ZBrushCentral

Scared Silly Entry by Chuck Clayton

PARENT-MAIN CHILD-ZBC Contest I: Scared Silly
#1

Well, I’m very new to ZBrush, and have been trying to conjure up an idea that could easily be told with an image or two, but quite honestly, everything I’ve thought of would be an extremely ambitious project for a mere beginner.

Undaunted I, nonetheless, thought I’d hop on board and at least register my ideas on the chance that I might actually be able to produce something! :slight_smile: At this point I think I’d be thrilled to pull off a decent looking pumpkin, but one can dream can’t one? If I can’t pull it off this year, there’s always next! Right!?

For now, until I make up my mind:

Idea 1: Little Girl with Bad Intent! Halloween night with the front of the home all decorated and lit, and a little girl stands in the yard holding out a big halloween-colored lollipop in her right hand, trying to lure ‘Dracula’-like vampire closer to her. He’s reaching for the lollipop, and she’s holding it just out of his reach trying to get him closer. Behind her back in the other hand, she holds a hammer and stake! I think the idea could be clearly conveyed in a sculpture.

While I really like the first idea, I’m really leaning towards this right now:

Idea 2: A ‘simple’ Pumpkin carving. One big, fat pumpkin, and right next to it a tall, skinny pumpkin - and the faces on them are carved to resemble caricatures of ‘Laurel and Hardy’. I’m not sure if this would violate any copyrights or contest rules, and it’s not exactly a ‘scary’ idea, but I think it would be cool to do - even if I just save the idea to do later.

Idea 3: Pumpkin-head people carve human heads for Halloween! Father and son pumpkinheads are sitting on the front porch steps. Dad is carving eyes, nose and mouth out of a human head, while son is holding the top of another head in his left hand, and scooping out the content of the head with his right (getting it ready for Dad to carve). A few completed heads sit around the porch, already carved and with a candle illuminating them from within. Twisted and weird, yes, but not with a gruesome intent. That is, no blood and guts really - more of a surrealistic scene. I‘m thinking kind of a painted ceramic looking sculpture.

Anyway, as soon as I get a ruling on the ‘Laurel and Hardy’ pumpkin idea from aurick, I’ll make up my mind which to enter, and post a sketch. My intent is to do it entirely in ZBrush.

And being a noob of course I don’t have any illusions of actually winning anything, or really even producing anything worthwhile, but the only failure is in not trying, right?

It’ll be good fun regardless - and GOOD LUCK to all!

#2

Oh, man…number 3 sounds great! I hope you choose that one.

#3

I love number 3 as well lol. Sounds like a real father and son kind of moment in a very demented way.

#4

Pretty sure all the Laurel and Hardy films have fallen into public domain by now. And you’re not recreating their likeness or placing them in the context of a copywritten story. Just two men with distinct poses and bodytypes, in period costume.

I think you’ve got a pretty clear case for “fair use”, at the very least. I don’t think you have a copyright problem. Contest rules are a different matter, though – for that, you’re right to go to the source.

#5

I also vote for number 3.
If two full pumpkin people, a wide porch, and all those human heads are too much to render, you can push in tighter-- The idea of “porch” can be one step, a door and a wall light. And, father and son working over a single human head tells the punchline.
Good stuff.

#6

Well… I’m going to have to give up on this contest, folks. I’ve been working with Zbrush2 on an Intel Mac going on three weeks now, and I still can’t even sculpt on a zsphere.

The tutorials I have found leave much to be desired - at least for v2 - and I’m more than a little frustrated with the whole thing. Older tutorials I have found seem fairly clear, but then the tools they allude to don’t exist, and most of the ‘better’ tutorials aren’t clear or concise enough to follow.

Every time I load a zsphere, I can’t seem to sculpt anything on it. It always ends up being something ‘in addition to’ the zsphere, and I find I’m not sculpting the sphere at all.

How software could be on the market for so long without a single book published on it is beyond understanding, and the ‘Practical Manual’ isn’t clear enough to be of much help.

Have fun folks! Guess I’ll wait for v3 for the Mac, and wait for a decent book to come out. Someday.

