So in the last couple of weeks ive been learning Zbrush from youtube tutorials, just trying to get my head around things. I decided to start sculpting this from a dynamesh sphere. Its a head, a goon/tough guy head I suppose. Just a character head to play around with. I have got the basic shape down. Was wondering where i would go next? how would I start adding details. Can i divide a dynamesh ok without having any problems? An helpful tips would be great. Thanks.
Dynamesh is cool and all. But; I'll offer you should only add points when there are none left to move for model refinement(adding details). Working your way up from a lower resolution 'cage' is often helpful.
That's an ok first sculpt. If you are at all serious about getting better, I would suggest studying some anatomy - as it stands, you have only a basic idea of what a human head actually looks like. It's all there, but the proportions and relations are all wrong. In fact I'd say your lack of anatomy knowledge is hindering you more than your sculpting skills.
As for general advice:
- Work at a low resolution, adding more polys only when necessary. This forces you to concentrate on form, which is fundamental. People who've sculpted for years can start with dense meshes, but for the rest of us it's usually better to take it slow.
- Add detail only once the basic forms are good. Use the usual brushes (standard, damstandard, clay, claytubes, pinch, move, inflate) for this. For tiny wrinkles/scales/pores, you can use alphas.
- Yes you can subdivide dynamesh with no problems. You can also just increase the resolution. Dynamesh isn't really an active state your model is in, rather each time you re-dynamesh zbrush is basically replacing your old mesh with a new one. So when the button is active, all zbrush is doing is listening for the ctrl+drag command, otherwise all the usual rules to modeling apply.
- Once you know your way around the program, watch sculpting tutorials and timelapses - these will help you learn new techniques. Above all, though, you've got to practice. There's no other way to get better.
Thanks Nagulov, I got out my Human Anatomy for artists book after I read your comment. I will draw and study some anatomy. I wont jump too far ahead yet until I have more of an understanding of human forms. Thanks for your input.
No problem. I'm no expert, but I believe there's no such thing as 'jumping too far ahead'. What you do is sculpt a head, then you sculpt another one, then another one. When you get sick of heads, you sculpt something else, until you get sick of that too. If you consult anatomy reference as you sculpt, you'll learn and get better. Lots of artists say drawing also helps.
Of course, preaching all this is easy, it's not getting discouraged that's hard. Good luck!
An update from my anatomy studyings. Learning about muscle flow in the face, I havent included all muscles in here of course. I will do more of these and get into more detail as I go.
So over the last week ive been working on this. I would say this is my first actual real push in zbrush. Its still not finished but id like any sort of feedback if you want to leave some. Thanks. Its inspired from Ragnar Lothbrok from Vikings.
Finished as much as i could be bothered on Ragnar, my first real sculpt in zbrush
I started sculpting a basemesh for a human figure using a video tutorial i purchased from Rafael Grassetti's Gumroad page. Massive help for a noob like me.
Then i started on the anatomy of the torso from the next video of Rafael's, still needs adjusting on some parts.
Will keep posting updates as I go.
Thanks for looking
Solid improvement over your initial posts. I'm also following Grassetti's gumroad tuts. He actually seems to do a lot by feel, but he's so good! The body's looking great. However, be careful with the abs, I'm counting one pair too many.
As for the head, one quick and easy fix are the ears -- they should sit roughly in the middle of the head, not towards the back. Also, yours are a little high, vertically they usually fit between the line of the eyes and the nostrils.