Character and Scene Development in ZBrush

Pluralsight

Course Summary

In this course, you will learn how to create polished characters and more appealing scenes. Software required: ZBrush 3.1 and up, Maya 2009 and up.

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Course Description

In this course, you will learn how to create polished characters and more appealing scenes. You will work creatively using a step-by-step approach to character and scene development in ZBrush and a time-saving workflow to character interaction, sculpting, texturing, composition, lighting, and rendering. This course contains nearly six hours of self-paced training for artists using ZBrush and Maya. Popular highlights include: Composition and Layout; Working from Sketch; Creating ZSphere Base; Adaptive Skins; Character Posing; Re-working Topology; Quick Shaping the Model; Character Interaction; Adding Multiple Pieces with ZSpheres; Appending Subtools; Adding Temporary Materials; Custom Alphas and Textures; Exaggerating Features for Appeal; Creating UVs in ZBrush; Polypainting; Converting Polypaints to Texture Maps; Exporting Displacement Maps; Exporting Normal Maps; Exporting Geometry from ZBrush; Importing Geometry into Maya; 3-point Lighting Setup; Camera Placement; Subsurface Scattering Effects; Approximations for High-quality Displacement; Using Final Gather with Subsurface Scattering; Adjusting Render Stats of Objects; Rendering Scenes in Multiple Passes; Outputting Color, Occlusion, and Depth Passes; Compositing Multiple Passes with Photoshop; Depth-of-field Effects to Final Render. Software required: ZBrush 3.1 and up, Maya 2009 and up.

Course Description

In this course, you will learn how to create polished characters and more appealing scenes. You will work creatively using a step-by-step approach to character and scene development in ZBrush and a time-saving workflow to character interaction, sculpting, texturing, composition, lighting, and rendering. This course contains nearly six hours of self-paced training for artists using ZBrush and Maya. Popular highlights include: Composition and Layout; Working from Sketch; Creating ZSphere Base; Adaptive Skins; Character Posing; Re-working Topology; Quick Shaping the Model; Character Interaction; Adding Multiple Pieces with ZSpheres; Appending Subtools; Adding Temporary Materials; Custom Alphas and Textures; Exaggerating Features for Appeal; Creating UVs in ZBrush; Polypainting; Converting Polypaints to Texture Maps; Exporting Displacement Maps; Exporting Normal Maps; Exporting Geometry from ZBrush; Importing Geometry into Maya; 3-point Lighting Setup; Camera Placement; Subsurface Scattering Effects; Approximations for High-quality Displacement; Using Final Gather with Subsurface Scattering; Adjusting Render Stats of Objects; Rendering Scenes in Multiple Passes; Outputting Color, Occlusion, and Depth Passes; Compositing Multiple Passes with Photoshop; Depth-of-field Effects to Final Render. Software required: ZBrush 3.1 and up, Maya 2009 and up.

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Course Syllabus

Introduction and Project Overview
- 2m 15s

—Introduction and Project Overview 2m 15s

Character and Scene Development in ZBrush
- 5h 46m

—Building the Zsphere Skeleton 8m 7s
—Finishing the Zsphere Skeleton 12m 24s
—Positioning the Adaptive Skin 5m 53s
—Creating the Basic Shapes 5m 50s
—Redrawing the Mouth Topology 11m 52s
—Adding the Eyes 8m 14s
—Sculpting the Body 9m 9s
—Shaping the Tentacles 7m 45s
—Sculpting the Mouth Area 8m 4s
—Sculpting the Inside of the Mouth 8m 4s
—Adding the Tongue with Zspheres 6m 7s
—Shaping and Sculpting the Tongue 11m 49s
—Building the Fish with Zspheres 7m 39s
—Detailing the Fish 10m 49s
—Adding the Teeth 8m 28s
—Adding the Saliva and Hair 8m 18s
—Previewing with Materials 4m 20s
—Polypainting the Squid's Body 10m 48s
—Using Custom Alphas to Detail the Tentacles 5m 9s
—Painting the Eyes 4m 21s
—Painting the Tongue 5m 42s
—Painting the Fish 7m 23s
—Detailing and Painting the Ground 6m 40s
—Preparing Assets for Export and Creating UVs 5m 20s
—Exporting Textures from ZBrush 6m 10s
—Exporting Geometry from ZBrush 4m 58s
—Exporting Normal and Displacement Maps 6m 4s
—Importing ZBrush Geometry into Maya 6m 18s
—Adding Lights to the Maya Scene 7m 6s
—Adding Materials to the Characters' Eyes and Teeth 9m 16s
—Creating Subsurface Materials for the Character's Body 9m 16s
—Connecting Color Maps to SSS Materials 9m 33s
—Creating a SSS Back Scattering Map in ZBrush 11m 14s
—Building SSS Shader for the Character's Tongue 11m 8s
—Adjusting Render Stats of Geometry for Proper Reflections and Refractions 9m 7s
—Creating Pools of Water Under the Squid Character 10m 55s
—Independently Controlling Final Gather and Reflection Results 5m 51s
—Utilizing Approximations for High Quality Displacement Effects 12m 9s
—Finalizing Light Setup 9m 36s
—Setting up Render Layers in Maya 13m 56s
—Compositing Color and Occlusion Passes in Photoshop 8m 19s
—Adding Depth-of-field Effects and Image Retouching in Photoshop 6m 30s