ZBrushTutorial7

Adding detail with projection Master

This is where a fast processor, hard drive space and a lot of ram come in handy!
(I have a 3.2 ghz processor, 800 MHZ FSB, 2 gigs of pc3200 ram, and 420 gigs of total hard drive space (1 120gb, 1 300 gb) )
When you get up to subd 6 you will be in the millions of polygons.

Let’s start adding detail.

First make sure that your mem-> preferences MaxPolyPerMesh is set to the max 10. This will allow you to get to subd 6.
Once you are in subd 6 go back down to about subd 3 or 4 and select a particular area to work on. I am going to start with the side of my character. So hide everything except what you want to work on then go back up to subd 6, figure 29. You do not want to work in subd 6 with your whole character showing because it will be in the millions of polygons, in my case 5 million polygons.
Once you have gone up to subd 6 you need to go into projection Master. To do this hit g or click on the Projection Master button in the upper left hand corner. Uncheck Colors and click just Deformation and Normalized, figure 30. Colors will be used later.

Figure 29: Getting ready for Projection Master. Hide everything except what you want to work on and go to subd 6.

Figure 30: Going into projection Master. Uncheck Colors and click just Deformation and Normalized.

Now your object is dropped to the canvas.

- - Now this is why ZBrush is known as a 2.5D program. You rotate and sculpt in 3D but you add detail and colors in 2D. This is now a 2D image until you pick the object back up.

To start adding detail first you need to choose your brush type. Your brushes are in the left corner right below the Projection Master button, figure 31.
The default brush when you first go into Projection Master is the single layer brush. This is fine for color but will not add much depth to the detail you are going to add. The most used brush you will use initially is the simple brush. It is a multilayered brush and keeps the most detail. So select the simple brush from the brush menu, figure 32.

Figure 31: Selecting your brush in Projection Master.

Figure 32: The default brush in Projection Master is the Single Layer brush. This is good for color but not detail. Use the Simple Brush.

Now it is time to use the Alpha Menu. Drag the menu over to the left, figure 33.

An alpha in ZBrush is like a height map or displacement map in any other package. White is the highest and black is the lowest. This is when you want to create your own alphas. ZBrush gives you many standard Alphas but you will be using mostly custom made alphas.

Figure 33: Choosing your alpha brush.

Creating your own alphas

To create a custom alpha you can use anything from what you made in Photoshop to pictures you scan in, digital photographs you’ve taken or images you have gotten from the web.
The most important thing to think about is how tileable you will need the image to be. If you are only going to use it in a little area it doesn’t have to be very tileable but if it is going to be the main skin texture for your entire model then it needs to be.


	ZBrush Tutorial Page 7
To download a copy of this in pdf format click here
Adding detail with projection Master This is where a fast processor, hard drive space and a lot of ram come in handy! (I have a 3.2 ghz processor, 800 MHZ FSB, 2 gigs of pc3200 ram, and 420 gigs of total hard drive space (1 120gb, 1 300 gb) ) When you get up to subd 6 you will be in the millions of polygons. Let’s start adding detail. First make sure that your mem-> preferences MaxPolyPerMesh is set to the max 10. This will allow you to get to subd 6. Once you are in subd 6 go back down to about subd 3 or 4 and select a particular area to work on. I am going to start with the side of my character. So hide everything except what you want to work on then go back up to subd 6, figure 29. You do not want to work in subd 6 with your whole character showing because it will be in the millions of polygons, in my case 5 million polygons. Once you have gone up to subd 6 you need to go into projection Master. To do this hit g or click on the Projection Master button in the upper left hand corner. Uncheck Colors and click just Deformation and Normalized, figure 30. Colors will be used later. Figure 29: Getting ready for Projection Master. Hide everything except what you want to work on and go to subd 6. Figure 30: Going into projection Master. Uncheck Colors and click just Deformation and Normalized. Now your object is dropped to the canvas. - - Now this is why ZBrush is known as a 2.5D program. You rotate and sculpt in 3D but you add detail and colors in 2D. This is now a 2D image until you pick the object back up. To start adding detail first you need to choose your brush type. Your brushes are in the left corner right below the Projection Master button, figure 31. The default brush when you first go into Projection Master is the single layer brush. This is fine for color but will not add much depth to the detail you are going to add. The most used brush you will use initially is the simple brush. It is a multilayered brush and keeps the most detail. So select the simple brush from the brush menu, figure 32. Figure 31: Selecting your brush in Projection Master. Figure 32: The default brush in Projection Master is the Single Layer brush. This is good for color but not detail. Use the Simple Brush. Now it is time to use the Alpha Menu. Drag the menu over to the left, figure 33. An alpha in ZBrush is like a height map or displacement map in any other package. White is the highest and black is the lowest. This is when you want to create your own alphas. ZBrush gives you many standard Alphas but you will be using mostly custom made alphas. Figure 33: Choosing your alpha brush. Creating your own alphas To create a custom alpha you can use anything from what you made in Photoshop to pictures you scan in, digital photographs you’ve taken or images you have gotten from the web. The most important thing to think about is how tileable you will need the image to be. If you are only going to use it in a little area it doesn’t have to be very tileable but if it is going to be the main skin texture for your entire model then it needs to be.