Digital Sculpture

Sculpting The Model

While we was still doing our physical model, we was also introduced to Zbrush, the digital program we would be using to create our digital version. Since this would be almost everyone in the groups first time, we was walked through the very basics of using the program. Such as moving around the program and the tools we would be mostly using. We was shown how to import image planes into the program and how to import obj. Files. Since in our previous projects we have been using Maya, for me navigating around in the program took a bit of getting used too. I had Zbrush at home so I knew I could always start my sculpture in my own time and I took the time to do my physical model. This at the time I thought was a good choice since I wouldn't be able to access it coming up to half term. I should of took the time to have a go in the program at least and familiarize myself with everything.

This effected me later on when in half term I started my model and It took me more time to get used to the program itself than actually doing the model. I took a good amount of time to learn some shortcuts and changed the interface layout. For some reason this helped me a lot, everything was more organized and there was less windows open. I liked this since I could move around easier and locate stuff more accurate. 

At first I used the right side for the draw and tool window. I realized once modeling these were the two windows I used most because I was using image planes and moving between the two windows on the side was a pain. Scrolling up and down between the two since I was using my drawing tablet was a joke. So I used the left side for the draw window and the right for the tools. I was able to sculpt quicker since I could see everything.

After finally figuring out how to move around in the program I began to sculpt my zombie self. Firstly I had to import the bust we was giving to work with. Selecting the polymesh star tool first I imported the low res bust and placed it down. Making sure the draw and edit tool was selected before moving around, I checked the model since I didn't want to end up placing another bust down.

At this point I had to import the images into Zbrush so I could edit my model. Making sure the floor was showing and selected I went into the draw window and scrolled down to where it said Front-Back view. I opened this up and selected the map1 and found my photo. At this point I actually had a lot of trouble since my Zbrush kept crashing and actually getting the images to work took a lot of time and effort.
Once I imported it I realized how big the image actually was so this put the floor way down and this put me off. I just snapped the floor to the model and that made things a lot easier. After resizing and adjusting my photo I matched it up to my model as close as I could. I did this for the side view as well.
Changing the fill mode to 3 I could see through my model and onto my photo quite easily. This made it a lot easier when trying to sculpt certain features like the nose to the same as mine.

The next part I did was masked off the upper lip and use the standard brush tool to invert the brush (holding alt) to push in the model to take away the bottom jaw and leave it hanging open. I decided to work on the nose after and do the same method to create the nostrils. At this point being at a lower subdivision worked well since I could move the sculpture and manipulate it without it looking messy. Some parts like the nose I used the move topological tool since using the standard move tool didn't keep the shape and the topology overlapped. 

With adding more detail I divided the model into 6 subdivisions. I mostly worked on the 4 subdivision for adding detail and if I wanted to define it more I went up a subdivision and worked on it slightly. I did this with the nose and to define the upper lip more. 

Since I knew that some objects like the teeth and tongue would have to be created in Maya and imported, I began to do that next. Opening up Maya I started to work on the teeth first. To make it easier for me I exported my model from Zbrush as a obj. file and imported it into Maya. This was easier since wherever I positioned the teeth, they would appear in the exact same spot in Zbrush. Knowing I would be able to go into more detail in Zbrush, I kept the polycount low and made basic shapes of the teeth and gums then exported it out as obj. file. Before this I had to go into the preference manager in Maya and enable the obj. export plug in. 

Creating the tongue was simple as well and I kept the polycount low. I used a cube and made a basic tongue shape and then imported it into Zbrush. When zooming in and going in for closer detail I noticed that the topology overlapped at one certain part. So going back into Maya I noticed that one of the vertex was overlapping inside the model. I realized this must of happened when I moved vertexes to shape the tongue. After fixing this I imported the tongue back in and realized I fixed it. 

Going back into Zbrush I began working on my model again. Importing the teeth and tongue I decided to wait to put the tongue into my model since I was focusing more on doing the rest of the features first. I tried to do it with the tongue there but for some reason it put me off. After I imported the teeth in, I clicked the append button in the subtool window and selected the teeth. The teeth appeared in the right place and I didn't really have to adjust the position much. Again using the move topological tool, I moved and defined the teeth so It fit the shape of mine on the photo more.

