Pixologic ZBrush Realism Tutorial

Category likeness to » . Added to Authentic Society 4 years ago.

When I started learning ZBrush, my intention was to learn building realistic 3D human models. After a couple of weeks of fiddling with the software, I decided to start this page as an educational resource for those who are interested in sculpting with ZBrush. My intention is to write a number of good tutorials that explain not only how to work with Pixologic's ZBrush version 3 software, but also the process of creating anatomically-correct human characters. Keep in mind that creating realistic humans is not an easy task. With a little research it is easy to see that the academic face proportions (that are being taught in college) and the "7 heads" proportions are inaccurate when you superimpose them onto a photo of a real human being.

If you have no previous experience with studying human anatomy, many of your first attempts will fail, as did mine. One of the things to keep in mind is that one way of looking at creating effective models that look realistic is that the human body is balanced by individual elements. For example, a sculpted torso is complimented by the shape and volume of the head of the model. If the head is missing or not properly sculpted, you will get a different, or even a strange, feel for the whole model.

Our eyes and perception system are seeking out the already familiar shapes to form a conclusive understanding of what we are looking at. My goal is to identify these shapes and learn how to create them. For example, how do we make the distinction between a male and a female figure? Usually, the female human being has a narrower rib cage and wider hips than the male human being. Realism is about subtle differences and familiarities in the shapes we perceive.

Many model designers take the strict symmetry approach, that like I already mentioned, I don't agree with. While the models we design should be proportionate, by no any means they should be perfectly symmetrical, unless it is your intention to create computer people, and not real people. In fact each side of the models we are developing should not look the same, if we want these models to be perceived as realistic.