ZBrush Tutorials

These days it's common practice to create extremely high resolution and highly detailed models in sculpting applications like ZBrush or Mudbox. These models can give us a great idea of what a character, set, or prop will look like but they're usually not optimized for rigging, animation, or use in a real-time game engine. Or the underlying topology we are using to sculpt may not be optimal for the detail we're creating. TopoGun remedies these issues by allowing us to very intuitively draw new geometry right on top of our existing models. This new topology can be used as a new base mesh when sculpting, or we can use it in a game engine along with all of the texture and normal maps that TopoGun also creates. We'll start out the course by talking about the importance of good topology and why TopoGun can be such a a useful tool. We'll go over the interface and the basics of getting around the application. We'll talk about the tools you'll be using in TopoGun to create and modify topology. We'll cover the generation of different types of texture maps and cover a symmetrical workflow. Once we're done with the tutorial, you'll be able to start using TopoGun to really speed up your workflow and create more optimal topology for your projects. We will also be jumping around a little to different applications, to see how well TopoGun integrates, so it will be helpful if you have some experience with Maya, ZBrush, or Mudbox.

When creating creatures for different types of projects, it's often necessary to create multiple variations or ideas to be able to narrow down the desired look. The faster and easier this process is, the quicker the final model can be created and integrated into the production. ZBrush 4R2 offers a number tools that lend themselves well to this concepting process. We'll talk about using DynaMesh as an alternative to ZSpheres or ZSketching. It will allow us to quickly build up models, without having to worry about polygon count, topology, or stretched polygons. We'll also cover methods for creating pieces with ShadowBox and integrating those pieces quickly into our concept mesh. We'll also talk about adding finer details so we can get a more finished looking concept. We won't go step by step in creating every part of a particular model, but rather talk about the methods you can use to get your creature concepts created as efficiently as possible.

Throughout these lessons we will focus on creating a polished image of a cartoon nature. Doing still images for your personal portfolio is important because this builds a library of techniques that can be used later for production. By the end of this tutorial we will have gone through all the steps required to learn the importance of each part so that our image is appealing in the end.

We will start by referencing our game document, which will be our guide through the process of creating our Unity game. We can find information on the look of our models but also on the desired resolutions of the models and textures. We will concentrate on creating game topology for our two characters and two weapon models. We will also cover map generation and texture painting as part of the process. In the end we will have models ready to be rigged and animated or plugged directly into the game engine. We will use a variety of software packages from Maya, to TopoGun, to ZBrush and Mudbox in order to prepare our assets so there will be a lot of back and forth. This course references some pre-made assets and covers methods for modifying and prepping those assets for this particular game. In most of these cases, if you'd like to learn to build these assets from start to finish, there is a tutorial that will fill your need. For instance, in this course we look at the steps we went through to modify the biker character from Creating High Resolution Characters in ZBrush 4 and Creating Game Characters with Maya 2011 and ZBrush 4. So if you'd like to build the character from scratch, those two courses will take you through the process. The same goes for the enemy tick creature, which is from the Introduction the Mudbox 2011, and the assault rifle from Creating Next-Gen Game Assets in Maya.

Throughout the tutorial we will learn methods that allow us to focus on the expression and emotion of the character and the personality it conveys, instead of having to worry about the topology while modeling using ZBrush and 3D Coat. We will look at how we can take advantage of 3D Coat's excellent retopology tools, including automatic retopology. Other modeling techniques we'll learn are Shadowbox, DynaMesh, insert brushes, extractions, alpha to 3D and ZSketch.

Throughout these lessons we'll delve into the animated growth of a tree branch as a time-lapse video. We'll learn everything from modeling, texturing and shading to the animation and final compositing. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a better understanding of how you can employ efficient and productive techniques for a time-lapse video that can be used when up against a tight deadline.

Sculpting applications like ZBrush are great for creating extremely detailed models, complete with surface texture and color. But to be able to rig, animate, or integrate these models into a game engine, we first have to convert the model to a much lower resolution. TopoGun is a great tool for taking our detailed meshes and allowing us to very intuitively redraw this new topology. In addition, it will allow us to project all of the mesh's detail onto maps. In this way we can use a lower resolution version of the model, while it still appears very detailed. We will start the tutorial by preparing and exporting our dense meshes from ZBrush and then bring those into TopoGun as references. We'll use several tools in TopoGun to literally draw new base geometry right onto the high resolution meshes. We'll look at several of the tools available and how we can manipulate and change topology once it's been created. Once the topology is done, we'll create UVs for the new pieces and then generate maps for the detail and color information. Once we're done with the tutorial you'll have created your own game-type character from a very dense sculpt and you'll have the knowledge you need to repeat the process on your own creations.

