Creature modeling pipeline!?
You've gotta help me, fair folk of this realm!
I need to create a creature from scratch for an assignment.
I use Maya and Zbrush
My initial plan was to both start and complete the high-res in Zbrush via ZSpheres + ZSketch + Unified Mesh until finishing sculpting, and then retopo it to a low-res from scratch with 3D Coat or Maya's new tools. ZSpheres and ZSketch seem difficult to control however when creating the initial major forms for the sculpt from scratch.
My uncertainty in approaching this lays in the fact that I have seen many people approaching things like this with a low poly base mesh in Maya/Max to establish the rough proportions and silhouette first, and then bring it into Zbrush. Is this the "proper" way to approach creature modeling?
I am also unclear on whether or not sub tools will be necessary for this project, and how to approach them if they are. The creature I am creating will be very similar to this:
Would this be one single mesh/sculpt? When is it necessary for something to be a sculpt subtool and/or seperate mesh for the low poly for something like this?
Your input is greatly appreciated, lets get this thread on a roll so it helps others too.
I need to create a creature from scratch for an assignment.
I use Maya and Zbrush
My initial plan was to both start and complete the high-res in Zbrush via ZSpheres + ZSketch + Unified Mesh until finishing sculpting, and then retopo it to a low-res from scratch with 3D Coat or Maya's new tools. ZSpheres and ZSketch seem difficult to control however when creating the initial major forms for the sculpt from scratch.
My uncertainty in approaching this lays in the fact that I have seen many people approaching things like this with a low poly base mesh in Maya/Max to establish the rough proportions and silhouette first, and then bring it into Zbrush. Is this the "proper" way to approach creature modeling?
I am also unclear on whether or not sub tools will be necessary for this project, and how to approach them if they are. The creature I am creating will be very similar to this:
Would this be one single mesh/sculpt? When is it necessary for something to be a sculpt subtool and/or seperate mesh for the low poly for something like this?
Your input is greatly appreciated, lets get this thread on a roll so it helps others too.
Replies
You'll probably want to do the eyes and teeth as separate objects.
Now subpolygroups for different parts of the body, that's what's new to me, I have only seen them used but never set up. It's basically when major parts of the body are separated into different colors that can be isolated for baking purposes? How and /why/ do I use these sub poly groups if I will already be using subtools?
As a general rule, i split models by looking at how they would be constructed in real life. Eyes, teeth, claws, hair, horns,...could all be subtools because they are different "materials", they do not need to connect to the main mesh and some body parts need motion (eyes, tongue, hair etc).
Some portions might need more density to detail correctly, keeping 1 mesh would quickly bring my (old ass) computer to a crawl.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6tjx8mdopbp87c4/beast1.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aj5jqf42n7nwezu/beast2.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zg0r61mwa40uu9c/beast3.JPG
As for the subtool for the plaques why worry if you are going to rig the low poly retopologized one anyway ?
And actually, you could also just duplicate the subtool before zremeshing, that way you can reproject the details back on to the zremeshed base after adding a few subdivision levels.
How do I go about reprojecting the details?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h07n9v12jhy4ia6/beast_WIP.JPG