fun with zbrush

[kokoro]

a new elf, this time a male one, and quite happy :-) first, viewport grabs from different views, then composition of several bpr render passes

[SpiritDreamer]

This last one worked out Great...Nice character in that character. Even got to incorporate the botany experiments into it..Perfect match and home for that flower and leaves..

[kokoro]

hi spirit dreamer, thanks for stopping by to comment :-) ... yes, it was fun to "recycle" the flower, first time i made reuse of a mesh . glad you see the character, as this is always my aim with the portrait sculpts, show a character, a mood, an emotion, and yes with this elf, i am glad you see it :-)

[kokoro]

ok, lets see how this new forum works, if i can manage to use it properly :-) ...

this is a portrait of marie, and once again i played with presenting it as marble bust. still experimenting, its lots of fun... hope you enjoy :-)

[michalis]

ok, lets see how this new forum works, if i can manage to use it properly :-) ...

LOL, you still don't get it. LOL
Nice one, still not a marble look though. Multiple passes combined in Ps, this the only way to have an interesting shader. Photoreal marble texture? In BPR? Better try some export to a decent render engine-app.
I love the tex painting though. Not marble but it could work well with some bumpiness on metal shaders.

[kokoro]

hi michalis, yes is still not marble, i know,, but it is pretty is ist not ;-). ... yes i am playing with rendering multiple passes and compose them in photoshop... i will get it, sometime ...lol,, thanks for looking and commenting

[michalis]

Tip-how I use sss:
Do your renders, one main, another as rim I guess etc. (Shadows at 80-90, angle 0, blend at 4, res at 4000) - this makes BPR precise and very very fast. Hardness will work well combined with SSS.
Then for sss, use the fresnelOverlay shader like this:
light as rim behind the model but always to the camera. Energy at max (2), sss on.
at fresnel shader all 4 sliders at maximum (inner, outer, addit, blend) fresnel factor at 0 , colors all orange ochre like,
at shader mixer, sss at max (100) front on.
Under render pannel, shadows off, sss on, sss angle at 360. through all subtools of course
This BPR SSS pass will give you a nice layer (screen mode), play with levels, transparency, saturation.
Here an example without textures on the basic grey shader. SSS layer used just to give a GlobalIllumination effect. Indeed, cast-shadows look a bit darker than shaded parts. Directlight renderer never shows this important detail.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthr...l=1#post892132

[kokoro]

michalis, thanks a lot for the indepth tip...i will try, in essence i was following the rendering/compising-path you describe, however my settings were almost completely different.. i will try yours !

[michalis]

OK, many ways to skin a cat LOL
BTW under uploader editor, "place in line"

[kokoro]

ok, did "place inline" now i have marie 3 times... usually i am not that clumsy when it comes to operating the computer and its software, but the new zbc forum is a challenge for me. it seems i am getting old...

[michalis]

you didn't place your age on signature

Three times!!! that's interesting.
They're working hard to fix these. Not the best time as we're waiting for the new pixo download - gift. tic tac tic tac

I like this texture you applied, something like wall old painting? This may work fine on bumpy bronze materials, you know.

[kokoro]

no its not a texture, its a material that came with zbrush, called something like distressed stone. it is found in the lightbox. i changed some of the settings and rendered and used that as a texture layer for composing in photoshop... now, i managed to edit my post to get just one image, and inline :-) and, i got back my icon in the row, which always get lost once you press "preview post". that bug was already in the old zbc though..

edit and now that i looked again, its again two images...well i give up, and wait for what the fixes will be

[kokoro]

yes, tried your suggestions michalis,,, and learned, that there are so many possibilities... this composition took lots of time, since i cuould not decide which one is best ... finally settled on this one...

[kokoro]

modeled in z4, rendered in passes using z4r2 :-) and then composed in photoshop...

[RageNrock]

Love the "Dragon"! Nice job!