ZBrushCentral

DIY Tutorial on creating Mannequins from Scratch?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I seem to recall that one of the new features of ZSpheres was how the Connecting spheres would be displayed. I may be totally mistaken and searching the ZBrush doc wiki is, for some reason :wink: is terribly slow and I gave up on finding info there.

Anyway, as nice as it is to have mannequins that I can pose and such, I would like to know how to create my own, from scratch, as modifying the existing ones could take longer than just creating my own.

Thanks.

btw, I am on a mac,so any changes in 3.5 seems like changes in 4.x from my viewpoint.

#2

I’m in the process of adding more info about Mannequins to the wiki:http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Mannequins but this is the basic method:

  1. Make a ZSphere model of the character you want. The method used is the same as previous versions of ZBrush except for when moving link spheres to lengthen joints you need to hold the Alt key.
  2. You’ll need two meshes to create the Mannequin. They can be any shape but to start with select the Sphere3D and the Sphereinder3D and make each a polymesh by pressing the Tool>Make Polymesh3D button.
  3. Reselect the ZSphere model and open the Tool>Adaptive Skin menu. You might want to open the Tool palette in the Right or Left tray for easy access.
  4. Switch on Tool>Adaptive Skin>Use Classic Skinning.
  5. Switch to Move mode by pressing ‘W’. This will mean you can select ZSpheres without adding new ones. If you made the ZSphere model with symmetry on make sure it is on now.
  6. Click on a Link Sphere (between two ZSpheres)to select it. Then press Tool>Adaptive Skin>Insert Connector Mesh and choose the PM3D_Sphereinder3D from the pop-up. The link will be replaced by the Sphereinder polymesh.
  7. Click on all the other Link Spheres in turn and insert the PM3D_Sphereinder3D. Don’t worry if the ZSpheres disappear.
  8. When all the links are replaced click on the Root ZSphere to select it. You can recognize the Root ZSphere because it is always two-toned, whether selected or not.
  9. Press the Insert Local Mesh button and choose the PM3D_Sphere3D from the pop-up.

Your Mannequin should now be complete. If you want you can fill it with a color by pressing Color>Fill Object.

HTH,

#3

Thanks for the step-by-step, Marcus!

I’ll be sure to keep watch on the docs site for more info.