In the process of grooming, I decide how many Yeti nodes I will split the model and how many Groom nodes I will create. And so on until you get the desired result. I used my iterative method to create strands – this is when the simplified Groom (strands) gives a more detailed Groom using fibers from Yeti node, which you then convert to the groom. This greatly affects the speed of grooming itself. For the ostrich, I applied the simplified method of grooming and scattering of feathers, because there is no need for super-control of each feather individually, and the structure of the feathers (the fact that all feathers do not have a clear outline) of the ostrich allows for simplified grooming. Coming to this stage, I already knew a lot of technical nuances regarding the look and length of the ostrich feathers, the approximate density, structure of the feathers, and their type. Also, I exported the grayscale displacement maps for different subdiv levels, and a cavity map for future texturing.Īnd now we come to the most fun and painstaking part of the work process, grooming, for which I use Yeti. From the result of my sculpting I extracted from ZBrush a 32-bit float EXR vector displacement texture.
#Floor generator for maya skin
The rest of the details, large skin folds, parts of the head and pores were brought in by hand, and the Surface Noise generator was used for the beak and claws. To save time, I bought a scan of an ostrich leg skin from texturing.xyz and extracted the necessary parts into alpha textures. I want to note that I do not do high-detailed sculpting on body parts that are hidden under the feathers. Next, I returned the model with the working topology and UVs to ZBrush and re-projected the necessary parts and brought the necessary details with my hands. I always use UDIM and their number depends on the complexity of the model itself. Further, when the volume and proportions suit me, I do retopology in TopoGun and then UV mapping. I decide a T-pose will make it easy for me to fold the wing and at the same time I should have control of the primary feathers with the open wing. At this stage, I sculpt to a rough volume of external muscles, i.e.
Usually, I start in ZBrush with a sphere in Dynamesh mode, or in Maya I create a blocking object from primitives, limiting the volume and then continue in ZBrush. This stage is almost typical for all my projects except for projects where there are very few anatomy references and you need to experiment at the grooming stage.