■ Creating a Base Sculpting Mesh 15
The muscles have these specific independent shapes even to the point of having defined
angles and planes. Bear this in mind as we work since you want to avoid having a soft blobby
figure at all costs. As we refine the muscle forms we will continually give attention to the
planes and structural quality of each. This is part and parcel of being aware of the form in
our sculpture.
Creating a Base Sculpting Mesh
We are now ready to begin creating our character. To start we
will block in a polygon mesh in the proper proportion. This is
a very simple block mesh which will serve as a base for all our
sculpting. Later in this book we will look at methods of reto-
pologizing this mesh for film or games, as an animation-ready
mesh. For now we are only concerned with sculpting and cre-
ating a base suitable to support the forms we want to create.
A sculpting mesh differs from an animation mesh in
that the topology is not laid out for animation. Instead, a sculpt
mesh features evenly spaced, efficient polygon edges that allow
for consistent subdivision in ZBrush without allowing the
base mesh to define any form on its own. The only aspects we
want the sculpt mesh to address are gesture and proportion.
This mesh is purely for sculpting. It is not an animation-
ready mesh as seen in Figure 1.24. I find that starting from
the most basic mesh allows me the most freedom in sculpting.
Sometimes if you have a muscle form edge looped in your
base model, it can fight you as you sculpt.
Building a Sculpt Mesh in Maya
In this section we will create our simple base sculpt mesh, using very simple polygon model-
ing techniques that are applicable to nearly every modeling package on the market as well
as Maya. This simple base mesh layout is based on a modeling approach used by Zack Petroc.
I thank him for permission to reference it here. See the DVD for a video demonstration of
this process. This tutorial describes the key points, but you will gain a much deeper under-
standing by watching the process in real time in addition to reading these steps. While I rec-
ommend following along to better understand how landmarks are placed in space, I have
also included the final mesh on the DVD so you may move directly into sculpting in the next
chapter. See Figure 1.25 for an idea of just how simple the resulting mesh will be. Figure 1.26
shows how even from a very simple base, complex shapes can be sculpted with ease.
1. Begin by loading your polygon modeling software. In this case we will use Maya,
but the same simple steps apply to nearly all packages on the market. From the DVD
load the
measurePlanes.obj file. This object consists of eight planes, corresponding
to each head measure (Figure 1.27). This will guide us in placing major forms in the
base model as well as making proportional decisions for the remainder of the project.
I have added the measure planes to a layer in Maya so I can show and hide them for
clarity as we work.
The instructions in this procedure assume that, like most ZBrush users, you’re also famil-
iar with Maya and basic polygon modeling techniques.
Figure 1.24 An animation mesh is prepared with
edge loops and topology that facilitates UV layout
and animation.
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