Really, really cool work.
Really, really cool work.
My Site: http://anthonyminto3d.blogspot.co.uk/
NCCA (Bournemouth): Bachelor Arts Degree (Hons) First Class (Computer Animation Arts)
3D Artist/Generalist looking for work in London and the South East (UK).
Thank you Minty.
Here's some other views.
MX
Nice. I like the Photoshoped one.
having the black areas on his face actually be sections of his skin that has been removed is brilliant, i never thought of them that way and its pretty bad ass like Lobo would be.
"And your very flesh shall be a great poem" W.Whitman
Damn your amazing work! ,,, please o please make a tutorial (:
Walk us thru your techniques and steps, I'd love to see and follow them so I can get skills like you
Amazing work!
Thanks guys,
If truth be told, my techniques are not much different from other artist techniques. Just Read Zbrush Essentials and you'll see that all the artists work much the same way. If you want some good working techniques then I whole-heartedly endorse Zbrush: Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy by Scot Spencer. Well worth picking up a copy if you have the chance.
One way I work is to subdivide the model up to the SubD that I want to be the highest and then create the Layers in that. This way you'll end up with less artefacts and you can always roll it back if something gets too messy or wrong. Useing Morph Targets is a very good way to do this.
Also, I find it good working practice to have a specific Layer for specific part of the sculpting process. For instance: Layer 1 = Form, Layer 2 = Medium detail, Layer3 = Expression, Layer4 = Skin Detail, Layer5 = Pose and etc.
Having the pose in one layer makes sure you can go back and forth. Helping you work in symmetry for some parts of the model but adding the none symmetrical form and detail to fit with the pose. That said, I seem to get noise on my model with this technique. Think it's down to the difference in model position between posed and default.
I was going to make a small tutorial on how I model eyelids that give you clean results... but I've run out of time as I've got to do some proper work.
In brief...
1. On the lowest SubD hide the rest of the face leaving behind the eyelids/lash-line edge-loop (Shown in the image as blue polygroup), create Polygroup by visible, Set Crease in the Geometry Pallet to 0.
2. Go to highest SubD and store Morph Target.
3. Go back to lowest SubD and hide the rest of the face using the Polygroup set in step 1, leaving the lash-line visible then unCrease, invert visible polygons and UnCrease again. View all.
4. Go to Highest SubD and you'll see that there is a bit of an indent where the Crease used to be. Useing the Morph Target slider (or the MT brush on lower Zadd) bring the creased geometry back...
... this way you have control over just how fine you want the crease of the eyelid/lash-line without hacking away at it with the Clay Brush and the likes. Make sure not to make the edge too sharp and unnatural. Also, make sure there is enough thickness to the eyelid. The eyes are a natural focal point in a character and the eyelid need thickness to it to look real. If you want to change the shape of something like the eye it's good to push points around on the lowest SubD level possible. You get clean results this way.
And my other tip is... use lots of reference! You can't beat it. I had to fudge it with this model as the expression was very unreal/conventional.
Hope this is of some use.
MX
Edit: The reason to add and then remove the Crease is so you have more control over having a set crease. If you smooth the creased polygons off at a later date it can cause some artefacts. MT saves the crease but allows you to have more control over just how sharp it is.
Also! The image I've used in this post is to just illustrate what edgeloop I'm referring to. The result you see there is too hard as I had done this process earlier on in the model... so it's exagerated the shape of the eye.
Last edited by mxhaunted; 01-09-11 at 08:40 AM.
alright thanks for the tip, I will give it a try today and see what happens thx again, and keep up the good work (:
very inspirational! you are extremely talented!
how long have you been sculpting? any schooling?
thanks,
jw
Kici, hope it is of some use.
Solidsilver, thanks. I've had no real schooling with sculpting. I did a sculpt once but it was rubbish and the teacher didn't seem to care for it. I lost heart with the idea of sculpting soon after that.
I've only really sculpted anything when I picked up Zbrush 2.5 and I haven't looked back. Now I find the process very enjoyable and challenging in a good way. While on a trip to take photos in the British Museum I noticed something that all the sculptors were doing that I was overlooking, so I hope to make some changes to Lobo, finish his hair and post that up when I get the chance.
For any of you who want to see these photos go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5417426...7625835789224/
I've just started to learn about how to take photos as well.
And I admit now that I still have a lot to learn about sculpting and photography. But I love the challenge.
Thanks again.
MX
Last edited by mxhaunted; 01-18-11 at 02:39 PM.
I have to say, the amount of wonderful Zbrush work around on the furom is astounding. It's a wonderful thing that so many people have taken to it.
Here's a front cover that we got for the project I'm working on. I sculpted most of the theropods for the program, about 28 in total (theropods, that is).
He's one of the early dinoes. I kinda go to town on scales on the later ones. I worked on a pre-modelled mesh, which was quite low in polies which gave me room to sculpt away. That said, I had to keep the proportions and joint pivots the same for rigging purposes.
Hope you like,
MX
Last edited by mxhaunted; 01-27-11 at 02:40 PM.
What were they doing that you were overlooking?Originally Posted by mxhaunted
Tucho, it's called Dinosaur Planet and it's due later this year on the BBC.
They are probably doing lots of things that I am overlooking, but one of them is the angle of the top eyelid to the bottom. The sculptors brought out the upper-eyelid more than I have in the past. Doing so may soften the features a bit but also create more interesting shadows around the eyes.
I'm going to the British Museum again on Saturday so I'll be taking more reference photos from all kinds of angles.
MX
Been very busy at work. Finished Planet Dinosaur off a good few months ago. After that it was a small job Zbrushing creatures for Super Snake and have just finished some more creatures for a small British film that should be out soon. When you do VFX for TV there's much to do in little time.
Thankfully the BBC are putting out some footage now so I can pass on some of the things I've worked on.
I also managed to get the chance to write a tutorials and tips article for this months 3D World magazine.
Edit: And a small trailer for the program. I Zbrushed both dinosaurs and the fallen tree.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14747604
Now for a bit of a break and put my feet up.
MX
Last edited by mxhaunted; 09-08-11 at 04:20 AM.
For those who are interested... BBC has posted up a little "behind the scenes" video of how the dinosaurs where created.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00kb1rf
MX