Z-Brush for Industrial Design

[parel]

Hello All,
Z-brush’s organic modeling capabilities are really atonishing. My jaws have dropped to the floor looking at some of the models and renders that your commu nity has created both here and on the cgtalk forums. I am an industrial designer who is trying to figure out whether Z-brush would fit our company design needs.
We currently use nurbs modelers like rhino and Solidworks to create our mathematically correct models. The down-side is that both of these programs require a lot of though prior to creating the file. It seems that z-brush’s pixols get the user really close to actual clay sculpting. I am trying to sculpt the following test concept in zbrush but I am in over my head since I am very used to CAD programs. Can someone tell me if z-brush is good for smooth surfaces and whether the attached model can be sculpted.

I hope that someone here can show me how the experts would create this model. Thanks in advance

[aurick]

Yes, ZBrush could certainly be used to do what you show.

I recommend checking out the Box Modeling Tutorial that I recently put together. Also, read the tutorials in the ZBrush 2 Practical Guide.

In addition, you should run the Displacement Mapping tutorial that’s built into ZBrush 2. Click the Help button to find it. The first few parts of the tutorial show ZBrush being used for this kind of sculpting (it’s a simple example, but gives you a good idea of workflow and technique).

[Rafael_Hernandez]

I wasn’t sure how to answer your question since I had not tried to do any precision modeling using Zbrush so I desided to try to model you drill. I used box modeling techniques in which you start with a box and you extrude the faces (In Zbrush is the edgeloop command under geometry). I didn’t model the small details but I think they could be trivial with projection master. I desided instead to focus on the major features. It’s not a very accurate rendition but it was a bit of a rushed job. I’m sure you’ll do better once you are familiar with the tools.

[kobi1kobi]

As my main work is CAD (CAE) I can tell you for certain that if you want any level of accuracy, keep using solidworks.

On the other hand, if you want to model in freeform, more flowing and natural objects, then zbrush is the best.

In mechanical stuff the only way to model something accurate is to use the CAD programs, and SW 2004 (and 2005 is better) is very good for the job.

[parel]

Sweet! Thank you for your time Raphael. I will try box modeling to model the drill. What other commands do you think that I should look out for? There are so many features to sort out. I am going through the z-scripts in the demo to learn more. Do you think that z-spheres might be a good alternative approach?
kobi1kobi-Zbrush looks like it would be more useful for the freeflowing shapes. You wouldnt be able to use the geometry anyway because it is polys (right?) I was hoping to use dxf files from zbrush as a template. Zbrush might be very useful for real-time modifications. If management is standing beside you and has just drawn a new feature/form, scultping quickly in zbrush woul be very effective.

[Rafael_Hernandez]

There are a few things for you to consider before you start. Zbrush does allow you to box model but it’s a bit cumbersome compared to other software. This is not really a problem if you are modeling for illustration or artistic purposes but for precision modeling it’s not the best tool to box model. It does no allow you to make the mesh transparent for you to align the points with the reference plane. It only gives you one viewport, which means you have to move your model around to align it to the different views (this can be done easier through the use of markers and layers tough). It does not allow you to remove points or edges once they are placed on your model. Zbrush also lacks some advanced tools that other poly modelers take for granted. This does not mean that you cannot do it in Zbrush but that sometimes it can be more difficult and cumbersome than in other modelers.

Here are two pictures of your drill created with Zbrush and Wings3d. The color picture is Zbrush. Both took a litle more over an hour to make.

On the other hand, Zbrush allows you to make quick work of all the small details such as the indentations in your drill. This can be done using projection master which allows you to literally paint those details into your mesh. Zbrush it’s also great for quick manipulation of a mesh using the move and draw tools. It’s very much like clay as you said. This means that you can make those changes and revisions very quick.

My advice is to work with the best strengths of your tools. Use an external box modeler to create the base model without all the small details. Then import this mesh into Zbrush and create all the small details using Projection Master. In Zbrush you can also make those revisions your client wants at the last possible moment.

This is of course just an opinion. You should check the tutorials that Aurick mentions and make your own opinion by experimenting yourself.If you want the models of the drill that I made send me an email or private message and I’ll send them to you.

One question for you. Why didn’t you make a front and back view of that model. It makes it harder to create an accurate model without those.

Attachments

[parel]

Feels good to circle back to this and answer this query from 8 years ago. At the time- the level of control I was looking for was difficult in Zbrush. With the 3dprint exporter (to bring in stl components and export reference meshes), Dynamesh, clipping brushes- it is indeed possible to do industrial design work in Zbrush. This is a great bridge application between sketches and final nurbs modeling for manufacture. More venting details and switch detailing to follow- but for 4 hours of work- zbrush gives a lot of return on investment.

Also-Much thanks @sleepfight who conducted a workshop at my workplace to show methods to create clean geometry in zbrush.

[Gary_Komar]

wow parel in 8 years the things you can do now in ZB that you couldnt then !! recently my mechanical engineer friend is teaching me a high school grad
solid works and with over ten years exp. in ZB and Lightwave its great to be able to export - import .stl seems ZB is the ultimate concepting tool and
solidworks for the rocket science - lots of ZB mechanical in my gallery feel free to browse !!small_orange_diamond

[parel]

Yes- It is great to see the progression. I should have purchased a seat then it would have been a great investment.
Keep up the hard surfacing Gary.