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.