Home Technical Talk

Do professionals make their own brushes? (Zbrush)

MitchNew
vertex
Offline / Send Message
MitchNew vertex
I was curious about this while watching a tutorial, I was wondering if professional artists used texture brushes made by other people.
Or do they usually make their own?
Texture brushes as in a brush that adds in rock/wood/other details and forms.
I was wondering mainly because I felt like I might be cheating and not really learning anything by using texture brushes made by other people.

Replies

  • JordanN
    Offline / Send Message
    JordanN interpolator
    I don't know if it's the same thing in Zbrush,  but ever since I picked up Mudbox for texturing, I create all my stamps and stencils in Photoshop. 

    I'm aware there are brushes available online but I find it more faster and convenient to make my own. Especially as it guarantees the results I want when every brush is made specifically for a prop I'm working on (ex: Jerry Can that specifically has to look dirty, or Tree bark that's based on a local area).
  • Kevin Albers
    Offline / Send Message
    Kevin Albers polycounter lvl 18
    Some do. Some don't.  And of course, artists who exclusively use default alphas along with the occasional internet-downloaded alpha are not really likely to post about it publicly.

    Using other people's alphas can actually be a nice learning experience. You can find out what you like, what you don't like etc, so you can more quickly create your own alphas and brushes.
  • R3D
    Offline / Send Message
    R3D interpolator
    The right tool for the right job.
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
    Offline / Send Message
    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
  • thomasp
    Offline / Send Message
    thomasp hero character
    i prefer making my own small collection. at least i then know what to use and when rather than going through a long list of unfamiliar and often really similar ones. obviously helps to look at other people's brushes to understand what's possible though.
    i also clean up installed fonts for the same reason.

  • PixelMasher
    Offline / Send Message
    PixelMasher veteran polycounter
    with so many free resources floating around online, its such a mish mosh, I usually just tell people use whatever works for you. the end product is what matters, and if a free/10 dollar brush pack can get you there a few hours faster...thats an insane return on investment. 

    creating everything from scratch is a beginner mentality. always re-use whatever you can, as long as the quality bar stays consistent.

    on the flip side, using a fancy brush pack but not knowing the fundamentals of lighting, composition, form etc still won't automatically give you amazing results. No magic bullets baby ;)
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    A bit biased,

    But I'd say use what ever works the best the fastest for those generic things and create your own alphas/brushes for specific repetitive tasks, I make brushes all the time for my own work but I only upload maybe 2% of those for others to use since they are too specific.
  • Justin Meisse
    Offline / Send Message
    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    I bought your brushes Jonas. The rock brushes so I could finish up an environment piece for a client and the ornamental brushes so I could experiment with CNC carving some fancy wood panels.
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    I bought your brushes Jonas. The rock brushes so I could finish up an environment piece for a client and the ornamental brushes so I could experiment with CNC carving some fancy wood panels.
    Appreciate it : ), hope they worked out for you.
  • Amaury
    Offline / Send Message
    Amaury polycounter lvl 7
    I would always look online if a brush pack already exists for what I wanna make, it is often the case. If not I'd do it myself.
    Last thing i bought is the fur brush pack by Jarred Everson on cubebrush.
  • MitchNew
    Offline / Send Message
    MitchNew vertex
    Jonas, you actually came to mind of the kind of alphas I was talking about, I'm interested in them actually, may buy some this weekend.

    I appreciate the opinions everyone, thanks a lot! Now I don't have to feel so insecure anymore :D
  • almighty_gir
    Offline / Send Message
    almighty_gir ngon master
    Amaury said:
    I would always look online if a brush pack already exists for what I wanna make, it is often the case. If not I'd do it myself.
    Last thing i bought is the fur brush pack by Jarred Everson on cubebrush.
    Pretty much this.

    If i can find the brush/brushes i need or want online, and they cost less than the time it would take me to make them (usually the case), for example... if a brush pack cost less than $50 and contains 20 brushes. i'd buy it because it's saving me a ton of time.

    If the brush just doesn't exist online or i can't find it at a price that makes sense, i'll make it. Michael Dunham's lifetime membership brush packs are pretty good.
  • Finalhart
    Offline / Send Message
    Finalhart polycounter lvl 6
    I own both Jonas and Michael's life membership.

    I think it is important to have the correct mindset for each type of work.

    If working for a portfolio piece, you have enough time to create something from scratch and learn from it, it makes total sense to make art the feels it belongs to you, after all is personal artwork and you feel attached to it.

    The other scenario is in a studio environment. Your art is not the most important element in the game, it only supports the gameplay experience. If there is going to be explosions, enemies, UI, combat, sounds, etc. How important is to create that unique screw for a character? Will the player notice it? The answer really depends on your project, but most likely the player won't notice it because that little screw is not what they are playing the game for.

    So i believe it just comes to have the right mindset for the right job, sadly we have to finish art faster than we should and we have to make that kind of decisions.
  • Mstankow
    Offline / Send Message
    Mstankow polycounter lvl 11
    I make a lot of stamp like brushes for work. Like I sculpt the alpha I need and use that. I also use a lot of Jonas's brushes.
Sign In or Register to comment.