Having textures show through geometry?

[Anonymous]

I wasn't sure how to describe the title, but hopefully you get what I mean. Right now I'm modeling a cartoon character where the eyebrows are required to show through their hair, for stylized effect. A perfect example of what I mean was the technique Nintendo used in Zelda Wind Waker, seen in the attached file:

Help is appreciated. Thanks!

[Alfred.DeFlaminis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

This is a function that many game engines have which is sometimes called Z sorting or Z sort ordering which tells the sprites or objects which order to draw on a screen.  If a barrel explodes but the fire is behind it, the effect can be a bit weird and so you need to tell the engine which order to draw the objects on the screen when they overlap.  If a game engine you could export the character and the brows separately and tell the engine to z sort prioritize the brows.

In Max however there isn't a way to tell it to do this really.  (Or if there is I am unaware and couldn't find anything about it, and I looked.)  What you could do however is render this sequence twice and with the 2nd render having only your brows and what is called matte objects if needed.  Doing that and comping together would give you eyebrows that are always on top but exist in 3D behind the hair for side or profile shots. (Yet render on top so they aren't hanging 6 inches away from his/her head).  Please let me know if you have any questions.  

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the insight, @Alfred.DeFlaminis. Matte objects with compiled renders seems like a good solution, I'll give it a try!

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Thanks for the update @Anonymous, if you have any questions please let me know.

I think in the Windwaker game those brows are actually separate objects rather than textures, for what it's worth.  With matte objects (even that don't catch shadows) you should be able to recreate.  Happy to help in any way.

Best Regards,