This tutorial will go through all of the steps of the process of making a polished image of a creature character. We will learn the importance of each part to ensure that our image is appealing in the end.

Over the course of this tutorial we will look at how to sculpt a Wolfman creature concept using ZBrush. Once our base mesh has been created in Maya, we will use industry-proven techniques to block out and then add anatomical and fine detail before creating a custom brush and alpha to easily and intuitively add dense fur detail. We will then look at some of the new BPR rendering features that are new inside of ZBrush 4R2 to render out a turntable that replicates the look of a vinyl maquette. The final sculpt could be used to get approval for a design from a director as the base for a hero character model for TV, film, games or to be printed out and used as a vinyl statue.

Throughout this detailed tutorial, we'll leverage the power of ZBrush and Maya to build a strong female hero character from start to finish. We'll use Zspheres to block in the rough shape of our model and then send our geometry over to Maya using the one-click GoZ functionality. In Maya, we can recreate the topology of any of our pieces, we can create new geometry to send back to ZBrush, or modify existing geometry. We'll be going back and forth quite a bit in order to use the tools most appropriate for building the character's clothing and accessories. In addition to the modeling tools in Maya, we'll also use many of ZBrush's built in modeling functions including Shadowbox, mesh extraction, and the topology tools. Once we're done, we'll have a finished high-resolution character that can be painted or prepared for rigging, and you'll have the knowledge to repeat the process on your own character.

Each video in this course is a self-contained lesson centering on one of the brushes available in ZBrush. This means that these tutorials can be viewed in any order you wish, allowing you to jump straight to the content that is most relevant to you. These tutorials will continued to be updated, covering all of the powerful 3D brushes ZBrush offers.

In this series of lessons we'll use ZBrush's powerful materials and painting tools to add color and texture to our female hero model. We'll start by adding simple materials to some of the clothing and accessories and look at how we can customize those materials. We'll talk about the importance of adding color variation in getting realistic results as we paint the different articles of clothing for our character. We'll also learn to isolate different polygroups for painting and look at adding dirt and grime. We'll paint and sculpt together to add detail to the model and talk about using UV layouts and texture files to help us finish the clothing. We'll use Spotlight to paint through photographs in order to texture the face, arms, and abdomen. We'll go step by step through the process of texturing our female character so that by the end of this tutorial, you'll have a painted model, but you'll also have the knowledge you need to begin texturing your own ZBrush creations.

While this series of tutorials is not a step-by-step guide, they instead offer an in-depth look at the key aspects of production that goes into creating realistic-looking shots that would otherwise be difficult to shoot without the aid of computer graphics. These tutorials will cover everything from the concept sketches and visualization to modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering and final compositing of the photorealistic shots. While the tools used in this series of tutorials are primarily Maya and modo, the techniques discussed are easily applicable to other mainstream applications.

The focus of this tutorial will be the creation of the character maquette entirely within ZBrush, with goal of creating a great looking rendered still as an and product. It is intended as an overall introduction to many of the tools within ZBrush which make the creation and output of this kind of illustration possible. The Image you see above was sculpted, textured and rendered in a single 9 hour day using these techniques.

When getting into digital sculpting, some of the applications can seem a little daunting. There is a lot to think about, and much of it has to do with the technical aspects that allow the sculpts to be used in a production pipeline. Sculptris removes a lot of those technical concerns and really allows artists to concentrate on the sculpting. Using a really innovative feature called dynamic tessellation, it allows us to not have to worry if we have enough polygons or what level we need to be on to get a particular detail. In this course we'll cover the sculpting functionality, how dynamic tessellation works, and modifying the resolution manually. We'll also cover the painting functionality and how Sculptris works with ZBrush.

Blend shapes are a great way to quickly add expression to our characters or otherwise deform models based on our specific design. ZBrush is particularly adept at allowing us to create those target shapes. In this series of lessons we’ll learn how to use the Blend Shapes plug-in to quickly create and export blend shapes for use in Maya. We will begin by talking about the installation of the plug-in and then take a look at its simple interface. We will proceed to create an expression for our old man character and export it quickly to Maya. While there, we will look at how to access our new blend shapes and talk about the other data that will come through with the transfer. We will also talk about exporting multiple blend shapes to create expression libraries and we'll finish up by looking at how we can export shapes for multiple subtools. Once completed, you'll be able to start transferring your own blend shapes to Maya much more quickly and easily.

