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Anatomical figurines.

ngon master
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almighty_gir ngon master
does anyone know of any good alternatives to this: http://anatomytools.com/products/anatomy/fig-female1a ?

if i had the money, i'd buy it, but i don't... so i was hoping that people here might know of a lower priced alternative?

cheers :)

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  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    Man that's expensive... for that kind of price they better sell real organs (I shit you not, you can get a real human skull on ebay for that price).

    You can go the digital route. I believe the second Scott Spencer zBrush book comes with a DVD that has several ecorche zBrush models on it. Much cheaper, and I'd argue you're getting most of the same info. You could decimate it and export into 3dsmax so you have it open in another window while working on your own stuff in zBrush.
  • Bibendum
  • Barbarian
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    Barbarian polycounter lvl 12
    I have the artist (version 2) male model from http://arizonasculpture.com/products.asp?catID=2&subcatID=26

    It is more expensive, unfortunately than the one you listed. The 2' high models that are accurate are unfortunately expensive.

    I remember running across a 12" high anatomical model about a year ago for about $175, but can't remember where now. You might post a question on the ZBrush forums.
  • pseudoBug
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    pseudoBug polycounter lvl 18
    Dunno if you've seen this already, or if it's accurate enough for you. (digital)
    http://www.zygotebody.com/
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    Bigjohn wrote: »
    Man that's expensive... for that kind of price they better sell real organs (I shit you not, you can get a real human skull on ebay for that price).

    You can go the digital route. I believe the second Scott Spencer zBrush book comes with a DVD that has several ecorche zBrush models on it. Much cheaper, and I'd argue you're getting most of the same info. You could decimate it and export into 3dsmax so you have it open in another window while working on your own stuff in zBrush.

    that's an interesting idea....
  • ikken
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    Bigjohn wrote: »
    Man that's expensive... for that kind of price they better sell real organs (I shit you not, you can get a real human skull on ebay for that price).

    I'm pretty sure you can find a skinned infant mummy on etsy for a fraction of $ 300!
  • Shiniku
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    Shiniku polycounter lvl 9
    Those things are expensive, but honestly, they're worth it. My opinion on that feels validated every time I see one of them sitting on an artists work desk in almost EVERY making-of DVD I've seen.

    I can understand not having the money for it right now.. I mean, the cheapest route is to go digital or reference anatomy books. But when it comes to physical anatomical models none of the cheaper alternatives were ever accurate enough for my tastes.
  • Millah
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    Millah polycounter lvl 18
    I agree with Shiniku. You might try calling anatomy tools.com and inquiring about payment plan options. They are extremely friendly.
  • disanski
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    disanski polycounter lvl 14
    I wanted to get one of those before but could not afford it so i got the one from zack petrok site and I am super happy with it. I have no idea what would I do without it. I even feel like it has advantages because the muscle groups are separate subtools and you can hide/show them in order to understand it better. Strongly recommend it. I have not updated to the latest zbrush version yet but i read it comes with the female ecoroche model from Ryan Kingslien? that on the images looks similar.
  • TheDarkKnight
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    TheDarkKnight polycounter lvl 13
    got this one waiting for me on my holiday address in the US :

    main.png

    a little less then 2 months left before I'm going, can't wait.
    Really hope it will improve my anatomy sculpts.

    I'll be sure to post some nice pictures when I have it in hand.
  • ScudzAlmighty
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    just an FYI here, in ZBrush 4r3 if you open the Tool menu from lightbox there's a fully detailed female anatomy model with individual subtools just waiting there for you for free

    ZBAnatomyFem.jpg
  • pseudoBug
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    pseudoBug polycounter lvl 18
    Woot. Thanks scudz for reminding me about that.
  • disanski
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    disanski polycounter lvl 14
    yep this is what i had in mind too. here is a link with the male version of it and its free.
  • ScudzAlmighty
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    I was going to post that one as well but couldn't find the file from where I saved it...
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    I feel like I should jump in with a little caution. But just be clear that these things aren't the ultimate solution. I mean, I learned a fuckton from things like this, and if you can keep in mind that what you're looking at isn't the human body, but another artist's interpretation of the human body, you'd be much more successful.

