Let me just tell you that it isn't so much the tools but rather the experience with the program that let you sculpt those beautiful characters that you see everywhere. Most artists rely on a few brushes and use them all the time for everything.
That said, I like to use orbs crack brush for wrinkles and folds, the trim dynamic brush for establishing planes and claytube brush for bildup.Also I modified the standard pinch brush to the point that it pinches but doesn't destroy the topology. I also use the standard brush alot.
I strongly recommend that you experiment with the brushes included in the software to expand your knowledge about how brushes work etc. and also keep zbrushing with the standard brushes until you get decent results.
it's skill, not a wacom! tools are only means to the final product, now grab your mouse!
seriously, when I did character modeling I had many custom tools tailored to my workflow, most of them centering about special alphas like for seams, stitching, pores and other details and a few custom tweaked brushes for ultra fine details. I made most brushes and alphas myself back then, but why reinvent the wheel?
you need to develop your hand eye coordination just as you do with a pencil and drawing. developing your ability to create tight detail to the point where you can sculpt soft wrinkles around the face, detailed eyes and ears etc with the standard brushes.
adding detail with alpha brushes and stencils is in most cases for superficial detail. and even then you need to be able to sculpt on top of that stamp detail to make it look more natural and defined.
instead of looking for brushes i suggest that you start to develop your own brushes and stencils. get some images from google and experiment in photoshop. its quite easy as your only working in black and white. and your starting with images to begin with. try to make a rock brush. maybe a skin brush etc.
i have found that each sculpt is different and requires custom brushes in most cases. and most of the time sculpting the detail by hand is faster and looks better then stamps anyways.
you can check out this dvd. it has a excellent introduction to detailing and how to create alpha brushes.
Replies
That said, I like to use orbs crack brush for wrinkles and folds, the trim dynamic brush for establishing planes and claytube brush for bildup.Also I modified the standard pinch brush to the point that it pinches but doesn't destroy the topology. I also use the standard brush alot.
I strongly recommend that you experiment with the brushes included in the software to expand your knowledge about how brushes work etc. and also keep zbrushing with the standard brushes until you get decent results.
What you're asking is akin to "Anyone have better gloves so I can drive better and faster"?
seriously, when I did character modeling I had many custom tools tailored to my workflow, most of them centering about special alphas like for seams, stitching, pores and other details and a few custom tweaked brushes for ultra fine details. I made most brushes and alphas myself back then, but why reinvent the wheel?
adding detail with alpha brushes and stencils is in most cases for superficial detail. and even then you need to be able to sculpt on top of that stamp detail to make it look more natural and defined.
instead of looking for brushes i suggest that you start to develop your own brushes and stencils. get some images from google and experiment in photoshop. its quite easy as your only working in black and white. and your starting with images to begin with. try to make a rock brush. maybe a skin brush etc.
i have found that each sculpt is different and requires custom brushes in most cases. and most of the time sculpting the detail by hand is faster and looks better then stamps anyways.
you can check out this dvd. it has a excellent introduction to detailing and how to create alpha brushes.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/15/Detailing-Characters%3A-ZBrush-Alpha-Library
Here's a sample [ame="
And the brush itself www.erraticimagery.com/extras/ryankittleson_creasebrush.zip