ZBrush 3 Beta Images/A couple Zbrush 3 samples - Joe Lee

[jelee]

My name is Joe Lee and I am a senior artist at Edge of Reality. I've owned Zbrush since version 1.23 and boy, has it come a long way to say the least.

I have to also say the biggest noticeable joy was the ability to move so many polys around with much more fluidity.

Subtools and layers make it possible to control the detail of your creation like never before. Transpose enables you to not only to pose models but to modify sculpts. The retopology feature is nice to have readily available should the need arise as well.

Here are a couple of experiments using multiple subtools.
hairstudy.jpg

The Hair study was a test to use subtools of zsphere chains to create locks of hair.The zsphere lends itself particularly well to posing and twisting for such results.
BetaGirl.jpg

Bird-O-prey.jpg

The Raptor head was a study to try to reach for a woodcarving feel. The MatCap material helps present this test as well with the aid of an imported polished wood sample.
birdBeta_Composite2.jpg
:b3: See the Bird of Prey Tutorial in Here (http://www.zbrush.info/wiki/index.php/Image:Bop_final_bird.jpg)

There's still so much more for me to devote more time to but I think it's safe to say, there is plenty opportunity to be both

productive and creative with this release of Zbrush.



I am grateful to Pixologic for this opportunity.


jelee

[Marsyas]

Awesome detail!

[Antropus]

I love the girl. Very classic work with nice solution for the hair. The eagle is just mind-blowing! This tutorial will set a new record when released! :)

Keep rocking,
-Kris

[AgentSmith]

The woman is just a superhero! Real look of beauty and confidence. The eagle...I'm just having to duct tape my jaw from dropping from all this awesome ZB3 work. Thanks!

[AngelJ]

Jelee- Thanks for sharing, your images are inspiring to say the very least, great display of work and creativity.:tu: :tu:

[Crusoe the Painter]

Wow! This is gonna make my miniature sculpting so much easier. :)

Love the hair! Great idea!

[feureau]

Amazing. Is that hair on the eagle (specially the bottom part) separate meshes 'projected' onto the tool or somekind?

[DigitalDreamer]

Beautiful sculpts! The eagle is just amazing!

[SolidSnakexxx]

Wow, this is amazing! I especially like the hair...

[Plakkie]

WOW! WOW!! WOW!!!

I LOVE that girls... I'm stunned by the eagle. Can't wait for you to tell and show us more...

[gpepper]

Wow, great great job Joe ! The eagle is amazing ! I am very interested in how you did the feathers !

[Jadetiger]

Amazing job on both models. However the detail on that bird is outstanding! I've got goosebumps. How the hell did you do that?!

[jelee]

What an incredible turn out of artwork from some of the most dedicated and talented artists I have ever seen gathered! The work here just inspires to no end.


Hey Marsyas- I just have to first say that Mama Ogre of yours still makes me smile even today. Thank you. I think you will really enjoy ZBrush 3.0

Antropus- What can I say except I can't imagine the beta testing without your contributions. Your work is nothing short of inspirational. I'm beginning to wonder if you and Alex Oliver ever sleep. Sculpt on, Zbrother.

AgentSmith- I appreciate your compliments. Thank you.

AngelJ- I'm grateful to hear the images are inspiring. I have to say the new tools allow you to realize new creations unlike anything before.

Crusoe the Painter- That's great you are using it for miniature sculpting. You're going to love it then.

DigitalDreamer and SolidSnakexxx- Thank you both.

Feureau, Plakkie, Gpepper, Jadetiger- Thank you. As Kris hinted above, there is a tutorial of the process for the eagle that is in Pixologic's possession that explains things in more detail than I will here. I will say that there are multiple subtools, use of layers, use of the new projection brush (you are not too far off Feureau), along with a handful of custom feather alphas. You will have a much easier time getting this kind of result than I did first time around as I hope to spare you from my mistakes.

It won't be much longer guys. Thanks again.

~joe

[boozy floozie]

Yes indeed the detail on the chocolate eagle is stunning.
Both are superb.

[erikals]

Nice work :)
Love both of them,.. please continue posting more pictures
Especially like the eagle one..

[Wyatt]

My pregnant wife immediatly saw a chocolate eagle.
Awesome work.

[Yari Jindou]

great works of art, i love the feel to all of them and the raptor is absolutly stunning, oh now i want zbrush3 this minute!

[threetails]

the raptor is realy well done, great work with the feathers.

[vedanta]

Lovely work, just beautiful and the detailing of the feathers,,, would you share that with us?

[jelee]

Boozy Floozie, your creative imagination is matched only by your refreshingly charming artwork. Now I can only see a chocolate eagle! :D Thank you for posting.