    Just don't look at these things as a bible, but more of a guide. If something doesn't make sense, or hell even if it does but is a bit foggy in your mind, look it up. You'll start seeing that there are lots of mistakes in these types of figures, because the artist who made them isn't perfect, and really I've learned a lot about anatomy from finding those mistakes.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Hey Big - do you think you could take the time to point out some of the mistakes you noticed ? I think it would be highly beneficial!

    Thanks in advance :)
  • ScudzAlmighty
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    Bigjohn wrote: »
    I feel like I should jump in with a little caution. But just be clear that these things aren't the ultimate solution. I mean, I learned a fuckton from things like this, and if you can keep in mind that what you're looking at isn't the human body, but another artist's interpretation of the human body, you'd be much more successful.

    Just don't look at these things as a bible, but more of a guide. If something doesn't make sense, or hell even if it does but is a bit foggy in your mind, look it up. You'll start seeing that there are lots of mistakes in these types of figures, because the artist who made them isn't perfect, and really I've learned a lot about anatomy from finding those mistakes.

    This^^ is excellent advise, and should be applied to any organic/natural reference. But also keep in mind that some people simply have different body types and just because something doesn't fit with what you think it should look like doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. (having somebody tell you you're proportions are wrong when you've been working from a body scan of the actual person is amazingly fucking annoying).
  • Ace-Angel
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    Ace-Angel polycounter lvl 12
    Go a to your local library or charity event and buy a Med Book. I'm not kidding, when I was in Med School I saw some nifty photos and artwork of the human anatomy, if you have stomach to watch them, you can get some pretty bad ass med books for cheap.

    That's about as 'real' as you can get without breaking the bank or getting any mistakes.

    Also, most of those books come with a nice set of DVD's with extra content on them, great for when you're at work and are not allowed to view cadaver genitalia for that naked ogre.
  • pseudoBug
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    pseudoBug polycounter lvl 18
    Bigjohn wrote: »
    I feel like I should jump in with a little caution. But just be clear that these things aren't the ultimate solution. I mean, I learned a fuckton from things like this, and if you can keep in mind that what you're looking at isn't the human body, but another artist's interpretation of the human body, you'd be much more successful.

    Just don't look at these things as a bible, but more of a guide. If something doesn't make sense, or hell even if it does but is a bit foggy in your mind, look it up. You'll start seeing that there are lots of mistakes in these types of figures, because the artist who made them isn't perfect, and really I've learned a lot about anatomy from finding those mistakes.
    This^^ is excellent advise, and should be applied to any organic/natural reference. But also keep in mind that some people simply have different body types and just because something doesn't fit with what you think it should look like doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. (having somebody tell you you're proportions are wrong when you've been working from a body scan of the actual person is amazingly fucking annoying).

    Wanted to second and third both of these. These points are soooo often overlooked. it's also a great way to approach pretty much everything you do.
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    pior wrote: »
    Hey Big - do you think you could take the time to point out some of the mistakes you noticed ? I think it would be highly beneficial!

    Thanks in advance :)

    Sure.

    Couple of things though.

    1. Those models are pretty good overall. Not trying to say they're shit.
    2. Because of that, this stuff could be seen as nitpicky. But, I don't believe in that. I believe in taking things as far as possible.
    3. These things that may seem subtle will give you hints as to all sorts of really cool shapes. You can then push those shapes as far or as little as you want to achieve cool things.

    So here's a quick drawing I did. It's that model that comes with zBrush. The red is me just tracing over it. The blue is how I would have done it.

    zBrush_Anatomy.jpg

    There's tons of subtlety that gets lost. One major thing I really like doing is showing the sharp angle of the brachioradialis. It's actually two different muscles, the brachioradlalis is the top one, I forget what the bottom one is called. But the top one is much bigger than the lower one, and the lower one is also much shorter. This gives it a really cool bend, it doesn't just goes smoothly and straight like how the sculpt shows.

    See Bruce:
    392281-57665-bruce-lee_super.jpg

    Very few people hit that. One of which is the almighty Frank. But as you can see, it can be easily used in a design.

    Also, the Brachialis is usually much bigger than the bicep. The only way that isn't true is if you're a bodybuilder, and you develop your bicep instead of the Brachialis, which is one of the reasons they look all unnatural.

