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Adventures in ZBrush

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2cat polycounter lvl 5
Hi guys.

After doing quite a bit of low poly work and some scripting in the last couple of years I finally made the decision to take the plunge into ZBrush. Having never really worked with it before it's been quite a ride, which I'm sure you're all familiar with.

My first serious sculpt was of this dragon below. Let's just say it was more than I could chew off, but in the end it taught me a lot. My first actual sculpt was the Gumroad tutorial by Shane Olsen with his frog, that helped me a lot when it came to taking control of ZBrush.

The other sculpt is what I'm working on right now, and came right after the dragon. So far I feel I'm doing a whole lot better, it's a lot cleaner, but also a lot more simple compared to the dragon. Right now I'm mostly tinkering on the long flowy tail things, so they're still a little clunky.

I've deviated from both concepts a bit here and there, some due to not having mastered ZBrush and inability to use all the tools and brushes correctly. But also because some things I just liked better :poly122:

I'm mostly looking for critiques of my work and tips for ZBrush so I'm hoping you guys can take a lot and give your honest opinions.


Both conceps by Baldi Konijn for a personal project we're working on.
http://baldi-konijn.com/
https://www.artstation.com/artist/baldi-konijn

Final Wyvern:
3iJ8ETJ.jpg

Final Gulper:
hY66YNh.jpg

v6JmAIF.jpg
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tumblr_npa7ig1lE61uqesaso1_1280.jpg
tumblr_no54p3GYab1s78qaso1_1280.jpg

Replies

  • darkmag07
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    darkmag07 polycounter lvl 12
    Oh man, that glider whale is adorable.
  • onizuka92
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    onizuka92 polycounter lvl 9
    i love the forms especially the gulper, its like a chiseled stone sculpture. Very reminiscent of the movie Atlantis:The Lost Empire.
  • Tigerfeet
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    I love the bramble wyvern, but I think you could push the proportions more. You're being more conservative than the concept. More spikes, larger spikes, a larger spiky tail tip, and the front 'fins' on the top lip. I don't know if you just haven't gotten to that part yet, but the underside in the concept is curved and spiked. I love the chiseled look you've got going in the claws, love to see it across the rest of the model too :D
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks guys.

    Tigerfeet: Yea a lot of things don't match, mostly because I struggled with ZBrush. After finishing the gulper concept, I'll work on a few more concepts, maybe even something environment like. After that I'll probably revisit the wyvern, and give it the love it needs with my hopefully improved skills. I love how badass the concept is.
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Got a load of polishing done. Also worked on the area near the mouth and tails and did a lot of experimenting on how to do the baleen. Now to merge everything for a great bake and polypainting for putting some life into it!

    Might do a little more work on the wings and the body tail fin as well.

    tumblr_npdyqceEfT1uqesaso1_1280.jpg
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Right, got a few updates. Been a little busy this week sadly. It's no where near done but I retopo'd the creature and made some test bakes. Threw m into marmoset as well. Probably have to do a little more work on the low poly but I'm not at all disappointed at the moment. Will also have to do a lot of work on the texture, I actually want it to be a lot darker but since I only added albedo and normal in marmoset the colors are certain to be off.

    Would love some C & C!

    tumblr_npuntcYaVG1uqesaso1_1280.jpg
  • [kaz]
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    [kaz] polycounter lvl 9
    I've been watching these on Tumblr... really wonderful chunky shapes! Looking forward to see where you go with these guys.
  • tahakitan
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    tahakitan polycounter lvl 9
    I love the sculpting style. keep it up.
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks guys. Have some more progress to show.

    Over the weekend I finalized my low poly and baked some proper textures. Also made a better looking keyshot render, which will be nice for my portfolio. Currently in the process of doing some handpainted texturing. Textured pic is a direct screengrab from the Unity editor window.

    8ckTA82.jpg
    E0YmKUe.jpg
  • Tectonic
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    Tectonic polycounter lvl 10
    its looking awesome, I love your style. I think my only critique is that the baleen (?) in its mouth look a little more like solid rotten teeth. baleen usually is a bit more translucent looking. maybe change it to look a little more cream colored. a16ea-whale2bbaleen.jpg
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks Tectonic. They definitely need some love. I kinda forgot about the baleen ( yes you were right ) after not getting a good result. Your ref has some nice colors going on, thanks. It goes right into my ref folder.
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Well latest update. Gave the baleen some needed love. I like how it looks but feel it disappears in the mouth. Probably have to make it a little more dark, just not rotten teeth :poly122:

    Also made a material, it adds a rimlight according to a ramp based on a normal map.

    Now what I feel I have to focus on is the transition from soft skin and harder scale stuff, especially on the long flowy tails.

    Would still love some C & C on everything!

    3ookyMH.jpg
  • valuemeal
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    valuemeal polycounter lvl 6
    Looking fresh as all heck,
    if you put this in marmoset 1 you can get a really nice outline around it. I think it would really give it a toon (cellshaded) vibe. Also are you using gradient maps? Baking one out would be simple enough and help the view focus more so on the head.

    Also do you know substance? If not, I'd give it a try, combining hand painted textures with substance materials yields some rather interesting results. But render that one in the second marmoset.
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Hey valuemeal, thanks for your suggestion about the gradient map, never thought about it and it works subtle but really nice. It pops just that little bit more. Also don't have TB1, and it's not sold anymore so no go there.

    I know about substance and it looks amazing, but at the moment I can't afford it, even when it was on sale on steam earlier. Just too strapped for cash at the moment. When I get the chance I really would love to give it a spin!

    Some more shots on my ArtStation

    hY66YNh.jpg
    taLDbsI.jpg
  • Tectonic
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    Tectonic polycounter lvl 10
    that looks fantastic. great job! :) your work is very memorable and really stands out from the crowd.
  • 2cat
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    2cat polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks Tectonic for the kind words!

    And then for something completely different. I'm doing exercises in facial sculpting, since I am terribad at it. After reading quite a bit on facial proprtions I started sculpting and my first try wasn't that great but I'm hoping for some feedback.

    My first, Bill Murray. Or as I’d like to call him Bill Murray’s brother from another mother. Yeah, it looks human. But there’s not a real likeness to Bill sadly. First human face sculpt, so still pretty happy. Learned a lot. There’s so much wrong I can’t even pin point anymore where the similarities end. If there are any.

    3lcZGsk.jpg


    And then… My try at Ian McKellen. it’s a little better, the proportions seem a little more in place. But still not quite right. An improvement, I feel. Learned a lot about it. Things that I feel are wrong are the brow, the nose, which on the side view should be straight, not with a bend. And there’s stuff wrong with the forehead. Also no asymmetry but that’s a step later in life I think. Much much more to learn about general proportions first.

    fdrWaBW.jpg


    So if anybody is able and willing, I could really use some critiques on these so I can learn from my mistakes and work on them in my next sculpts. I'm going to try to do one daily, if I'm able, to improve.
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