Sean's daily zbrushing.
polycounter lvl 18
Well, i've finaly made the plunge and i'm going to be at it hardcore. Studying anatomy and zbrush at the same time. I probobly have a mid to low level knowledge of zbrush so i'm able to easily navigate the menus but i'm not sure of all the amazing features that zbrush has to offer. 
Anyway, I started yesterday. I'm going to try every weekday to do at least one object or improve upon an object in zbrush. I want to expand my knowledge of anatomy which is ... to be honest not so hot. Please, crit and bust my chops as much as you'd like. I'm not sensative to crits so you can be blunt. Anyway, on with the stuff.
Yesterdays:
I didn't use any of the inflate, or pinch tools and it really shows.
Todays:
Yes I know he has a gaping hole in the back of his arm. I wanted to get some crits on the arm before I did the final res.
Thanks.
Anyway, I started yesterday. I'm going to try every weekday to do at least one object or improve upon an object in zbrush. I want to expand my knowledge of anatomy which is ... to be honest not so hot. Please, crit and bust my chops as much as you'd like. I'm not sensative to crits so you can be blunt. Anyway, on with the stuff.
Yesterdays:
I didn't use any of the inflate, or pinch tools and it really shows.
Todays:
Yes I know he has a gaping hole in the back of his arm.
I wanted to get some crits on the arm before I did the final res. Thanks.
Replies
God I love normal maps. 400 tris.
[edit] Textured it too heh. I'm happy with it.
[edit] seems photobucket is going up and down so i moved my images.
it looks awsome, i should really practice more...
Hrmm... not exactly getting much responce. Nobody found anything wrong with the arm?
Here's todays/yesterdays. Kinda worked on it on and off. Its my first dragon. Kinda looks wimpy from the side.
looking a little bumpy dude.. to rid yourself of the bumps.. goto the stroke drop down and crank up the STROKE AVERAGE.. this is a life saver.. i use about 3
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You're talking about in projection master correct? cause that's the only time I see those option in the stoke panel.
Arshlevon/keg: I dont see the stroke average either. I see a mouse stroke average. I'm using a tablet does this even apply for a wacom?
I need to get zbrush
I started this guy as a halfling (the big nose and wide face)... ended up looking more like an old man.
finished up the zbrush model and quickly did a low poly and a texture for him. In retrospect i should have toned down the pink on the cheeks.
Normal mapped low poly rotation.
Finished him!
Back to thinking about what I want to do next!
nice maen! for a zombie, hes very photogenic ;D
Your gross dude, go get surgery
gj gj
Wrote up a tutorial on how to bring models in and out of zbrush!
http://www.sean-mcbride.com/tut/zbrush_tut01.html
Also this quick guide to help get people going on the right track.
The standard brush just pushes the verts outward as if you were putting bumps on the surface. Inflate not only pushes the verts outward, it also follows the normal of the vertex. So it has an "inflating" effect, just like if you blew up a balloon.
A couple of things ive done... first is a catman hybrid that ended up looking like ass heh. Probobly not going to finish this guy.
Second is one of the characters from a mod i'm working on. Forsaken.
I bet forsaken is glad they have you!
Trying to get a first gig as a character modeler is typical of many people coming out of game schools.
Think about the odds. Your average game has probably 2-5 character/vehicle modelers and 10-20 environment artists.
It's much more difficult for me to find 5 good environment artists than it is to find one good character modeler.
Also, I know you have enough good stuff to show to make your web page more appealing. Take a break from the Zbrushing and spend a couple of hours updating your page. I'd be happy to give you some crits.
Ben: Yeah, I see what your saying. I tried working on that in this next piece. It happens when I tired and a little bored but I guess I just need to take a step back from it when that happens.
The pants are so unfinished but i'm really tired and figured i'd throw up a wip for you guys. The wrinkles didnt look that deep in zbrush hehehe. I'll go back over them and soften them up.
Click image for bigger version.
As far as the latest model you zbrushed I think its very solid. I think there are issues with the anatomy of the torso. Also I think the nipples are misplaced. As far as the cargo pockets go, you could get sharper edges around the pocket if you were to have built the geometry for the legs and pockets in max, turbo smoothed them and then exported to zbrush. This way when you use the smooth tool in zbrush it wont kill the edges of the pockets.
Keep up the great work man, you'll break in soon for sure if you do.
The reason I keep buggin him about this is that he's already done some environment contract work for us and he did a stellar job. Judging by his latest improvement on his characters I'm sure he would eventually get a character gig too. It all just depends on how much patience you have(and how deep your wallet is).
Keep it up buddy!
Havn't gone back over the body one last time quite yet.
I also relized something last night... apparently i've been watching to much PrisonBreak.
~2800 polygons. He's Almost done texture wise.
Some ingame shots of him as just a posed prop in halflife2:
Yes, I realize his wrist looks broken in that side picture... it was a quick pose.
Taimaishu, Here's an very broad tutorial on how to do it with a character studio rig. It wont work with the animations that come with the game though. Its the same idea. If you rig it to the rig they give you it should work just fine if you copy the SMD animations over from another model.
http://www.hl2world.com/wiki/index.php/Creating_Characters_with_3dstudiomax_part_1
Bradfordart, The deltoid wrapping over is accualy the seam... max absolutely hates seams and its so irritating. I think i'm going to have to render it out with another normal map generater. Have any suggestions? I think i'm goign to try melody or something.
looks like that guy from Stargate SG1 when he has a hat on :x
Nice work here, n30g3n3s1s! Definite good improvement.
I'd focus more on anatomy if you're gonna be doing half-naked guys and human faces though - the eyes in a few of the previous works have been a bit off, and this new guy's abs are totally crazy... but the overall look is still good.
Darth: Thanks.
Mop: I agree about the eyes, the abs however i was looking at quite a few reference pictures and they are pretty spot on with the guys i was referencing from. Body builders mostly. I toned it done quite a bit though so he didn't look like he was on a rip diet.
Weiser: its the lighting angle.