Beginner Sculping, tips and suggestions ples

Urbonov

So, I am finally wading into z-brush to try my hand at some sculpting and am looking for some advice.

If anyone out there has tips, suggestions, hard won knowledge concerning the sculpting of human bodies, please share, and I would be most grateful.

My current progress (still needs lots of work, especially that butt) is pictured below.

In particular, if anyone has a link to an image of a female form with good detail on muscles and such, would be greatly appreciated (as u can see current model is rather blob-ish)

Cheers

KyleJensen

Work at lower subdivisions before moving into higher subdivisions.

Urbonov

Shad0wForce

I have been trying, just sometimes is seems harder to get the tight details in the lower divisions.

Thanks for the reply.

low odor

you should not be worrying about tight detail at this stage...worry about form

Urbonov

low odor

"Tight details" was a poor choice of words I guess. I guess I just meant it was harder at smaller division to make smaller adjustments to the form .

Here's a specific question that has come up, do the knees seem too low on the legs?

low odor

the best way to know is to check it against reference...once you check it against ref...it takes most of the guess work out of anatomy...it also brings to light most anatomical inaccuracies..

Again..I would not focus on small details, or small adjustments. You can adjust the mesh to fit a more accurate base form by just using the move tool. Once you have a accurate base, you can start adding anatomical landmarks and refining your detail

edit: and I don't mean to come off as 1,2,3 you're done..there is a lot of work involved. There is a Gnomom video: Zbrush for character artist that has a decent method for doing all this...and will at least give you a pretty solid start point to start building a workflow- you should check it out

Urbonov

low odor

I don't suppose you could point me towards some good reference images, most of what I am finding are too low detail for much help or are single images from a certain perspective rather than a comprehensive all angles look.

If not, not biggy.

low odor

Boobies and vagina Alert!

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=197455

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/197/bodymatch.jpg/

sebas

I hope you find this following image helpful, it's from a fellow polycounter: tda


http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1273206&postcount=619

Urbonov

low odor
sebas

Thank you both!

low odor, that first one will be especially helpful, as the curve of the arms and legs (rather than being just plump sticks) is what I have been trying to work out the most.


sebas ...is it weird that I find that image both a little disturbing and kind of beautiful.

MeintevdS

This might be useful too:
http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/body.html#

It's funny how you went from lowpoly to a higher poly mesh to add details when staying in lowpoly mode is meant to get you to focus on the roughest shapes first
But I have the same problem though, I always have troubles to figure out when exactly to move up a division.

Dylan Brady

I would Deffinately Reccomend subscribing to 3D.sk.

You get high res reffs from all the angles and detail shots.

TBH its a must have if you plan on doing realistic character work.

Urbonov

MeintevdS

wow, is there anything that google isn't making a mode for? lol

Bonebrew22

Thanks, I will look into those, a comprehensive view rather than a single angel is always appreciated.

Latest Progress

Urbonov

I seem to be encountering a strange error with z-brush/Maya. I took the divisions on my mesh down to original 1 to export back to maya, so I could chop up the mesh to perhaps make some cloths for fun. I found however, that there were 3 identical mesh imported, one on top of the other.

I was lucky to even have noticed it, does anyone know any reason why this may have happened?

Ace-Angel

Honestly, I have no idea why that would happen, why not try GoZ and see if that helps with the problem?

Urbonov

@Ace-Angel

I have never used GoZ. I R Noob.

Urbonov

I found a solution to the duplicate issue, sort of. If i need to re-import the mesh into maya, I just merge the verts. Since they are RIGHT on top of each other, like occupying the same space, all three versions merge together.

MeintevdS

Ohh noooo, using that merge trick is a bad idea.. You are creating so called "lamina" faces.

Go to mesh > cleanup and set the cleanup effect to "select matching polygons" then uncheck everything and check "Lamina faces" and click apply.
Notice how every polygon is being selected?

Another way to find out, is to zoom in on 1 polygon and get your cut tool and cut an X on the face. Now select the vertex created in the middle. There will either be no vertex in the middle or you'll be able to move it inside and you'll notice another face being in the same spot.

