Retopologizing in ZBrush
This month was undoubtedly challenging, but held many rewards. Going into this class I was very hesitant to use ZBrush, mostly because of my past experiences with it. After this month, I'm more confident in my sculpting abilities than I have ever been. That being said, I'd like to take this time to discuss one of the tools I learned about, which is ZBrush's retopology tool. My experiences with retopo were Maya based, and my first experiences with that were frustrating to say the least. It was refreshing to get the hang of A ZBrush tool right away, compared to its Maya counterpart.
My favorite thing about this tool was the ability to retopologize symmetrically along different axis. Whether it was Z, X, or Y, it could get the job done. Another thing I liked about this tool was that it was very straight forward to use. Append a ZSphere to a high poly mesh, hit edit topology, and start clicking. After using this tool I could hardly remember what retopologizing in Maya was like. I think the simplicity of this tool helped me conquer my fear of ZBrush's more complex tools, and allowed me to open up to the possibilities. I used to hate ZBrush, but now I have a respect for it.
Above is an example of the axe I modeled and retopologized. Rather than do my retopping and map baking in Maya, this class has changed my workflow in that I will make an accurate low poly blockout in Maya for hard edge purposes, import to ZBrush, sculpt the details, retopologize, create a displacement, and export and render in Maya. I think as an artist it's extremely important to have a plan for your model, and now I have a solidified workflow that I'm both comfortable with and now experienced in. This class has changed the way I will complete my models, and now that I'm much more comfortable in ZBrush I'll be able to revamp old pieces. Out of everything I've made so far, I am most proud of this.
