ZBrushCentral

Melanin

ZBrush Artworks
#101

I can vouch for the strange process of building clay sculptural forms from the bottom up. Simply a natural process of gravity over creativity. You just need to spread the creative urge over a long period of time. The “gestalt” is something you have to put on the back burner and try to re-discover it with every sag and droop (unless you are like Joe and are pretty adept at keeping it straight.)

Been lurking on this site for a while. My teaching schedule keeps me from doing a lot of work with ZeeBrush (or ZedBrush if you are Canadian…) I’ve been following Joe’s work since 1988, and watched the growth of this woman above since the solid clay feet. Impressive sight, to see it go up. Kinda like a skyscraper. One part of the process that Joe forgot to mention is the cigarettes and coffee he burns through during the making of these landscapes of flesh.

Joe and I went to grad school together, and both in the clay department. I was probably the one to blame when I showed him Maya. I think I ruined him :wink: ZBrush really reflects the way we both work in clay. I do mostly figurative relief on large forms, while Joe works “in the round”, but this metaphor really works nicely. And, our studios have become portable and compact. Not to mention the addition of animation. Look for much more from this guy, trust me. We have only seen the beginning.

Sorry Joe. That sounded a little like “the pressure’s on”, but I didn’t mean it that way. The pressure is on me to match the work you’ve done. Time to put my new copy of XSI 5.0 in high gear. Nice interface with ZBrush, in case anyone cares about my 2 cents.

Zbrush 2.5 in December? Nice birthday present. :slight_smile:

Christopher Tedin
instructor, Illinois Institute of Art – Schaumburg

#102

Hello Christopher. Course, now you’ve stuck your head over the parapet, you’ll have to show us some of your stuff. Heh heh.

It’s been bugging me, but I’ve finally worked out what Joe’s woman sculpture reminds me of … the work of Hans Bellmer (sorry, can’t recall if that’s one or two ‘Ls’ in his surname). I only really know a tiny bit about him, but he crops up in ummm erotic compendiums from time to time. He drew the most amazing women’s shoes. Oh dear, that’s going to look very odd. But he made some sculptures out of doll and manikin parts too, if memory serves, which had a similar feel to Joe’s work.

Later: turns out there are loads of links to sites if you google his name. I hadn’t realised there were quite so many doll sculptures, most of which look and feel nothing like Joe’s stuff. A false lead, but cool all the same. If you go looking for Bellmer’s stuff, be warned. It’s pretty … thought provoking. Ahem.

#103

Dang wasn’t planning on posting yet but…

wtf?..yo ctedin!!! hey you got that $150 bux you still owe me?
Pay up bro, all this yadda yadda’s cool…but still, gimmee da cash! .
So you sneaky ole sacka-poo, laying low then poppin’out without even knockin’ on the door…

Hahaheh, glad to see you here Chris! :slight_smile:
How’s your crazy brother Mark doin btw?
Yep, you know every 3d program out there (ha! except maybe Zbrush) :stuck_out_tongue: … (but you’ll have that down by Friday no doubt).
So I guess you have all your 3dsMax animation students lurking away too ?
You dawg. Nice surprise. Let’s have some beers sometime.

Moochie is right, you stuck your pretty head up, now you gotta show us what ya got. Watch out Moochie.
…and yes it is spelled Bellmer btw. :wink:

Hi Frenchy, your “ugly” question… for later, d’accord?
Hi Bas, seems your question about the sculptures made a good friend come out of hiding.

#104

Hi dude :slight_smile:
Where is the final animation of the albino?
Every time when my dog dies I look to your Peegunn animation what makes me happy again. I have an old white rabbit, so maybe I need… Dang, be quick, this mornig his nose was a bit dry!! Cheer me up!
BTW, wonderful claywork you make! Keep going :+1:

#105

hey joe–
I was wondering what kind of sculptable epoxy you use? I have done a bit of foam sculpting myself, I ended up just coating it in resin and sanding it smooth. Is it magic sculpt?..or epoxysculpt or one of those? Can you get it in large quantities? only time I’ve got it was from compleat sculptor in ny…but I recall it came in a small quantity I rememeber it being rather pricy…(as is that plumber’s putty you get at the hardware store)…

Would love to know more about this stuff
love going between this portable digital sculpting and real sculpting

very cool
titkotk

#106

One type of sculptable epoxy is called greenstuff or kneadatite. It’s kind of expensive, but you want want to do larger things you can mix it with milliput which is another form of sculptable epoxy that costs quite a bit less.

#107

Hi,
Bas…sorry to hear about your dog, glad something I did can cheer you up from that.

Melanin animation is on hold lately, until I finish some work deadlines for next week, (lately architectural visualization animations).
We’ve also been doing alot of house construction/renovation here as well, so my focus is a bit scattered, (yes I know…excuses, excuses)

You’ll see more updates Bas, if only just to keep you cheered up…
Hey-hah-he btw I really like your recent buttheadman.
Wanted to ask if you know these references? :smiley: :lol:
…but of course I find yours to be the funniest.:slight_smile:
Your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me Bas.

tiktok, good to hear from you, I use a sculpture epoxy from Polygem-Chicago, called 307fr-Lite.(The “fr” stands for fire retardant).
They have a powder thickener (garamite) to firm up the consistency. The formula contains garamite, so you’re just adding in more.
This sculpture epoxy sells at $450.00 for 10 gallons, not cheap, but is the closest to a waterbased natural clay experience.
Figure $45 a gallon for smaller quantities.
They bill it as non-toxic, (washes off with water) but it’s still best to wear latex gloves. (which foregoes somewhat the natural experience).
I try to avoid sanding (anything) as much as possible, after years of breathing every dust imaginable.
Nothing like the dust-free sculpting of a computer generated model! :slight_smile: I agree, it’s great working with both artforms.