Erikals- Thank you very much, I'll try to get at least one more image out.

Wyatt- That is too funny. Tell your wife I'm sorry it's not a dark chocolate eagle since it has more anti-oxidants. Thank you.

Yari Jindou and Threetails- I appreciate the compliments. I also feel like we have hardly unlocked the secrets of this program. It's capable of so much.

Vedanta- I promise the upcoming tutorial should answer a lot of your questions in more detail but in the meantime, here's just a quick breakdown of the subtools present. It should hopefully give you some ideas for your potential projects while we wait for the final version of ZB3.
EagleWalk.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2754284%27,%27EagleWalk.jpg%27,1 ,0%29)
Thanks again for the compliments.



~joe

*material by Ralf Stumpf

:b3:ADDED BY MODERATOR: See the Bird of Prey Tutorial in Here (http://www.zbrush.info/wiki/index.php/Image:Bop_final_bird.jpg)

[jantim]

Joe's tutorial looks great, i can testify to that !
When i first saw it it made me think of the work of Bas , have you seen it, i'm sure you like it !http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=30049&page=1&highlight=feathers

jantim

[Frenchy Pilou]

...models! :tu:

[Plakkie]

Joe, just read your raptor tutorial on the Wiki. Very inspirational and totally awesome! Can't wait to try it out a bit. Very good for getting your head around the new possibilities.
Thanks so much! :tu::tu:

[Plakkie]

And the Hair tutorial!! super!! :eek:

[jelee]

Jantim, Thank you for your endorsement and for posting Bas Mazur's link. He really does have some great ideas in that thread that would be worth trying in Zbrush 3. I especially liked the decobrush feather. I think he, as well as everyone else, will find ZB3 very liberating. Can't wait to see what the community on a whole will be able to do with this wonderful application.

Frenchy Pilou, merci beaucoup. I appreciate it.

Plakkie, You are more than welcome and very kind as I am not a tutorial writer by any means. It was my hope to at least give artists a reference point on which to try their own experiments in Zbrush 3. I was really happy to see tutorial contributions made by, not only Ryan Kingslien, but fellow beta testers such as Damien Canderle, Rene Morel, Sebastien Legrain and last but not least, Francois Rimasson, who shows what a tutorial can be. Now that took some time. But what I appreciate most is the insight these guys and countless artists like them, bring to the community and inspire me, so I am happy if I can do the same for others.
Even though I have been beta testing, I am still excited for the release because there is still so much to try and learn.
It won't be much longer.

Here is another try at an avian sculpture while we wait...

~j
ParrotBranch05.jpg (http://javascript%3cb%3e%3c/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2756107%27,%27ParrotBranch05.jpg %27,1,0%29)

[Dty5731]

I absolutly love your bird models! I cant wait to try that tutorial you have on wiki when ZB3 is out!

[Plakkie]

Well, your tutorial is inspiring at the least, and it seems easy to follow, but I will judge again when I have actually got Z3 in my hands! :lol:

The parrot is beautifull. Are you going to give it color?

[Slosh]

I love that parrot even more than the eagle, which is saying a lot. Hope you do decide to color him.

[Chrischan]

beautiful work jelee .. and mayn thanks for the tutorial also. :)

[Bas Mazur]

Jelee, you are right, I can't wait for the Mac-release. The new tools and possibilities of ZB3 are spinning around in my head. Pixologic made a great step and I am curious what the next step will be.

[Buckie]

Jelee, you are right, I can't wait for the Mac-release. The new tools and possibilities of ZB3 are spinning around in my head. Pixologic made a great step and I am curious what the next step will be.


Bas I'm running ZB3 on my Macpro under Parallels using good old XP Pro & it works great, I couldn't wait around here without having it myself...

[Bas Mazur]

Hehe, Buckie, thanks for rubbing salt in my wounds ;)
This is not working on my G5 :cry:

[jantim]

[QUOTE=jelee]Jantim, Thank you for your endorsement and for posting Bas Mazur's link. He really does have some great ideas in that thread that would be worth trying in Zbrush 3.

..Well, Bas isn't that great Joe, but he has his moments ;) .
Great looking scene with the parrot, and i'm still using the ZBrush3 beta, they seem to spread their e-mails in order not to break down the server !

jantim

[scatterbrain]

wow i love the chocolate eagle! ;)
i'm looking forward to the tutorial you mentioned

[troy1617]

its already out i have to say i love that parrot sculpt really great
heres the link http://www.zbrush.info/wiki/index.php/Tutorial:_Bird_of_Prey

[smeagol]

great works !

love the birds and thanks for sharing !

