Come on down Jason! The first party was a good one. Can’t wait for the next one!
Chad - Meats is always around 
He is omnipresent. He is in Maya. He is in ZBrush. He is like the force. 
Now, I am off to enjoy my roof top patio!
Hey Bill-
Edgeloops, in my mind, have two uses: help in modeling and help in animating. To answer that question properly I would have to know if you were talking about an animation ready mesh or a still image. It is hard to speak in general terms and all I can say is that the fewer edge loops the better. It seems useful to think in terms of nurbs modeling when thinking about your poly patch layout. This will help keep you from creating too many edge loops. The main problem I have with edge loops as an oft used modeling tool is that they build form into the character that you may want to change later.
For example, I modeled a horse some bit ago and edge looped the heck out of his hind quarters. Each muscle grouping of the thigh got its own edge loop. Cool, right? Nope. Once the thing was rig and ready to go those edge loops cut into any form I wanted to create. And everyone who knows a horses behind knows the dynamic quality of the muscles there. 
They go through so many different shapes it is hard to keep up.
Evenly distributed polys seems to be consistently the best approach. This is why ZSphere topology, as it exists in ZBrush 2, is under-rated. There are distinct areas where more control would be good: hands, heads… But for the rest of the body I feel they are quite exceptional. No bias intended.
Now as for ZB 2.5 I can already say, both from what I have seen in the videos and what we demoed at Siggraph, that ZSpheres will become more and more of many people workflow. The idea itself is very innovative and will no doubt make its way into other applications as a standard feature as many other ZBrush innovations are.
Now enough of the marketing and I am really going to my lovely patio! Hope that helps explain a few things. If you have more questions please feel free to post them here.
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the info. What I’m aiming at is in-between still and animated. I want to create figures that can be reposed with minimal fuss/muss. In general I will be using these as input for a rapid prototying process. 50,000 to 100,000 polygons seem to work well for what I have done so far.
Thanks again.
Bill-
Cool. I am looking into rapid prototyping as well. I see much of my work in ZBrush as sculpture. I would like to get something into bronze in the next year.
How many polys can you get your model up to for the final output? It seems to be that there will be a trade off between the amount of polys and the the amount of edge loops.
So far anything over 100,000 polys slows tool path calculation to the point where I lose patience with it, but I think this could easily be overcome by a faster computer and a better BKC (between keyboard and chair) agent.
The main limitation with the software that I use is that it doesn’t optimize finishing steps very well, so it will generate tool paths that cover parts of the model that have already been finished in earlier passes. That adds up to a lot of time spent when you’re working with very small tool bits at high precision. There is software out there that can optimize that process, but I don’t have the means to justify the cost yet. I can still get things done though, it just takes a lot longer.
The second picture in this post is an example of the first piece that I did. Not spectacular, but it’s a start.
If you’d like to do a test piece, drop me an email or private message and let me know. I’d be happy to help you out.
Hi Ryan - I think your model looks really cool; she has a very ‘Rubenesque’ or faintly rennaissance quality in your modelling of her,
and her head shows a pleasant departure from the standard ‘pretty-girl’ stereotypes we see all-too frequently - nice work
(and yes I like loft parties too
)
Nice to know you get time to play with the software every so often 
Chris
I was able to bang out a concept last night. Just a sketch at present. Used Maya to pose low rez and just imported it back into the ZTool. The models have not been resculpted. This is only a sketch but I wanted to get it up on the web to keep the pressure on. Still working on the background and so many other things. 
Since it’s called garden of eden will the serpentine be replaced by a sepent… i like the poses of your boxed eve !
jantim
very interesting so far Ryan,
the top right one well, have to say without my glasses on at first I thought it a little too interesting:eek:. Now that I can see a little better…well…in the words of my poor departed grandma…oh my…:rolleyes:. …Just a weird angle I guess.
Anyways…like where you are going with this so far so keep it up!
And I still waiting for your updated materials pdf…how’s that for pressure hahahhaa. Just kidding.
Aminuts-
:o, yeah a slightly odd angle.
r
Highly inspirational Ryan, this recent post and your first images on page 1!
Reread through the thread to avoid asking what may have already been posted concerning your influences for these…
Northern Renaissance feel, maybe Albrecht Durer?
Any artists in particular from that period you admire?
Thanks for the info on how you posed them, thought initially you used zsphere posing.
Any thoughts on zsphere posing these, pros or cons?
Beautiful work, hope you’ll have the time to show more of these as they develop…
Like it a lot. Im very new to ZBrush, so new that I don’t even have the program yet (i have the demo) but Im planning to buy it. Have one question, do You use only the mouse or do a Wacom tablet things much easier?
Thanks!
/peter
coolkonrad -
I now use the tablet for word processing! I use the wacom for everything.
joe_seig - Great eye! I was thinking northern renaissance the entire time. I have in my mind Bosch, Breughel, Van der Weyden andGrunewald. Thanks for bringing this up. I think you just put me back on track! I was getting lost in where it was going 'cause I only have a few hours every week to even think about this.
r
Great work Ryan. I like the frames and the way they constrict the space.
Very amazing modeling, can’t wait to see more updates on your progress.
I miss this one Ryan, beautiful wip, and good proportions and anatomy. Hope to see more updates.
Cheers
:>Hey ryan,
i like ya models - the posed figure really comes to life. I cant await
2.5!
Anyways my question is: You seem to do “everything” :>
with your pressure sensitive pen - which software do you use
for handwriting recognition?
Ryan…AWSOM WORK!!!
Keep up this GREAT work!
Second, yeah i thought allready that having a pencil to do the detail and modeling for zbrush will give you the ultimate benevits cause it is much easier this way!
(aspecialy if you have drawn all your live and want to go 3d now, i didnt believe such a programm existed where you can just draw your 3d models on the canvas untill i just noticed zbrush like 3 weeks ago…lol…yeah my mind did blow up after i realized all the hazzle work i did in normal point to point 3d modeling packedges. With result offcourse in the end, but then…only to find out this whole 3d modeling thing can be done M U C H easier here in Z 
)
So i will get my Wacom tablet in 3 days…
So my question is:
Wich Wacom Tablet do you recomment?
Wich one do you use?
And for the not so rich people out there…wich wacom tablet do you recomment what isnt that exspansive but stil brings you really good results?
Thank you in advance and if anyone else want to answer my question Thank you aswel.
hi artmarqy,
since it seems you already ordered one? I will suggest that you do a search on wacom or tablet…specifically in the community or troubleshooting forums as this topic has been covered quite a bit here and you will be able to read quite a few different opinions on the matter that should help ya out.
oh yeah…Ryan…any updates? I know you are a busy boy but…well a laptop instead of victoria’s secret in the bathroom…
Artmarqy - I can’t believe it has been this long since I created this thread. Need to get back to this. Time goes to fast. Not cool. 
As for Wacom tablets. I use an 8 x 12 or something like that. Fits in my bag with the laptop and has plenty of room for drawing. I use an Intuous 2 and 3. They are both great. It is best to buckle down and get the 8x12. It will be worth it. I use it all the time. It is even easier on my hand than the mouse. Keeps my wrist in working order.
aminuts - No updates yet. I spent a long time trying to figure out where it was going. Still no ideas.
Cheers,
`r