Creating an Armored Beast in ZBrush
In this ZBrush tutorial, we will go over the methods developed to create a unique fantasy creature, using animal references to help base our character in reality. Software required: ZBrush 4R5, Photoshop CS6, KeyShot.
What you'll learn
In this ZBrush tutorial, we will go over the methods developed to create a unique fantasy creature, using animal references to help base our character in reality. We will also cover methods to quickly create a unique set of armor and accessories for our creature. By the end of the training, you'll have a deeper insight into concepting and expanding your skill set, and you'll be able adapt these methods into your own process to create a portfolio-ready piece. Software required: ZBrush 4R5, Photoshop CS6, KeyShot.
Table of contents
- Informing Our Design with Animal Anatomy Reference 7m
- Using ZSpheres to Create a Base Mesh 7m
- Continuing to Build Our Base Mesh 8m
- Blocking in the Main Forms 5m
- Continuing Blocking in the Forms of Our Character 5m
- Refining Major Muscle Groups 6m
- Continuing to Refine the Creature 6m
- Adding Muscle Structure and Refining Form 5m
- Further Defining the Anatomy of the Creature 6m
- Adjusting Silhouette and Beginning Sculpting the Feet 7m
- Continuing to Adjust the Silhouette of Our Creature 7m
- Continuing to Build Teeth for Our Character 6m
- Beginning to Sculpt the Back Feet of the Character 6m
- Adding Muscle Structure and Refining Secondary Form 6m
- Reading the Character from a Distance 6m
- Using QRemesher to Retopologize Our Creature 6m
- Beginning to Create the Armor for Our Creature 5m
- Building Back Armor for Our Creature 6m
- Building the Saddle 4m
- Making Face Armor for Our Creature 6m
- Adding Secondary Pieces of Armor and Creating Leather Straps 8m
- Adding Accessories to the Saddle 6m
- Detailing Accessories and Creating Elbow Armor 6m
- Adding Spikes to the Armor and Detailing the Creature 6m
- Using Alphas to Detail the Creature 3m
- Adding Detailed Props 4m
- Beginning to Detail the Armor and Accessories 4m
- Continuing to Detail the Armor 5m
- Using the Slash Brush to Detail the Armor 3m
- Beginning Painting the Body of the Creature 3m
- Continuing to Paint the Creature 3m
- Adding Secondary Details to the Paint 4m
- Painting the Armor of Our Creature 9m
- Painting the Accessories 6m
- Continuing the Paint Process and Posing Our Character 7m
- Exporting the Textures 4m
- Decimating the SubTools to Prepare for Export 6m
- Importing Our Objects into KeyShot 9m
- Setting up the Camera and Editing Materials 10m
- Setting up the Lighting for Our Scene 10m
- Continuing to Composite the Render 10m
- Creating an Ambient Occlusion Pass 15m
- Compositing a Background for the Render 13m
- Using the Clown Pass to Adjust the Render 12m
- Using Texture Overlay to Enhance Our Render 11m
- Final Touches 12m
About the author
Josh Crockett is a freelance artist specializing in digital sculpture, concept art, illustration, and creature/character design for the film, gaming, television and publishing industries. He has worked on numerous independent features and his artwork has been featured on numerous websites and publications, including 3D Artist Magazine, Daz3D and Coast to Coast AM. He was also voted artist of the month on Renderosity.com.