[askue]

:D
this is really well done this is something really nice. thank you for sharing it with us. grate work can't wait to see what you do next.

[hyper1]

Jelee,
Its very clear to see why you have your current position! The parrot is simply beautiful. I followed your tutorial and it was extremely helpful, it broke me into the work flow of ZB3 painlessly. Now most of the other tutorials make easy sense once I finished yours. I'd also have to say the branch that the parrot is sitting on is a great work as well. Its really an exciting time for this forum!
Cheers:tu:

[Neox]

very nice job with the feathers and hairs :tu:

[The Cheshire Cat]

I read and learned a lot from your eagle tutorial, thanks for making it.

[lordbinah]

yes greate tutorials , can u do one of bird wings please :P :lol:

[al3ashiq64]

wow i like your works very much
do you have vedio working fore you ?
or any tutorial of you ?
with my best greets

[skarpunin]

WOW there is only one thing I could say - Brilliant!

how did you manage to reduce the pixolation of the images?

[jelee]

Hello. Just a quick apology for the late reply. I am currently inbetween addresses and thought by now I would be back online. Even now I am writing from a family members' computer just to briefly acknowledge the gracious replies.
I really am glad the tutorial was of some help to a few of you. The zbrush community has already taken things to the next level as far as fantastic art work and great documentation of findings in ZB3. I think if I were to make a tutorial again, I would try to use the movie recording feature, as I think it breaks down communication barriers better than written tutorials sometimes.
I wish I had more time to address everyone but for now:

Plakkie- Thanks. I really need to experiment more with the polypainting and finding a good material to go with the parrot. I will try when I get back up and running.

Lordbinah- Thank you. A winged tutorial would be fun. If I get more time to give adequate attention to the subject matter, I'll definitely post. I'll say that the parrots wings were modeled stretched out and then transposed to the folded position. Transpose worked like a charm!

Al3ashiq64- I have no video tutorials but would like to after seeing how well Zbrush 3 makes use of the movie feature. Martin Krol's 'Colossus' comes to mind as a fine example. The bird of prey and hair tutorial are the only ones I have on the wiki.

Skarpunin- I usually increase the size of my document a little bit bigger than the default and draw the model onto the workspace or scale it as big as I can to make the most of pixel resolution for a screen shot. See if that helps you.

Thank you for the again for the kind words.
~j

[slashpot]

I was blown right away when I first saw the Eagle in the beta forum, and even more so when I saw the tutorial. But then when you were kind enough to make a 'mini-tut' for me when I asked about your detailing process I was on the canvas!
Surely that 'mini-tut' should be added to the main tut, as it was something that would help the other new players here immensely, it sure helped me!

It looks like you've adjusted the sculpt to make it look even more like a 'halieatus'. It really is unmistakeably a Bald Eagle now whereas before it looked more like a Steppe Eagle or similar.
The Z-Sphere work on the hair is up to your usual standard, what an awesome way to do hair! There really is less and less reason to go to Maya or 3DSM every day. And the parrot sculpt is just magnificent. I think both of these should be the subject of tutorials, in particular the branch the parrot is sitting on. I MUST know how you did that! ZSpheres? SubTools? The little epiphytes and fungii are awesome!

Now that brilliant parrot looks like it is a Hyacinth Macaw from the head and huge beak, but the tail is a little off. It needs to look more like a single entity than seperate feathers. Without counting I believe there are probably 12 feathers in the tail, ranging from the longest in the centre to much shorter ones on the outer edges, this (surely it's a Hyacinth) is the worlds largest parrot, and its tail feathers are among the longest anywhere. Moreover, they are vital to the birds flight ability, acting as a kind of 'rudder' to keep this huge bird flying straight, and to help it slow down and land when spread. But at rest it would be a neat, pointed (very long) triangle.

Still, what amazing work! But no less than expected. Glad this made top row, I would've hated to miss it! It's people like you that are causing the exclamation point key on my notebook to fade!!!

Keep it up!

And PLEASE could you share some details on that fantastic branch?
Thanks mate!

:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[slashpot]

WOW! You were writing as I was, and I just found out that you did the wings stretched, then folded them!!!This is exactly what I've been working on doing, (with a hornbill instead of a parrot) but I had grave doubts as to how well the wings would fold. If yours is any guide they'll work fine! This is anatomically brilliant, I wouldnt have dreamed it would come out this well! I dearly hope you'll show this guy with a wing outstretched, perhaps preening?

Oh, and nice work spotting the correct way to do the feet, most would have done the standard 3 toes pointing forward - good eye! Your work is really inspiring, I wasn't going to do any sculpting today...Now I am!