I hereby disqualify myself, unfortuantely.

Btw, if any of you are having a hard time coming up with an idea, feel free to run with one of mine!

#7

I don’t know much about the mac version but have you clicked on make a pollymesh 3d button cause that I have found would be the bases of the problem. it is found in the tool menu. and also using 2 make sure that you have clicked on the newly created pm3d sphere after clicking the button. opps that is for a pollysphere.
ohhh zpheres that’s a little more actually will try and send you something as clear as I can and simply. I have found a few movies and tuts here that were easy for me to learn on my own.
you can use a poly sphere and do what I said before to sculpt a head.

Please don’t give up even if you don’t make the contest it sounds like a very cool concept. Hope this helps you. if not ask anyone in here that has a super moderator or senior member and I know someone will help that’s why I love zbrush centeral because eveyone that can will help without question. aurick would be a good person to turn to I think.
he is a non entry on this contest and he works for zb
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=51746 click on link and either write him on the post or pm him.

#8

Thanks Seavannah, and I know what you’re saying. I’m not totally giving up. Just for now. I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels. Many of the things the ‘Practical Manual’ says to do simply don’t work. Even something as simple as ‘deleting a zsphere’. It says to simple alt-click on the sphere to delete. But it doesn’t. You can alt-click, option click, contrl/cmd click. Doesn’t matter.

And yes, there are a lot of extremely knowledgable and helpful folks here, and many have tried to help. Some things just don’t seem to work. I really feel badly about it, because I was so looking forward to doing some unusual sculpting, but after awhile trying over and over and over again to do something fairly ‘simple’ gets a bit tedious and disappointing.

Maybe when 3 comes out for Mac things will straighten out for me. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just getting too old, and don’t grasp things as well as I use to. I’m just worn out reading the manual, and trying and trying to no avail.

Thanks!

#9

I’m sorry to hear that Morbius. Since I don’t use a Mac, I’m afraid I’m not much of a help to you.

Maybe some folks in the help and troubleshooting section who use Macs can help you, that is, if you’re not burned out from all the digging and reading so far.

#10

try maybe to see if you can draw on a sphere aka a pollysphere. Zpheres are kind of screwy to me too and I have 3 and like 2, 3 is just about the same as 2 on the zsphere thing. I have worked on 2 for a little while. the way I deleted zpheres before was using the undo button in edit. make sure in preferences you have the undos to like twenty or more and change once you have the mesh ready so not to bog down comp when sculpting mesh. I am glad you will not be giving up that is the only way to fail, giving up. Never too old we all get frustrated from time to time even people that work in the CG industry. Take this contest as a learning experience and above all have fun.

will try to show you tonight or tomorrow in another thread to use poly spheres and or zsphere’s I will put the link to it here and see if it helps you also will be willing to answer any questions u may have that I can after you read and see pics of it. I won’t leave you till either I can help or someone else can. once the basics are learned zb is a breeze most of the time.

for tonight breathe get some rest and don’t think on it tonight. sometimes it just takes in taking a break. take some time whatever you need and I will be here when you need or are ready.

p.s. I wish that they had another contest for Mac users since you guys haven’t got 3 that would make it a bit more fair I think…or maybe a contest for 2 and one for 3.

#11

hi there me again hope i am not bothering you but click below on link and read. Sorry more reading but this should get you started on the way to sculpting and I did make it as short and sweet as I could. also pics which is the only way I can learn. hope it helps please let me know. and also if you have anymore questions will do the best I can.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=400409&posted=1#post400409

#12

Bothering me!!?? Goodness no! I do so much appreciate you taking the time, and going to this extreme to help!!

From a quick read of it, I can already see some ‘vital’ steps I’ve somehow been missing. Actually, I did have some success yesterday in sculpting a polysphere - and I did finally find the polysphere. I swear I looked for that thing forever, and never found it. Somehow yesterday, I did. Somehow or another, I only managed half a sphere. When I rotated it, the back half was missing. I’m sure I had it set for 360. Oh well. A minor success anyway.

