DapperDoll Workshop

Changing the name of the thread!

I've decided to make this thread a catch-all for my various doll experiments! I'll be re-working this front page to link to the various sculpts and progress.


My first project:
I have started some work on creating my first BJD. She's going to be an SD sized lady. For now I've code named her Audrey (after audrey hepburn...but you know that'll change

To hear the specifics of how I intend to create her, I've written up my steps on my blog here: http://www.denofangels.com/joints/entry.php?166-SD-sized-Lady

The first stages involve using zbrush to get my proportions down, and I took a few videos demonstrating the start of the process. These videos are in a pretty quick timelapse,but you can kind of get the gist. I'll also pop in some sill pictures later, when I get to a slightly more refined stage.

[video=youtube;mTWxZEzhWlM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTWxZEzhWlM[/video]
Using Zbrush, I begin making a digital armature with zspheres. You basically start with one sphere, and working with symmetry on, you start to pull out limbs. I only use this to get my general proportions. Zspheres aren't really geometry, so they are only used as a starting point. It's a nice way to move the bigger shapes around before you commit.

 

Seems you can't have more than one video in a post, so splitting these up. Let me know if you don't want them to be embedded and I can simply link them in one post.

[video=youtube;lo2URc0lCkU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo2URc0lCkU[/video]

Now I take the armature made with zspheres and convert it to a skin. This is now a piece of actual geometry. I've set the density to be pretty low, since I'm just working on big shapes. I also use a feature called dynamesh so that I can push and pull how I like without worrying about too much distortion. In this stage I take a lot of the poopy lumpy look that zspheres give you and start actually thinking about the human form.

 

Last one for today!

[video=youtube;DJeaEaN1MgY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJeaEaN1MgY&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Getting into the real sculpting now.
I have put the chest in place, and refined a lot of the silhouette now. I made the temp head a lot smaller, and got the slope of the neck looking a little better.

After this stage I intend on blocking in the hands and feet, and further refining the shapes overall.
I'll post a few sill images next, once I get to the refining stage. If these videos are interesting, or if you want more information with them let me know, and I can keep making them

 

Little by Little (longer sculpting video)

Been working on her in the time I have after work, but it's coming along each night little by little.

[video=youtube;S2T9_KF2zZU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T9_KF2zZU&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Clicked record while I was working tonight, to get something to show.
For this video I slowed down the timelapse to show some of the sculpting in slow motion.
Here you can see me floundering about and trying a few things over again until I like it.
I've refined the torso enough that I am splitting off the limbs and head to do some work separately.
This is done by grouping them when they are masked, putting them on a separate layer and then filling the holes they leave. Maybe someday I'll record one where I talk over the video if anyone is interested in specifics details of sculpting in zbrush.

Still to lazy to take some stills...next time I promise!

 

Thanks guys! Yeah zbrush's new changes have really made it a viable way to work on dolls, and you can get pretty precise. I would still miss the parts done by hand though, so hopefully doing it half and half will help

Sailor: Thanks for the tumblr follow! Your stuff is really inspirational and I've loved seeing your process on these blogs.

 

Here's a still image like I promised

I added on the old head I sculpted last year, and tweaked it's proportions to look good with the new body.I also elongated the torso to be more stylized..
I kind of like the giraffe neck to, but we'll see.

 

Thanks so much Nathalye!
I'm excited to finally get back into this project, so hopefully I can keep up a good pace!



Lil sculpting over the weekend, still just mostly for proportions. (legs n arms are really just tubes right now. Here’s the process for the basemesh hands as well. I started them out of a zsphere armature, made a skin of it, and then shaped it. I want to work on the pose of it next to make it more elegant, and shape the fingers with fine sculpting.

Also if your interested, I've been cross-posting all of these posts from the joint over on a new tumblr here:
http://thedapperdoll.tumblr.com/

 

Now that major proportions are done, I worked on the body details at lunchbreak.

 

Thank you for all your lovely comments! You guys are keeping me going
Glyndon: Im so glad you mentioned the face shape as well as the proportion, those were the two key things I've been trying to achieve. It feels good to hear it is coming across.


Did some meshes of some of the ball joints. I made the base meshes in 3dsmax, and then using the layer function I subtracted negative shapes to get the cutouts.The piece at the bottom is a test of the lock I’ll use to join the head to the neck.


Here I've made a negative shape to cut the top joint out

Once Subtracted via zbrush layers, here is the result!

I also duplicated her lower half, and did the reverse to get the two separate pieces

Progress has slowed a bit this week, Because I got engaged over xmas! So there will be a wedding to plan this year as well as a doll.:XD

 

Thank you so much Aneemal! I love your Ruse as well, and I'm happy to keep tabs on her on Tumblr


Hay guys, not much new to report, other than I have a new computer. Right now I am sculpting another doll head on livestream, head on over and check it out if your interested. It's really just me testing out live stream's capabilities.

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/6489180/events/2690879

Not live streaming anymore, but here is the dude I came up with. Watch the video to see how he was formed. I promise, more of the lady soon

 

Glyndon: Glad you've been enjoying them! It's a lot of fun to sculpt out all these prototype heads...I'm sort of getting addicted to it. Now I just need to settle down and finish one!

I'm planning on eventually bringing her to market. Once I finish sculpting her, my friend will do a test print on her printer, and then I'll have it pro-printed once all the kinks are worked out. Then off to find a casting company!

Here's some of my recent proportion tests for her eventual size:


I printed out some renders of her to scale, and taped them together to get a feel for what they might look like out in the world. I want to get things as close to possible before I go printing her out.


First I want to print her out Monster high(ish) sized. That way the cost will be lower, and I can have a cute lil handheld version to start.


Eventually the plan is to have her be SD though, and hang out with my big dolls

 

Haha so true! I'm gonna have to find some itty bitty eyes! I totally want her in SD as well though...cause I'm mostly just making her to be one of my characters

I'm going to go ahead and just change the name of this thread...cause I think I'll make it the catch-all for my different dolls/experiments, and then I can link the front post to the various dolls individually. Although I've really got to finish one of these dolls instead of making more head sculpts...but it's just so much fun!

This guy was a fun little project I worked on at lunch this week...and now I'm thinking he would look pretty nice all printed out.
I'm thinking he could be a cool re-shell for the bigger version of one of my older characters. Probably for a 70cm male body.

 

I'm going to need to definitely go on a search for more eye sizes XD I have mostly 70cm dudes...so they're all about 14mm.
Glad you like the name! Trying to sort of brand them as an early 1900s thing

 

Moving right along!

Worked on the headcap today!
Still need to get the eyewells carved in, and I want to thicken up the neck a bit where the head attatches to be sure it will not break. Magnet holds are going to be added in apoxie to get them the right size once the head is printed

 

Thanks Aneemal!
I've never cast anything before so I'm so glad you pointed that out! I'm not really sure how to address it correctly. Is it the smaller lip around the edge, or the bump on the inside?
I made a few photoshops paint-overs to see if I could come up with a better system:


Would any of these work better? (some of them don't show magnets, but they will be added post print)
I included the last two sketches to show a change in the cut itself, so it doesn't have the harsh direction change that it does now.
Totally open to everyone's suggestions on this one, cause the casting process is really foreign to me right now.

 

Aneemal: Thanks so much for that explanation, your example of the clay really helps me picture the problem more! I'm going to try and go for the cap you suggested, and see what I can do to add the tab to the cap rather than the base. I also need to reconfigure the inside to allow more room for the eye wells. Right now with the paintover, it's cutting it too close. I might bring down the back of the head to be more level with the nose, and that might create the room I need.

I also need to do a test (2d paper) print for sizing next to see just how far up the neck really needs to go into the head, this might help. Again thanks for the guidance!

 

So excited! He is ready for the first test print!
I'll be sending him to my friend early this week.This will be rather lo-rez, but it will see that everything is in place before I print at super high quality.

For this test I’ve left out the magnet holds (as I am still debating how I want to do them)
Since the next test is just for proportion I don't mind that they're not represented, and also I can try some things in apoxie on the test head.

You might notice I’ve made a lot of tweaks since the last post. When I tested out a 2d print of him on paper he was reading more like an 80cm doll in proportion to the body because of the distance between his features. So I shortened the chin, and lowered the eyes a bit. Now he should look really good on the standard 70cm size. I also brought down his head over his neck in the back to leave more room for the large size of the neck without going up to the eyes.

I’ve also reworked the headcap to be simpler as per aneemal's casting-recommendations! Thanks again!

 

Thanks guys! It's been a lot of fun to really stick with a project for once!

BIG UPDATE!! He's been printed!










So here he is guys! The print from shapeways in "white strong and flexible" ran me about 100$ EEEP!
But the quality is definitely good for the price! He's got that 3d print layer look right now, but he is only a few coats of primer and a sanding-fest away from being just right.

The only issue is that the head is just a tad bigger than I expected, but the neck fits the 70cm dollshe neck which is sweet. I'm wondering how he’d look on a slightly bigger body. Right now it’s a little too goofy for the spiritdoll proud (sits really low on the neck and is clearly too big)
I’m gonna try some adjustments, but worse case scenario I can print him again in slightly smaller scale (costs a ton though eeeek) Anywho, what do you guys think? Any bodies he might go better on?

As for the print itself, I LOVE IT. It came fast and well packaged. It was sooo exciting to have a box opening for something I made! I knew going into it the surface would not be perfect, but that’s what primer and sanding is for…god so much sanding. If I go ahead with this size I plan on thickening the eye wells a bit, and any thin spots. I’d also need to size magnets…and WOOOOOO!