/sculpting

name: sculpting
description: Blender sculpting for organic and hard surface detail using Dyntopo, multiresolution, brushes, alpha workflow, wrinkles, and damage. Use when high-frequency surface detail is needed before retopology in Blender via MCP.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: https://github.com/arjun988
  version: "1.0.0"
  domain: blender
  role: specialist
  triggers: sculpt, dyntopo, multires, brush, wrinkle, damage, organic detail, surface detail, alpha
  related-skills: retopology, character-artist, creature-artist, blender-modeler

Sculpting

High-frequency surface detail pass. Know when to sculpt vs model vs bake.

When to Sculpt

| Sculpt | Don't Sculpt | |--------|--------------| | Organic wrinkles, pores | Hard surface panel lines | | Creature skin detail | Modular kit pieces | | Damage, wear, dents | Anything needing clean UVs directly | | Character likeness refinement | Lowpoly style assets | | Hero asset micro-detail | Background props |

Workflow

Base Mesh → Multires or Dyntopo → Primary Forms → Secondary Detail
    → Tertiary/Micro → Bake Maps → Retopology (if game asset)

Dyntopo vs Multiresolution

| Method | Use When | Avoid When | |--------|----------|------------| | Multires | Controlled detail levels; bake workflow | Need to preserve base topology exactly | | Dyntopo | Freeform exploration; damage pass | Need predictable polycount | | Voxel Remesh | Reset topology mid-sculpt | Fine detail already established |

**Default:** Multires for production; Dyntopo for exploration passes only.

Brush Selection

| Brush | Purpose | |-------|---------| | Draw | General buildup | | Clay Strips | Muscle/form definition | | Crease | Wrinkles, folds, hard lines | | Grab | Large form adjustments | | Inflate/Deflate | Volume control | | Scrape | Planar flattening (hard surface sculpt) | | Dam Standard | Sharp damage, scratches | | Layer | Non-destructive detail (if available) |

Detail Pass Order

1. **Primary** — Major form corrections (Grab, Clay) 2. **Secondary** — Muscle, folds (Clay Strips, Crease) 3. **Tertiary** — Skin texture, scales (Draw, Alpha) 4. **Micro** — Pores, fine scratches (Alpha, Dam Standard)

Alpha Workflow

• Use tileable alphas for skin, leather, rock
• Stamp at consistent scale for texel coherence
• Combine alphas with different brush strengths
• Bake alpha detail to normal map for game assets

Hard Surface Sculpting

• Scrape brush for planar surfaces
• Crease for panel line softening
• Dam Standard for impact damage
• Trim brushes for precise cuts (if addon available)
• Always retopologize or rebake after hard surface sculpt

Damage & Wear

| Damage Type | Technique | |-------------|-----------| | Scratches | Dam Standard, light strokes | | Dents | Inflate negative + smooth | | Chipped edges | Scrape + Crease | | Rust bubbles | Small Draw buildup | | Fabric wear | Crease along stress points |

Performance

• Hide unrelated objects during sculpt
• Use matcap for fast feedback
• Subdivide only active area (face, hands)
• Bake and reduce multires for viewport performance

MCP Integration

1. Duplicate base mesh to sculpt collection via MCP 2. Add multires modifier via MCP 3. Query polycount at each subdivision level 4. Export high-poly for bake handoff 5. Keep sculpt mesh separate from game mesh

Handoff to Retopology

Before retopo handoff provide:

• Final sculpt at highest multires level
• Decimated version for retopo reference
• List of deformation zones requiring clean loops
• Baked maps if bake-before-retopo workflow

Constraints

MUST DO

• Start from clean base mesh with good topology
• Work largest to smallest detail
• Duplicate before sculpt destructive changes
• Bake detail for game assets
• Match detail level to camera distance

MUST NOT DO

• Sculpt lowpoly-style assets
• Skip retopology for animated game characters
• Subdivide entire mesh to level 6+ uniformly
• Leave dyntopo mesh as final game asset
• Sculpt without reference

Reference Guide

| Topic | Reference | Load When | |-------|-----------|-----------| | Brush settings | `references/brush-guide.md` | Detail pass | | Bake workflow | `../texture-workflow/SKILL.md` | Game asset handoff |