Clean sculpting?
polycounter lvl 7
So one thing I've struggled with a lot is clean sculpture. Now I find its easier to get clean mesh when you have a higher topo and smooth strokes, pretty basic. But then how I want tosculpt is starting at a lower base, and I think I just don't move up fast enough. So I end up with something lumpy when I remesh and project, so could someone give me some pointers on sculpting something clean?
Because I didn't think through when I was making these fat layers that need to be on top of each other I had to wait till I remeshed and now have to remask and make them overlap or something like that..
blah
Example of what im trying to clean rn
Because I didn't think through when I was making these fat layers that need to be on top of each other I had to wait till I remeshed and now have to remask and make them overlap or something like that..
blah
Example of what im trying to clean rn
Replies
If I need to do bigger changes later on, I make sure not to do them at the higher levels, as that tends to give me an uneven result. Instead, I step down to the lowest division level that allows me to make said change (usually division level 1 or 2).
It's a very oldschool workflow, but it works very well if you want to keep your meshes tight. Dynamesh and remeshing have their uses, but I would hold off on them until you know how to keep your sculpts clean.
What I'm finding myself doing is doing a line at a lower sub div and moving up and being like "poop" and re doing the line.. and repeating that. Then it becomes a messy line that takes forever to clean up.
Just guess I have to keep this in mind and try to remember to be at a higher subdiv for certain details..
I cleaned this model a bit more, but you can still see the messiness around the dam standard lines
Just any tips for getting clean lines and forms are welcomed at this point ^.^
And masking? Since I need to pull the folds over each other, do you do that from stage one or would you do the two forms first like I did then pull one over the other with a mask?
Also, like in painting, you will get a better result if you make fewer, steady, well-placed strokes instead pecking at it with little strokes. If I don't like a stroke, I find it's better undo and try again. If you try to "fix" it, it will get increasingly messy.
Now if you've done a lot of exploration of little shapes, you may have ended up with a mesh that you like the general shape of, but it's too wobbly, and everything you try to clean it up just makes it more uneven. I find this might happen on models with a lot of complex surface details, such as hair.
In that case, I go through the model area by area, and aggressively smooth away all the detail in a small part. Then I resculpt it in the fewest amount of strokes possible. You really want to do this part by part, so you remember exactly what the shape was you wanted to capture in that area (otherwise you have to do your shape exploration all over again, and end up with yet another wobbly mesh).
It's a bit scary to erase details you worked hard on, but it ends up being faster than endless amounts of noodling around with it.
i would suggest watch Pior Oberson's video on smoothing with clay.
and downloading Renaud Galand's ui, just to get his flatten and fill brushes. (or you can make your own) (the flatten brush is also good to fill in, if you use the alt., with the principles the normal clay brush can also work, I find Hpolish using both with and without alt to work wonders aswell)
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?65365-Renaud-Galand-Sketchbook/page22
Think about a lumpy surface, It has highs (peaks) and lows (valleys). When you try smooth the surface it will relax the vertices giving you the middle of the lows and highs. However smoothing does not push the vertices up. So there will be remnants of the high peaks. which results in still lumpy results. Instead you would want to try filling in the vallleys so that your surface is even with the high peaks. I hope this makes sense....
And of course It's also important to be aware of subdivision levels as everyone else has said. The lower subdivision, the lower amount of verts, the less conflict you get when smoothing, making smoothing easier. However less verts means less points to hold detail, so its a balancing act.
And with remeshing, its not a big deal but to get cleaner meshes. You may notice that when you dynamesh your topology will change to be up and down. So if you have piece that is diagonal the topology will be up and down, not diagonal. This means the topology is not following the flow of the form. Which can sometimes affect getting clean lines. Again though, not too big a deal.
And for clean crevices, here's a brush i made following the same principles, (I use it to more to clean crevices than actually make em) https://gum.co/tHkaD (its free I believe you just need put in $0) The brush only works in a certain direction so you need to experiment which way to apply your stroke. Basically this brush works only on one side and the other side is left unaffected. I think alt works, but it depends lol.
I think the most important thing to remember is to try to make as few brushstrokes as possible. I can spend several minutes just trying to get a cloth fold "right". I change brushes, jump up and down subdivision levels and try all sorts of things untill I get the result I want on the first try. I also try to stay away from the clay brushes. I use inflate and deflate to build form, since it creates a very smooth buildup. but again, most importantly, you have to nail a form in one go. if thats impossible in a certain case I do the exact opposite, and try to keep my brush pressure as low as possible (around 5-15) and just sloowly building up the form, smoothing between brushstrokes. Zremesher is a big friend too, and ofcoruse lazymouse.
taking your time and is key, and try to actually sculpt as little as possible. i almost exclusive use inflate/move to build form, and d-standard standard for creases and detail. also the softpolish brush can be good when your on higher subd levels.
good luck and you can always PM me if you have more questions
The timelapse in this link has some pretty handy tricks for this style of super clean work. Of particular note is the way he uses the ZBrush NormalRGB material to really make any inconsistencies in the surface stand out.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qZDln
I think if I had polygrouped and made the arms a lot like how lotet made his for his character it would have been super easy to make it clean. In parts. Definitely have to work more in parts.
Going to look through all the video and advice again, and make notes before I start my next sculpt. This could have definitely been 100x cleaner. Though when I retopo im sure it will be at least a bit cleaner, but the bake will end up all messed up if I take that route with it.