ZBrushCentral

Question regarding beginner tutorials

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hey guys!

@the experienced and less experienced people who used tutorials/ subscribed on Digital Tutors, ZB Classroom, Gnonom, and other such websites. And @ any moderator who finds a little bit of time to give a peace of advice to a novice.

For about 2 weeks now I’m messing around with ZB and even though I got the basic and everything I still think I’m missing a lot of things… I oftenly find myself wanting to do something but I get stuck or I end up making some sort of a poop just because I don’t know how to apply certain things and what is the sequence of commands I should follow… and nevertheless, the exact techniques.
Because I want to give myself a chance to learn it and be able to get above averege with this program I decided to invest some money into some tutorials… From ZBrush Classroom, Digital Tutors, Gnomnom or any other website. I have my eyes on a couple at the moment but I wanted to come down here and ask you guys for some advice. What I really need to learn and where I really need guidance are the following areas:
1- Working with extra topology and with subtools; how you combine them in a CLEAN way and how you work with them through the next processes ( Polypainting, Uv/textureing, riging, posing)
2- Polypainting techniques and how to improve the accuracy of your textures ( aka how to work with textures in order to take advantage of all the tools Zbrush is providing).
3- Riging and moving your character without disintegrating it.
4- Some extra stuff would be nice… like: how to work with the illustrating tools ZB has; tips on all the basic stuff starting with creating a base mesh out of Zspheres, modelling details, polypainting tricks in order to improve the realism of your model;etc.
Basically I managed to find my way and model… I know how to create a base mesh and put muscles on it and everything else. I am aware of the fact that in order to improve this, you need to go and study anatomy and that’s what I am doing now. What I want to say is that I am kinda stuck beyond this point… I managed to paint and texture a character but I can see that I’m working only with the basic stuff… I barely managed to scratch the surface but I have no idea how to bring it further.
That’s why I come here; to ask you guys, who are more experienced with Zbrush, where I can find guidence… Ofc, I could go on Digital Tutors or any other website like that and subscribe for one year and do all tutorials… but I don’t really have that much money at the moment… What I can afford is to subscribe for 1-2 months or to invest about 80-90 dollars in order to get this basic stuff… I think this should be enough…
Please let me know what tutorials (containing the areas I told you about above) you guys found, what helped you and so forth. I do have, as I said, a few tutorials here on ZB classroom and on DT about these topics but before I spend the money I want to ask for you advice.
Thank you very much for reading this wall of text and I hope you guys will find the time to help me with a little guidance.

NOTES:
1- I can use 3ds Max and Photoshop (CS5) if needed
2- My version of Zbrush is 4.2b
3- Thank you again for your time!

#2

well for starters, I would upgrade to 4R3 to be most current. there are Tutorials in the Main pixologic site. I personally have bought several books and paid for a few video tutorials. Zbrush takes time, there is allot to this program. Why haven’t you upgraded to 4R3 yet?

#3

Could you name a few books/videos you’ve used? If you have time to tell me, please do so because I would like to have a look into those.

#4

Well a great place to start would be, Introducing Zbrush 4, by Eric Keller. I also have, Zbrush Character Creation by Scott Spencer, Zbrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy also by Scott Spencer, Realistic game Characters, by Ryan Kingslien, Zbrush 4 sculpting for game Design beginner’s guide by Manuel Scherer.

As for Videos, there are several out there. all of them good. I have One for Hard surface sculpting. Videos you really have to search for on your own. it depends on your needs and tastes. I went through all of the Pixologic’s videos they have for free and I also hit you tube often for Tutorials and speed sculpts.

Zbrush is not a program you will pick up fast. It’s most likely not like any program you have used before if the only other packages you have used were 3ds Max and Photoshop.

If you purchased Zbrush, Upgrade to its most current version. It’s not hard, and Free if you own your License. If you are unsure how to upgrade, contact support on this site or through the Pixologic.com.
:cool:

#5

Thx a lot dude!
I already checked the free tutorials and the youtube ones…errr… 80% of them are not really helping you now if you know what I mean… I mean some of them are really awesome but… you should have all the basics mastered and everything… le me give you a quick example: the eye… remember how Ryan is explaining you how to make the eye and the anatomy there and all? That’s what I call the basic… ofc, then you can go and do all kind of eyes applying all kind of techniques that you find in different tutorials… But not until you have the basics… at least for me is confusing.
Now, I will certainly look into those names and tutorials and probably today I will pay my subscription for a month to ZB Workshop.
And, indeed, I started 3d modelling in Max about 2 months ago… And than I know some basic things in Photoshop… so yea, ZB is quite different but in the same time I think is very powerful, mostly if you are not lazy. ZB offers you the chance to go randomly and come up with something decent… But if you master the tools, than you can come up with something way better than what most of other 3d application can do… as far as modelling goes… ofc, you can go after and rig and/or animate in other programs but for modelling, I think is excellent. Because of this belief of mine I want to learn the basic staff from professionals, and more important, from pedagogs… from people who teach and who have experience in teaching others.
Thx again for your reply, and I hope I will get a few more suggestions during the next days

