Making Sculpt Brushes

I have recently felt frustration with the default brushes in blender due to the lack of gradient in the brushes. Because of this, I have been looking for smoother brushes on blendswap which have ended up turning up dry. Instead, I will be using this blog post to discuss a method for me to make my own brushes that will help me sculpt better, and hopefully later on more details into my models like cracks, scales, and cloth textures without having to add a material.

The edges are too rounded off to my liking

If you want to make a brush with a various model/ sculpt, you first must take the camera and line it up so you get the view you want. Then, you need to resize the camera so it is square shaped. Then, go into world settings and turn on mist. Next, in the camera settings, use the distance in the depth of field settings and plug in the numbers accordingly in the mist settings in the world(the smallest number in start, the larger number in depth). Then render the image and composite the image accordingly. Toggle with the RGB Curve until you get the result desired. This will also work if you draw your own brushes as long as you follow the same black and white scheme(black does nothing to the mesh, white deforms the mesh).




To add these brushes, you would add a new sculpt brush, rename it, and customize the strength and radius to your liking. Then, in the texture tab to the right, you will add your image and then add it again in the texture tab in the sculpt tab.

Test #1:




With this brush specifically, I wanted to check if the grays would make a lighter shade, but with this brush, that is not the case and it is only detected as a white.

Test #2:



In this case, the various shades have changed the amount of the mesh is deformed. However, I think if I blended in the colors more the deformity will be smoother than it is in this picture.

Work Log:
Monday:Fixing up details in project(colors and looks)
Tuesday:Fixing up details in project(lighting)
Wednesday:Rendering Shots
Thursday:First attempt at sculpting skull
Friday:Second attempt at sculpting Skull

Retopology

In previous blog posts, I have mentioned that I began to sculpt my models rather than box modeling. One problem that has occurred as a result is messy topology and a lot of verts. Because of this, if I ever want to animate these models, I would deal a lot of rigging problems. So, after some scrolling on Instagram, I have found that artists that do sculpt go over the sculpted model to create a neater lower poly model. I am mainly going to use humans as the center of my pieces and, luckily, there are various references that I can use to help me retopologize my models. Overall, when retopologizing it is usually done in circles, or on various muscle areas that should be highlighted on the model

However, the idea of just modeling over the sculpt I already made sounds time-consuming since I would have to get the vertices and faces to line up with the model and would have to get the same effect without using as many verts. Luckily, Blender has an add-on called BSurface that helps makes this process quicker and efficient.
 


How to use BSurface for Retopology: a Step by Step
1.Add the BSurface Add-on

2. Create a new mesh for the retopology

3. Set up the Grease Pen accordingly

4. In Edit Mode turn on snap(to faces), and turn off the following buttons beside it

5. Draw lines in the desired locations(make sure they are facing the same direction and on the model to prevent problems)

6. Go to the BSurface tab in Tools and press “Add Surface”

7. Next, you can modify the number of verts by playing around with “Cross” and “Follow”


When practicing this on a model, I found really easy to do and I was able to get a good part done fairly quickly. However, at some points, I did run into problems where the faces did not turn out nicely so when doing this I am going to have to err on the side of caution and not be too risky, just to keep things working.

Work Log:
Monday:Modeled cityscape
Tuesday:Textured cityscape
Wednesday:Textured cityscape
Thursday:Textured cityscape
Friday:Field Trip

The Human Skeleton

I am almost done with my current project, so for this blog post, I will be focusing on creating a realistic skeleton for my next project. My next project will basically be focusing on taking care of yourself even if you feel dead inside(hence the skeleton because I am not fond of zombies). I’m planning on making this a series of gifs inspired by beauty guru intros. For this blog post specifically, I will focus on the skeleton and making it look like an actual skeleton.

 The Types of Bones:
In the human skeleton, there are four general bone shapes that they fall under: long bones, short bones, irregular bones, and flat bone. Long bones are long and thin and are mainly found in the limbs. Along with this, they are also curved and have the classic bumps on the ends for joints. Short Bones are generally shaped like cubes and are the bones that can be found in the wrist and ankles. Flat bones are the bones that are thin and are used for protection(skull, ribs, shoulder blades). Any bone that does not fit into any of these categories is classified as the irregular bones. With this in mind, I will hopefully be able to create a general bone shape of each category and modify it according to the body which will make constructing this skeleton easier and quicker.

 The Skull:
The skull is apparently made of multiple bones fused together. Because of this, there are little ridges on the skull that indicates these specific areas. This should be fairly easy to do. Along with this, there is clearly the separation between the top part of the skull and the jaw. Overall, the bottom of the skull is thinner than the top and has a sharper look to it. On the side view, it is apparent that at the end of the jaw is a U shaped and dented inwards at the end. Lastly, the cheekbone is placed in front of the jaw and is located under the eye socket.



