Learn how Eve Studio has build their dolls using 3D Printing technology, and how they’ve created the dolls in Zbrush
In this article we’d like to give you a quick look at how our dolls are made. This will include talking about 3D modeling software, 3D printing technology and manual post-production. If we were to describe the entire process in all itís detail it would take ages. Thatís why we tried and compress the information as much as possible. And still the article turned out to be rather lengthy, so take a deep breath and bear with us.
Our 3D modeling/sculpting instrument of choice is ZBrush. Developed by Pixologic, Zbrush is an industry standard for visual effects, computer games and now dolls. Without some of itís functions, designing dolls digitally would be much-much harder.
The Very Basics
First of a few words about 3D graphics for those of you who are unfamiliar with the subject. Every object which is drawn on the screen inside a 3D application is basically a point cloud. Each point (which is also called a vertex) is defined by 3 coordinates: X, Y and Z. Thatís your basic high-school math.
Vertices are connected by lines which are called edges. Three or more edges define a polygon. A polygon is a surface which in theory can have any number of vertices, but in Zbrush we are dealing exclusively with triangles and quads (rectangular polygons). Polygons merge together to form a continuous surface of a 3D model.
PolygonsBy looking at this picture you can distinguish individual polygons, because they are large enough to be seen. But if you can recall watching lets say a 3D animated film, you can probably remember how smooth and natural everything looked. Thatís because characters and objects in films are made of tens of millions of polygons. Models in Zbrush also tend to be very dense. The denser the mesh the more detail you can put in, but at the same time heavier models draw more computer remorses. They require faster CPUs and more memory.
The Idea
It always starts with an idea. And you donít need a computer for this. Thatís why many artists prefer to think on paper, so that they can at least outline the overall direction of the project. Great thing about sketching is that you can do it anywhere anytime, as long as you have a piece of paper and something to draw with.
The Basic Sculpt
Making dolls on a computer is in some respects very different from a traditional approach. You start by defining the figure and the proportions, because itís enormously important to make sure that designs work artistically as a whole.
