Simple play icon Course
Skills Expanded

Introduction to ZBrush 4R7

by Justin Marshall

In this ZBrush tutorial, we'll take an introductory look at this powerful sculpting, painting, and illustration application. Software required: ZBrush 4R7.

What you'll learn

In this ZBrush tutorial, we'll take an introductory look at this powerful sculpting, painting, and illustration application. We'll begin by exploring the ZBrush interface and covering the process of getting geometry ready to sculpt so you can jump in and begin creating. We'll talk about Pixols, the unique 2.5D workflow, and basic methods for creating and manipulating geometry on the canvas. How to subdivide your mesh and begin using the sculpting brushes to add detail will also be covered, as well as techniques for painting your models. We'll also cover topics like masking, polygroups, and several innovative methods for building geometry, including ZModeler, ZSpheres, DynaMesh and ShadowBox. We'll start with some simple geometry and then progress to more of a project-based approach as we explore sculpting, painting, using FiberMesh, lighting and rendering, and map creation. ZBrush is an extremely robust application, so we'll only be able to skim the surface of many of its tools in our time together. You can, however, find more in-depth tutorials on many of these topics on the site. Software required: ZBrush 4R7.

About the author

Justin thrives as a lead modeling author at Pluralsight. Growing up, Justin found a deep interest for the computer graphics industry after watching movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and The Abyss. His ambition would lead him to work at Sony Imageworks in Los Angeles on movies like Monster House and Surf's Up. Justin has also had numerous articles, tutorials, and images published in 3D World and 3D Artist. As an author, Justin enjoys collaborating with fellow authors, especially on project... more

Ready to upskill? Get started