Sunday, March 20, 2022

ZB_18 (Part 2 ): Rigging Julie model using ZSpheres 4K

 


Alright! Let's continue on with rigging!


Rigging gives the mesh a frame or support structure to allow for posing and movement.


Just like human skeleton, rigs either hold the model in place or moves it,


Once a model is rigged, I can always reset and pose or even animate it using Layers.


Let's go back to where we stopped in the tutorial and delete the bounding boxes.


Click to select each bounding box and delete them.


How should I pose the model? I want the arms to get out of the way,


so that they will not interfere with Dynamics feature later on.


It should be a simple rig where I can just raise the arms


leaving all the other parts of the body in place.


This method of rigging is only used for models with 1 Subtool.


Unlike some models which contain multiple Subtools, Transpose master will help


transform all the other Subtools to match the rigged model.


However, in this tutorial I am not going to use Transpose Master.


Just rigging 1 Subtool with ZSphere.


See how the swimming suit matches the pose of the body using Transpose Master?


Now, let's prepare Julie's Body Subtool for rigging.


Check the Subdivision levels under Geometry.


At the highest level, there should be 1.4 million active points.


At Subdivision level 5, Click on Make PolyMesh3D to extract just this body Subtool.


What I have here is only the highest subdivision of Julie's body Subtool,


without all the lower subdivisions.


So I am going to regenerate the lower Subdivisions.


Go under Geometry. Then Reconstruct Subdivision.


Click until you reach about 5K Active points.


When rigging, low subdivision is easier to rig and keeps ZSpheres number low.


After rigging the low subdivision mesh, the rig can then


be transferred to a more detailed, high resolution mesh.


But why can't we rig a high resolution mesh directly? and what's the difference between


rigging a high resolution mesh and low resolution mesh?


Take for example this Julie Model with a high resolution swimming suit mesh.


The number of points are so high that when I rig the model with a basic skeletal layout,


The low number of ZSpheres are unable to hold the dense swimming suit mesh.


So more ZSpheres would be required to hold the swiming suit mesh in place.


While this low subdivision mesh with only about 1K active points,


rigged with the same number of ZSpheres and layout,


can hold and move the mesh without affecting the swimming suit.


There are no unwanted artefacts pulled off by the arm ZSpheres at the waist or armpit.


For the dense swimming suit mesh, I had to add 2 sets of ZSpheres.


1 at the waist and 1 at the armpit.


just to hold the swimming suit and straps in place.


It is the same concept as, the lower the resolution, the wider the area


affected by a single point.


So low resolution requires less ZSpheres to handle the points.


The higher the resolution, the smaller the area affected by a single point.


So, more ZSpheres would be needed to hold and move the mesh.


Why not increase the size of the ZSpheres instead?


A large ZSphere here being pulled upwards compared to a small ZSphere,


the result is relatively similar. At the moment, it doesn't make a difference.


Now that we understand how rigs work using ZSpheres,


Let's switch the active tool to Zsphere and start rigging.


Add in the mesh I want to rig. Go under Rigging > Select Mesh >


and Click on PM3D_Julie.


You will see a transparent low resolution Julie extracted and resized previously.


Now let me introduce you to the 4 keys needed to control Zspheres.


Q to Draw, W to Move, E to Scale and R to Rotate.


Usually I just place my fingers over these keys and switch between the fingers.


Pinky finger to draw.


Ring finger to Move.


Middle finger to Scale.


Pointer finger to Rotate.


Alternatively, CTRL key can be used to switch between these buttons.


Draw out a Zsphere. Then press Shift to snap to the previous size.


Press Alt and tap on ZSphere to delete. Alt Delete only works when Draw mode is on.


Draw another new ZSphere. Press Shift to snap.


Press and hold CTRL to switch from Draw mode to Move mode.


Without lifting the stylus after drawing, drag right to move ZSphere to the right.


Without lifting the stylus again, REPRESS CTRL to switch to Scale mode.


Drag down to scale down, Drag up to scale up.


Let's do this one more time,


this time drawing a long chain.


Draw a new ZSphere, Snap to size.


Press Ctrl. Drag right.


Release all and repeat.


Drag downwards to draw. Shift to Snap. Ctrl to move.


Repeat these steps to draw more.


There's another interesting way to draw using CTRL button.


Draw out a single new ZSphere then press CTRL 3 times without lifting your pen.


You can go wild and draw a 3D bezier line freely.


ZSpheres would be added in between the chains automatically.


On top of that, it's pressure sensitive!


So the harder you press, the bigger the ZSpheres are,


the lighter you press, the smaller the ZSpheres are.


The different colours are the different polygroups incorporated into the


ZSphere chains, after each change of size.


In this tutorial, I am going too use the simple QWER method. Nothing too wild!


Now that we know 3 ways to add and manipulate ZSpheres,


Let's start rigging from the neck.


Press E to scale. Click center and drag up to scale down.


Press W to move.


Press E to scale again.


Zoom in. Ctrl, Right Click, Hover right.


Press W to move it slightly.


Press X to turn on symmetry.


Q to draw but the Draw size is too big so the 2 brushes are overlapping.


Change the draw size to 1.


Now, they are not overlapping,


Click and drag to add 2 symmetrical Zspheres.


Press Shift to snap to the previous size and W to move.


Q to Draw. Shift to Snap. W to Move.


W to move.


Q to draw. Shift to snap.


W to move.


Q to draw. Shift to snap. W to move.


E to Scale.


Another Zsphere to the hand.


X to turn off symmetry.


W to move.


Q to add. Shift to snap.


W to move.


R to test out rotating the arms.


Moving the arms without shoulder joint looks unnatural.


