How is it viewed over all? (downloading mesh and mixing it with yours to create something new?
polycounter lvl 6
Hello,
I have a questions.
How is it viewed over all if sculptor uses some other element from some downloaded and purchased mesh that he will change and mix with his own to create something different and new.
Is is considered his own or not?
Is is cheating or it is nomal practice ?
I have a questions.
How is it viewed over all if sculptor uses some other element from some downloaded and purchased mesh that he will change and mix with his own to create something different and new.
Is is considered his own or not?
Is is cheating or it is nomal practice ?
Replies
- imagine you download a mesh of a naked human and you add armour etc to it, make some alterations
-Then youou get hired by a studio since they liked it .
-They ask you to make the basemesh of a male\female naked.
-You cant give them good quality since you never practised basic anatomy for the job since you downloaded the basemesh and never done one for yourself.
-oops.
Just try to do your own, you grow more artistically by doing that.
Example.
I am trying to sculpt based on Wei Wang Conecpt 2d picture. (have only front view image).
And this is what i have atm (that is created by me looking at ref image and trying to sculpt based on image).
And then i found full body anatomy obj that i imported.
Deleted anatomy mesh upper body and replaced it with my sculpt and sculpted those 2 in to one.
Now making changes to anatomy sculpt
Sure i know that in time i am able to create also body but not so faast as i need / want as i want to texture mesh later and animate it in Houdini.
Is this considered as cheating or do they use this method also in production?
I know by the fact that in Estonia here is one game company that is currently creating a PC game they do it as they use some times base mesh and make changes and add more to it changing original mesh a lot.
I am not speaking about just downloading different meshes and piling those on top of each other (ak armor).
I am speaking about base mesh that u change a lot later.
Note! I am planing to practice anatomy sculpts also.
But yeah it all takes a lot of time.
I study and practice every week about 45-74 hours and started dooing it from last year end of September.
Then i started with zbrush.
If you're using it because you've made something like it a dozen times before and it would be a waste of time then there's no harm in it. Efficiency boosters like that are always great.
Creating a face based on ref image (especially when you have only 1 is challange) for me atleast.
current focus is face and then texturing it.
What other anatomy coursesd would you reccomend ?
That said, concept art isn't about how well you can model something and Bulgarov sells the parts to be used however people see fit.
Never try and take credit for someone else's work even if you paid for it. That includes model parts within a larger piece. Be open about it and you won't get found out later.
If you alter a Base mesh enough it becomes your work. Just like the old "change an image 70% and its no longer copyright" thing.
It's certainly kind of a grey area. It's probably not illegal since it's derivative but it's certainly not cool to use someone else's art and claim it's all you.
Just give credit to all parties involved and keep making more art. Problem solved. Most artists won't mind if you use some of their art to make something even cooler.
It's flattering if you give credit and enraging if you don't.
This changes a little if you're selling it or using it in commercial work, but for your own stuff just go crazy and make sure to give credit.
ISUther siad
I am not speaking about just downloading different meshes and piling those on top of each other (ak armor).
I am speaking about base mesh that u change a lot later.
Note! I am planing to practice anatomy sculpts also.
But yeah it all takes a lot of time.
I study and practice every week about 45-74 hours and started dooing it from last year end of September.
Then i started with zbrush.
...and there you have it, in a nutshell.
Start learning the basics first, instead of jumping ahead this early in your self teaching processes. I mean all you're doing at the moment is 'tracing' without fundamentally learning anything that can be applied originating via a personalised skillset. It actually takes some experience to both efficiently and effectively utilise this workflow, which is on occasion implemented for 3D pre-vis and/or concept a particular idea quickly in a production environment where timeframes are a critical factor, usually.
Main focus was face and head and sculpting it based on ref image.
The one who sculpts often needs to sculpt based on ref image and nail it or get it acurate as possible.
This is what i am trying to do.
I am not trying to be concept artist i am trying to learn sculpt based on ref images.
The ref image i have does not have body it had Only budy (from niples to head)
No arms only shoulders.
At start i had no plans to add body, start goal was to create head based on only ONE ref image that i have. (Front view).
Later i just decided to TEST out how does it look like when it is connected to body.
Ofcourse need to learn how to sculpt full body also but one step at the time.
No point shatering my time all over the place.
Sculpting the male or female body requiers more then just ability to sculpt.
there is 2 paths as i see
1. sculpt and achieve skill to be able to sculpt based on ref image
2. sculpt and be concept artist same time
I am sure that ability to sculpt based on ref image and nail it or get it as close as possible is asset and value to any 3d company.
So i am not jumping a head anywhere i am trying to learn step by step AND i asked over all info how do they do it in production.
As i do not beleive that they all the time sculpt everything from scratch.
But ofcourse one who sculpts should be able to do full male or female body from scratch also.
But hey i have sculpted only from last year September and never sculpted before.
Here for example is my last project (was based on ref image).
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A5D0X
ISUther said:
Hold your horses now.
