Another amazing option that you have, as you sculpt your model, is the ability to repose different parts of your model on the fly, using the Transpose device. This device has three rings connected by an action line that serve as your anchoring points and transform handles, depending on which ring you choose and which type of action you want to take. After picking Move, Scale, or Rotate, the Transpose apparatus will appear for you to reposition and effect the mesh by pulling on one end ring to stretch, enlarge, or swivel while the opposite end ring holds that side of the mesh in place.
Example of Transpose device with the three control rings.
You can also interact with the middle ring and it will serve as its own pivot point as you pose your figure. The beauty is that at any time you can redraw your action line and reposition your rings just by drawing in a new section of your mesh. This makes for nice, efficient adjustments to the form so that you can quickly get back to sculpting.
Masking, a technique familiar to avid practitioners of Photoshop, is also indispensable to the ZBrush user. After adjusting your brush to appropriate size, holding down the CTRL key will activate the mask, which looks like a dark stroke on your digital clay, and, if you need to feather the mask, CTRL-clicking on the masked part of the mesh will allow you to feather the mask easily. Then, when you try to use any of your brushes in the vicinity of the mask, only the unmasked areas will be affected.
Example of sculpting with a Mask.
If you want to cultivate only one area, just press CTRL + ALT outside of the mesh on the canvas and the mask reverses itself. Click again to reverse back or clear it away with CTRL + SHIFT + A to continue sculpting. Masking is a simple operation with powerful results.
A high polygon count is a must if you want to get the type detail that rivals reality. ZBrush provides a way to increase the amount of polygons simply, by using the options within the Geometry subpalette, found under the Tools palette. You can subdivide your model to a polygon count in the millions or higher, depending on how much your system can handle. Then by using the keyboard shortcuts D or SHIFT + D, you can shift up or down, respectively, to manage how much of the mesh you want to sculpt with at any given time. Several other options, with the Geometry subpalette, help the mesh’s transitions through the evolving topography.
For those who want to experiment and create many variations on the same base mesh, Layers within ZBrush will be a very empowering asset. If you’ve already finished a model of, say, a head, and want to show different states of weathering the skin, you can add a layer and sculpt in detail without affecting the original mesh below. The blending is seamless and the only way you can tell that they are not attached is by turning off the visibility of the layer. You can even layer multiple layers on top of each other to see alternate texture combinations. When you are done, you can collapse down the information, erase a particular layer’s information, or delete it all together. With Layers, the possibilities are endless.