After finishing the teeth I decided to do the eyes. This was something that I thought I would have problem with since at this point I wasn't really sure on how to do it. The eye socket was too deep to start off with so I used the clay build tool and made the basic shape for the upper and lower eye lid. I done this in a lower sub division since it kept more detail. After building the upper and lower lid, I used the invert and made the hole for where I would add the eyeball. This took me a couple of tries and I had to load my save a couple of times since I messed it up. But finally I got something that actually looked like an eye. Going into more detail I went up to a higher sub division to define the eye lids a bit more. I also added eyebrows so it was easier for me to clay build on the cheek bones. 

Doing the ears was actually easier than I thought. At this point though the ears themself molded themselves into the head and I didn't really have much to work with. So using the clay build tool and the move tool I began to shape and define the ear. 

Finishing the ears I added the tongue and eyes into the model. I just did this buy appending a simple sphere as eyes and since I did the tongue earlier, it wasn't much trouble to import that in either. Since the eyes were done in Zbrush, I had to use the move and scale tool so they fit nicely into the eye sockets. Just going over the model with smooth, I just defined more details and cleaned up the model a little. Also changing the colour and texture of the model helped at this point since I could see the messy parts more clearly.

Physical sculpture

Sculpting A Bust

Once we had our references planned out and finished we printed them so we could look back and refer to them while sculpting. The previous project we produced a physical model but the material we used had a texture like chewing gum and manipulating that with the sculpting tools was ridiculous since it kept sticking. For this project the material we was using had the similar effects except the texture felt a bit more like clay and was easier to manipulate. It was a two way mixture that had to mixed with equal amounts of both of the materials to form the main putty. One material was sticky and felt like chewing gum, while the other was soft and felt like clay. Mixing both gave the benefits of a clay like feel and it set quite fast so it could be filed down and detailed more.

Starting off we used tin foil and made a skull like figure out of it. Shaping and making sure we pushed it hard so the tin foil was tight and compact. This was easier for when putting the putty on, so when we pushed hard that we didn't lose the shape of the head. The first attempt of making the tin foil skull, I pushed it and lost the shape itself and didn't really look like a skull. I wasn't pleased with this so I made another one and this came out slightly better. Grabbing another strip of tin foil I compact it tight, pushing my fingers down hard to create groves for the eyes. It was still slightly off but I thought I could fix it later on in the sculpting process. With the material itself, it was easier to work with tiny bits at a time. Pulling small pieces from my main supply, I layered it on to form the base layer. This was easier to then build and put more clay on top since sticking the first layer onto the tin foil showed a bit of difficulty.

After laying the material on bit by bit, I started off with the nose since this is one of the main features and gave me something to work from. Grabbing a piece of putty, I used two small balls roughly around the same size and a small rolled up piece. Once I created these, I placed the rolled up piece on the face to form the bridge of the nose and the two balls to form the nostrils. I then used one of the more finely sculpting tools with a sharp point to go into more detail. Pushing down on the tool I merged the rolled up putty with the two balls. This began the basic shape of the nose. Not forgetting the nostrils, I pushed into the putty with the pointy end of the sculpting tool to create holes. I had to keep in mind the amount of putty I had for the nostrils as I couldn’t make the hole too big because I would crack and rip the material.

After I finished going around the nose with the pointy end to shape and define the nose more, I started to do the upper lip. Grabbing another piece of putty, I rolled it up and pushed it onto the already existing upper lip to bulge and define the lip. Since my reference had a part of the upper lip missing. I just shaped the material so that it left a space for me to input teeth. Always using a sculpting tool, I pushed and blended the lip into the rest of the face so that it looked natural.

Once the lip was done I then moved onto the teeth. I thought this would be a problem since they were so tiny and I wasn’t sure how to go about it, although my first attempt went pretty well. Since the teeth were so tiny I couldn’t really roll up the putty using my fingers, so using a sculpting tool I began to roll small ball shapes for the teeth. Creating four balls, I wasn’t able to pick them up without ruining the shape and form. So using the pointy end of the sculpting tool, I pushed it slightly into the bottom of the teeth, since they have a natural groove in them anyway; this actually helped with the look of the teeth. Pushing them on to the upper lip, I used the sculpting tool to merge the material on the back of the teeth to the roof of the mouth so that the front of the teeth stayed clean and didn’t merge together in the process. I knew that I could define and sharpen the details later once the putty had dried. 

