wondering if there is a good tube brush tutorial video out there anyone could recommend. I have seen MPs but need a bit more info. need to pull some geometry out of a surface. Thank you all in advance
Well, there’s this in the Pixologic Classroom, but it would probably be more useful for you to tell us exactly what you want to do. There may be a better way than a curve tube to “pull geometry out of a surface”.
Thank you. I have been using the curvetube to pull out geometry for a dragon I am building but it is rather difficult to control for me and then use as base because of the thickness.I have tried using zspheres but seems even more complicated . I have also used flat plane and used mask to create shape but not really getting control I would like. I would really like to use armature brush on surface or find a way to control curvetubes more.ie falloff and taper and or orientation. I have attached image with different samples. Thank anyone for any help!
Well, you might try using the Snake Hook brush with Sculptris Pro mode enabled to pull the geometry directly out of the mesh in the form of snakey tendrils. I can guarantee that will at least be more fun than what you’re doing here.
Trying to position curve tube strokes in open space after they’re drawn out is a pain, and I avoid doing it myself. I try to always use ZBrush’s strengths in a given situation, and ZBrush is really good at sculpting. What I would do, if I were trying to arrange precise placement of a bunch of tubes, is duplicate that head subtool so the original is preserved. On the duplicate mesh, I would use Sculptris pro, with a combination of the Snakehook and the Inflate brush, to quickly pull out form in the rough shape that I want to attach the tubes to. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it only has to provide a form to snap the tubes to. Smooth the mesh or reduce polycount to create smoother curves–because you’re working on a duplicate, you can destroy it however you wish.
Then, I would use the Curve Tube Snap brush to draw out the tubes along the surface of the new mesh. It is far and away easier to snap a tube to an existing surface in the right shape, than it is to try and freely position it so. Once the tubes are drawn out, they can be split into a separate subtool, and merged with the original mesh.
For the ultimate in control, on the duplicate mesh you can use the Topology Brush to draw exactly the curves that you want, with that brush’s ability to precisely edit the curves. Then, with those curves still live, switch to the Curve Tube brush you want, and click on the curve to draw the tube. You can even draw out multiple curves at once, then click on them with the Curve Multi Tube brush to draw out all the tubes at the same time.
Once you get the general idea here, you’ll see the potential to create crazy stuff that you would have never been able to pose by hand.
Thank you so much for the input. I will. I had no idea you could move between the two that way. I will try all this. Thank you for all the help. Yes zbrush is an amazing sculpting tool in so many ways… I t is a bit like my wife. Mostly i love it. Sometimes…Thank you again!
Thank you again. The sculptris pro,snakehook brush inflate did it perfectly.