Welcome to the Professional Series for Creature Creation Techniques in ZBrush, an advanced learning guide for skilled artists brought to you by Digital-Tutors, the largest online CG training library in the world and a Pixologic Authorized Training Provider. This specific high-level tutorial was designed to evolve your workflows, and give you some concepts to keep in mind as you go through your creature creation process. The objectives for this fast-pace, course include looking at several different workflows and techniques for building and sculpting creatures. We will not be going step by step through building a specific project, but rather talk in broad terms about some of the situations you will encounter and what options you have for dealing with those issues. It is recommended that you have experience using ZBrush as we cover a lot of information in a shorter span of time. If you are an artist new to ZBrush the Beginner Guide courses are a perfect place to start. From there you can check out any of the intermediate step-by-step project based courses that will take you through the entire process.

When using the increasingly complex ZBrush models you create in other applications, it becomes very important to be able export the different map types efficiently. In this series of lessons we will explore the use of the Multi Map Exporter plugin to speed up our map creation workflow. We will start by looking at installing the plugin and explore the map types and options available within the Multi Map Exporter. We will then look at how to export maps for single and multiple subtools, including color textures, ambient occlusion maps, displacement maps, normals maps and cavity maps. We will also cover how the plugin will allow you to export your geometry. We will finish up by looking at one of the most useful features of the plugin, the ability to export merged maps over multiple subtools. In the end, you will have a much better idea of how you can integrate this powerful plugin into your ZBrush workflow.

ZBrush 4 has a number of tools that make building hard surface models incredibly easy. In this series of lessons we will use those hard surface tools to sculpt a realistic handgun. We will start by using Shadowbox to block out a base for the gun. We will use the powerful clipping brushes to shape the model before creating our own new topology for the mesh, complete with subdivision levels and projected detail. We will use the polish brushes to add bevels and create smooth transitions with hard edges to refine the mesh. We will look at several ways of building accessories, including mesh extraction for the back strap, the topology tools for the grips, and Shadowbox for many of the smaller but complex pieces. We will finish up our project by adding materials to the different pieces and use Spotlight to paint a texture for the grips. In the end, you will not only have created a realistic handgun from scratch using only ZBrush, but you will then have the knowledge you need to create your own guns and weapons in ZBrush.

ZBrush is a great tool for creating intricate models and it is important that you showcase the work that you do in the best possible light. In this series of lessons we will look at several of the things you need to think about when presenting your ZBrush work as rendered stills or animations. We will start by talking about some of the basic ways to get images and animations out of ZBrush, including things to think about when changing document settings and render settings. We will talk about some of the things you can do to add a little appeal to the presentation of your models like changing the materials and adding poses to your characters. We will explore some of the animation tools and look at a variety of display options that we can animate. We will look into grounding our models using turntable bases and use Xpose to animate subtool reveals. We will also explore the animation of layers to show off variations, like facial expressions, that we may have created. By the end of this ZBrush tutorial, you will have a better idea of some of the tools you can use to show off the work you have done in ZBrush and create the best impression possible.

Introducing the Beginner Guide to ZBrush, a fundamental learning series brought to you by Digital-Tutors, the largest online CG training library in the world and a Pixologic Authorized Training Provider. In this course you will get an introductory look into ZBrush so you can learn essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation. We will start off by covering the basics of the ZBrush interface and how you can work with models in the application. We will then take a look at how models are subdivided and how you can then sculpt and paint the detail you want. You will also learn about adding materials, posing geometry, and creating models using ZSpheres. And to wrap up, we will look at how plug-ins can be used to extend the functionality of ZBrush. This series of step-by-step videos was developed with artists new to ZBrush in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques. To view more Beginner Guide courses; visit our library where you will find the largest collection of free, high-quality CG training videos.

When creating digital sculptures in ZBrush, the rendering and presentation of that artwork is a very important aspect to consider. With the new rendering features that have been added in ZBrush 4, we can create renders that are much higher in quality and realism without ever having to leave ZBrush. This course will cover topics such as ambient occlusion rendering, adding subsurface scattering effects to our ZBrush models, rendering transparent refractive surfaces, rendering our ZBrush artwork into multiple passes for compositing purposes, as well as many other tips and techniques that will teach you not just how these features work, but how to use them properly to get the best results.

