Resources for Getting Better at ZBrush?

NURBS

Hi, I just started using Zbrush a few days ago for the first time and I would like to know how to get better at using it and growing my skill. What are some good resources for studying things like anatomy, form, volume etc. What are some good exercises I can do to gradually improve my skills? How should I, someone who's never done anything with sculpting or anything similar, approach learning this skill? 

Alex_J

there is two distinct things you have to learn:

1. art

2. the software

I find it best to separate these two things because trying to learn both at once is pretty frustrating. I think I could have streamlined my early learning process a lot if I had understood that.

For learning art the best thing is to make a high volume of work. watch some tutorials or read some article about fundamental art stuff, then take on a small project to practice those things you learned about. Projects you can finish in less than 20 working hours or so. And get feedback for all the work you do, especially from professional artist.

For learning the software, you only need to learn a few things really.

1. How to research and find information quickly. Almost every question you'll have is already out there, answered to death and in depth.

2. How to troubleshoot effectively. Use skill number 1 ^ there to figure out how to do this.

3. How to perform mock-up test to verify techniques/workflow.

Best place to learn zbrush software is Mike Pavlovich. Just google.

musashidan

Everything Alex said. Zbrush technical side is maybe 10% of sculpting. The other 90% is anatomy study and application. Do yourself a favour and learn the basics of the software. Learn the UI. Learn the tools. Learn the basics of a sculpting workflow. Otherwise you will inevitably end up very frustrated. Mike Pav is THE Zbrush guru. Also, don't underestimate the Zbrush docs and Zclassroom/Joe Drust on the official Pixologic website.

Once you feel comfortable and are familiar with the tools, then come back for anatomy resources. Best of luck.

NURBS

Is there any specific topic that I should spend my time on right now? Could you provide me with some links to good resources/reading material I could use?

Alex_J

"1. How to research and find information quickly. Almost every question you'll have is already out there, answered to death and in depth. "

Check out Mike Pavlovich's youtube, find a tutorial that sounds interesting, and do it. Then do another. And, depending on how much time you have, maybe do them all. I think I've done like 70% of them, and that was pretty much enough to get me decently familiar with zbrush. I don't use it often these days but I still always remember what to do.

NURBS

So a good thing to do right now is just learn the program, and then when I'm familiar and comfortable with it then start learning anatomy and other topics?

Alex_J

sure sounds like a good plan to me. you can swap back and forth a bit too, I just make a point that it is a lot to tackle all at once, so if you separate your learning into distinct areas like this it is a lot more manageable. Like, if you are doing some tutorial to learn basic workflows, don't worry about the model looking good. That's like, 90% of beginner frustration right there. You are still learning what vertices are but you upset because the model looks like kaka -- it's stress over nothing and makes the learning go slower.

NURBS

This is really good advice, I'll keep it all in mind. Thank you two for the replies!