ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

■ Details and Layers 137

Figure 4.35 Once you create a layer, new buttons become
available, including Name.

Record icon

Layer visibility icon

Layer opacity

Move layer down stack

Delete layer

Duplicate layer

Invert layers

Import MDD

animation data Rename

Select next layer

Layer name

Add new layer

Split layer

Merge layers

Collapse layers

Figure 4.36 Change the shape of the head on the

sculpting layer.

New Buttons in ZBrush 4

ZBrush 4 adds several new buttons to the Layers menu:

•   Duplicate Layer creates a new duplicate of the current layer.

•   Split Layer creates two layers from one. For example, if you use polypaint and sculpting in

one layer, it will be split off into two new layers.

•   Merge Down merges the current layer with the one below it.

•   Invert reverses the layer contents. Colors are inverted, whereas sculpted details are

reversed in direction. For example, valleys pressed into the sculpture are pulled out and

hills are pressed in.

3. When you have fi nished sculpting, create a new layer. Name this layer details. The details
   layer will now be active and set to record. You can always tell which layer is the active
   one because it will have a white rectangle around the name (Figure 4.37).


4. You are now on the details layer. Select an alpha and create some texture on the model’s
   surface (Figure 4.38). Note that you can only sculpt or paint in a layer if it is set to record.
   If you try to apply strokes to a layer that is not record-
   ing, ZBrush warns you that “Mesh has Deformation
   Layers turn off Zadd / ZSub draw modes or activate
   layer-recording mode and try again.” This message sim-
   ply means that you need to enable a layer to contain the
   changes you are trying to make. Once you create a layer,
   all your sculpting or painting must be contained in a layer.
   This requirement is slightly different than what you may
   be used to in previous versions of ZBrush, where sculpting
   could occur in or out of a layer. But having some details on
   a layer and others not could sometimes be problematic, so
   you can now keep your work better organized. At any time
   if you want to collapse all your layers into the sculpture and
   resume painting and sculpting without the layer system,
   simply click Tool → Layers → Bake All. This applies all the
   visible layer information to the sculpture but also prevents
   you from turning on and off these details.

Figure 4.37 The

active layer is

the one with the

rectangle around

the name.

Figure 4.38 The demo head with sculpting and

detailing applied in separate layers