We were pleased with the shape of individual parts, usually Zrush has a single modeling framework, as we see here really working parts, which will move in reality. Good work, waiting on the author’s new ideas:)
cool mesh can we see the wire!
Hey guys thanks for all the replies they mean so much! I’ll address each of you individually.
@devow: Thanks man! Yeah zbrush is a very powerful tool now not just for organics.
@rabieart: haha thanks man! <3
@BoBo_the_seal: Thanks man! It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed doing it and learning what is possible in z.
@womball: Thanks! No the scratches were done in photoshop during the composite. They have a lot of cool stuff =).
@wethand: Thanks man! It does take some getting used to, but once you get used to the tools it actually feels very natural. And the great thing with zbrush as opposed to sub-d is that you don’t have to worry about any pinching. The clipping brushes act a lot more like nurb in that respect.
@Darukin: haha thanks 
@Biser: Thank you! =)
@Etcher: thanks! And of course. I was actually pretty excited to be able to do a small writeup.
@montyband: Thanks!
@ZioRiP: Thanks =)
@SEGAHOLIC: Thanks!
@AgentSmith: haha thanks =)
@julien n: =) thanks
@-Storm-: Thanks man!
@PLyczkowski: Thanks dude! Yeah I’m still working on my balance there is always room to improve =)
@GX@W: Thanks man!
@leo sakamoto: Thanks!
@PSTCHOART: thanks! Ah i believe the polycount before decimation was around 80 million polygons? But I always end up overdoing it just to make sure I have enough resolution for the final image I want to make XD.
@SuperHer0: Thanks man! Zbrush has come such a long way for hard surface artists like myself. The most brilliant thing about it is that when you are concepting, drastically changing an area is doable in moments. In sub-d It really does tax you to try to concept while creating. I do still use sub-d, but as for getting the shapes I want and modifying them, Zbrush is 100% the way to go. It’s much faster in that regard.
@O/MI: Thanks man!
@digital_3d: thanks man! haha
@Sinhouse: Thanks man! Yeah zbrush is such a powerful toolset now and it can only go up from here =D.
@Bernard Caumes: Thanks!
@Clintus Maximus: Thanks man!
@Captian Cartesian: haha thanks man. One of the things I was trying to keep in mind when creating this was I didn’t want tons of self collision going on if he were to be animated. Of course there will probably always be some collision for drastic movements, but I really wanted to give him the look that he could actually move. Thanks so much!
@RenoAnimations: Thanks man! I really hope you learn a lot from it =)
@lostinlmbo: thanks man! I hope you learn a ton!
@pOiNtPuShEr: thanks!
@Webhead: Thanks man! I’m glad you like it! Yeah eat3d is amazing <3
@Arthaven: Thanks man! I’m glad you like the custom UI. Zbrush has such a unique interface it’s nice that you can really rework it from the ground up to suit you, since everyone works so differently! And it makes you so much faster! I hope you get a lot more out of it!
@EricShawn: Thanks!
@manzarek123: Thanks haha XD.
@KillaPreist: haha i know XD. Especially with school T_T.
@Nemesis1s: Thanks! I hope you enjoy!
@Tundrashift: Thanks man. For the smooth surfaces it was mainly the smooth brush. For some of the sharp edges I used the clip brushes and the hpolish, and there is also a lot of the extraction tool involved.
@Santis: Thanks man! I hope you learn a lot from it!
@madhead: Thanks dude!
@SILENT-HUNTER: Thanks!
@Csumbi: Thanks man! XD
@Toruk_makto: Thanks! haha I’m not sure how well this character would print! I’d probably need to clean up a few areas =).
@testure: Thanks man! The whole thing took a few months of free time. There are some instances when sub-d would be faster and others where zbrush will be faster. The important thing to know is which is good for what. Sub-D will actually be a lot slower for some things such as concepting characters and objects in general. Also if you want to change areas of your character, zbrush will also be much faster. Sub-D and Zbrush are both good options to make characters, so it’s really a matter of choosing; but I have to say I will always start my characters in zbrush, simply because of the speed of finding forms, and the ability to change anything at any time.
