![Skin Skin](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125423311/604114353.jpg)
Photoshop actions can be a huge timesaver for the photo editing process. They can also help you to achieve looks and effects that you may not know how to accomplish from scratch. Implementing Photoshop actions into your workflow can help you work more efficiently and improve the end result. And, as a bonus, they can be a fun way to experiment.
ZBrush provides artists with faster ways to realise their ideas, and one of the best is Mannequins.Mannequins are essentially ZSphere armatures. The way that you interact with them allows for easy posing, so that you can quickly explore a character’s pose or put together multi-character scenes. The great thing abvout using Mannequins is that you don’t have to model anything.
You already have the model set up and ready to go. Later on, if you need to, you can skin the Mannequin to make a mesh you can sculpt.Several Mannequin Scenes are included in the Projects folder of Lightbox.The Basics of Posing Mannequins. The Mannequin Hand included in ZBrush 4 Projects. It includes 3 poses on different Layers. The mesh shown is the Adaptive Skin with Use Classic Skinning turned off. Switch out of Adaptive Skin mode if necessary. If you can see a quad mesh over the Mannequin then you are in Adaptive Skin mode – press A on the keyboard.
Turn on the Move switch on the top shelf. Set the Draw Size to a low value – about 10. If you use a large draw size while posing you may move parts of the Mannequin that you wanted to stay put.
Click+drag on the Connecting ZSpheres – the bone part of the Mannequin. This will move the bone using forward kinematics. If you continue dragging in a straight line the limb will straighten in the direction of the cursor. Ctrl+click on a ZSphere – the joint of the Mannequin – to move it in tha same way, using forward kinematics.Adjusting MannequinsYou can adjust Mannequins in just about anyway you wish. You can change the proportions, scale or even add new body parts to create new characters! To adjust bone positions and lengthsTurn on the Move switch on the top shelf then:.
Alt click+drag on a Connecting ZSpheres bone to stretch or shorten the bone. Click+drag on a ZSphere joint to reposition the joint relative to the bones. Alt click+drag on a ZSphere joint to reposition the whole body part.To move the whole Mannequin:. Make sure the Draw Size is set quite small. Ctrl+click+drag on the Root ZSphere.
Typically some brushing needs to be done to cover blemishes and wrinkles, but it should be done very lightly (low opacity) and by sampling the colors of the skin around the area you're brushing. Otherwise you end up with an unrealistic plastic look. If you have to really cover an area using a brush, you can go back over it using the healing brush/clone stamp to copy the texture of skin around it and make a smooth transition. There are also custom brushes out there that simulate skin textures you can use.