You make a strong case. I've known all along I would have to learn sculpting at some point, I just didn't think it would be for this model. (It's still only my second model, and the first I've spent a serious amount of time on.)
My main concern: will sculpting this obliterate my current topology?
Cool! As I said, if you're serious about character art you're gonna have to learn how to sculpt sooner or later, might as well be now. And you've got a nice mesh with very few triangles, you can sculpt with it pretty well, should be better than most base meshes people start in. You'll see, just by loading the mode in ZBrush and using the Move brush to push things around you'll be able to define the shapes a LOT easier than picking and moving individual verts.
Yeah, the interface sure steepens the learning curve, but once you know what does what and where are the main tools it all becomes easier. Also, you'll see how much you can get with just the Move brush, you can shape things up real good without actually doing any sculpting per se.
Also, can anyone tell me how I can change the topology of the base mesh without losing the higher-res detail? When I choose "transfer high-resolution details to the modified mesh" everything goes screwy.
I haven't created clean UVs yet; would that be why?
Don't worry about UVs at this time, I doubt they're part of the problem. Now, what is it that you wanna change that requires new topology? The whole idea behind sculpting is that you only worry about topology later on and sculpt as freely as possible. If you must change something though, the new GoZ feature bridges ZBrush and Maya/3dsmax/etc pretty seamlessly, its as easy as pressing a button, editing the mesh in your software of choice then bringing it back with another button. But again, what is it that you wanna do? Your mesh is good enough as a base that you wouldn't have to fiddle with it's topology in order to build stuff.
UGH! The internet has been down at my house all day! Sorry about the delayed response.
[Q]uik, no worries! Thanks anyway for the tutorial.
Felipe, I wanted to changed the topology of the nose because there are a bunch of triangles around the nostrils, and a 6-pole and a 7-pole that seem to be causing some pinching. I've been using GoZ, but whenever I change the topology in Maya I get this warning in ZBrush:
And then when I click "Yes," this shit happens:
EDIT: And it's on all sub-division levels, not just the higher ones.
Ugh, that is not supposed to happen. Are you importing it back to ZBrush through GoZ or are you exporting it from Maya and importing it in ZBrush manually? It's supposed to install a plugin in Maya, at least in 3dsmax after you install GoZ there's a new menu with a button that sends the mesh back to ZBrush. Anyway, try pressing NO at that dialog, you don't have much sculpted anyway, should look pretty much right. Any changes you've made in terms of proportions on the higher subdivisions shoul've been carried away to the lower levels as well so don't worry about transfering details that aren't even there yet. o/
the problem you are having is with the projection distance when it reprojects the details on to the new topology- looks like it's projecting too far. Under your subtool palette there is a ProjectAll button- to the left is "Dist"- that slider is what you will want to adjust- in your case adjust it to a smaller value. Hope it helps.
Ahh! Thanks for the information, Dan! I'll look into that next time I want to change the topology. For the time being, I just scrapped the higher-res detail like felipefrango suggested.
Felipe, thanks for helping me sort that out. And I was using the GoZ button! :poly127:
Sirdelita, thanks! I'll do my best!
Fixed the nostrils:
EDIT: Can anyone tell me who I should contact about renaming a thread (i.e. this one)?
I don't know the direction you wanna take this, as I said you can go a long way just moving stuff around, but don't be afraid to sculpt. Sometimes the process to defining the shape you want can be really messy, remember you can alway add a new 3D layer to try stuff out, no need to be conservative.
Replies
My main concern: will sculpting this obliterate my current topology?
Did a quick polypaint of the face to see if it highlights any problem areas:
Another version with eyes and hair added in Photoshop for reference:
Felipe, yeah! Now that I'm starting to wrap my head around the CRAZY user interface. :poly127:
Side view:
Also, can anyone tell me how I can change the topology of the base mesh without losing the higher-res detail? When I choose "transfer high-resolution details to the modified mesh" everything goes screwy.
I haven't created clean UVs yet; would that be why?
its a very good tutorial on the ears!
good luck!
edit: SORRY didnt see there was an additional 2 pages on here..
[Q]uik, no worries! Thanks anyway for the tutorial.
Felipe, I wanted to changed the topology of the nose because there are a bunch of triangles around the nostrils, and a 6-pole and a 7-pole that seem to be causing some pinching. I've been using GoZ, but whenever I change the topology in Maya I get this warning in ZBrush:
And then when I click "Yes," this shit happens:
EDIT: And it's on all sub-division levels, not just the higher ones.
Felipe, thanks for helping me sort that out. And I was using the GoZ button! :poly127:
Sirdelita, thanks! I'll do my best!
Fixed the nostrils:
EDIT: Can anyone tell me who I should contact about renaming a thread (i.e. this one)?
I don't know the direction you wanna take this, as I said you can go a long way just moving stuff around, but don't be afraid to sculpt. Sometimes the process to defining the shape you want can be really messy, remember you can alway add a new 3D layer to try stuff out, no need to be conservative.
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