When building 3D assets, the ability of your computer to manipulate those objects is limited, especially when dealing with very high resolution meshes. Because of this, we use 2D images, like normal maps, to simulate the high resolution detail in a way that we can more easily use. In this course, we will build a sword from scratch in CINEMA 4D. Once the base geometry is modeled, we will completely sculpt and paint the sword in ZBrush using a variety of techniques. To finish up, we will generate maps for the color and sculpted detail and use GoZ to quickly transfer all of the data back to CINEMA 4D. When you are done, you will have a better understanding of the workflow involved in building and sculpting high resolution props and set pieces with CINEMA 4D and Zbrush and creating useable assets from them.

ZBrush has been a powerful texturing tool for several years, giving us the ability to paint very quickly and intuitively directly on our models. With the addition of Spotlight in ZBrush 4, we can project existing textures onto our models in a very user friendly way that will get us great results in a matter of minutes. We will begin our project by importing our reference images and learning to save them out as a Spotlight that we can reuse over and over. From there, we will learn to adjust aspects of our images like hue and saturation before painting with them. We will also learn to move parts of our images around to better match with the underlying geometry. We will also cover techniques for filling gaps on the model to blend in areas that we may not have reference of. We will finish up by using LightBox to download any additional images we might need and incorporate those into our existing Spotlight. Once you are done, you will be able use Spotlight to very quickly paint your characters or other models using existing images.

Creating appealing characters is a lot of fun when using powerful sculpting applications like Zbrush or Mudbox in conjunction with 3ds Max. We are able to create models with a very high level of detail in our sculpting applications. But getting those characters into a lower resolution state suitable for rigging and animation can be a little more challenging. In this tutorial, we will go through the process of using 3ds Max and Zbrush to convert a high resolution, sculpted and painted character into a low resolution game-type mesh that can be rigged and animated. We will start by using Decimation Master to reduce the resolution of our model drastically while retaining much of the visual detail. Once we are in 3ds Max, we will build low resolution geometry around these detailed meshes so we can capture the important shapes of the character. We will create uv layouts for the low resolution pieces and finally extract the color and sculpted detail from our high res pieces onto the new mesh. In the end we will have taken a model of 20 million polygons down to approximately 8000 triangles. Once you are done, you will be able to use the workflow to transfer and convert your own high resolution characters into a more useable state.

ZBrush is a great tool for putting together characters. You can create base geometry, sculpt and paint your meshes, build accessories and clothing, and work seamlessly between other applications. In this course, we'll go through the process of building up a high resolution character from start to finish using ZBrush as our main application. We'll explore the use of zSpheres in building out our base mesh. We'll use GoZ to quickly take geometry between ZBrush and Maya, although the methods used will apply to other applications as well. We'll also use a bit of Photoshop to edit and create some texture maps we can use in ZBrush to add sculpt and color detail. If you're new to ZBrush, I encourage you to first check out the introductory courses, as well as the courses on some of the new features in ZBrush 4 like Shadowbox and Spotlight. We're going to cover a lot of ground and, in the end, you'll have a finished character, along with the tools you need to create your own high resolution character models.

In this course, we'll go through the process of using Maya and ZBrush to convert a high resolution, sculpted and painted character into a low resolution game-type mesh that can be rigged and animated. We'll start by using Decimation Master to reduce the resolution of our model drastically while retaining much of the visual detail. Once we're in Maya, we'll build low resolution geometry around these detailed meshes to capture the important shapes of the character. We'll create uv layouts for the low resolution pieces and finally extract the color and sculpted detail from our high resolution pieces onto the new mesh. In the end we'll have taken a model of 20 million polygons down to a very useable 8-10k. Once you're done, you'll be able to use the workflow to transfer and convert your own high resolution characters into a more useable state.

ZBrush and Maya are both very powerful 3D applications that each offers its own strengths. By combining these two programs into our workflow, we can take advantage of those strengths to get our work done quicker and more efficiently. In this course, we'’ll cover many of the tools and techniques we can use to merge ZBrush and Maya into our workflows. We'll explore methods for manually transferring geometry back and forth between the two applications. We'll also look at creating color maps, Normal maps, and Displacement maps, and transferring those to Maya. We'll look at the GoZ pipeline and how it will make working with ZBrush and Maya a really seamless process. We'll also look at some practical reasons for choosing to use Maya and ZBrush in tandem. In the end, you'll have a good understanding of how you can work efficiently between Maya and ZBrush, leveraging the strengths of both to create your best work.

