ZBC Interview: Little Wonder Studio

[aurick]

Toys! Happy Meals! Pez dispensers! We often take for granted all the little gewgaws that find their way into our everyday lives. Sure, some of them can be collectibles that end up being worth a fortune years down the road, but even then who really thinks much about how these cool little items come to be?

Well, it turns out that Little Wonder Studio puts a lot of thought into exactly that topic – not just the technical aspect but also the artistic side. It also turns out that ZBrush has been a revolutionary tool for them!

What makes this interview different is that it's not about super high resolution, photo-real images. It's focused on the ways ZBrush helps bring sculpting into the real world as mainstream, marketable items. The world of 3D printing is exploding right now, and artists like those at Little Wonder Studio are poised to ride the wave of this manufacturing revolution.

This interview has been a true pleasure to put together. Right in keeping with the company’s roots and traditions, you’ll discover that it is filled with a good sense of fun, side by side with great detail. We hope you enjoy it!

CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW

A few images from the interview. High resolution versions are available in the interview itself.

Please join us in thanking Robert, James, Heather and Kevin for sharing this glimpse into what they do. Feel free to also post questions that you might have. We're told that they'll be checking in here and look forward to talking with you!

Be sure to also visit our many past interviews. You can find them here.

[ItbeRufus]

This was a lot of fun to do!!! Thanks again to Pixologic for having us and for being so enthusiastic about how we use ZBrush!!! We will be posting more pics and answering any questions all of you might have. HAPPY ZBRUSHING!!!

-Kevin

[TanTeckWeng]

They're right, the dog tool is really underrated in the ZBrush toolkit!

[Slice]

"China has some amazingly proficient engineers and machinists. Factories there house all any manufacturer could need: production lines, packaging and electronics expertise under one roof. They can reproduce almost anything but what they have always lacked is insight into what makes a character."

You can't be serious..

[xada]

edit: i had a rough comment. sorry.
i don't understand the low quality of the real models? is it only comming from the glossy paint?

[ItbeRufus]

"China has some amazingly proficient engineers and machinists. Factories there house all any manufacturer could need: production lines, packaging and electronics expertise under one roof. They can reproduce almost anything but what they have always lacked is insight into what makes a character."

You can't be serious..

Hey Slice,

Let me clarify, I think that comment came off a little harsh. We have worked with many factories in China for many years and one of the things we have noticed is that sculpts that from China are often off model and missing a spark of life that the client is looking for. This is not to say that there are not talented sculptors in China. They are just typically not connected to the factories that one might get the best deals as far as tooling, production speed, and shipping. That is where we come in. Also, in most instances, the client has their own factory that they go to for manufacturing. We just supply them with the prototyThat is where we come in.

I hope that clears up your concern of the comment, and we apologize if anyone took offense.

-Kevin

[Slice]

Hey Slice,

Let me clarify, I think that comment came off a little harsh. We have worked with many factories in China for many years and one of the things we have noticed is that sculpts that from China are often off model and missing a spark of life that the client is looking for. This is not to say that there are not talented sculptors in China. They are just typically not connected to the factories that one might get the best deals as far as tooling, production speed, and shipping. That is where we come in. Also, in most instances, the client has their own factory that they go to for manufacturing. We just supply them with the prototyThat is where we come in.

I hope that clears up your concern of the comment, and we apologize if anyone took offense.

-Kevin

Hey Kevin, thanks for elaborating and thanks for doing the interview, very nice to read

[ItbeRufus]

Hey folks,

First post of some extra images. We are going to add more of the fun stuff we get to make as often as possible.

This project was fast and FURIOUS!!! Well, it was Iron Man, but it was a very rush job and we didn't have much to go one because they were still working on the film. Needless to say it was a quick and dirty job. One of the reasons I love Zbrush is how it lends to being speedy. Normally I would have mapped all of this out and crafted each part of the his armor, but there just wasn't time. I took one of the standard models ZBrush provides, cut off the feet and head and just went to town with clipping, masking, and polish brushes. Not the most ideal way of doing things I know, but it is great that ZBrush gives that freedom to craft.

Now I would have done things differently now, as apposed to the year or so ago that I made these models, but this worked for the time I had and I am very happy with how it came out when it was manufactured... which sometimes isn't the case depending on the material chosen or the molding restrictions that might pop up during the tooling process.



Here are some shots of the finished product!



-Kevin

[bogiefx]

edit: i had a rough comment. sorry.
i don't understand the low quality of the real models? is it only comming from the glossy paint?

Hey Xada
The product is a bendable and the material needed for it to bend loses some of the detail. The piece is only five and half inches so when its blown up on a screen you see more of the imperfections. The pictures are of the first shot in manufacturing, so there were revisions that needed to happen. We are posting newer images now.

thanks for your question
James

[SolidSnakexxx]

Thank you for the interview. Very cool work indeed!

[bogiefx]

Hi every one here is a sculpt i did of Data from star trek next gen. I knew it was gonna be used for a Pez candy dispenser and alot of the detail would be lost, but I'm a big fan of the show and this sculpt was so much fun i kept going till i was happy with it.