I’m taking a break today just to give what’s left of my brain (if any) a rest, but I’ll be reading your tutorial more closely a bit later. Already saved it.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to help me out! Isn’t that just like the people of ZBC? Always ready and willing to share and lend a hand!
:slight_smile:

Bless you!

And many thanks also to ‘cannedmushrooms’ who has also gone that extra mile in helping this perplexed noob!

#13

SUCCESS AT LAST!!

I’ve been running Zbrush 2 on an Intel Mac to learn on (rather than installing an emulator to run 3.1) while waiting for the release of 3 for the Mac.

As some of you know, I’ve been absolutely pulling my hair out for the last couple of weeks trying to get a handle on this incredible software, and never quite figuring out what I was doing wrong. I’m use to a lot of animation and effects work, editing software, etc., and worked for many, many years professionally with Photoshop - but I’ve never come across a program that I wasn’t able to grab and run with. And so, have been banging my head against the wall with ZBrush. Until today.

Sometime late this afternoon whilst fooling around and reading more tutorials, someone named Seavannah tripped the switch, and the ever so ‘faint’ light came on inside me wee little brain. :slight_smile: I’m delighted!

So, I’m in ‘business’ after all, merrily sculpting away - well, rudimentarily anyway - and will stay the course with the contest! I may not turn out anything worth a tinker’s damn, but it won’t be for lack of trying! I still have only half a sphere when I rotate it, but I’ll figure that one out.

And I’d like to thank Slosh, cannedmushrooms (for bending over backwards trying to help), and especially Seavannah, who went berserk constructing a tutorial just for me and ‘threw the switch’.

Many, many thanks to all! I still have tons to learn, but at least now I’m moving forward instead of just treading water. So, onward with ‘Scared Silly’!

:slight_smile:

#14

yes success. If it makes you feel better it helped me to see if I remembered all the fab tuts I have found that have helped me. I also have been wanting to help someone as others have done for me. I did get a little screwy though not pollysphere sorry I think they changed the name from 2. In zb2 it is called 3dsphere or something like that. I know 3d is in the name. I am so glad I didn’t remove the zb2 off my comp…some main things have been changed in zb3. Although many differences from the two the one thing that really didn’t change is the zspheres and their functions so don’t worry once you learn them you won’t have to learn zpheres all over. Happy zbrushing…and should you ever need me again I shall try all I can.

p.s. I also can pick apart any program but the one I had, and still have, a hard time with is 3d studio max. I have had that prog for well over 5 years and I still don’t understand a lot of its functions.

Maybe you can help me one day with Photoshop (after contest). I understand it but am not very proficient at it… :smiley:

#15

also as a note in zb2 the zsphere, or anything else for that matter, if it looks as if it is deleted in the back it may not be. Try going the the move mode and if I remeber right (for I also had this problem) clicking outside of gizmo and moving out towards you untill you see the full sphere. if this don’t work try inside but not on any of the gizmos lines of axis. things tend to disapear inside of the canvas in zb2. :eek: (mmmmmm good zspheres…lol):smiley:

#16

morbius- there are books and dvds on ZBrush…

If you learn visually, then Kurv Studio is a big help:

http://www.amazon.com/Get-into-ZBrush-Glen-Southern/dp/B000ACQKRK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-2179225-4361225?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1191825387&sr=8-2

And, aurick has a book there too:
(aka Matthew Yetter-- this astounding forum’s big eye)

http://www.amazon.com/Unleashing-ZBrush-Matthew-Yetter/dp/1598631934/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-2179225-4361225?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191825387&sr=8-1

Hope that speeds things up for you!

#17

idea number 3 sounds really great! lets see some scooping

#18

Thank you very much, Seavannah!

And I’d be delighted to help you with PS any time.

:smiley:

#19

Strangely, the ‘Sphere3D’ IS a full sphere when I rotate it. The red ‘ZSphere’ is the one that is a half sphere when I rotate. A minor inconvenience, and I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Probably (very likely) some very simple thing I’m doing wrong, or not doing.

#20

it becomes a full sphere once u attach other spheres to it. so the first shouldnt be the head if its just gonna stay one sphere