes for alpha,i can do that but how would this affect hi poly in zbrush.Am i right in thinking that if i create all the teeth for hi poly in zbrush that when i get normal map i can use these for my alpha back on lo poly.
As i said earlier this is gonna be my first attempt using zbrush and making normal map and as the teeth are an important feature i want to be sure before i get stuck in

flachdrache

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Someone on another site said to make teeth for lo poly using basic planes for alpha,i can do that but how would this affect hi poly in zbrush.

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? Sorry, dont understand - if you talking about "alpha out" the baked highpoly on lowpoly surface than i would
just render the normals and bake the teeth on flat plane (uvmap) and "alpha them out".

Take a look onto this picture (also borrowed for zBrush central:) - it shows also what i meant.

lonnie-tristep