Sculpt a Fantasy Mushroom Man in Pixologic ZBrush

on Feb 12th 2010 with 12 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Software: Pixologic ZBrush
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Estimated Completion Time: 2 Hours

The digital sculpting of compelling characters can be one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences in CG today. Due to the very powerful and feature-rich 3d applications used to create this type of art, however, it can also be one of the most daunting skills to learn. In this beginner/ intermediate level ZBrush tutorial, we will take a detailed look at sculpting a Mushroom Man character using only the program’s default tools. Sculpting, retouching, and building a quick pedestal for presentation will all be covered in this exciting walkthrough.

Final Effect Preview

Click on Image to Open a High Rez Version

Tutorial Details

  • Software: Pixologic ZBrush
  • Version: 3.5
  • Difficulty: Beginner/ Intermediate
  • Estimated Completion Time: Approximately 2-3 hours
  • Hardware/ Software Requirements : Windows 2000-XP or Mac OSX 10.5 (or newer); PIII and higher or Intel Macintosh; 1G RAM; Zbrush 3.0 or newer and Subtool Master (plugin)
  • Additional/ Supporting Files: Subtool Master Plugin: download

    • Before You Begin

    Here is a list of some handy and commonly used ZBrush hotkeys that, when mastered, will greatly speed up your workflow. I will also be using them frequently throughout the tutorial.

  • Subdivide Geometry: CTRL+D (D and SHIFT+D to move up and down your subdivision levels)
  • Add/ Subtract/ Smooth Brushes: ALT key toggle Zadd/Zsub; SHIFT toggle Smooth brush
  • Toggle Lazymouse: L
  • Enable/ Disable Symmetry: X/Y/Z depending on the symmetry axis you want to isolate (also accessed through the Transform menu)
  • Sculpt/ Scale/ Move/ Rotate Tools: Q – Sculpt; W – Move; E – Scale; R – Rotate
  • Masking: CTRL + drag on model = Marquee mask; Ctrl + click on model = Smooth mask borders; CTRL + ALT + click on model = Sharpen mask borders; CTRL + click on canvas = Invert mask; CTRL + drag on canvas = Clear mask

    • Video 1

    Download

    Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

    Video 2

    Download

    Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

    Don’t miss more CG tutorials and guides, published daily – subscribe to Cgtuts+ by RSS.

     
    Enjoyed this Post?

    Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!

    By

    Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

    I am a 26 year old self-taught CG artist from Romania, 3ds Max being my main package of choice. I love sculpting in ZBrush and working with particle systems in Max. My website is http://cojoland.blogspot.com.  

    Plus Premium
     
     
    • hellfire

      nice ^^ thx Cojo :-)

    • http://www.ninjaeffects.com Markus Gustafsson

      That mushroom looks evil… but the end result looks amazing!

    • http://arlingtoncruz.blogspot.com arlington Cruz

      awesome! we need more zbrush tutorials.

    • Tom

      FANTASTIC, i’m new to 3D modelling and this is priceless

    • Lexmark

      Felicitari ! Continua sa faci ceea ce faci :P

      Congratulations !

    • LuiSerrano

      Great!!… good for training, tnks

      PD: yes, we need more zbrush tuts

    • Dave

      The sound is extremely low. Please try increasing the volume.

    • G3R

      Great tutorial!!

      Check audio level in future videos

    • jimmy

      cant hear ya

      • http://arlingtoncruz.blogspot.com arlington Cruz

        You can Downloadtut videos and use VLC player. That solves volume problems. it works for me :)

    • http://vietnam lunvina

      tuyet voi , thanks

    • http://www.sicanstudios.com Alex C.

      Bravo! Felicitari!
      Awesome tutorial!

      I had ZBrush installed on PC for a while now trying to make up some time to learn it! This is a great opportunity!

      Thanks!