What you'll learn

In this tutorial we'll start simple and work our way up to more complex methods of creating different kinds of cloth-like surface detail. We'll begin by talking about manually sculpting in rough detail for a carpet or towel-like effect. Then we'll talk about using existing images to paint detail onto our cloth meshes. Noise will be a big help to us as we discuss how to get even noisy detail across the entire surface. At this point, we'll begin discussing what an important role UVs can play in creating patterned detail. We'll create UVs in ZBrush and see how they affect the application of cloth patterns. We'll also look at a method for rebuilding cloth shapes using NURBS curves to get cleaner topology and straight UVs. We'll learn to tile custom alphas across a surface and apply an alpha as a mask to create raised or lowered detail. Finally, we'll use FiberMesh to add some roughness to our cloth. We won't be covering sculpting of folds or wrinkles, but concentrate on adding surface details like patterns or texture to add that last little bit of realism to your projects. Software required: ZBrush 4R6, Maya 2014, Photoshop CS5.