Everything mentioned so far hasn't worked to stop the distortion but I haven't encountered this problem since that model.  Seeing as it was just a learning exercise and quite a messy one at that, I'm not going to worry about it unless it keeps occurring. 

Thanks for the suggestions, its great getting so much help and everything said is allowing me to understand how Zbrush works a little better.

Noobish question -  I'm currently trying to learn how to use Subtools and Polygroups.  So far I've been using a Polysphere to sculpt the heads I've been making.  With the model I'm working on at the momment I'd like to try giving it hair or a beard but I'm completly unsure as to how to start the process.  In tutorials I've looked at so far they already seem to have these things pre-made so I have no idea what shape they initialy come from.  Is there a standard tool for this type of thing?  From a beginners point of view, how would you guys start this process?

when I am making hair I use an extraction.

mask the area you wish to cover with hair

go to the subtool pallet and at the bottom you will find a button called extract. next to that are the extraction settings, leave smooth set at 5 and reduce the other (E Smt) to 1 when you hit extract it will create a new sub tool the size and shape of your mask.  the thickness controls the depth of the tool.

then I get the smooth tool and just run it around the edges because there are no polys on the edge of the new tool, only on the outer and inner face, smoothing it drags polys back to the edge if you like and gets rid of the hard edges too.  after that just sculpt away.

its also a fantastic method for making clothes.  heres 2 I created last month for a wargames company. all the sub tools were created from extractions of the bodies. infact there was no outside program involved at all, just zspheres and extractions.

 hope this helps

steve

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"what do you mean...I stopped thinking, therefore I disapeared?"

Thanks for going to the effort of explaining in such detail, it'll be very useful.  I'll give that a go later on and let you know how I get on!

Your example models are really nice!  Its good to know how subtools can work like that.

I'd probably go the extraction route too. Another way would be to use one of the primitives converted to a polymesh and appended as a subtool. A lot of interesting things can be done with the primitives.

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I'm getting back into zbrush after leaving it a while due to all my time being consumed on the cover art competition =P I'm going to get back to where I left off but I was curious of the updates with 3.5.  I probably wont start playing about with Zspheres until I'm comfortable with a good selection of available tools.  However I am slightly worried that as a newbie to Zbrush I might struggle with the new Zsphere system due to having no experience with the old system.. 

Should I try and follow old tutorials and books? Or do new tutorials/books.etc exist that can teach me old and new?  Im just a bit confused as to where to start =S

Mostly, the new zspheres are used the same way the old ones were, with the exception that they are a hell of a lot less temperamental and easier to work with. So for basic zsphere creation, the process is the same as it was before, but you can be freer with where you place them in relation to each other than before. The new zsketch system obviously didn't exist before, but that is pretty easy to work out.

There's a load of tutorial videos on Pixologics main website in the education section that explain the new tools, and there's a load that show you how to use the old ones. I'd probably take a look at them.

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I just saw district 9 so I decided to test out zspheres by attempting to make a prawn... I found them a little awkward to use but I slowly got better :S  I haven't upgraded to 3.5 yet, I thought if zspheres are used in the same way I may as well experience the old process before moving on.  All in all I think I was semi successful, hopefully I'll get better with practice.

 

 

I havnt seen district 9, so cant tell you how successful you were if you were trying to recreate something directly.  but its not bad from where Im sitting.

steve

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"what do you mean...I stopped thinking, therefore I disapeared?"

Hey guys, I have a question!  Is it possible to weld polygons in Zbrush or is an external programme needed?

external sadly, though you could retopologise the whole tool, but not patch a hole or weld polys

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"what do you mean...I stopped thinking, therefore I disapeared?"

It is possible to patch a hole using a subtool, and retopologising/reprojecting the sub divisions (tripped over a method a few weeks back). But not in the same way as in a proper 3d app.

[edit] filling a hole vid tut: http://www.veoh.com/collection/houseofZbrush/watch/v241630359MBG75J

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Hey, Danzo. Have you try the 3.5 released? The Zsphere 2 system could probably weld the mesh. Check the ZClassroom for more information. And you could try it by yourself.

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:: Digital Shapeshifter ::

Hey guys, this may seem like a silly question but I'll ask anyway.  I've noticed zbrush is used mostly for character/creature sculpting due to its ability to easily create organic shapes.  Is it used for much else?  For example, Environments? 

Yes it's used for lots of stuff beyond the usual character design sculpts, including environmental work. If you go and check the vids on Pixologic.com, there's a set by Cesar Dacol Jr. where he mentions some environment work he's done for film using ZBrush as well as the usual character work.

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Awesome, I'll have a search for that now, thanks ^^.  You mention Cesar Dacol Jr creating environment work for film using zbrush but do you know if many artists use it for games in the same way?  I'm thinking 3d max or maya would be better suited for creating game environments but I was wondering if there are many exceptions?