ZBrush Professional Tips and Techniques

ZBrush Professional Tips and Techniques

Released June 2012
Publisher(s): Sybex
ISBN: 9781118236338

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Book description

Learn to work effectively and creatively with all versions of ZBrush!

ZBrush is used by top artists in Hollywood to model and sculpt characters in such films as Avatar, Iron Man, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In addition, this amazing technology is also used in jewelry design, forensic science, aerospace, video games, toy creation, and the medical field. Written by Pixologic's in-house ZBrush expert Paul Gaboury, this full-color, beautifully illustrated guide provides you with the ultimate tips and tricks to maximize your use of all versions of ZBrush.

  • Reveals numerous little-known tips and tricks that exist within ZBrush, but often go unexploited

  • Shares an abundance of helpful techniques and insights that the author has acquired from years of helping professional artists in various industries

  • Offers dozens of version-neutral solutions and shortcuts in areas such as sculpting, texturing, posing, rendering, and more

  • Features "Artist Spotlights" from several ZBrush experts, offering their how-to's for using the feature-rich software in today's studios

Improve your productivity and quality of work with this helpful, easy-to-understand resource.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Publisher's Letter
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. About the Author
  8. Foreword
  9. Introduction
  10. Chapter 1: Understanding the Basics
    1. Customizing Your ZBrush
    2. Recovering Your Subdivision Levels
    3. Using Reproject Higher Subdivision
    4. Using Relax Deformation
    5. Creating a Custom Tileable Alpha with 2.5D
    6. Using Alphas to Create Meshes
    7. Creating Wallpaper
    8. Creating Your Own Palette
    9. What’s Next
    10. Artist Spotlight: Joe Lee
    11. Artist Spotlight: Magdalena Dadela
  11. Chapter 2: Special Project—Creating Accessories for a Bust
    1. Creating the ZMan Logo
    2. Creating the Zipper
    3. Creating the Stand
    4. Creating a Skin Texture
    5. What’s Next
    6. Artist Spotlight: Morgan Morey
    7. Artist Spotlight: Zack Petroc
  12. Chapter 3: Sculpting—Developing Your Next Piece
    1. Using Hard-Edge Brush Techniques
    2. Adjusting and Creating Brushes
    3. Understanding the Power of ShadowBox
    4. Making Difficult Items with ZSpheres
    5. Using Morph Difference to Create Thickness
    6. Artist Spotlight: Tomas Wittelsbach
    7. Artist Spotlight: Vitaly Bulgarov
  13. Chapter 4: Sculpting Hard-Surface Details
    1. Creating a Hose Component
    2. Creating the Front Eye Piece
    3. Using NoiseMaker for Patterns
    4. Artist Spotlight: Sebastien Legrain
    5. Artist Spotlight: Steve Warner
  14. Chapter 5: Adding a Splash of Color
    1. Understanding the Basics of Polypaint
    2. Using AO to Colorize
    3. Using Mask By Cavity to Paint Out Detail
    4. Painting with UV Master
    5. Texturing with Projection Master
    6. Using Photoshop to Paint
    7. Using SpotLight
    8. Artist Spotlight: Michael Defeo
    9. Artist Spotlight: Rudy Massar
  15. Chapter 6: Working with Scan Data
    1. Starting with Scan Data
    2. Understanding How to Manipulate Scan Data
    3. Capturing Color from the Scan Data
    4. Making the Back Mesh of the Ball Cap
    5. Sculpting the Hair with FiberMesh
    6. Artist Spotlight: Mike Jensen
    7. Artist Spotlight: Bryan Wynia
  16. Chapter 7: Posing—Bringing Movement to Your Work
    1. Setting Up a ZSphere Rig with a Single Subtool
    2. Rigging a Single Subtool with Sculpted Detail
    3. Using a Rig with Transpose Master
    4. Creating Multiple Poses with Layers
    5. Assigning Multiple Poses to the Timeline
    6. Exporting Blend Shapes from ZBrush to Maya
    7. Artist Spotlight: Geert Melis
    8. Artist Spotlight: Marco Menco
  17. Chapter 8: Special Project—Creating Hockey Skates
    1. Creating the Laces
    2. Using a Custom Stitch Brush
    3. Using Decimation Master to Reduce Poly Count
    4. Artist Spotlight: Joseph Drust
    5. Artist Spotlight: Christopher Brändström
  18. Chapter 9: Rendering—Bringing Life to Your Image
    1. Rendering a More Realistic Eye
    2. Adjusting the Shadow Settings
    3. Creating an SSS Material
    4. Using the Filter System with BPR
    5. Artist Spotlight: Mark Dedecker
    6. Artist Spotlight: Julian Kenning
  19. Appendix: About the Companion DVD
    1. What You’ll Find on the DVD
    2. System Requirements
    3. Using the DVD
    4. Troubleshooting
    5. Customer Care
  20. Index
  21. Wiley Publishing, Inc. End-User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: ZBrush Professional Tips and Techniques
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: June 2012
  • Publisher(s): Sybex
  • ISBN: 9781118236338