Post 10 - ZBrush Books

A book that I have recently been looking at is a book on ZBrush entitled: ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting, written by Scott Spencer, published by Sybex in 2008.

This looks like a great book and has a gradual learning curve as starts with the fundamentals of form, and emotion conveyance.

 


I have also just managed to get out of the library a book which is in high demand.

It is called: ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy, also written by Scott Spencer, published by Sybex in 2010.

At first glance, this is a very interesting read and have already been using it to begin making a base figure mesh for my task three of my 3D Technology module.

Character Creation Link -  http://www.sybex.com/WileyCDA/SybexTitle/ZBrush-Character-Creation-Advanced-Digital-Sculpting.productCd-047024996X.html 

Human Anatomy Book Link - http://www.pixologic.com/blog/2010/01/zbrush-book-digital-sculpting-human-anatomy-by-scott-spencer/

Post 09 - ZBrush Research

I have begun to research the digital sculpting software ZBrush, made by Pixologic. The sources for this research are mentioned in another one of my blogs and can be accessed by using this link.

However, these links can also be found below with a brief overview of them.

Pixologic website

This website is great as it is updated regularly and is hosted by the creators of ZBrush. It includes interviews, case studies, examples of work as well and tutorials and hints and tips. I am currently going through the video tutorials.

3D Total website

A great online and printed magazine, which also features interviews (currently following the work of Cedric Seaut), case studies and tutorials. This website also provides free models, something which I am taking advantage of in my 3D Animation module)

3D World - ZBrush Essential 'bookazine' 

This is a large magazine, which has been published exclusively on ZBrush. This includes a DVD which has over 20 tutorials on it, with over 10 hours of videos. This was published in November and will b of great help.

CG.tutplus - ZBrush additional tutorials

This website has been very useful and also contains many video tutorials for ZBrush. It covers similar ground to that of the Pixologic website, but as they are different tutorials, its always good to see how other people navigate and use the software. 

At this stage, there seems to be a a lot of research into the modelling, sculpting sector, with relevance to games as this is what I am interested in. Animation is also an interest of mine, so some more research should be done in this area also.

I wish to soon look into a couple of case studies.

Links:

Pixologic website: http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/

3D Total website: http://www.3dtotal.com/

3D World - ZBrush Essential 'bookazine': http://www.3dworldmag.com/2010/10/21/zbrush-essentials/

CG.tutplus - ZBrush additional tutorials: http://cg.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/tutorial-roundup-82-earth-shattering-zbrush-tutorials/

Post 08 - 10 Minute Talk & Vimeo clip

I have just completed the my Task One, which was the 10 Minute talk. I think it went well, but I was aware that some of it was scripted (due to the quantity of information I found) As I didn't want it to go over, I was reading at an 'efficient rate' 

Despite this, I feel that there was plenty of relevant information, good examples and fulfilled the brief. 

Also, I have just found this animation, which has a very interesting character in it entitled 'no shi da'. It is very stylish and caught my eye. This may be one of the areas of inspiration I use for my task three as it looks like it could be sculpted using digital clay.


Character Vimeo link - http://www.vimeo.com/groups/1661/videos/14269481

Post 07 - ISSUU Task Two

Here is a link to a brief web publication I have made for Task two. It is a brief summary of the research and Work I have done for the first 7-8 weeks, which applies to task one and task two.

ISSUU Link: http://issuu.com/rob_dyke/docs/3d_tech_task_two

Here is also the latest developments of the figure I have been working on using the retopology technique.

Post 06 - Presentation & Retopology

Since the session last Thursday, I have been practicing a technique shown to me by our session tutor for creating a low poly mesh in 3Ds Max from a Mudbox human figure model. This process is very interesting as it allows for a high poly figure or model to be created, then a low poly copy of it can be produced by using various tools from the Graphite and Freedom drop down tool bar. I have so far completed the head, as can be seen in this image.

The process of retopology is one which I will look into with more detail in my research report, which is task two and should feed nicely into my task three. Task three at this stage will be to create a game ready, or highly detailed games ready character. This may be sculpted in Mudbox, then recreated in 3Ds Max to lower the poly count. This will then be used in conjunction with my 3D Animation module and animated in a variety of ways.

