Creating High Poly Models

 04/04/21 - Week 26

This week, I mainly focused on getting my high poly for the models that needed it done. This was the first time I have properly sculpted some hard surface and it was rather difficult to get it looking right though my more natural forms ended up looking alright.

I first started with a quite important aspect of the scene, this being the stone arches that I want to use for the door ways along the hallway. This was a little out of my comfort zone as I haven't sculpted rocks before but looking at some stylised stone arch references really helped me to get the style I wanted across. One of the hardest things was trying to make the middle sections as crisp as I wanted them and I perhaps could have benefited from having these as separate objects/groups but having just returned to zbrush I didn't think of this and just got straight into sculpting instead of planning more.

The next thing I tackled was another important part of the scene and could perhaps be the called the centre piece. This was the large branch. I again used a low poly to start me off here as I'd created the basic shape and size that I wanted it otherwise I don't think I would have been able to predict how it would look in the scene. Again, I should have used groups for the branches, but overall this wasn't too difficult to sculpt as natural shapes in zbrush are definitely a lot easier as smaller discrepancies blend in.

This was the most difficult thing I created, I did use different objects and groups here thankfully, but sculpting this to make it look smooth and like a crafted item was particularly difficult. I used my references from the mood board to come up with the design for this helmet and in the end I think I really like the product but the lack of smoothness and thickness continuity really shows up and is distracting. I would like to work on this further but I feel as though I need to speed up so I am going to leave it where it is for now. 

I also created a high poly for my frame, I did this in max using a method I found online. It mainly includes using the cut tool on a plane by placing the reference behind it, you then make this 3d and turbosmooth. This method was super useful and taught me a lot about the uses of turbosmooth and control loops to make the edges smooth in a desirable way. I am happy with the results I have here.

Overall, I think I am happy with the high poly I have created though I may need to touch up a few things to get some crisper edges and better looking hard surface if I get enough time.