Book Image

Sculpting in ZBrush Made Simple

By : Lukas Kutschera
Book Image

Sculpting in ZBrush Made Simple

By: Lukas Kutschera

Overview of this book

Embark on a creative journey with ZBrush, the leading software for creating characters, creatures, and props in films, games, and 3D printing. This guide will take you through its powerful yet user-friendly workflows, allowing you to explore its dynamic organic sculpting, painting, and hard-surface modeling tools. The first part of this book is dedicated to helping you become familiar with ZBrush’s user interface and learning the very basics, from sculpting brushes and painting the model with Polypaint to setting up lights and rendering images. You’ll also create a demon bust with the help of ZBrush’s concept sculpting tool, DynaMesh. In the second part, you’ll get to grips with the creation of a humanoid character that is optimized for 3D printing. Focusing on anatomy, poly-modeling, and preparing the model for 3D printing, you’ll acquire the skills essential for sculptors. The final part delves into portrait sculpting, where you’ll learn everything from basic facial anatomy to hair creation with FiberMesh. By the end of this book, you'll have developed the expertise necessary to succeed in the ever-evolving world of 3D character modeling, complemented by portfolio and social media tips for showcasing your standout work.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1: The Adventure Begins: Sculpting in ZBrush
9
Part 2: Creating Characters from Scratch: A Comprehensive Guide
13
Part 3: Sculpting a Female Head: Tips and Techniques

Loading models, navigation, and creating your first sculpture

When you first get started with ZBrush, it might take a while to get used to the unusual UI and navigation, and experiencing some frustration is not uncommon. This can detract from the awesome experience of using a digital sculpting tool for the first time and getting to see all of its creative possibilities. Therefore, before diving into too many functions and technical aspects, let’s get sculpting first so that you can see how fun and rewarding it is.

Loading a starting model

After launching ZBrush, there are a couple of starting points to choose from. A versatile and powerful one is ZBrush’s content browser called LightBox. Alternatively, you can also load a basic shape, such as a sphere or a cylinder. Let’s look at both options.

LightBox

LightBox has a great variety of models, including everything from simple shapes to faces and full human and animal bodies. You can access it by pressing...