#6

Heya Yumme,

I’m Glad I could help. When i started out tinkering in 3D I first bought a copy of Poser, from Smith Micro. Later graduated to Vue. Some where between those 2 I tried to tackle Blender. This was back in the early days of blender, the GUI was a nightmare lol. I came across a demo of Zbrush 3.1 a year later and I was shocked at how cool it was. Box modeling? pff who needs that anymore? my 30 day trial ran out for Zbrush and I cried. SO I started Saving. Back then Zbush was only $500 USD, which was allot of money to me. I am rather poor, didnt have a good job, but I saved all i could for it. it took me 6 months to save up for a licence. I finally was able to buy one.

Zbrush has been my best investment I ever made for 3D software. Since then I have purchased a few other aps, but none of them has impressed me as much as Zbrush. Pixologic, hands down is one of the best companies I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. When ever I have had an issue they are quick to get back to me by either phone or email. Which surprised me; I’m not a professional or a big studio. I’m just a tinkering hobbyist. The Community here is pretty darn cool as well. I rarely have seen negative feedback from other members. Jerks don’t last long here anyway.

I highly recommend you search ZBC here for all kinds of freebess. There are hundreds of alphas, Brushes, Matcaps (Materials) plugins and scripts all available here on the forum.

Pixologic has a you tube page with all of their videos as well. Old and New. The old videos are still good for the most part. Some no longer apply, but some of the project tuts are fun and still teach you the basics.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ZBRUSHatPIXOLOGIC

I for one just re-did the Katana video. I made a few adjustments, I used shadow box for the hilt design, but the old way still works as well.

Since Zbrush I have picked up Daz studio line of products to further flesh out my pipeline. I have bought Hexagon ( a good box modeler), Daz studio (figure posing and Animation) Bryce (landscape and secenery layout, much like Vue), and Carrara- and all around modeler and animation package. Daz recently has become GoZ compatible, so now you can bridge the to package lines.

I highly recommend you look for Daz studio, Currently they are Offering Bryce, Hexagon and Daz studio Pro for free for a limited time. This all is a great deal, and saves you about $800+ in software. If you pick them up now you can learn them later. That’s what i have done with them. In 3D work, the more package options you have, the better off you will be. I think the Daz deal expires the end of March, so I would hurry on that deal.

#7

O_O Dude, thx a lot again! I will definetly check Daz even tho I won’t be able to learn it now since I want to focus on ZB at the moment, as I said earlier. I checked those books you said and some videos and they all seem to be great… In case you come by this thread again, let me know if one of the following videos are known to you and maybe give some feedback as in how should I tackle them ( e.g take X first since this is easyer than Y who will teach you some advanced techniques… take A for the basics in rendering and than B for… you got the picture)… Again, just if you have time and you feel like.
And thx for reminding me about the Pixologic Youtube chanel. Will definetly come in handy at some point.

Btw, I saw one of your threads and, in my humble novice opinion, you have some nice ideas and some good execution :). Ahm, I wanted to ask… Did you also modelled at the begining on and on? Like, body after body after body, muscles after muscles after muscles? Because that’s what I’ve been doing with the resources I could find or with my own imagination. Just curious…

Thx again man! You’ve been really helpful and you are only confirming what I allready believed about the ZB comunity: a bunch of friendly, easy going, ready to help here and there people. Thank you!

#8

Yumme,

You remind me of myself quite a bit back when I first started getting into 3D modeling. I kinda wished I had came across Zbrush first. My skills with it would have been way better. I have a tendency to get distracted by all kinds of “shiny toys”. I have have some minor A.D.D issues. It makes learning complex things frustrating. Games tend to be a giant distraction lol. Being into 3D modeling and interest in games tend to go hand in hand in our circles I think. So as a result I am constantly relearning Zbrush techniques. After a repeated learning some things begin to stick. This is why I have so many books, and magazines… I constantly need to refer to them. I am still struggling with figure modeling. It’s a hard concept for me to grasp.

