Zbrush Base Mesh Question - Hard edge and organic together

PogoP

Hey guys,

Got a quick question for you all; how would you go about making the base mesh for an astronaut-type character in this sort of style:



I'm not sure whether to make a very simply base mesh in Max and just sculpt everything, or make the hard edged stuff such as the helmet ring in Max and import them onto a simple base mesh also made in Max.

Main question is - would you sculpt the zip pouches from the flat base mesh, or model the pouches in Max and just sculpt creases and the zip?

Looking forward to hearing the different ways in which people would approach this.

Cheers!

PogoP

Sorry to bump this but I fear that due to the time I posted this thread, it slipped by most people! If you have any advice, I would love to hear it.

SpeCter

I would model the most hard surface stuff in max(the helm at least)

cryrid

It could be done completely in zbrush, if you're used to the new hardsurface tools. You might be interested in Frederik Storm's videos showing how he created the hard-surface portions of his Astronaut.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=91611

For the pouches, at least the ones that stick out very far on the legs, I'd probably try to have that stick out on the base mesh.

eld

I'd do it like this:



That way you can make a simple basemesh, and model some complex hard poly shapes to bring in to zbrush too, so you'll have nice hard objects to shape the more flexible softer material around.

Ihazard

make as much detail in max as possible, things like zips, hard edges and stuff really can't be well replicated in zbrush I find, you're also less likely to become stuck when sculpting because if you jump into sculpting too soon then you may find that you lack direction or are unsure of the interaction between objects, I think 100% sculpts with hard surface look blobby and unrealistic most of the time

[HP]

I would do as much as I could in max (sub-d modeling) so in zbrush you would only need to add some wrinkles, etc.

Some people will tell you to do most of it in zbrush maybe, but you would need a lot of skills in zb. For me, zb is a tool to add detail, not to sculpt out complete forms, but I'm talking from my experience with env. art, with characters it might vary a bit but afaik the more you do in max the more control you have and the less you'll need to do in zb.


Another useful link:
http://www.selwy.com/2009/zbrush-clothes-tutorial/