Sculpt a Fantasy Mushroom Man in Pixologic ZBrush

on Feb 12th 2010 with 12 comments

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.

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    By

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    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.  

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    Discussion 12 Comments

    1. hellfire says:
      February 12, 2010 at 2:00 am

      nice ^^ thx Cojo :-)

      Reply
    2. Markus Gustafsson says:
      February 12, 2010 at 3:56 am

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

      Reply
    3. arlington Cruz says:
      February 12, 2010 at 4:22 am

      awesome! we need more zbrush tutorials.

      Reply
    4. Tom says:
      February 12, 2010 at 5:16 am

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

      Reply
    5. Lexmark says:
      February 12, 2010 at 7:20 am

      Felicitari ! Continua sa faci ceea ce faci :P

      Congratulations !

      Reply
    6. LuiSerrano says:
      February 12, 2010 at 9:41 am

      Great!!… good for training, tnks

      PD: yes, we need more zbrush tuts

      Reply
    7. Dave says:
      February 12, 2010 at 3:03 pm

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

      Reply
    8. G3R says:
      February 12, 2010 at 6:26 pm

      Great tutorial!!

      Check audio level in future videos

      Reply
    9. jimmy says:
      February 13, 2010 at 12:19 pm

      cant hear ya

      Reply
    10. lunvina says:
      February 14, 2010 at 2:43 am

      tuyet voi , thanks

      Reply
    11. Alex C. says:
      February 14, 2010 at 11:08 pm

      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!

      Reply

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