As for Modeling a fully fleshed out character, I usually start with e comic book pen and paper method. I will lay out a super simple stick/wire base skeleton. In Zbrush this means Using Zspheres. I lay out a stick man, then I use the Zsphere editing brushes like bulge and its brothers to flesh in some base muscle layout. http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/#digital-sculpting this is a good place to start for figure modeling.

Next I use brushes like clay tubes and clay build up to add more mass and then I smooth and sculpt with smooth, Polish, Move elastic and Move Topology.

I often use various Alphas for Details, like scars, Veins etc.

Poly painting comes with a whole new load of tricks to learn. I am sure Zbrush Workshop covers all of this. I am just starting to learn Poly painting myself.

I am seriously thinking of turning off my game accounts and getting a Zbrush Workshop subscription too. it sounds like a good investment.

As for a good place to start, well… I would first do the intro videos to Zbrush listed on the main site in the learning center. Next I understand that Workshops has a new zbrush 4 intro series. I will definitely be checking that one out. I hope you upgrade your copy of Zbrush to 4R3 to take advantage of the new fibermesh brushes. Adding hair to your figures will go a long way to feeling like they are complete.

Oh, Before I forget… When you are able to afford it, Get a Digital Drawing tablet. I use a wacom Intous 4, Medium size. I kinda regret the size and should have gotten the smaller one. hard to do any keyboard hotkeys with a larger tablet. The Wacom has 6 hot keys, but with most 3D programs 6 is not nearly enough. :wink:

Oh and 2 more books to recommend, I found these at our used college books store the Book bin. “An Atlas of Anatomy For Artists” by Fritz Schider.

and “ALBINUS ON ANATOMY” by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. both are very good books and fairly inexpensive if you can find them used. You may even be able to find them at the local library.

I work with a limited budget, so I always try to find the best deals on art supplies and programs.

If you live in Corvallis, Oregon we can sync up sometime. It would be nice to have someone local I can collaborate with. :cool:

#9

Hmph… you tell me… but unfurtunetly I’m over the ocean mate… in Sweden :)) (even tho I do think to move in USA if I am decent at 3d art and manage to get a job there…but shhhh, my gf is in love with Sweden so let’s keep the secret for now :p)
Yea, I need a new card, which should be here in a coupple of days, and than I will subscribe to ZB workshop for at least a month and than to Digital Tutors ( I discovered some tutorials about certain aspects where I really need help: texture, riging,posing, stuff like that)

About the game :))) I cancelled my subscription to wow quite a while ago… and even though I do miss it sometimes is better for me to focus on learning now… mostly because I have to do it by myself… at least for now. The only game I will play for a little bit it will be Diablo3 in May… just because is Diablo… and that’s a part of my childhood and how I got into 3d world. So yea, uninstall all your games, take maximum 30h/week at work, eat chips and learn ZB :).

Right… So about anatomy… Atm I am doing YET ANOTHER head… with ryan’s tutorial on ZB Workshop… oh man… probably you know the feeling of … you know… go wild, pull those spheres and try to create some awesome monsters, angels, animals and what not… but than… you realise you need to go back and start studding anatomy…bones… and all the rest :slight_smile: This is one of the reasons I chose Ryan’s tutorials… he explains anatomy so even the most dumb idiot could get it.

If any1 else would like to add more to the topic, please do so… even if I decided now is still nice to gather information in one place since this thread might be useful for some other ppl as well :slight_smile:

#10

I looking forward to running some of Ryan’s tutorials. Ya anatomy is a challenge for me as well. The best Zbrush book I have found on it is, “Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy” by Scot Spencer. He really go’s into detail using the proper names for all the bones and Muscles much like Ryan dose. I have a feeling they may have even worked together on a few things ;).

Sweden is a bit of a long drive to meet for a coffee lol. oh well, It was a stab in the dark. But that being said… I saw your pm and will write ya back in a sec, but I was thinking of setting up a collaboration chat channel on my Team Speak server. It would be a good way for people to help each other with modeling and bone up on their English skills if they want. Unfortunately I only speak English and bare that very well :lol:.

So, if anyone is interested in finding a local Zbrusher or Modeler and ya live in Corvallis Oregon, Send me a PM. As for a Team Speak chat Room, Also PM. I am highly considering this. If I have a group to be accountable too, perhaps I wont sluff on my modeling lol.

Yumme, when you can Afford, do get yourself a Drawing tablet, it will make your zbrushing and photoshop work change like night and Day. You will not be sorry.

#11

Yea, I allrdy looked into tablets… and I have seen a decent one in a range that I might afford soon… I know how everyone is talking about tablets… and if you think about it is normal… Is natural to do something with a pen when you compare it to the mouse :slight_smile:
I hope I’ll sort my things soon and I will by myself that tablet :slight_smile: