Investigative Studies (Practical)
Programmes used
Sculpting: Zbrush
Examples
These are all examples of sculpts of faces done by various artists. These are the standards I wish to be out.
Photogrammetry: Metashape
Examples
These are examples of scans within Metashape This is the program i will be using for my scan
What do I Hope to achieve?
I hope to create the same head using both of these programmes. I will sculpt the head of a person from scratch and import images of the same person into Metashape and create geometry. Once each process is complete I will compare my results.
Photogrammetry
I will be scanning in my dad as an asset using photogrammetry within Metashape.
Metashape test
I began by taking photos of my dad in a 360 motion. Making sure each image overlapped. I imported the files into the scene by dropping the file into the box on the left. Next I needed to align the cameras which the program does for you. It does this by selecting the photo file and then going to Workflow > Allign photos, sadly not all the photos aligned properly this can be due to many reasons. However, I still carried on a just used this work as a test to get me used to workflow. Once all the camera are aligned I moved onto the next step which is building a dense cloud. A desne cloud is multiple small dots that will create a basic image. I did this by going to Workflow > Build Dense Cloud.
Once I have built a dense cloud I will begin to get a clearer picture. However it still does not look that great meaning we need to move into the next steps. During this step there is a clean up workflow that I need to do. As there are some points that will be pointing out and I used the point selection tool and the deleting tool to get rid of these points.
The final steps it to build the mesh of the model, I did this by going to Workflow > Build mesh. Once building the mesh it will make a bumpy mesh. It wont look very good, so next I need to create textures. I do this by going to Workflow > Build textures. This will then create a flushed out model. From what I was able to create it does look really good. I had to do a bit more clean up with the model as some of the areas where the background of the image and it had attached onto the model.
Next I needed to export the model so i can take it into Maya, I did this by going to File > Export > Export Model. I also exported the textures by going to File > Export > Export Textures.
Second attempt
In this attempt I managed the get all the pictures aligned that where not in the previous attempt. I did this by ticking a box in the setting options, the box I ticked was Guiding image matching, this aligned all the images correctly but sadly to no success and it surprisingly looks worse then the first one. However it did complete the whole face.
Zbrush work flow
I began the workflow of creating my dad within Zbrush. The video below shows the early work. I began by creating the basic shape of the head and created each of the nose, Mouth and eyes.
Here is a breakdown footage of the early work done on the head. I began by using the base head provided by Zbrush. This means I have a head shape already and do not have to spend a lot of time try to create one. This part was easy as I was not making the basic features of the head and was not trying to make it look like my dad.
Ear
I made all the basic features separately and my main goal was to simply get the shape of an ear. I followed the teaching that was given to me in the second year. I dug a whole in the ear using the clay build up brush and made sure it fit the shape of an ear by using the move brush. I next using the standard brush to build up the different layers o the ear until I had a ear shape. Once i had a established ear I then looked the pictures of my dad and used the move brush to reshape the ear to match it to my dads.
Eyes
Th eyes are by far the hardest to get right. Similar to the ears I started by getting a basic shape of an eye. I did this by digging a whole where the eyes would be using the clay build up brush and I created and placed a sphere into the whole. This then allows me to build around the sphere to create eye lids.
Mouth
The mouth was an interesting part. It was easy to make but hard to replicate to look like my dad. I began by creating the basic shape of a mouth, I am sure you can see a pattern emerging here. I began by using the Dam standard brush to create a line which I will build the lips around. I used the dam standard brush to draw the outline of the lips. next using the standard brush I was able to build up the rest of the lips.
Nose
The nose is probably the easiest part to sculpt, this does not mean it was easy to replicate though. I created it by using the standard brush to build up a shape and the move brush to add the actual shape.
Full Head - Side profile
In these next images I am showing the face from different angles. In these images I have tried to use the move tool to reshape the face. I looked at reference images of my dad and tried to use it to create this sculpt.
Head - Front facing
Once I had tried to make the head. Something just looked wrong. The likeness to my dad looked off. This was due to the features being to big and the scale was generally off.
I spoke to my teacher and he suggested using the scan as a piece of reference and import it into the zbrush file. I will then have a side by side view of my father. This is what I did and it allowed me to reshape the areas that where tow big. I still think the eyes are still to big but overall I managed to fix my issues.
3D sculpting
When I took on the task of creating my dad in Zbrush I didn't realise how difficult it would actually be. Creating a head is easy. Adding in great detail takes time but can be done with a lot of work. However, trying to recreate a specific person is a very difficult and I have great respect for anyone who can do it. 3D sculpting is useful for sculpting anyone you want. if a person is dead you can sculpt there head using pictures a reference. The main down side of the 3D sculpting this the person has to be greatly skilled. My skills are not yet where I want them to be and I struggled massively creating a replica of my dad. Meaning in industry the artist needs to be skilled and have loads of experience.
3D scanning
Detail is the main thing the 3D scanning is great at picking up. This would take ages to create within Zbrush and you have it within a minute with Metashape. A texture is automatically made with a 3D scan and this would need to be created for the Sculpt. However, in a ironic turn of events part of the workflow to complete a 3D scan I must be imported within to zbrush (I did not have time for this myself) and edited as it is never perfect due to the incredible amount of noise on the scan. The workflow within Metashape didn't go smoothly for me either, I do think that this was partly due to my lack of experience and the difficulty of the workflow. When taking pictures in industry it is taken within expensive studios with perfect lighting and nothing in the background. Due to covid-19 I had no access to these environments and my house is simply to small to get pictures without the background interrupting the scene. Once I had created my scan the background was attached to the mesh and I had to work through a clean up process. All of my scans did not work correctly and in a turn of fate my dad came down with Covid-19 badly and this meant I could no longer get a scan of him. Meaning I was left with the bad scans. Luckily I got all the experience and information I needed. From what i have learnt, a scan is simply a head start and gives you a good base to start from but in the end sculpting s still needed to clean up and finish the work started by th scan.