ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

■ Alphas 121

Alphas

Alphas in ZBrush are grayscale images that serve
three major functions: they can be brush shapes,
texture stamps, and stencils. You load, export, and
manipulate alphas via the Alpha menu located at the
top menu bar. There is also an Alpha palette on the
side tray on the left (Figure 4.4). This is an abbrevi-
ated Alpha menu since it offers only a few menu
options, but it provides easy access to the entire alpha
library currently loaded. Combined with various
stroke settings, alphas offer a powerful tool for add-
ing high-frequency details to your sculpture.

You can also use alphas to generate 3D objects by click-
ing the Make3D button under the Alpha menu.

With alphas you can alter your brush shape to
sculpt in high-frequency details like rivets (Figure 4.5)
or fine organic details like the withered skin on the
creature shown in Figure 4.6. They may also be used as
texture stamps to add pores and scales. Alphas can be
used to create stencils to assist in the sculpting or paint-
ing process by masking out complex areas of texture.
Finally, you can use alphas to quickly create actual 3D
geometry that can be inserted into your mesh.

Figure 4.4 The Alpha palette from the left tray

Figure 4.3 This mummy by Alex Oliver shows how a

sculpture with good form is well supported by a few fine

details.

Figure 4.5 Rivets added with a tileable alpha and

LazyMouse