ZBrush® Creature Design

ZBrush ® Creature Design Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games

Scott Spencer iv ■ TITLE

Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo Development Editor: Amy Breguet Technical Editor: Eric Keller Production Editor: Dassi Zeidel Copy Editor: Adept Content Solutions Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan Production Manager: Tim Tate Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde Media Associate Project Manager: Jenny Swisher Media Associate Producer: Josh Frank Media Quality Assurance: Shawn Patrick Book Designer: Mark Ong, Side By Side Studios Compositor: James D. Kramer, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreader: Sara Wilson Indexer: Ted Laux Project Coordinator, Cover: Katherine Crocker Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed Cover Image: Scott Spencer Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-1-118-02433-1 ISBN: 978-1-118-22206-5 (ebk.) ISBN: 978-1-118-23626-0 (ebk.) ISBN: 978-1-118-26067-8 (ebk.) No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748- 6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional ser- vices. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011945017 TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written per- mission. ZBrush is a registered trademark of Pixologic, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing ZBrush® Creature Design: Creating Dynamic Concept Imagery for Film and Games. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching. Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to pro- ducing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available. I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your com- ments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at [email protected]. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Neil Edde Vice President and Publisher Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley To my partner Meredith Yayanos, whose love, friendship, and inspiration I cherish.

vi Acknowledgments

There are so many people who bring a book like this to life. I would like to try to thank each of them here. This includes those with a direct hand in the editing and layout as well as those whose support makes this kind of endeavor possible. First, I’d like to thank my partner Meredith Yayanos for her loving support, and Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger for their friendship and support. I must thank Richard for giving me such a unique opportunity to travel across the globe and work every day with so many amazingly talented people. I also want to thank Karl Meyer, Brian Sunderlin, and Gentle Giant Studios for giving me a place to start my journey and remaining close and valued friends and mentors to this day. Thanks also to all the talented artists I have the good fortune to work with at Weta. Thanks to Eric Keller for serving as technical editor and for sharing his expertise by writing on the ZBrush Materials system. Were it not for his experience and knowledge in this area, we would be missing out on a whole range of techniques. Thank you to Ofer Alon, Jaime Labelle, and Paul Gaboury at Pixologic; and to Alex Alvarez, Eric Miller, and everyone else at Gnomon. A huge thanks to Desmoda and the team at Ownage for the exceptional, quick, and high-quality 3-D printing they did for this book. I encourage anyone with an interest in printing 3-D models from their ZBrush designs to seek out ownage.com and send Desmoda an email. There is nothing quite like holding a physical copy of your maquette in hand in the real world. Thanks go as well to 3d.sk for allowing me to use their reference images in this book. I have used 3d.sk as a reference site for the past six years and they are an invaluable resource. I cannot express how important it has been to have constant access to an almost unlimited number of royalty-free, high-res, reference images of all kinds of humans, animals, props, and costumes. Please check them out if you haven’t already at www.3d.sk. I’d also like to thank some of the artists whose tools and techniques have inspired and informed my own process: Neville Page, Zack Petroc, Bryan Wynia, Tristan Schane, Alterton, Paul Tobin, Jerad Marantz, Aaron Simms, Scott Patton, Cesar Dacol, Ian Joyner, and JP Targete. Thank you to Tristan Crane for use of his exceptional photography to illustrate depth of field. I cannot possibly list everyone by name and I apologize to anyone who I have left out. I would also like to thank those incredibly talented artists I am fortunate to work with every day and whose work never ceases to inspire and inform me: David Meng, Greg Tozer, Will Furneaux, Paul Tobin, Gary Hunt, Jamie Beswarick, Mike Asquith, Daniel Falconer, Greg Broadmore, Christian Pierce, Daniel Cockersell, Kim Beaton, Warren Beaton, Steve Lambert, and the many other Weta artists who surround me. I also must thank the wonderful team at Wiley who helped me through the process and were always professional, patient, attentive, and helpful. Thanks to Mariann Barsolo for man- aging the process and helping it along. Thanks to Amy Breguet for her expert developmental editing and to Pete Gaughan for guiding the direction of the book and helping to keep it on track and clear. Thanks to Dassi Zeidel and her production team for their masterful copyedit- ing and layout, bringing the final product to light. Thank you all for your exceptional patience with this book and with me.

vii About the Author

Scott Spencer is a digital sculptor and concept designer at Weta Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand. He uses ZBrush every day as a tool for creating creature and character concept art. His most recent and exciting project is Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. His back- ground is originally physical sculpture for the makeup effects world. Over the years he has worked in various media, creating digital characters for film, broadcast, and games as well as physical sculptures for concept design, promotion, and other applications. Over the past few years Scott has worked on various film projects in the Weta Workshop design depart- ment. Scott is fortunate to work as a designer as well as a sculptor, painter, and fabricator on many of the films that come through the workshop. This allows him to remain excited and stimulated by working in various stages of the creative process.

