Not sure which book to buy for making characters

manilamerc

Hello

I just graduated from a Game Development program but want to go more in depth on character creation. I found this guy names Ryan Kingslien and people praise him for his teaching and sculpting skills. He recommended this book.

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/047087256X/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0JJP8MC4MTG5DX15BCZ5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1375923922&pf_rd_i=915398"]http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/047087256X/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0JJP8MC4MTG5DX15BCZ5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1375923922&pf_rd_i=915398[/ame]


I found it on amazon and the reviews were great but I also ran into this book with greater reviews


[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118024338/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0JJP8MC4MTG5DX15BCZ5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1375923922&pf_rd_i=915398"]http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118024338/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0JJP8MC4MTG5DX15BCZ5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1375923922&pf_rd_i=915398[/ame]

I'm not saying the greater reviews the better. But maybe this book is better....

I dunno... I don't want to buy 2 of the almost exact same thing. I want the better one.
If you guys could let me know if you read any of these books or another book I shuld buy let me know

Codexus

I don't think those two books are the same at all.

Ryan's book covers the creation of a realistic female human from start to finish and includes detailed information on how to do the clothes and props as one big project.

Scott's book is focused on creature design. There are several creatures projects in it showing a variety of techniques.

Choose the one the that interests you the most or get both (also note that Scott Spencer has another book more focused on human anatomy that covers the creation of a bulky superhero type of character.)

Pabs

garriola83

Ryan's book is really good but it's not for beginners of ZBrush. He goes over a lot of anatomy and real life sculpting skills and then applies them into ZBrush. There are PLENTY of youtube videos out there for sculpting characters just to get your feet wet with ZBrush that can supplement the books. But making great characters really stems from a GREAT understanding of anatomy, and knowing what rules to break in order to find your style. That comes from drawing and practice.

almighty_gir

you just finished university? awesome!

now take some life drawing classes and/or start doing anatomy studies in zbrush, focus less on characters and more on getting the fundamentals down. once you can make a person that looks like a person, and you can do it to a good standard every time at a decent pace, THEN start making characters.

i wish i'd done it that way round lol.

Beelzeboss

Stock up on human and animal anatomy books they are a useful reference to have in your arsenal and a great investment if you are wanting to do character work.
The only book Zbrush based I have ever bought and can highly recommend was
Scott Spencer - Digital sculpting human anatomy.
While it does focus on your typical superhero character yawn! there are some good tips and lessons in it for breaking down the process.

Count Vertsalot

Find a copy of Die Gestalt des Menschen by Gottfried Bammes. It's the best reference you can find on paper. It's in German, but all you need is the reference images in the book. Ain't cheap, but out of the 20 anatomy books I own, it's the only one I would even recommend if you're serious about learning this stuff.

Make sure it looks like this: http://www.paperview.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=58

His other books are more lecture (in German) than images. The English language book you might find somewhere is his student's work, not his.

I also recommend getting an

Count Vertsalot

And here is a link dump of stuff I've found over the years.

http://www.boneclones.com/
http://www.anatomytools.com/
http://www.3d.sk/
http://www.phungdinhdung.org/Studies_paper/Realistic_face_modeling.shtm
http://www.hauntedstudios.com/index.php
http://bartleby.com/107/
http://evanpenny.com/
http://www.artnatomia.net/uk/artnatomiaIng.html
http://human-proportions.tumblr.com/
https://www.google.com/search?q=Myostatin&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=aY5ST8-YKImQgwe3kPRU&biw=1920&bih=1109&sei=bI5ST8PEDuPX0QHh7aDfDQ

seth.

if its the actaul process of creating a character start to finish that you are wanting to read about then:

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0956817173/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0956817173/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE[/ame]

as the above have said though, get your fundamentals in check too...anatomy is a key skill if you want to make characters

arcitecht

Scott has [ame=http://www.amazon.ca/ZBrush-Digital-Sculpting-Anatomy-ebook/dp/B004H4XLJM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370529015&sr=1-1&keywords=zbrush+anatomy]another book[/ame] that I think is pretty good. Its 95% focused on anatomy, both studies and a more practical approach to sculpting it. I've found it to be great reference, and it seems to be pretty beginner-friendly.