    The white tendon area of the triceps is huge and really thick. It's way too subtle in the sculpt.

    The abductor muscles are pretty big too, and they create an interesting shape in that area. Michelangelo is one of the only people I ever seen that nails that:

    david-by-michelangelo-buonarroti-1501-04.jpg

    And Frank does too.

    FrazCavemansketch.jpg

    The Deltoid in the sculpt is all wrong too. Should really show the 3 main groups, and the middle group goes entirely to the front. He kinda has it in the sculpt, but it's very hard to see, and if you don't know it already I don't think you'll notice. The way Frank did it in the picture above is perfect. He really nailed the overall shape of it, and very subtly hinted at the 3 main forms. It's important to look at the overall shape, and not just origin and insertion.

    Also, lots of the muscles don't taper right. There's more to it than just origin and insertion. We need to care about what shape the muscles do along the way, and tapering is very important.

    I can do like a thousand of these :)
  • almighty_gir
  • ScudzAlmighty
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    and here I thought you were just being arrogant ;)
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    John: Really informative post!

    Are there any you'd personally recommend that has a higher level of accuracy?
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    Not really. The best one I've seen is the male one from Anatomytools.com. It's pretty decent, and my comments toward it would be lots of pretty minor ones. But man, $300? I couldn't recommend that. I guess if your studio is buying it or something, then why not?

    There are two or three anatomy books I still trust, that have really neat insights and information that's valuable. But that's about it. When I say trust btw, I mean that if I see something in it that I think is wrong, and I go investigate it, they end up proving me wrong usually.
  • disanski
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    disanski polycounter lvl 14
    Good points Bigjohn. I am just taking an anatomy class right now and every now and then I go back to the model i got from Zack Petrok (link was posted above in this thread) and I belive that one is at least a little more accurate but don't take my word for it as I have ways to go yet :) I use it just in order to understand better the points of origin and insertion and what is overlapping what and at the same time I have a image with a real person on it so I try to trace those shapes on it.
    The once from anatomy tools.com looks awesome but man they are crazy expensive :). Sometimes they pop up on ebay :)
  • Mrskullface
  • pabgo
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    @bigjohn teach me more master
    i bought the anatomytools male model, and to be honest i barely even use it. once in a while i take a quick glance but thats about it.
  • pseudoBug
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    pseudoBug polycounter lvl 18
    Bigjohn wrote: »
    There are two or three anatomy books I still trust, that have really neat insights and information that's valuable. But that's about it. When I say trust btw, I mean that if I see something in it that I think is wrong, and I go investigate it, they end up proving me wrong usually.

    I simply must know which books these are!
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    pseudoBug wrote: »
    I simply must know which books these are!

    The two that are most noteworthy are the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Bridgmans-Complete-Guide-Drawing-Life/dp/1402766785/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331786528&sr=1-1"]Bridgman book[/ame] and the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Human-Anatomy-Artist-Galaxy/dp/0195030958"]Peck book[/ame].

    I'm absolutely certain I will spend the rest of my life studying this, and never fully grasp Bridgman. That thing is incredible. There isn't a single basic thing in there. He'll draw a simple line, and within it imply so much anatomy, ever so subtly, that you don't even realize what you're looking at is a line. I can't count the times I went in my head "Fucking Bridgman" after I made some discovery and then found out it was in the Bridgman book all along. He tried telling us.

    The peck book is special because of the little sketches at the end of each chapter. He'll draw anatomy in a non-anatomical way. Showing for instance a bow&arrow as the shape of the clavicle, or an egg inside a triangle to show the shape of a certain muscle. He's very shape oriented. That's why he draws sketches of these apparently random shapes to represent anatomy, but they're anything but random. The full greyscale illustrations aren't that great, but still helpful. It's his notes and sketches that make this thing amazing. Like the Bridgman book, I believe I'll be finding gold in this one for many years still.

    Neither of these really covers origins and insertions and "anatomy"-anatomy all that well. But that's not what I need them for. I can get the clinical data elsewhere. These are the two that take it to the next level.
  • pseudoBug
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    pseudoBug polycounter lvl 18
    Bookmarked. Both of these books sound familiar. Thanks for sharing!
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