Mr-Brett's Sketchbook

Mr-Brett · 14-07-2011, 01:44 PM

I'm hoping that more interaction here will help spur me on to being more productive, so here goes

First up:

I'm trying to learn ZBrush at the moment so after a couple of days of tutorial videos and messing about, I decided to make a rock. I made a base mesh in Max which was probably not necessary but figure that it'll be the workflow for proper projects so might as well.

digitalpaintbucket · 14-07-2011, 03:21 PM

A base mesh is excellent, you should always start there. I like what I'm seeing so far, but I think it could use a little bit more hard edges. What brushes and alphas did you use to create this?

Mr-Brett · 14-07-2011, 03:36 PM

Yeah you're right, it's so easy to make things too smooth in ZBrush, I'll certainly try and improve on that.

I used, standard, move and rake brushes I think. As for alphas, I used some home-made ones but mainly ones from this tutorial, which is something I generally try to avoid but thought it wasn't worth spending too much time on creating alphas for a practice piece.

Skylebones · 14-07-2011, 03:51 PM

It looks pretty good! Maybe a quick run with the pinch brush to harden it up a bit would help.

Mr-Brett · 14-07-2011, 05:26 PM

Duly noted, cheers.

Mr-Brett · 19-07-2011, 03:26 AM

I've been working on another rock, this time a bit different:

Based on this:

It's a a Tor on Dartmoor if anyone is interested. Since I don't have enough images of the rocks, I'm not going for an exact replica but trying to keep it similar.

I'm not all that happy with this one so far, but I'm definitely learning more of the program, so it's not wasted time/effort.

Does anyone know if it's possible to export a normal map from ZBrush to Max if the model wasn't unwrapped before importing to ZBrush?

Mr-Brett · 21-07-2011, 05:02 AM

Too much?

now to try some texturing in ZBrush, this should be interesting

Mr-Brett · 21-07-2011, 08:59 AM

Wow, that was easy

I wish I'd bothered to unwrap this first now, so I could try getting diffuse/spec/norm maps from it and seeing it on a low poly mesh in Max.

digitalpaintbucket · 21-07-2011, 03:10 PM

Have you ever tried using Xnormal? It is a really good program for extracting Normal Maps from your high res sculpts and Ambient occlusions to use in your texture maps. You should look into it

Mr-Brett · 22-07-2011, 04:13 AM

Thanks, I'll give it a go

14-07-2011, 01:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Mr-Brett's Sketchbook I'm hoping that more interaction here will help spur me on to being more productive, so here goes First up: I'm trying to learn ZBrush at the moment so after a couple of days of tutorial videos and messing about, I decided to make a rock. I made a base mesh in Max which was probably not necessary but figure that it'll be the workflow for proper projects so might as well. __________________ Portfolio

14-07-2011, 03:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Yeah you're right, it's so easy to make things too smooth in ZBrush, I'll certainly try and improve on that. I used, standard, move and rake brushes I think. As for alphas, I used some home-made ones but mainly ones from this tutorial, which is something I generally try to avoid but thought it wasn't worth spending too much time on creating alphas for a practice piece. __________________ Portfolio

14-07-2011, 03:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
Skylebones New Member 47 - 27	It looks pretty good! Maybe a quick run with the pinch brush to harden it up a bit would help. __________________ www.smileybones.com

14-07-2011, 05:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Duly noted, cheers. __________________ Portfolio

19-07-2011, 03:26 AM	#6 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	I've been working on another rock, this time a bit different: Based on this: It's a a Tor on Dartmoor if anyone is interested. Since I don't have enough images of the rocks, I'm not going for an exact replica but trying to keep it similar. I'm not all that happy with this one so far, but I'm definitely learning more of the program, so it's not wasted time/effort. Does anyone know if it's possible to export a normal map from ZBrush to Max if the model wasn't unwrapped before importing to ZBrush? __________________ Portfolio

14-07-2011, 03:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
digitalpaintbucket New Member 46 - 8	A base mesh is excellent, you should always start there. I like what I'm seeing so far, but I think it could use a little bit more hard edges. What brushes and alphas did you use to create this?

21-07-2011, 05:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Too much? now to try some texturing in ZBrush, this should be interesting __________________ Portfolio

21-07-2011, 08:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Wow, that was easy I wish I'd bothered to unwrap this first now, so I could try getting diffuse/spec/norm maps from it and seeing it on a low poly mesh in Max. __________________ Portfolio Last edited by Mr-Brett; 21-07-2011 at 09:26 AM.

21-07-2011, 03:10 PM	#9 (permalink)
digitalpaintbucket New Member 46 - 8	Have you ever tried using Xnormal? It is a really good program for extracting Normal Maps from your high res sculpts and Ambient occlusions to use in your texture maps. You should look into it

22-07-2011, 04:13 AM	#10 (permalink)
Mr-Brett Senior Member 198 - 26	Thanks, I'll give it a go __________________ Portfolio

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