At this point I left the material to harden for the next time so I could add material to it a lot easier. The next step in my physical model was to create the appearance that the jaw had been ripped off. To portray this I rolled up pieces of the material and pushed it onto the model, molding and blending the one end into the side of the face and lip. This took me a few tries as the putty would get too thin and just fall off. I ended up using the sculpting tool for most of this, to push the putty on without ripping it. Once I had the right shape and form, I decided to let the model dry so that I wouldn’t mess up the pieces I already formed.

Once the model dried, I decided to go round the model and define some more of the details around the nose. Using the fine small file, I went around the side of the nostrils and the inside to clean up the edges and make them sharper. I also at this point started to file in the cheek a bit more to define the cheekbone. Although I knew later on I would most likely add more putty onto the cheekbone to make them larger.

I left the tongue till one of the last things before adding the neck. For the tongue it was quite simple. Using a piece of the putty, I rolled it up to form the basic shape then I pushed lightly on the end so that it formed a flat shape. Turning my model upside down I stuck the tongue on and pushed the one end of the material onto the mouth. Much like the way I attached the teeth to the model. I knew that I had to add the basic detail to the tongue before it dried as the fear of pushing too hard when filing and snapping the tongue off. I used the sculpting tool to draw the tongue line down the middle and add small holes for the taste buds. 

The next part of the model was to do the neck, give it a base so that it wasn’t a floating head. This was something I actually found difficult since I had to use tin foil again. Using a tiny bit of tin foil, I wrapped it around the metal stand and pushed it hard against the head. Hoping it would stay while I applied the material. Of course this was just hope since as I pushed pieces of the material on; it kept ripping and pulling away from the head. I had to do this multiple times as it would crack and not have enough support to even form a shape. I realised that once I got enough material around the upper part of the neck and the head, it started to harden. I thought that this would mess everything up but this gave it enough support to stick and stay attached without ripping. I used the sculpting tool to define the neck a bit as it was setting so I had something to work with and I didn’t have to file much away once it fully dried.

The next part to add to my model after I let it harden was finally getting round to the eyes. Starting this off I rolled up tiny pieces of the material and placed it in the eye socket. Then adding pieces for the eye lids I began to shape it and define where the folds are so it didn't look like one piece. I used the sculpting tool to get into the harder places to reach. Using the flat edge of the tool, I smoothed the upper eyelid and blended them into the rest of the face. I also kept adding pieces towards the lower lid as it wasn’t defined enough and didn’t really look like a lower lid. Before moving on again the model had dried, this gave me the chance to use the tip of the file to go into the eye and define the folds more, cleaning them up and defining them.

Also at this point I added eye brows and the left ear. For the eyebrows I just rolled up a very fine piece of putty as I didn’t want to add much, but have a surface I could add detail into without really filing into my sculpture. Placing it down I used the sharp edge of the sculpting tool to add detail like hair to the eyebrows.

After the eyebrows I did the ears.  Trying to get one side to look like the other side is such a pain for me and I always have a difficult time doing so. The first side went really well and I had the basic shape pretty much straight away. I think this was one of the features I spent most on. Grabbing a piece of putty, I made a shape that resemblance the ear. I had to again use the sculpting tool to merge it onto the head. Pushing the material at the back of the ear and at the front, I had to make sure I had enough to work with. Once the material was on the side of the head and in the right place, I went in with the sharp tool and done all the ear folds and hole.
Dreading to do the other ear, I possible spent more time on the right ear than most of the model. It took me several tries and when I finally did it, I ended up forgetting I done the ear and squished it. So again going back I finally done it and I just left it to dry so I didn't ruin it again. At this point it was pretty much done; I just went over my model with the filing tools and added more detail to the eyes. I also went over my model with the bigger filing tool to smooth any rough edges.

I spent quite a bit of time on my physical model compared to my Photoshop work.

Sculpting Project

Photoshop Design

Starting off with the new project, we had to design a sculpture of ourselves in both a physical version and a digital version. Although announcing our project there was a twist, that being that we had to create ourselves as zombies. Since we had 6 weeks to make a physical and digital, we started right away looking for research on zombies, mummies and anatomy structure.
I took many influences from mummies since they held a real feeling towards death and achieving my goal of creating a zombie, this would be a great help. Since mummies are so well preserved they give that feeling that a zombie would, decaying but still well preserved. 