Try moving the shoulder chain.


Looks ok.


Let's try moving it with the mesh.


Go under Rigging , Click on Bind mesh.


Oops! Press X to deactivate symmetry.


It works fine, except the body and legs are moving together with the arm.


The body needs it's own rigging to hold the mesh.


Press Q to draw. Shift to snap.


W to move.


Pull out a spine chain to the hip.


Press Q to draw. X to activate symmetry.


Shift to snap.


and W to move.


Check from the side.


Q to add. Shift to snap. New joints for the buttocks.


move the hip joint backwards to support to buttocks.


Repeat the same process until you reach the feet.


Press R for rotate. Test out rotating the hip ZSphere.


Rotate to the front and back.


Try with mesh. Rigging > Bind mesh.


Front and back.


Arms? The chest area needs more support to hold the mesh.


Let me add some more ZSpheres at the chest area.


Oops! I forgot to unbind mesh. Go under Rigging > Bind mesh.


Remember to unbind mesh after binding to edit the ZSpheres.


Alternate tap on joint to delete the Zsphere added before unbinding mesh.


Click again to add a joint between the chest.


Press X for symmetry. Shift to snap.


W to move.


Move backwards to create a cage like rib.


Press Q. Add more joints until a rib is formed.


Press R to rotate and now, raising the arms shouldn't affect the body.


Hmm..wrong joint.


The shoulder joint looks more natural.


Lightly tap to select either to rotate the joint or the chain.


Let's generate a Polymesh3D with this pose.


Adaptive skin > Density 5 ,


the same as the number of subdivision levels.


Slide down the Dynamesh resolution to 0 and click Preview or Press A.


Dynamesh can always be done after the new polymesh is generated.


That's not necessary for now.


This is the Preview of a high resolution Polymesh,


the resolution is controlled by the Density slider.


Notice the Active points are 1.4 million, the same as Subdivision level 5 before rigging.


All that's left to do is click on Make Adaptive Skin under Adaptive skin Tab.


A high resolution Polymesh3D will be extracted and


available for editing under the Toolbox window.


That's all for this rigging stage, but I am going to continue on with Layers tutorial


by showing you how reset, record and replay the poses.


I thought I could finish rigging and layers in


one tutorial but it seems like this video is getting way too long.


If you like my tutorial, please give me a like and subscribe.I'll see you in the next video!


Adios!

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ZB_18 (Part 1) | Scaling to real world size 4K

 


Hi everyone, my name is Michele. In today's Zbrush tutorial,

I am going to scale Julie into real world size using my height.

This way I can measure the length and width of the skirt to real world measurements.

Press , to open up Lightbox.

Under Tool, double click Julie to import it into the Tool Box.

It says updating additive shape layers at the top left corner here.

Zbrush is referring to this Layers tab, where we can record the progression of a

modelling process. Then dialling the intensity up or down with this slider here.

We'll come back to this at the Layers stage.

Let's just extend the edges of the canvas according to the size of the monitor.

Under Document > New Document with Autofit Window Size on,

then click on New Document.

Select Julie Tool from Tool box.

Place Julie, Click and drag on the canvas then let go. Press T to turn 2.5D to 3D editing.

Open up Subtool tab to check that the body is the active Subtool.

Or Press Shift F to turn on Polyframe to check.

I am going to use this body Subtool to resize the whole model.

Go under Zplugin > Scale Master to change the measurement unit to mm.

Under Scale Master there's a button called Set Scene Scale.

Click on it and a dialogue box will pop up with the type of units to measure in.

In my case, I am using mm. So I am clicking on this.

Then under ZPlugin,

request for the Subtool measurement of Julie's Body with this button,

Sliders to Subtool Size and with Ratio lock button on.

The numbers displayed here are the measurements of Julie's Body Subtool,

with 180mm as the Y value.

I want to change the Y value to my own height. 1560mm.

Keep Resize Subtool with All button on and click on Resize Subtool.

When the All button is on, it will resize all the other subtools.

If off, just the selected 1 body Subtool.

Once resizing is done, the model will fit to screen.

Just to be sure let's check the size under ZPlugin again.

Under Scale Master > Sliders to Subtool Size.

The Y height value is 1527mm instead of 1560mm.

Why is that? Let's fix that. Go under Geometry

and check the Subdivision levels.

Slide the Subdivision level to level to 5,

This should increase the accuracy of the mesh and increase the number of active points.

Then check the Y height value again, it should say 1560mm.

If you want to manually measure the model, you can do so by generating

a fitting box either around JUST the body or the WHOLE model.

New Subtool generates a fitting box around the selected subtool.

while New bounding Box Subtool generates a fitting box around all subtools.

which includes the height or thickness of the hair.

Let me click on New Bounding Box Subtool.

A large box will cover up the whole model.

and when I open up Subtool list, at the bottom I will see the generated bounding box.

To measure, press W to launch Gizmo and Y to change it to Transpose tool.

Snap and click at the top right point of the box,

then snap and click at the bottom right point.

The Y value will the displayed at the top left corner of the screen.

1565mm which includes the height of the hair.

Let me check that the Subdivision level is at highest level.

Ok, It is.

If I want to just measure from the tip of the head to the toes without the hair.

I can do so by selecting the Body Subtool, go under Scale Master again.

and click on New Subtool.

New Subtool will add a new bounding box around the 1 selected subtool.

In my case right now, is just the body. So the reading should be exactly 1560mm.

Let's go back to ZPlugin > Scale Master > Sliders to Subtool Size.

There it is 1559.9mm.

If you like my tutorial, please give me a like and subscribe.

I'll continue on with rigging next.

See you in the next video.

Adios~~~




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