126 chapter 4 ■ ZBrush for Detailing
Figure 4.12 The
Stroke palette
located at the left
side of the screen
between the
Brush and Alpha
palettes
Figure 4.13
The main
Stroke menu
We’ll look at the various settings by sculpting on a 3D plane:- Select the Plane3D tool from the Tool menu. Be sure to make it a polymesh and draw
it on the canvas. Enter Edit mode and subdivide the mesh several times. When you are
detailing the model, it is important to be at the highest possible subdivision level your
system can handle. - From the Brush palette select the Standard brush, and from the Alpha palette at the
left side of the screen select Alpha 01. From the Stroke palette just above the Alpha
button, select a Freehand stroke. - Start to draw strokes on the surface of the plane. Notice how with this brush com-
bination you get a smooth-flowing line. As you stroke an alpha, the image rotates to
follow the direction of your stroke. Because Alpha 01 is a radial round alpha with no
directionality, this effect is not apparent (Figure 4.14).
Figure 4.14 Freehand strokes- Change from Alpha 01 to Alpha 33. Notice that this alpha is an arrow shape as opposed
to a circular alpha (Figure 4.15). This shape has a definite direction, so the rotation with
your stroke should be apparent. Draw a stroke on the plane surface. Note how the arrow
is drawn repeatedly over the course of the stroke, reorienting to your direction (it should
look like the Spray image back in Figure 4.11). This is how the Freehand stroke works; it
draws multiple instances of an alpha along the course of the stroke. If the instances are
close enough together and the alpha is nondirectional, it looks like a smooth line. There
are ways to space out the instances for other effects, as you’ll see shortly. If your stroke
seems too staggered because your machine is slower or the geometry is extremely dense,
you can raise the Mouse Average value.
Figure 4.15
Alpha 33 is
a directional
pattern.