After our research we had to manipulate photos of our self to look and give us ideas on our sculpting process. Having a front view, side view and 3 quarter view photo taken we used Photoshop to adjust and add pieces to create our self as zombies. 

 Starting off we had to insert our pictures into Photoshop and make sure our facial features lined up with one another. Using the guide lines I transformed and adjusted the individual photos so that the eyes, nose and lips lined up on each one. After this I placed them next to each other and adjusted the colour slightly so I had a colder skin tone to match the zombie feel.

 Since I had an idea in my head, I didn’t want to go with a typical zombie so I decided on removing my bottom jaw completely. Trying to figure this out and make sure it looked somewhat realistic and not over the top, I used the liquify tool and pushed my lower jaw upwards so that I could work with it. I wasn’t too worried on how it appeared since my plan was to have my tongue hanging down and would cover most of the disfiguration of the liquify.

Working on the front view I found a picture of a zombie that had their lower jaw missing and their tongue hanging loose. Using this I cropped and erased the picture so I could use the upper lip on my photo. I did this with the rest of the views, still using the same picture I warped the photo so it would rotate and not look so flat. Even doing this I lost some of the quality, so using a hard edge brush I zoomed in and went over the upper lip and teeth in detail. Making sure everything blended I used the eyedropper tool so that the colours were close enough and didn’t look like nothing matched. Once I done the teeth I realised that I didn’t like the tongue that I used before so I deleted it, planning to find another tongue to use later on in the process.

At this stage I was slightly worried on how I would add the tongue and make sure it looked somewhat realistic and worked in every angle. I ended up finding different tongues in different positions so this worked great. I again cropped the different tongues out and erased the edges so it looked sharp. Manipulating it and adjusting it with the transform tool, I placed the tongue in the right position. I had to adjust the saturation and brightness of the tongues so that they would match with my photos. After adding these I could then go over my drawing in more detail, blending the edges and adding more skin and blood to cover certain areas.

This is the final version of my zombie self and all in all it was quite easy to do. It didn’t take me that long and the process of it was fun. Towards the end I added different eyes to make my eyes look dead and I added different brush effects on my skin. I didn’t want to have it plain so adjusting my settings on my brush and changing the speckle; I went in with a blue colour and very lightly went over my photo. This gave my skin a thin look and with also adding veins this helped the effect quite a lot.

The Old Man

The design process 

 

After creating the younger version of my character I began building ideas and looking for references on an older person. Such as there facial features and how certain aspects change when we grow older. I wanted to create a character that I could compare how he was young and living before the incident happened, to how he has grown and changed his life to survive. I wanted this to show on the character.

Beginning with the design I pretty much just blocked out colours straight away and left it at that. At this time when designing the character I had a small obsession with trying to draw wrinkles. I find that they tell the story that I want to be told to the audience. It’s something that captures me and draws me in.

Starting with the eye I began to block out colours and form the left side of the face and nose. I tend to have some trouble with colours and how they react with each other but before I created my character I again watched YouTube videos on how I could better my technique.
I done these on numerous layers and used only one brush to block out the colours.

After blocking out colours I drew the pupils and used a hard edge brush to go back in and blend the colours together, making sure the edges of certain lines were crisp and clean. At this point I almost give up because with all my previous drawings I know that when it comes to the hair I struggle a lot.
At first I tried a method and began blocking out colours but it just wasn’t right, it looked unrealistic and I got really frustrated. After getting fed up with it I decided to take a break and again watch videos on how I would go about it. Several hours later I came back to my drawing and tried a different method.

Putting down the darkest colour I worked from the darkest shade to the lightest. Once I had the basic shape I went with a slightly lighter shade and worked out how I would want the hair to fall. At this point it was looking really blocking and I was really discouraged but I still continued. After doing this I went in closer with a hard edge bush and defined some of the more detailed hair. Knowing when drawing that you can’t see every single strand of hair, I began bunching up the colours so it looked more realistic. Adding the mouth and tweaking with stuff here and there, you can really tell the difference from where I started drawing the hair in number 5 to where I started to finish it in number 11.

Below is the final version of my character and I was pretty much happy with the overall drawing. I learnt stuff and pushed myself more in this design as normally I would have given up on certain points. I wanted to improve and I learnt a lot more in this one project than I did in several others.