208 chapter 6 ■ ZSpheres
- In Figure 6.6 I have rotated off center so that you can see the chain as it is drawn so
far. There are two spheres: the lower one is the original root while the upper one is the
child just created. At this stage, press the A key on the keyboard. This activates Preview
Adaptive Skin. This feature allows you to see a preview of the polygon mesh the current
ZSphere chain will generate. Notice that the adaptive skin mesh created here seems to
collapse around the root sphere (Figure 6.7). This is because a root needs two children
to form a complete mesh, or it needs to be the end of a chain of more than one sphere.
This concept will become clearer as we continue to add spheres. Press A again to return
to ZSphere view. - Back in ZSphere view mode, hover your mouse over the child ZSphere you just drew.
Drag on the surface to draw a new sphere. Since X Symmetry is on, ZBrush will create
spheres on either side of the current sphere. - Exit Draw mode and enter Move mode by clicking the Move button at the top of the
screen or pressing the W hotkey. Shift-rotate-snap to an orthographic front view of the
chain and click one of the two children just drawn. Drag with the mouse to move them
off from the center (Figure 6.8). Press the A key to preview the effect this has on the
mesh. Notice that with the addition of more spheres to the chain the root sphere now
closes and maintains its volume.
Figure 6.5 The root sphere drawn and snapped to orientation