Ears...They hate me
I'm covering some of Scott Eaton's works,but decided to take a little break from study in hopes to assess what I've learned through some sculpting practices. I've done done 3 consecutively each day up till yesterday where I found myself needing a rest to look at the busts in a more critical tone.
My main issue that I'm tagging at the moment are ears. I just can't seem to find a nice way to create them for usage. I've Dynameshed them onto the sculpt and crudely shaped it all,but I don't want to skip out on anything. I know that there's a bunch of cartilage in that area that extends outward, but masking things off with the move tool always gives me this nasty embossed areas in the back of the ear...Found out that was culling on the brush.
The upward passage is just something I'll have be able to work along with, but there are those thin sheets of skin that curl and curve inward that I just can't seem to work in without doing something "drastic".
I made a time-lapse of my experience.If there are any suggestions to my predicament, I'd great appreciate the feedback. Hell,I'd enjoy feedback on the entire thing.
Time-Lapse
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtre3X1ZDtw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtre3X1ZDtw[/ame]
My main issue that I'm tagging at the moment are ears. I just can't seem to find a nice way to create them for usage. I've Dynameshed them onto the sculpt and crudely shaped it all,but I don't want to skip out on anything. I know that there's a bunch of cartilage in that area that extends outward, but masking things off with the move tool always gives me this nasty embossed areas in the back of the ear...Found out that was culling on the brush.
The upward passage is just something I'll have be able to work along with, but there are those thin sheets of skin that curl and curve inward that I just can't seem to work in without doing something "drastic".
I made a time-lapse of my experience.If there are any suggestions to my predicament, I'd great appreciate the feedback. Hell,I'd enjoy feedback on the entire thing.
Time-Lapse
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtre3X1ZDtw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtre3X1ZDtw[/ame]
Replies
You have given to me what I'd consider cake. Thank you so much for this detailed and creative reference. It's one of the many ways I choose to remember...I'm sure a lot of other people do the same. Thank you, PyreZern!
Starting at 1:40
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Basically this leaves you working in two-dimensions, you might as well be drawing on paper. That is why when you turn your model, your ear is still flat to the head without any depth.
Instead of lines, try to think of mass. Instead of drawing a perfect line in one view, draw an imperfect mass that makes up the whole of the ear first, then use more mass to hollow it out - try to think of overall shapes with volume instead of individual lines.
Also, use way fewer subdivs when you're working at such a basic level. You should be able to easily see the polygons you are working with.
Take a look at this image and see how far the ears come away from the head:
http://www.123rf.com/photo_1535926_bald-head.html
[ame="
Omg cheat!
DemonPrincess, That is one of the main issues I've always noticed about things, but had no clue of how to tackle. I'm a bit fearful of ears, but sitting around isn't going to accomplish things. I'm going to become a bit more accustomed to the actual whole of the ear for. Thank you so much for the reference and feedback.
MM, WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT?! But seriously though, is that one of the functions that allow for you to make a copy of the area as a brush?
I'll be sculpting and possibly loading a new progression today, taking all of your advice in account that is. : >
Just used a square tool, sculpted the ear and grafted it on with Dynamesh. It looks ok, but I'd like some feedback if you all didn't mind. I'm also going to expose myself to retopology a bit more, so does anyone have any good sources for topology practice?
I don't know if someone already told you about the "backface" issue, but in ZBrush you can avoid that by activating the BackFaceMask option of any brush in the Brush panel, Auto Masking sub panel. This will prevent the brush to move the vertices on the back of what you're sculpting when the faces are too close to each other ( so you can sculpt both sides of a really thin object ).
Ears look hard at the begining, but honestly, once you know the basic structure, it's always the same. And generally nobody notices if the ear is not perfect ( plus, they are generally covered ).
That's the exact method I used to pair the ears with the head that I created. for this scene. I had the backface issue last year and found myself browsing around for an answer and that definitely helped. Was near impossible to do anything before with the brush clipping through and moving unwanted geometry. They frightened me before, but now, they seem pretty simple.
Curve tube a ear-like curl, move it into place, inflate out the top, dynamesh and carve out the inside, inflate is very handy for the lobe and helix.
Best way to get good with ears is just to make loads of them!
Also some general handy reference: