3D tip of the day - ZBrush eyebrows using Fibermesh

FiberMesh is the perfect way to add fine hairs to the eyebrow area of your character. If needed, you can export
them as geometry for other programs

Tip of the day by Glen Southern! We've made eyeballs, and we've made eyelashes... Now it's time for the all-important eyebrows - and what better way than
to use FiberMesh?

We've previously looked at ways to paint eyeballs and create eyelashes in ZBrush. There are always many ways to carry out a task in ZBrush. In this new tip, I'm taking the little head model we've been using and, with FiberMesh, I'm going to add some detailed eyebrows, and then shape them with a range of default brushes. I use a default FiberMesh setup that is available to everyone - I just change up the settings a bit to suit our needs.

Download assets for this free tutorial.

Mask off the eyebrow and add the FiberMesh

I start off by making sure I'm on the SubTool layer that contains the head. Then, using the MaskLasso tool, I draw out the eyebrow shape on the left side off the head. I have Symmetry turned on, but that isn't essential as we can mirror it later if needed.

Shape the eyebrow exactly as you want to see it once it's finished. Hairs will be applied to anywhere that has a mask applied. I use the Alt key to remove any bad masking. Once the mask is done, go to the Tool palette and open up the FiberMesh dropdown menu.

Mask off the eyebrow area where FiberMesh will be added. Make sure you don't mask through the model, though, as you will get hairs where they aren't needed!

Pro tip no. 1: Using FiberMesh Presets from Lightbox

Once I am confronted with a set of Lightbox FiberMesh presets, I double-click one that suits my needs and it is applied to the model. Don't be surprised if it is far too dense and maybe as long as hair! We can now start work making this FiberMesh into eyebrows. I start by adjusting the length, the density, and the amount of twist (see the video above for details). This takes a bit of tweaking to get the settings I need, and it helps to do some quick BPR renders to judge density, too. I adjust the Gravity setting so the eyebrows 'go up' slightly, as well.

Look at the available presets in Lightbox to see if there is one suitable for an eyebrow. If not, make one!

Look at the available presets in Lightbox to see if there is one suitable for an eyebrow. If not, make one!

Pro tip no. 2: Spend time in the FiberMesh Settings menu to understand how
powerful this tool is

Once I have got correct settings for my eyebrows I click Accept and the hairs are applied to the ZTool as a separate SubTool. I then go into the SubTool panel and click on the newly generated hairs so I can edit them. Using a combination of the Move brush, the Pinch brush, and Smooth brush, I can get the fibers to emulate eyebrow hairs. I change the color to all-black. To reshape the eyebrow I set the Move brush size to a very large setting and nudge the eyebrow into the desired position on the forehead. I keep doing BPR renders to test my work.

Check the settings here to emulate the effect I achieved. If you like your new settings then save your own eyebrow preset into Lightbox

Check the settings here to emulate the effect I achieved. If you like your new settings then save your own eyebrow preset into Lightbox

Related links:

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