There were a lot of subtools probably a few hundred. There were definitely a lot of subtools, but it didn’t really bother me any. I’m so used to the work-flow I didn’t even notice. XD
@nightwoodwolf: Thanks man!
@dismantled: Thanks man! haha yeah zbrush is definitely the front runner these days XD.
@song quan: thanks!
@heu07111121: Thanks man!
@tobbeo: thanks!
@KonginChains: Hey dude. I did actually use max for two objects. One of them was the cylindrical hydraulics in the knees, and the other was some random object that I wanted to use the shell modifier on in the back. The second object you actually can’t even see in the final model. For the cylinder it was just a lot quicker to create them in 3ds max. They are, of course, possible to make in zbrush as well using a cylinder primative and the hpolish brush =).
So i guess technically not every object was created in zbrush. But 198/200ish were =)
Don’t forget also that the new clipping brushes are fantastic for this kind of thing. They act almost like a nurbs surface modifier and since i’ve never learned how to use nurbs this is a godsend.
@kinma: Thanks man! Yeah star craft is the best I wish I had more time to play it XD. I can still watch the MSL at least though XD.
@Darukin: Thanks man! Yeah the dvd has two chapters on the rendering and composite. They are pretty quick, but the basics are there. The passes i rendered out are very plain passes. The power of the final render is mainly from the composite in photoshop.
@milko stoev: Thanks man! Haha yeah shame to the doubters! =) There may be a sequel but there are no plans for one yet =).
@cartoon man: Thanks!
@madmatt: Thanks!
@oofnish: Thanks man! I’m glad you like it and are learning a lot =)
@dirkrulz: Thank you!
@sculptor.zb: Thanks!
@Arthaven: you are correct! Haha i’m glad you learned a lot! Yes don’t be afraid to just jump in and completely destroy what you’ve already made!
@JimCrafton: Thanks man! I’m glad you like it! =D
@Samoylenko Ivan: Thanks so much! I’m glad you like it!
@joe55: Thanks! Ah the wireframe wouldn’t be anything special to look at. It’s simply a very dense mesh cause I didn’t do any retopology. It wasn’t needed!
Again thanks for all the kind words everyone I hope you enjoy it =)
I bought this as soon as I caught wind of it. Best $60 I’ve ever spent. Thank you so much for sharing your techniques with us. Helped to open my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.
amazing and efficient work flow!
Very Professional and Inspirational Work! Congrats Mike 
It’s a superb model, i love the hard surface results, certainly going to have to pick up a copy of the dvd sometime soon.
It looks like the sort of workflow that would suit me but id never have though of doing it that way… if that makes sense.
Great video! Worth every dollar.
When this guy will be animated?
great job!
Allright…
I haven’t finished your DVD about the character face and you do another huge DVD again !
Amazing work on it !
I will be forced to buy it too !
I am so jealous of your skill
wow the way you used zbrush is awesome im gonna try to do somethin myself.
I love it!!! my eyes are popping out
good job
Nicely done!!!
Great Work!!!
Hi Mike,
Got the video. I really like the first six chapters, but was dissapointed with the 7th, Concepting the Character. I assumed it would show the initial laying out of the form and proportions with zspheres as shown in the first picture below (from your initial post). Instead the chapter starts out with the character already completed to the point in the second picture below.
Look forward to viewing the remaining chapters.
As far as the concepting goes, I guess he could have put a little in about that (that was the only place that really “jumped”). However, that’s not something you can “teach” from my POV. When I concept stuff I just go with the flow. A lot of happy accidents and unintentional strokes ends up leading down a path that I wouldn’t have been able to plan. I guess Mike could have talked about some of the mental things that go on but in the end it would have just been a speed video. I think being able to concept is a lot about your artistic and creative skills as much as it is life experience and even how well you are versed technically/mechanically. And even going from that initial version to the final version is pretty damn different which was shown and pounded home.
Arthhaven, I guess I wasn’t clear. I was hoping to see more of the zsphere workflow that was briefly touched upon in chapter 3, Mesh Creation.
What is the hotkey to hide/show subtools? Pressing the ;/: key does nothing for me.