Zbrush has always been a great tool for sculpting and painting complex organic shapes. However, creating sharp, hard-surface pieces with complicated shapes has been more challenging. With ShadowBox in Zbrush 4, artists will have a much wider range of objects they're able to create.

Spotlights are a great tool for organizing and optimizing our texture painting workflow in ZBrush. In this tutorial, we'll get a good basic knowledge of working with Spotlight in ZBrush. We'll talk about loading images, organizing them within a Spotlight, modifying them, and using them to paint onto our models.

With the release of Zbrush 4 a number of new features have been added that will make sculpting and painting even easier and more fun. In this course we will take a look at some of those new features and how they can be used in your workflow. We'll start by exploring some of the changes to the way we can interact with subtools. We will look at new brush settings like elasticity and topological masking that can help us to shape our models more quickly. We will take a look at the new Shadow Box and Clip Brushes that will really aid us in creating hard surface models. We will also cover Spotlight, a great tool for manipulating and adjusting images and projecting them onto our models. Finally we'll go over some of the new rendering functionality and look at the animation tools and how they can help us better present our models. Once done with the tutorials, you will have a much better idea of some of the new features to look for in Zbrush 4 and how you can start to use those in your own projects.

The UV Master is a Pixologic-developed plug-in, which allows us to effortlessly create unwrapped UVs for our characters within ZBrush. By using this plug-in, the entire UV layout process can be accomplished in a matter of minutes, allowing us to dedicate more time to the sculpting and texturing of our characters in ZBrush. During this course, we will teach you everything you need to start using the UV Master, including the use of control painting to define UV seams, using density maps to control UV spacing, saving and loading control maps, and several other innovative features. Along the way, we will also make you aware of some common issues and complications that you may run into when using the UV Master, as well as how you can usually work around them.

We will be creating this character entirely within ZBrush, so we will begin by using ZSpheres to create the base mesh for the head and upper torso. From there, we will be going through the process of reshaping and detailing facial features, and in doing so, we will be placing special emphasis on important topics such as proper facial proportions, understanding the importance and function of key facial muscles, understanding the effects of aging on the human face, and making sure we incorporate all of these critical concepts into our final character. We will also use a variety of tools and techniques within ZBrush to create several articles of clothing for our character.

ZBrush has always been a great application for sculpting incredibly detailed organic shapes. But did you know that ZBrush has a number of useful tools that will help you to sculpt more hard surface shapes as well? In this course, we'll talk about the Polish brushes, which will allow us to combine smooth curves and sharp edges in a single stroke. The strokes themselves have been enhanced with Backtrack, allowing us to get smoother, straighter lines when sculpting. We'll also cover the Re-mesh functionality which will allow us to combine multiple shapes in Boolean-type operations. We can also take advantage of the ZBrush primitives to give us a great starting point for some of our hard surface shapes.

ZSpheres have been a great way of building up more complex base geometry in ZBrush to serve as a basis for sculpting. This feature allows us to stay in ZBrush and work up concepts and models very quickly. With the addition of ZSketching in ZBrush 3.5, this process becomes even better. In this course, we'll learn to add mass to ZSphere armatures using a variety of ZSketch brushes. We'll learn to modify how our sketching interacts with the existing ZSpheres using our brush depth and the various smooth brushes. We'll look at ways we can modify existing sketched detail using the move tool, as well as brushes like push/pull, float, and bulge. In addition to creating mass along an existing armature, we'll use the armature brush to sketch detail out away from the surface, allowing you to create much more freeform shapes. We'll then explore some of the ways we can output geometry so that we can begin sculpting. Upon completion of the tutorials, you'll be ready to get started sketching out your own base geometry in ZBrush.

Building and detailing environments can be a time consuming process. To finish your models, you might need to create texture maps, either derived from photos, procedurally generated or hand painted. Adding higher resolution detail, like bricks or stone, to your interior and exterior models can be challenging as well. ZBrush can make this process a little bit easier. We'll start by creating a seamless brick texture that we can apply to our geometry. We'll look at using the Projection Master to quickly add detail to our models. We'll use Noise to interactively dial in some specific patterns, like a knockdown wall texture. We'll also look at building individual elements using primitive geometry that we can then append to our model. Once you're done with the tutorial, you'll have a better understanding of some of the tools you can use to detail your environments in ZBrush and a few ideas to get you going.