(PS: for a Hyacinth, the tail should extend to between the fungus and the absolutely brilliant Bromeliad)

[jelee]

Slashpot, you are amazing my fowl mouthed friend. :) You really know your birds.
I'm glad you found the mini walkthrough helpful. I'll have to try to find it when I get back to my computer and post it since you brought it up. Unfortunately, I won't be near my computer or ZB3 for a while.
The Parrot branch was a zsphere creation that I thought I would pose with the zspheres but ended up making an Adaptive mesh and used masking and the transpose actionline to twist the branch to what it is. The detail on the bark was done using layers. Large detail on one layer and fine detail on another. You are the only one to notice the bromeliad. Thanks.
The mesh insert brush let me layer the flower buds and place the fungus on the branch.
I seem to remember using the blob brush with a spray stroke setting and an alpha with the the crooked lines going top to bottom, for the look of the bark. This was before the brush manager came out so I couldn't save the setting but you might want to try experimenting with those brush attributes.
You are right about the parrot being a Hyacinth Macaw. The tail was referenced from a macaw in motion trying to balance itself as opposed to a perched one like I used. That was a mismatch on my part given the context wasn't the same. I agree with you in noting how the accuracy of the tail is more of a unified nature than of the splayed feathers like depicted.
I will have to correct this next chance I get. Thanks again for your helpful eye. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter is infectious.
Hopefully, I'll get it honed in the near future.
Regards,

joe

[Bas Mazur]

..Well, I'm not that great Joe, but I have my moments.

[ke]

It's absolutly perfect!

Well done.

[gunt]

Absolutly wonderful work. And thank you very much for all the tutorials. What a great help!:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:


















!

[javalabala]

looks great!!!

[vedanta]

Hi Jelee,
I'm finally getting around to your fabulous tutorial,,better late than never, but can't seem to get past this one point. I have no problem retopologizing the beak and appending the new beak skin but when I do the next three steps, all I get is that the original mesh of the bird tool gets deleted and I 'm left with the beak and two eyes.,, no head to retopologize... can you tell me what I doing wrong? Thanks
Select the bird tool with the subtool eyes and Append the new skin you just made and rename accordingly.

http://www.zbrush.info/docs/images/thumb/5/5d/Bop_Head_topo.jpg/200px-Bop_Head_topo.jpg (http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/Image:Bop_Head_topo.jpg)
Next we’ll create new topology for the head of the bird. When it came to the opening in the mesh up by the bird beak, I needed to delete the rigging selection to gain access for closing the gap.

To do this:

Unpress Tool:Topology:Edit Topology.
Press Tool:Rigging Delete.
Press Tool:Topology:Edit Topology and you can now reach geometry that was previously occluded by the rigging mesh.
This is where my trouble lies.

Closing this off gives me extra geometry to work with for making modifications between the beak and forehead if needed. By no means is the new topology the best solution for the form, but it is certainly better than before. Make an adaptive skin and Append it to bird tool.

[jelee]

Hi Vedanta,
I apologize to you and anyone who must have may have been thrown by the wording (or lack of) in this part of the tutorial.
Coming back to this with fresh eyes, I would have added that you want to have all the head retopologized to your satisfaction before applying the three steps that you mentioned.

The small picture in the tutorial makes it somewhat tricky to see as well but it is basically a fully retopologized head that used the same steps as with the beak.
ZBrush-Document.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2776059%27,%27ZBrush-Document.jpg%27,1,0%29)

Once having gotten to the end of step 3, your mesh should look something like this:

ZBrush-Document2.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2776060%27,%27ZBrush-Document2.jpg%27,1,0%29)
Once you close off the mesh, you can press the 'a' hotkey and preview the adaptive mesh.
ZBrush-Document3.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2776061%27,%27ZBrush-Document3.jpg%27,1,0%29)
If all looks well, then you can go to Tool:Adaptive skin: Make Adaptive Skin.
By capping this off, Vedanta, it will smooth nicer than if it were an open edge that can creep up from behind the beak when both are placed together.

Does this address any confusion? Let me know if you need further clarification. Thanks for calling this out.

Sincerely,
joe

[Abyssis]

....great to explore this thread, m8y :D

great...


-cheerZ-

[vedanta]

Thanks Jelee, I get it :tu:
and how do you combine the subtools into one subtool as you have appeared to have done with your final example?

[dustbin1_uk]

Very nice work! this is some very detailed modeling! Well done!

[jelee]

I didn't mean to overlook Bas, Ke, Gunt and Javalabala above.
I appreciate your posts. Thanks.