Appendages:
For the hand, there are three long bones in each finger that control movement and then there is a bone below that connected to short bones. This is similar to the foot, but a heel bone is also present that juts outward under the leg bone.

 Work Log:
Monday: Texturing skin
Tuesday: Texturing skin
Wednesday: Texturing clothes
Thursday: Texturing clothes
Friday: Texturing Hair

Cartoon Effect

In my previous post, I discussed how I wanted to test out a more two-dimensional style in my works. For this blog post, I will be focusing on that. I have found three videos that I have found to be useful in helping me achieve this style and I will discuss which methods I will use.

 

This video relied on blender render which will be useful for 2D animations. I included this video solely for the outline section. In the video, it discusses how to do a general outline by clicking edge in the post-processing panel, how to achieve little outlines by checking the freestyle panel and to achieve the flat look by clicking shadeless in the shading panel. I am not sure how useful this will be for me at the moment since I am not fully satisfied with the little outlines on Suzanne, but it could just be a model thing and I can always use it on sharper models like buildings.










In this video, the creator teaches us how she achieves an effect like one seen in the Legend of Zelda. They start off by adding a toon shader to the model to get a flat cartoon look but mentions how leaving it like this is not appealing, which, I definitely agree with. To solve this issue, the creator uses the shading tab in edit mode to the left to give the model a smoother look to it. Then, to make the model not look so rough, she creates a world and lights to create a final softer look. I personally like this method due to its simplicity and the fact that it is not far from what I have already been doing, but I tried to use outlines on this model to see if it would work and it did not so I would need to figure that out.













This video uses nodes in Blender Render to get a cartoon effect. The creator uses a color ramp node to get the sharp shades in a two-dimensional piece and has the two dials placed close together to make it sharper. Then, he adds a mix RGB node with a geometry(which will connect any vertex painting or texture done) node and attaches them like the figure below to get the desired effect. I feel like I will need a little more practice with this method to get a more professional look but it definitely will allow me to do much more with texturing and shading.








Work Log:
Monday: Absent(prism concert rehearsal)
Tuesday: Finished on Body for Girl#1
Wednesday: Began to work on body and arms for Girl#2
Thursday: No School
Friday: Began clothes for Girl#2

Looking Over Yusuke Nakamura's Art

Yusuke Nakamura is a very famous pop artist/illustrator in Japan who has participated in works like the anime Tatami Galaxy and has designed covers for the band Asian Kung-fu Generation. Sadly, I was able to find much about him or what his style really is, but I really like and want to review some works and what I take out of all of it.

 1.The Backgrounds

One thing I really like in Yusuke Nakamura’s art is the amount of detail included in it. For example, with the buildings in the yellow background, Nakamura includes the little details on the roof that gives it a realistic look, but still appears flat due to the like of shading. I love this look and personally want to start experimenting with ways I could make my models render out to look more 2D and have outlines on them. Along with this, I love the backgrounds and how they are full. Some parts include scenery while parts in the background are not a part of something you actually see in nature. I personally want to use this aspect to project my theme of seeing the world around me.

 2. The Setup


I generally like how Yusuke Nakamura’s works have a central figure(s) in them. I personally already wanted to do this and it’s nice to see other artists do it too. To go off of this, I have noticed that Nakamura usually sets the rest of the work up so the background is an active part in the work, or is a circle with the background revolving around that. Personally, with my current piece, I want it to be a circle and I like how Nakamura does not set this circle as though it is a boundary but more or less uses it like a hole where the background comes out of. To add on, Nakamura usually uses buildings and animals in his works, which for me is either a hit or miss. I do want to use buildings and nature if it feels relevant, but I feel like the myriad of animals is too much for me.

 3.Colors and Outlines


Lastly, I love Nakamura’s use of colors and outlines. First, I like how he does not outline everything, especially the background. I feel like this prevents too much clutter and is definitely something I should be considering if I want to start using outlines. Next, I like the colors Nakamura uses. I personally enjoy pastel colors and I believe they work really well with his style. I feel like stick to more bold colors and possibly by experimenting with lighter or darker colors, my works will be able to look more appealing to the eye.

11/4 blogpost

The first person I want to focus on is Blaze. Blaze has focused on a fantasy theme this year and has been projecting it with various 3D prints like rings and a wand. I enjoy his vision for his theme because it projects the two things he is interested in. This is also very helpful for him since he is easily interested in his works. Another work that stood out to me was the chains he was trying to print, mainly because it reminded me of a video I saw over the summer about 3d printing clothes. In general, I also enjoy how he gives a purpose to his prints rather than make something nice to look at. I personally think that I could reevaluate my art and try to combine simple things that I like in it as well.

