Artist’s Series: Sculpting Hair - Bob Cut
By Ryan Kingslien in Artist's Series, sculpting | 605 comments
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Sculpting hair can be easy and sculpting hair can be hard. This is the first in the Sculpting Hair Series.
In this installment, we start out easy by sculpting a basic bob cut. However, in this basic hair style we will be able to explore one of the many possible ways to abstract and define hair.
Hair can be difficult because it has a very dynamic nature. It is:
* light
* airy
* volumous
* filled with complex curvatures
In this tutorial we establish the volume of the hair with the Move brush and the SnakeHook brush.
Second, we establish the directionality of the hair using the Clay brush with the BrushMod slider set to around 20. The Clay brush also helps to build more specific volumes in the hair and shape how it falls around her face.
Finally, we use the Slash2 brush to establish shadows in the hair and the hard edges that define clumps or strands. Notice how I start with the biggest blocks of hair first and then create smaller and smaller groupings.
Reference:
The Slash2 brush requires a little more information to make the most out of using it. The basic functionality of the Slash2 brush is to depress one area while elevating another area. It cleaves through your geometry and raises one side of it like a techtonic plate. This makes it great for things like hair and, specifically, scales.
The direction of your stoke determines which side is elevated and which side is sunk downwards.
To help you with your own work, I have gathered a collection of youtube videos dealing with hair in motion.
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jamal | Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
thank you 4the good tut juste whate i need hope to lorn moore about your skell
ps sory 4 may bad english
Cesar Dacol Jr. Aka, The Voodoo Monkey | Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Hey Ryan.
Very cool, love the use of the sphere ^_-
I’m happy that you started by firmly anchoring it with the partition. I think that’s where most people fail.
Very well done and informative.
I look forward to this series continuing.
Cheers
Cesar Dacol Jr.
Aka, The Voodoo Monkey
Nat | Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Thank you very much. very nice tutor.
Cindi | Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Hi Ryan, Thanks for the blog and the hair tutorial. Way over my “head”. I havent created any thing yet in Zbrush. Still learning. Will keep checking in though. Thanks
Cindi
slashpot | Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Great tut Ryan, just what I was trying to figure out! I can’t believe the slash2 tool is exactly the kind of brush I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) to create! I guess its name gave me the impression that it was a very severe tool for deep gashes etc, but its perfect for stuff like skin folds on animals.
Thanks again mate…keep ‘em comin!
PS: I see you’ve found the David Belle Parkour videos…aren’t they amazing?! I’ve got a heap of them.
PPS: OMG! That is SO not what I thought you’d look like!!:)
Yongkiatk | Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Neat Tutorial
Definitely gaining great tips from this vid.
admin | Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Jamal, Nat, Cindi, Yongkiatk - thanks for the kind words. The next one to come is for sculpting a male with short hair pulled forward.
Cesar - Thanks!. I look forward to making more of them and pumping you for information.
slashpot - I’ll have a surprise for you in a few more posts about sculpting hair. The slash2 brush can be modified to great effect. I think you will really like it.
PS: Here’s a pix from our ILM user group!
slashpot | Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
My God! The resemblance to Johnny Depp is uncanny!!!!!
(guess who wants to be in the next beta)
Love the Zbrush do-rag! Where do we buy those!?
admin | Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
slashpot - Lol!
Unfortunately, the do-rag was part of the Pirates user group meeting and are all gone. They went pretty fast.
Shawn | Jan 7, 2008 | Reply
great tutorial! Its great work like this that helps make z-brush so fantastic.