Abyssis and Dustbin1_uk, thank you for stopping by, glad you like the thread.

Hey Vedanta. You may want to keep the subtools separate or at least the head subtools. The subtools can get to a much higher polycount with little stress on computer resources, than if you combined them. If you want to consolidate the eyes though, you can try using the InsertMesh feature that is mentioned here (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=51599&highlight=combined+subtools).


Like I said before, you really want to beware using this technique for the heavier meshes unless you know your computer can handle it. (Mine couldn't. :( )
Just so you know, my final example was still one tool with several subtools just like the tutorial shows.

Hope this helps Vedanta.

Here is the walkthrough I made for Slashpot a while ago and I mentioned I would post it. Sorry it took me so long but maybe it can still help someone out there.
beak_sample.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2776324%27,%27beak_sample.jpg%27 ,1,0%29)

joe

[vedanta]

Thanks Joe for your advice about keeping the subtools separate and also your last few images....very helpful....
....I was wondering how you might get around the fact that the unselected subtool is a darker tone than the selected subtool,,but I realized :idea: you just have to > texture> colorize
any two or more subtools to get them looking like they are on the same subtool level....:rolleyes: cause your final pic of the bird of prey appears to have all the feather subtools on one subtool level...is that how you did it?..Tutorial__Bird_of_Prey1_16_00_rot.jpg

[DarkSun]

Wow, really love that parrot. The tree is wonderful, now out of curiosity was that flower made out of a zsphere as well? Because it is awesome as well.

[jelee]

Vedanta, you are welcome and you are correct in your figuring out the colorizing of the subtools. The process you covered is a much simpler solution to making all subtools the same color but was not (at least to my knowledge) available at the time this beta image was made.
The only difference in the case of the tutorial, was after the subtool was set to Tool>Texture> Colorize, I then set the Main color to white and pressed Color> FillObject. Of course, first make sure Draw> RGB is pressed.
If you want to tint subtools shades of grey or different colors, this method works well.

Hey DarkSun, Thank you. The Bromeliad flower was actually created by painting a mask on a polyplane.
bromeliad.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2776669%27,%27bromeliad.jpg%27,1 ,0%29)
The mask was then Extracted from under Tool>Subtool with Thick set to 0. I then masked half of it and basically folded it using the Transpose actionline. The tool can then be cloned and the InsertMesh will help create iterative petals in the same subtool as the link in my last post will explain. To adjust or tweak the petals for the overlapping look, use the Transpose masking for isolating individual petals.
-j

[DarkSun]

How generous of you to share how you did that. Thanks. You rock, keep up the great work.

[varek3d]

I tried following your tutorial, however I"m getting lost when you do the individual feathers with the 3d layers? can you elaborate on that please?

TIA :(

[jelee]

Hi Varek3D,
Sure, let me see if I can make things a little clearer.

_set00.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27108495%27,%27_set00.jpg%27,1,0 %29)

_set01.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27108496%27,%27_set01.jpg%27,1,0 %29)

_set02.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27108497%27,%27_set02.jpg%27,1,0 %29)

_set03.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27108498%27,%27_set03.jpg%27,1,0 %29)


I hope this helps.

j

Also, an over due thank you to Darksun. It's my pleasure.

[SpaceMan]

Does anyone know how to get to the tutorial. The link takes me to the front page at Pixologic and the tutorials only have two there (in Artist Spotlight)
Thanks

[TVeyes]

Thank you for the tutorial jelee and the rather excellent sculpting :tu:

SpaceMan: I believe this should be the link shown in the first post. >> Here << (http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/Tutorial:_Bird_of_Prey).

There are a couple more tutorials which you can find on the Table of Contents (http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/TOC) page.

[khalavi]

I finally got it :D.
Thank you Jelee. You da man!

[dagoned]

oh wow interesting .. thanks ;)

[anibalin]

@jelee: (member.php?u=1742)wicked trick mate :)

[cinmoumi]

Hi everyone, My name is Chris Bostjanick. I am a freelance CG artist with roots in fine art and traditional sculpture.

[Nitsuku]

I just had to register to say your work is absolutely amazing. It really motivates me to step up from low poly to high poly.
I two questions though.
First how long were you both using Zbrush and where did you learn it?
And lastly, can anyone provide me a tutorial on how to texture in ZBrush, I thought it was just sculpting in the program.

I have very little experience with ZBrush so any help with this would be very greatly appreciated.


Back to the artist's work:
How long(roughly) did each model take you? They are so incredible, and all planar (from the views I see in wireframe). I'm looking forward to seeing more of your posts and artwork(I already looked at all of your websites, amazing work all of you, it really inspires me to kick it up).