 Next, Sophia has focused on documentaries, photography, and mini-projects throughout this marking period. I especially enjoy her vlog series Bougious Bois which is simply lighthearted fun. I personally felt like I focused too hard on keeping the original look for my works so to see Sophia have fun with her works and just do whatever interests her has really helped me feel more comfortable with doing whatever I feel like. Along with this I love the practice shots she took for the documentary she is working on with Caden, Kailee, and Gage mainly because of the color. I definitely like the Avante Garde look and might want to work with it later on in the year.


Shriya has been working on various modeling projects throughout this marking period. The two I really want to focus on is the Hindu god and the phoenix. First, I enjoyed the Hindu god because it introduced her culture into her work and hearing about it while she worked on it was fascinating. With her phoenix I really enjoy the variety of colors to it rather than following the generic yellow and red that people have attached to the phoenix; it makes her phoenix stand out from the rest. I also liked how Shriya’s idea of doing a series of mythical creatures and I definitely think that this is a great idea and would personally want to try a series myself throughout the school year.

To start off, me and my sister love Vivian’s sketches. I personally like the detail to them and how the sketches she specifically pointed out have a story to them. I like how she is making animations based on this art too and maybe I could try and do this myself and use characters from my angsty middle school years rather than using characters from shows. I also like how Vivian’s art takes various sensitive things like purging to express “butterflies in your stomach”. It may be unsettling to some, but I feel it creates a great analogy to nervousness that I personally feel. Personally, I don’t think I would do this myself, but I think Vivian should.

Lastly, Auburn has been working on a documentary that uncovers the LGBT community. I like how Auburn has found a problem in our society and wants to create a documentary to help people understand. I personally like Auburn has fully prepared for her documentary. Personally, I kind of just go along with an idea until it is finished, but Auburn thoroughly thought through various techniques on interviewing and lighting for interviews to get this right. Personally, I might try to be more organized and research more to create better works.

Work Log:
Monday:Sculpted Head
Tuesday:Sculpted mouth
Wednesday:Sculpted eyes
Thursday:Sculpted second head
Friday:Sculpted body

End of Marking Period 1 Blogpost

Intention Definition & Exploration of Ideas: Throughout this year, I want to work on things that give away to my emotions, experiences, and thoughts. To do this, I will mainly be modeling and making renders, but I also want to make gifs and animations. This marking period, I focused on adults asserting dominance on the youth, which seems to be something I feel often(probably because I am a teenager). Because of this, I turned to the game, Persona 5 which really lives up to this idea. For this marking period I was planning on just taking a character from a game I like and just making a symbolic piece around her. For this, I chose Futaba Sakura because, throughout her life, she has been deceived by the adults around her, but was finally able to fight back when she found the truth among the lies.

Planning: To create this piece, I focused on how I was going to model her, and how I was going to make that model look good. I also saw a video that used metaballs for modeling that motivated me to want to use metaballs to model something complicated like the body. I saw another video that transformed a regular object into something I could only imagine doing by using nodes for the materials. With the regular cycles materials tab, you can get some good materials, but using nodes makes the possibilities endless, so I wanted to experiment with nodes and learn more about them.

Producing:
When making the model, I began to experiment with sculpting, which, I found to be an effective method for me. I found that sculpting gave me more freedom when creating the model, which produced better results than if I were to model it, in my opinion.


I also focused on using metaballs when making the body because, like sculpting, it gave me freedom, and I got to spend less time making the body since the metaballs provided me a base mesh to work with.


For nodes, I learned some basic stuff. I learned that you can basically mix materials endlessly, which helped me make materials look nicer. Also, learned how to layer bump maps although it is very annoying to do it and does not look nice all the time.

Evaluating:
When it comes to modeling, this is a method that I have found to be very effective for me and I will definitely use it for modeling everything else throughout this year. Some things I could improve upon, however, was modeling the parts separately. I watched videos that will model a separate part of the body and then fuse it with the rest of the model. Metaballs overall worked very well and I got great results from it. However, I would like to find ways to fix the topology of the metaballs so it would work nicely if I would want to animate the model later. For nodes, it was good and I learned some new things about shaders and how to use them, but I reached some setbacks because I am very inexperienced with them and still need to learn how to use them efficiently and receive the results I want.

Integrating: For the next marking periods, I want to continue to use the same method of sculpting and using metaballs for modeling. I believe this method was very efficient and created good results. I also do want to continue doing research on nodes and various things I can do with them since I feel as though I did not really do much with them in this piece. Lastly, I liked the effects I added while editing my piece and would definitely continue to do this and learn more about various effects I can add to make my works look better.

Work Log:
Monday:Worked on Coat and Top Material
Tuesday:Worked on Coat Material
Wednesday:Fixed Materials and Camera
Thursday:Fixed Materials and Lighting
Friday:Worked on this blogpost