Maybe you're lucky and this didn't happen, but I just gave it a quick try with 4 cubes and that happened to me.

Urbonov

@MeintevdS

Sorry, the cleanup apply didn't seem to have any effect. Do i need to have all verts or faces or something selected first, or just the objects?

And more to the point i guess, any idea how this may have happened?

j4polaris

*cough*MUDBOX FTW!*cough*

Heya Urbanov, your second iteration is looking a lot stronger than your first! Looking at it from the side, you've got a good bend to the legs, but her torso is very stiff, pretty much facing straight up and down. Taking a look at the first reference picture that @low odor gave you, see how her torso flows from her legs? That "S" shape her spine makes?

What I usually try to do when sculpting is to work from large to small. Hit all the big muscles and elements first.(at a lower subdivision level, like the guys have been saying) Make sure that looks strong before you even give it another subdivision.

Keep it up!

Urbonov

j4polaris
hmm, S shape you say. Yesss. I was concerned about the torso, was bothering me and I wasn't sure why. Thanks for the tip.

Urbonov

Okay, I have taken the advice given to me and tried to make her stomach a little less stiff and more curved. Thoughts?

Also, as a bit of a break, I started some basic work on a head. Anyone more familiar with head sculpting willing to offer some tips on the do's and Don'ts of making the base mesh?

Urbonov

I just downloaded X-normal (again) and I had a question.

Would it be smart of me to take maybe, a 2 divisions version of the above body and use it for the low mesh? It has been a long time since I used x-normal and I am at a bit of a loss on how to proceed with a test.

Wex

As far as I understand, the low poly body mesh should be manually optimized before working on a high poly sculpt. You can go back to the base mesh later and tweak it to get a closer fit, but the low poly shouldn't be derived from the high-poly completely; it should serve as the foundation. I hope that answers your question (I'm also new to sculpting.)

As far as the head mesh goes, I actually just finished one myself that might prove useful to you (shameless plug). I also recommend checking out the Polycount Wiki which has several good examples for reference.

Urbonov

@Wex

Yeah, I'd certainly modify the 2 division mesh before trying to use it. I just though, as it's a simple body sculpt, with no pouches or anything at this point, it would be a good place to start and learn the process.

I am just encountering some odd little problems, like weird wrinkles in the bump map when applied to the low mesh.

I had neglected to consider the polycount wiki, thanks for the suggestion. I am still relatively new to polycount and am not as familiar withe resources it offers as I'd like to be.

Wex

Watch out for poles with more then four edges in your base mesh, as they'll cause pinching. Also, you'll want your mesh to be as close as possible to 100% quads.

EDIT: 5-poles are sometimes unavoidable, but you just need to place them strategically. They are useful for redirecting edge flow.

Urbonov

@Wex

Forgive my ignorance, but when u say "poles" do you mean faces? I've just never head that term before, my bad.

In terms of the head sculpt, is it sort of a rule that I should have basic lip (and ear) shapes on the low poly mesh, or should one or either of those be sculpting in z-brush?

I guess my question with head sculpting comes down to, how minimalist should I be with the low poly, how much does basic blocking come into play and how much should I leave up to z-brush.

Wex

Nope, a pole is a vertex in the context that it's a point from which a number of edges radiate outward. Here's a thread with a good explanation of how to use different poles effectively (link).

As far as the complexity of your base mesh goes, it all depends on what your intention is for this piece. If you just want to make some high-poly beauty shots, the base mesh doesn't need much detail at all. On the other hand, if you want to use the high-poly sculpt to bake normal maps and walk away with a game-ready low-poly model, it's important that the silhouette of the low-poly mesh match the high-poly as closely as possible.

Urbonov

@Wex

Thanks for the Tips, given me some stuff to think on.

Cooljay

Stomach seems kind of flat even for an athletic type.

Urbonov

Cooljay

Do you mean flat looking at it from the side, or in terms of muscle definition when one looks at it from the front, like a lack a abs?