GG Artists this question is yours

#1 Depends upon your target DCC[digital content creator] program...

Max's Biped is 'okay' kinda funky pose with arms down to side and strange node transforms. If you can retarget animations to that skeletal rig, off ya go! The IK[if I remember correctly] is already setup and you can start animating right away. Other DCC's need constraints established and IK chains constructed.

I, myself, tend to think working from a Tpose binding pose with all nodes at world transforms works quite well[especially retargetting sequences]. Arms at side or down 45, gives a little better performance when it comes to weighting, as you don't move the geometry very far from it's 'zero'/bind position. This helps eliminate 'stretching' across node boundaries or meshes...a visual thing. Most actions are with arms at a down 45 holding something....just hard to build a mesh like that, sometimes.

Then there is how you bind the geometry to the rig, how easy is that in your DCC? Go for at least 4 node influences per vertex....more is better/smoother, again, depends upon the weighting schema of the DCC.

From Zbrush, you are just getting geometry, right? No binding or skeletal nodes, is there? Export an OBJ and choose your weapon of destruction!!!

#2 Yeah Zbrush is just geometry and texturing from highpoly render to texture then export a low poly version I think. My issue mainly is how do I get that lowpoly version.... I am surfing around the web looking but so far nothing pops out at me.

#3 Crunching Polys can get tricky, again, depends upon the schema. Some algorithms do it quite well, keeping symmetry of the mesh, holding weights, etc.... others---well, M'eh.

Might want to start with a low poly mesh, and then subDivide or 'smooth' it to bring out details...it's just too hard to go DOWN the stream and get 'quality' results....others' mileage may vary. Then do your hi rez in Zbrush and then export a Normal map for it...??

I'll consult the BAG 'Zbrush' guru about workflow....

Oh, and good 'forward' looking about the 'gameReadiness' of the figure, you are on the right track. Meshes and skeletons are one thing...getting them working in T3D as DTS or DAE is another matter.

#4 I looks good so far, but I have a couple suggestions to help ease your workflow; and depending on your pc, give your cpu and video card a break!

For one I recommenced separating each by its UV groups, so your not straining you PC by constantly rendering a high amount of polys

To get a lowpoly model out of zBrush is too easy, but you just need to be shown how it's done! Just drop all your geometry to level 1, back your polypaint/normals, then either use the goZ plugin, or manually export. At the moment, my main character goal is 2k tris, at the moment I have 1.7k with a fully textured model that looks as good as 9k worth of tris!

I'm currently working with WinterLeaf Entertainment, and had no clue on how to use zBrush before hand. But now I have most of the program down, so message me and I can always help you out, because god know where someone was to teach me when I started....

#5 I think my main problem is going to be that I have no formal training on art or 3D modeling of any kind so the terminology and basic stuff most people take for granted is completely Latin to me I have done some real basic modeling in Max and sculpting in Mudbox /zbrush but never a full start to finish project.... I think what I need to do first is get some books and do my homework on what all of these things mean and how they work before just jumping into it with no paddle so to speak.. I will keep sculpting in zbrush all of my highpoly's but when it comes time to export I will then at least have some reference for better questions or to understand the answers lol. As far as my PC.. with this model open at full res I am not even at 20% CPU, I have an AMD Radeon HD 6870 pushing my Wacom Cintiq and monitor with 12gb of RAM, but once I understand how to block it off I will for sure take your advice thanks for the tip!

#6 Haha don't worry about books, its a big waste of money, even though there may be a book that will help SOME.... I bet there is a ton of more post just like this one, trying to figure out the same thing you are.

I also had NO training what so ever! Now people ask me when they need help, and I can credit most of my knowledge from Google!

And what I mean about separating pieces is just to help your workflow, because you do not need a model with a million vertices in a area you will rarely see, that where separating comes in handy! Because for example you can, have a head that has 2 million vertices(the little dots), but have a thigh area that only have 700k vertices but not see any difference in the game model. The more vertices the more memory, which in games is BAD!

Like I said you can always message me, also my email is: Underwho@live.com

My team is always looking for someone new! So if want you get good, we could help getting you a direction to work in!

#7 Justin, your sculpting above looks very nice and I wouldn't let the terminology thing put you off progressing and getting your models into Torque. If you are getting models looking this good, it would be nice to see your work in the Torque environment.

As Bobby said above, it can be quite straight forward in terms of the steps needed, it just often sounds more complex that it is. That being said, it can be a quite labour intensive when it comes to getting the model to work with a skeleton and animated in torque - this is not complicated - but yes it can take quite a bit of time to get things working nicely.

I would therefore suggest working through the process once so that you can see how it all works and what's involved as it will influence your starting point for how you model and sculpt. For instance, if you start with your high poly sculpted mesh to create your normal and texture maps and then export the low poly version of your model you will be able to create a nice looking texture on the low poly version. However, this low poly model will then need to have a skeleton put inside it for animation and the skin of the model made to work with the skeleton. As Rex points out above, there are many different ways of doing this, each with their advantages but starting from a high poly mesh in a non uniform pose may cause you a few issues when it comes to skinning the model to the skeleton later on.

After you have skinned the model, you will need to create some animations. Not difficult in itself but again time consuming unless your skeleton is in a format that allows you to use external animation files, such as the torque ones.

So once you have done this with one model from a high poly starting point you will need to repeat the process for each model you create, therefore I'm suggesting that you may want to at least see the process through for one model, warts and all so you can see the task ahead. It would be frustrating to do all the high poly models and then be put off by the task ahead. Equally there are ways to reduce this process and avoid having to do this for each and every mode which will save time but it is dependent on your preference for doing things and plotting out how you intend to work before making lots of great models.

At the moment WinterLeaf Entertainment is working on an exciting MMO project and as Bobby says is looking for skilled character artists, particularly using Zbrush. If you're interested in learning a bit more about the process and applying it in practice with a small bunch of friendly indie developers as part of a bigger project then let me know. Its a great opportunity to learn as part of a group than on ones own with just a book sometimes.

Our latest Blog is here www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/21686

Good luck with your work and let me know if you're interested in our work.

Tim

#8 Hell yeah I would love to tag along and help where I can. I have found a site http://www.digitaltutors.com that has some free and paid video tutorials on a number of 3D applications including Zbrush and will be watching them as I go along I am no stranger to paying for tools but free is always preferred lol, I had planed on purchasing your .NET Torque and Omni once it was finished not that I plan on making any MMO's myself just yet but I like to have the tools at my disposal for learning purposes. I will shoot you my info later today.

#9 Hey Justin,
Everything here they are saying is true. Also if you would like some extra experience in the workflow, I have some models that have been done (started from low poly to high ply detail) that are in need of texturing. With these models it will give you a chance to to see how the process works. If you are interested shoot me an email and we and discuss things.
jstanleynwo@yahoo.com

#10 I like to make my own Low Poly models in Google Skethcup. I just re-create the model with as little geometry possible, based on the original. It gives all my art an early Nintendo64 look.

#11 Well I have watched almost 15 hours of video starting from Zbrush basics transitioning into Maya from Zbrush and now rigging for animation in Maya... I have to say it looks much simpler after that and now I have a grasp on what to do I think... If not then I can always go back and review lol.. thanks for all the help guys and I will show off the finished models when I have some.. who knows if they are good enough a may even release a few back to the community lol