Hard Surface Modelling in ZBrush 4R6

In this series Ben Douglas takes you through 5 chapters:

Chapter 1

• Set up of the sculpting environment
• Using Dynamesh to create a rough concept sculpt that will serve as a base for the rest of our creation
• The use of hard surface brushes such as Trim Dynamic, HPolish and Damien Standard
• Using the new Trim tools

Chapter 2

• Refining the head and creating individual Sub Tools
• Using ZSpheres for retopology
• Using the Crease functions to create our hard edges on our clean meshes
• Looking at how topology effects the surface of our meshes

Chapter 3

• Refining the body and creating individual Sub Tools
• Dealing with design changes and technical issues
• Converting our clean topology to Dynamesh to add more surface properties
• Using Insert Mesh Brushes to quickly add repeating meshes

Chapter 4

• Converting our clean geometry back to high resolution Dynamesh for further detailing
• Using Slice tools to create new panel sections and enforce our design aesthetic

Chapter 5

• Setting up our Materials
• Applying base colours for further painting and texturing using different material types
• Adding more texture detail, decals, scratches and interesting texture points using ZApplink and Photoshop
• Setting up Lightcaps
• Rendering and the use of BPR Filters to enhance our render
• Post render work in Photoshop

Resources

• Custom Brushes: https://www.sendspace.com/file/vyhx3u
  Extract contents of .rar file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 4R6\ZStartup\BrushPresets before launching ZBrush
  Custom UI Set Up: https://www.sendspace.com/file/esqc2q
  Unnzip the file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 4R6\ZStartup\UserInterfaceLayouts. Load up ZBrush. Click Preferences. Click Config. Click Load UI. Locate "Ben.cfg" and select Load.
• Mat Cap Collection: https://www.sendspace.com/file/rvzqwd
  Unzip the file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 4R6\ZStartup\Materials
• Alpha Collection: https://www.sendspace.com/file/om7yus
• Light Cap: https://www.sendspace.com/file/8coabt
  Under the Light menu open the Lightcap Sub Palette and press Open. Find the file and select it.