Yes very cool stuff.
All I can say is that keep it up and practice. some of your stuff gives me ideas about my own sculpts. later next week I am going to post up some of my characters, so keep a look out.
Thanks so much guys. Can anyone help me out on normal mapping? I've done some basic stuff but its not really working and looks bad. Im trying to work nvidia's melody and I can generate a good normal map I think but how do I find what channel my image is on? Also when I'm not testing out N's Melody I've no clue how to do normal maps. I done it with a high poly model obviously got bad 3dsmax performance so how do I generate a normal map without having to put a hugh polycount in 3dsmax.
You can use mudbox's or zbrush's built in normal map functions. Personally I put my high poly in max and generate the map using projection which I believe is a good work flow.
Try to keep you're reliance on 3rd party applications/plug ins to a minimum unless you know for sure they're used within the industry.
I think you need to take a step back, a deep breath, and slow down a bit. Seems like you are finding yourself in the same position a lot of people get into with having a lot of ideas and trying to rush through the "OMG I HAVE TO LEARN FUCKING EVERYTHING NOW!" phase. Try to focus on the scuplting for moment, since that is going to have a huge impact on the quality of the work as its gets baked down and eventually textured. Then when you are a little more comfortable with that, then you'll start to see the things you need to address in the later stages. That, and it will save you the stress of having a million things going on in your head, which only really distracts you from what you are doing at the moment.
As far as the sculpting goes, start doing more blocking of big shapes, rather than trying to render small details. The reason the leech has any merit is because it's really just one big general shape, and the teeth. But take some time to look at some reference and really try to describe the skin, rather than just placing random lumps and hoping it comes out well...
The head and body arent working because you start to mass in the shapes, completely skip refining them and just jump straight to details. once again, slow down, take some time to push the bulk, then you can worry about selling the sizzle....
I was pretty bored so I just mocked these up... My mate loves the Dragon type head but I done it in 40 mins and I told him it was a speed model that isn't really good in the 3D world xD The tech thing I normal mapped and everything in 10 mins (speed practice)
EDIT: The tech thing was a test at mechanical stuff in zbrush.
I'd really suggest you start looking at more reference and really studying the objects that you are seeing. I'm not exactly sure what direction you are going with the abomination but personally I would start over. One trend i've noticed with your work is you seem to be doing a lot of 'speed' tests. While this may be a good practice at some point I dont believe you should bother yourself with them yet. You really need to start spending more time on your sculptures and start redoing pieces over and over until they are how you like them. Post piece by piece here and i'm sure members will be more than happy to critique. Basically what im trying to say is speed is irrelevant when it comes to your portfolio pieces.
PS: I'd suggest working on a character (any kind) and then maybe domesticating it somehow, This way you are able to work on some hardsurface as well as anatomy.
Replies
The best way to get good at zBrush is to just practice your ass off, looks like you have a good start! Keep it up!
All I can say is that keep it up and practice. some of your stuff gives me ideas about my own sculpts. later next week I am going to post up some of my characters, so keep a look out.
its free
Try to keep you're reliance on 3rd party applications/plug ins to a minimum unless you know for sure they're used within the industry.
normal mapped
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/svgchaosv49/
As far as the sculpting goes, start doing more blocking of big shapes, rather than trying to render small details. The reason the leech has any merit is because it's really just one big general shape, and the teeth. But take some time to look at some reference and really try to describe the skin, rather than just placing random lumps and hoping it comes out well...
The head and body arent working because you start to mass in the shapes, completely skip refining them and just jump straight to details. once again, slow down, take some time to push the bulk, then you can worry about selling the sizzle....
EDIT: The tech thing was a test at mechanical stuff in zbrush.
I'd really suggest you start looking at more reference and really studying the objects that you are seeing. I'm not exactly sure what direction you are going with the abomination but personally I would start over. One trend i've noticed with your work is you seem to be doing a lot of 'speed' tests. While this may be a good practice at some point I dont believe you should bother yourself with them yet. You really need to start spending more time on your sculptures and start redoing pieces over and over until they are how you like them. Post piece by piece here and i'm sure members will be more than happy to critique. Basically what im trying to say is speed is irrelevant when it comes to your portfolio pieces.
PS: I'd suggest working on a character (any kind) and then maybe domesticating it somehow, This way you are able to work on some hardsurface as well as anatomy.
-NoltaN