Main focus was face and head and sculpting it based on ref image.
The one who sculpts often needs to sculpt based on ref image and nail it or get it acurate as possible.
This is what i am trying to do.
I am not trying to be concept artist i am trying to learn sculpt based on ref images.
The ref image i have does not have body it had Only budy (from niples to head)
No arms only shoulders.
At start i had no plans to add body, start goal was to create head based on only ONE ref image that i have. (Front view).
Later i just decided to TEST out how does it look like when it is connected to body.
Ofcourse need to learn how to sculpt full body also but one step at the time.
No point shatering my time all over the place.
Sculpting the male or female body requiers more then just ability to sculpt.
there is 2 paths as i see
1. sculpt and achieve skill to be able to sculpt based on ref image
2. sculpt and be concept artist same time
I am sure that ability to sculpt based on ref image and nail it or get it as close as possible is asset and value to any 3d company.
So i am not jumping a head anywhere i am trying to learn step by step AND i asked over all info how do they do it in production.
As i do not beleive that they all the time sculpt everything from scratch.
But ofcourse one who sculpts should be able to do full male or female body from scratch also.
But hey i have sculpted only from last year September and never sculpted before.
Here for example is my last project (was based on ref image).
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A5D0X
Lols, fair enough you're certainly entitled to an opinion after all and on that note I'll agree to disagree. Seriously though I hope you learn something adhering to this pathway.
Have a good one.
What do you think about this course?
Some times for me as beginner it is hard to understand what tutorial is correct and good and what is not as youtube is also full of "tutorials" that are total crap and unprofecional and teach you wrong.
I sill try out those Grasseti ones as they are not insanly expensive but may help me a lot.
Ofcourse before that i will finnish up my current project (but wont use that body thati attached to it) so i know that it is honest and 100% my sculpted (based on ref image) planing to texture it also.
And then anatomy tutorials and practice
I think there is not much point to this kind of lengthy videos tbh. It's great that the artist took the time to record and upload everything (it takes a lot of effort !) but It can basically be summed up as : model core geometry out of Zspheres (which is indeed a fantastic tool for that) > shape the polygon result into what you need, using some light Zmodeler edits if needed > sculpt. These technical aspects can be mastered in 20 minutes if you have some basic Zbrush knowledge (and I am sure you know how to do all that already). What takes time is the study of many anatomy books, gathering solid reference material, and attending life drawing classes.
If anything I would say that this kind of video series can make the process seem much more complicated than it needs to be by staying fully inside of Zbrush. You'll get results much faster by creating the base meshes for hands/torso/head/feet as separate items and carefully assembling them using a regular 3d program (because you'll be able to easily scale them, adjust their relative proportions, and so on - actions that are really convoluted to do in Zbrush).
Sculpting video tutorials are also likely going to make things confusing for the beginner because they attempt to cover basemesh creation and anatomy sculpting at the same time. And while someone who is good at both can indeed juggle the two and work in a non-linear manner, someone who is just starting out is likely going to develop some dangerous habits working that way, and might also get frustrated by the tech aspects of a sculpting program getting in the way of actually learning anatomy. Inversely, people who are great at traditional sculpting can usually pick up digital sculpting pretty fast because they bring in their solid anatomy and form knowledge, acquired from years of previous practice.
Bottom line :
1 - Learn how to build decent base meshes from scratch, either using Zspheres and Zmodeler in Zbrush, or in a regular 3d program using simple extrusions. This will cover all you need to know from a technical standpoint.
2 - Carefully shape these basemeshes for them to reflect solid anatomy. All you need is Move, Smooth and Inflate really.
3 - Once that is done, start subdividing and sculpting based on accurate reference material.
Often want to try and start dooing stuff but end up in issues when not studied sufficient time
Purchased his tutorials and going to wach those tomorrow and after that going to search some more tutorials that help me to improve.
things like>
when to dynamesh
when to zremesh
when to decimate
when to do uv-s
etc
as i may work on one sculpt long long time and make it look really good but when i cant do correct retopo etc my work will be lost.
was also thinking about
https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials/creature-modeling-for-production
and other tutorials there.
Youtube tutorials are often so limited and unprofecional and missing out a lot of info.
• When to zremesh : when you need a clean-ish quad basemesh that doesn't require full geometry control
• When to decimate : when ... you need to decimate.
• When to do UVs : when you need to have UVs.
It's really not as complex as it first seems to be - Zbrush is just introducing a lot of jargon that confuses newcomers. As soon as you have a clear understanding of your end goal, all these tools just become various means to an end.
The one thing to keep in mind is that if you are working on actual production models (like a realtime model that will receive normalmaps for a game, or a model displaced at render time for movie visuals) you will need to manually craft most of the lowpoly geometry by hand for complete control. But as far as highpoly models are concerned, anything goes : some studios will require you to *not* use Zbrush sculpting for hardsurface assets, because this stuff looks awful on close inspection. While for other projects it might not matter. It depends.