I have also recently completed my task one (ten minute technology presentation) and have used the presentation software, Prezi to do this. I have still yet to run through and practice it for timing so apart from being subject to shortening, it is finished. This is due next week.









Prezi Presentation - http://prezi.com/dtbjerxr0qp_/3d-technology-task-one-presentation/

Post 05 - Figure and Mudbox

I have continued with the figure since my last blog and managed to create the chest, arms and hands. This tutorial is starting to get very complicated and the work flow has consequently suffered.

I have also began the '10 Minute Technology' task and begun research two modelling techniques, which are box, or poly modelling and sculpting. I have so far been reading and taken references from the following:

- ‘Kizamu: A System For Sculpting Digital Characters’, Proceedings of the 28th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, By Ronald N. Perry & Sarah F. Frisken, (2001), 47-56

- 'Digital Sculpting with Mudbox', By Mike de la Flor and Bridgette Mongeon (Focal Press, 2010)

- 'The Art of Computer Animation and Effects', By Issac Kerlow (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2009)

I have also completed the first tutorial from the 'Digital Sculpting with Mudbox' book. The resulting 'pepper model' may be included in task one as an example.

As my task three will be to create a game ready character, it is my aim to incorporate what I learn from task one and include it in my research proposal for task two. The full presentation shall be posted once it is complete.

Post 04 - Figure

I'm currently using a helpful tutorial from a link within the X-stream portal website and have started making a human figure. It is a female torso, which took an evening to make, but I think that it is a great start to the product and may use this method to create the final piece. The tutorial ends with a completed torso and arms. There is also a tutorial for the head and legs, so once I have made the body, I will complete the rest of it. These can be found on the same website. The website for this tutorial web site is located at the end of this blog. Once this is complete, I aim to use the same techniques to also create a male figure, paying attention to the differences in body shape.

Tutorial Website: http://www.arildwiro.com/tutorials/modelling/body/body01.html

Post 03 - Grunt work

After my poor head model, I decided to devote the weekend to learning as much as I could about 3ds Max. I mainly used a book entitled 3ds Max 9 Essentials by Autodesk (Focal Press, 2007). So far it has proved to be a very good and insightful source of information. I have so far completed all tutorials from pages 189-291. I have taught myself a number of tools, techniques and feel that I have a better rounded understanding of the software. From the book, I have added detail to an engine piece, made shapes from the Lathe modifier and made other shapes using bevel profiles.

The next piece of work I am going to start is a prototype for my final product and start modelling a human figure. However, the book I used is in high demand and as been put on hold by someone else through the library. As a result of this, I will be looking at other sources of information, as well as looking into purchasing this and several other books in this area n order to have uninterrupted reading.

Post 02 - Initial development

Since my last blog, I have attained the week three seminar, which was a brief walk through of 3Ds Max 11. I picked up a couple of pointers and have been focusing on the technical know how since. I am pretty confident now, that my final product will be a couple of characters, which can be animated and used in a game. These will be animated in a short sequence, which will be the tie in with my 3D Animation module. I will be looking into my 10 minute talk topic and researching this by the end of week 4. My first attempt at modelling was a head. 

However, this was a bit of a failure as I created too many vertices and certain edges crossed paths, which had an affect on the symmetry modifier (as seen on the nose and brow). However, as all practical work is worth doing, I hope to learn from this prototype.

Post 01 - 3D Computer Technologies

These are a series of posts, aimed at communicating and showing my progression of research. As mentioned in my other blog titled '3D Animation' I aim to eventually combine this module along with my 3D Computer Technologies module to create a synoptic final project. 

My initial idea is to create a set of characters in one module, and develop and create an animation in the other. Task One, which is due in on the 17th of November is a 10 minute talk on an area of computer technology. The idea is to critique and evaluate to main techniques, or similar technologies and present the pros and cons of each in relation to what they are supposed to solve or do. I am unsure as that what I am going to research at this point, but my initial idea is to look into a couple of different methods of 3D character modeling methods. This will be confirmed and fleshed out within in weeks time. Running along side this, I also have to develop a Research proposal, which will essentially be presented to the other students and the tutor on what I wish to make for Task Three. In my case, this will be looking into character design and techniques. This blog will be added to as and when more research and development takes place.