ZBrush Digital Sculpting

Taking into account that many of today’s digital artists — particularly 3D character animators — lack foundational artistic instruction, this book teaches anatomy in a coherent and succinct style. A clear writing style explains how to sculpt an accurate human figure, starting with the skeleton and working out to muscle, fat, and skin. Insightful explanations enable you to quickly and easily create and design characters that can be used in film, game, or print, and allows you to gain a strong understanding of the foundational artistic concepts.

Create memorable human figures for movies and games

To create compelling characters, you need to make them realistic, and ZBrush by itself can take you only so far. You also need solid artistic skills. This full-color, illustrated guide teaches you the basics of human anatomy, so you can create captivating human figures that really come to life on screen.

Using ZBrush 3.5 tools, you’ll sculpt a heroic male figure, learning each body part as you go, including head, neck, torso, arms, legs, bones, and muscle. This book emphasizes concepts that have guided artists for centuries, such as gesture, form, and proportion, helping you develop foundational skills you can draw upon throughout your career. Transform your animation into professional-level artistry with this must-have guide.

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• •  Understand the basic tenets of form, proportion, gesture, and rhythm

•  Master basic anatomical terms for skeletal regions and muscle groups

•  Break down the regions of the body into simple geometric shapes

•  Begin roughing in your figure with Claytubes and other tools

•  Create the impression of flesh over underlying muscle and bone

•  Learn ZBrush remeshing and color-mapping techniques

•  Flesh out your figure with fine detail and costuming

•  Repurpose your figure for film, video games, Web, or digital output

•  Build skills you can also apply to Maya®, 3ds Max, Blender, and Photoshop

Enhance your learning with video instruction that walks you through the projects in the book. You’ll also find anatomy models to use for practice.

Use ZBrush tools to perfect the fine detail of muscle construction

Sculpt different kinds of fabric to clad a heroic character

Lay the groundwork for believable facial expression with a solid foundation

About the Author

Scott Spencer is a freelance character designer and sculptor currently working at the Weta Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand. Scott has worked on titles such as Iron Man, Golden Axe, Species 3, and others. His work can be seen in film, video games, and a variety of collectible figures.