Hey billrobertson42, thanks for your sculpture epoxy info.
(Btw, on your website, it would be great to see more detailed images of the figures, no?).

#108

amazing work!!!
~shotjc
awsome!!!

#109

I agree with Bas! The only difference is the dogs…it’s cats over at my place…LOL.

Is it your (beautiful :wink: ) dauhgters keepin ya away from the ZeeBee?

Take your time Joe…now…heheee…

Greetings from Fryslan :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:

Jeen(deridoo)

#110

hey joe…
thanks for the info!!
I’ll definetly check out this stuff when I get some more time on my hands. I have been imagining some large bohemoths resting amongst the wildlife in my backyard. One of these days I will have to bring them to fruition…

-tiktok

#111

Joe,
How did you do the eyebrows with Shave? Did you use a map for hair placement? And if so, could you post the image that you used.

#112

Hi time for an update of sorts…

Determined to finish what’s been started with the Black Eyed Peas animation , here’s 54 more seconds… or 1300 frames at 24fps.

PC QUICKTIME ANIMATION file-- :small_orange_diamond::small_orange_diamond:DOWNLOAD HERE - 23mbs:small_orange_diamond::small_orange_diamond: –
This will load in your browser, but better to right click and save.

QUICKTIME--------:small_orange_diamond:MAC VERSION - DOWNLOAD HERE - 26.5 Mbs :small_orange_diamond: --------
edit Right Click Save Only… otherwise may crash browser, I’ll look into it.

(Sorry for the large file size)… save to disk and view fullscreen if you please… (and pump it!..and/or delete it!) :slight_smile:

Screen grabs from the Quicktime player:

Playing around with a grungy projection look, then to a less immaterial and more physical 3d appearance

This rappin’ melanin-man is a lip synch challenge, so please let me know if it seems off the mark or too choppy… (and ignore all of his braggin’ and boastin’).

When I stare just at the mouth, the timing can seem out of place, and other times it seems ok if I don’t focus there. (?)

I’m using adobe after effects for the post work.

Thanks to Bas for keeping the fire under my arse to get this done! (but still 2.5 minutes more to do). Maybe over the holidays…

39do thank you sir! much appreciated.

Hello Yainderidoo, yes lately alot of things have been keeping me from exploring the ZeeBee, but hopefully not for too long.
Do any of your boys work with Zbrush btw? Greetings from Chicago Jeen, where we shovel ice and snow.

tiktok let me know if you need anymore info on the sculpture material, no problem.

tperz for the eyerbrows…sorry, no map. I scaled and moved them using the edit interface. I do have a grayscale cut map for the head-hair.

Thanks as always for looking!pump_it_Views_BEP_Jseig.jpg

#113

Hey Seig :slight_smile:

Cool stuff so far !
I like your purpulish color sheme, nice try, you have to dig in that direction.
May i give a few animation crits ?
First of, I think what you have done with the eyes expression works rather well in terms of “madness”.
I’m less conviced by the mouth part.
IMHO, the animation of the top of the face and the bottom the face are too separated. An “Oooo”, “Aaaaa”, “Iiiiii” are also affecting the sheeks, the eyes, the forehead and the ears. (look yourself in a mirror :wink: )
I think you should rework the “Oooo” and “Iiiiii”, they are not enough exagerated for his kind of face.
You have real good parts in your animation with nice jaw+mouth movements, and some other parts which are IMHO too stiff.

My advice (2cents), when you model your shapes, don’t start from the mouth. Start with the global muscles (all around) of the face which are going to give the overal direction. (I don’t have all the english words to explain) For example, an “Oooo” is the overal face comming from back to front rounding arround the mouth. An “Iiiii” is the bottom of the face expanding Left and Right.

Mmmm rereading myself, not sure I’m that clear…

Cool stuff my friend, real worth pushing it :+1:

Take care,
Facial

#114

Grrrr, cannot play the movie! Quicktime ‘needs’ something to play it. Bbbbut what?
I waited for this and cant play it :cry:

#115

The server is very slow so you must wait some minutes before something was loaded and streamed !
33Ko/S = 12 minutes …for me :wink:
I have now seen it and listen :lol:

#116

But it is only loading the music… !?? Nothing to see…

#117

hey Bas it worked ok for me…may try right clicking and save as…oops or whatever the mac version of that is…and watch it from your computer …see if you get the same

Joe…looking cool…watched it a few times and it does seem like sometimes his mouth follows perfect and then seems a tad off so it’s probably all good we are just nuts!
Looking forward to the other 2.5 (double intended).

lovely weather here eh? it’s really great for the 'ol arthritis arrghhhhhh. ok gotta go find my long johns so I can head out for some coffee. Keep going…he’s fun!

#118

Bas…rightclick and download. Forget the streaming. (edit: ooops aminuts beat me with a couple of minutes :wink: )
And I can tell you it’s worth the wait!

HAHAHAHAHAHA…it’s unbelievable…incredible…I just dig this guys attitude. He looks sooooooo good, even if (!) there’s some tweaking to be done.
Joe this is very good stuff. Maybe you would consider to give the movie a touch of 60ties/70ties look…some more caleidoscoping…tripping etc…or whatever you call it.

I’ve saved it to my harddisk and i’m [color=red]not going to delete it untill the next update.

Thanks Chicago mate! :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:

Jeen(deridoo)

#119

DANG,GRRRRR nope! Only the music. I downloaded it to the HD, but no film only music! :cry: :cry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

#120

bas try redownloading your viewer…maybe it needs a codec update. I had the most recent Qtime but couldn’t watch someone else’s video…so I redownloaded and installed qtime and it worked after that so maybe that will work for you?