About the Guest Artists Huge thanks to those artists who loaned me their expertise and agreed to share their tools and techniques in the book. The presence of industry professionals like them raises the over- all quality of the book and exposes readers to more than just one artist’s perception on this creature and character design process. I want to thank all of these talented folks for their time and effort.

Alterton Born in Trelew City, Chubut province, in the cold lands of the Argentinean Patagonia, Alterton quit a prominent career in orthodontia to become a full-time sculptor for the collectibles busi- ness. As a traditional sculptor he has worked for companies such as DCDirect, Art Asylum, and Diamond Select Toys, and as digital artist he has done work for McFarlane Toys, Pop Culture Shock Collectibles, Hollywood Collectors Group, and Disney Development.

Eric Keller Eric Keller has been a professional 3-D artist and high-end animator for film, commercials, and TV for over twelve years, creating animations and effects for films and commercials at the leading studios in Hollywood. He is currently visual effects supervisor working on E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth project. Keller got his start developing animations for scientific visu- alization at the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where he worked with some of the world’s leading researchers. He is the author of Mastering Maya 2011, Maya Visual Effects: The Innovator’s Guide, and Introducing ZBrush, all from Sybex. He has also writ- ten numerous tutorials for industry magazines and websites.

viii ■ About the Author ix

Jerad S. Marantz Jerad S. Marantz has been obsessed with creature design for as long as he can remember. As a child he was always seen hunched over a sketch pad, drawing away. Marantz started his career at the early age of 14 by interning for low-budget practical FX houses with an emphasis in studying sculpture. Originally, he wanted to become a practical FX artist, but as he pursued that line of work, he discovered his true passion was designing. After graduat- ing from Pasadena Art Center College of Design in 2005, Marantz was hired as a freelance concept artist for Stan Winston’s Studio. Marantz has since designed for several practical FX houses, visual FX studios, and video game companies. He is currently the lead artist at The Aaron Sims Company. Marantz’s credits include the films Clash of the Titans, Suckerpunch, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Avatar, Green Lantern, Transformers 3, and X-Men First Class. He has also worked on the television shows American Horror Story, Grimm, and Falling Skies, and several games, including Infamous 2, Tabla Rasa, and Guild Wars. His work can be seen at jeradsmarantz.blogspot.com/

Zack Petroc Zack Petroc is CEO of Zack Petroc Studios and Model Supervisor at Disney Feature Animation. With a commitment to driving the digital entertainment industry forward, Petroc contin- ues to develop new techniques that redefine how digital tools impact the art and design of sto- rytelling. In 2005 he opened Zack Petroc Studios to focus on the development of unique new content and one-of-a-kind training tools. The Studios’ first independent project, Adaboy, gives viewers direct access to behind-the-scenes story development techniques, allowing them to fol- low along as it evolves from concept to completed project. See www.theadaboy.com. Additionally, his studio has worked on the development of several feature films and video games with a recent client list that includes Disney Interactive, Scott Free Productions, SCEA, Walt Disney Imagineering, Snoot Entertainment, Hasbro, and Paramount Pictures. In addition to lecturing at universities across the United States and abroad, Petroc has headed several workshops and training seminars at leading industry companies. Recently he began creating and distributing advanced training tools available for purchase and instant download via his website www.zackpetroc.com.

Tristan Schane Born and raised in New York City, Tristan Schane started his professional career at age 15 as a comic book artist, which was his boyhood fantasy. He has been a full-time working artist since he was 19. After several years in the comics business, he started doing fine arts oil painting and sculpture and also moved to book cover illustration for sci-fi and fantasy novels. Schane has done concept art for DragonBall, The Mist, Thor, and the TV series Numb3rs and Teen Wolf. His most recent ZBrush creature work includes Green Lantern and Terra Nova. His fine artwork can be seen at www.TristanSchane.com and his concept work can be seen at www.TristanArtForm.com. x ■ About the Author

Paul Tobin Paul Tobin graduated from Massey College of Creative Arts, in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2002 and has been a concept designer at Weta Workshop since 2003. He has worked on The Hobbit, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, King Kong, Avatar, District 9, and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. In addition to his role as a concept designer, Tobin is a freelance illustrator, and in 2010 created White Cloud Worlds, an anthology of sci-fi and fantasy artwork from New Zealand, with foreword by Guillermo del Toro. See www.whitecloudworlds.com. Tobin also teaches Digital Illustration at Massey College of Creative Arts and runs Whitecloud Workshops. You can see Tobin’s portfolio at www.paultobin.co.nz.

Bryan Wynia Bryan Wynia is a Senior Character Artist at Sony Santa Monica. Previously he worked at Naughty Dog where he contributed on Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. He also works as a freelance character designer and sculptor. Some of his clients include The Aaron Sims Company, Gentle Giant Studios, Electric Tiki, and Masked Avenger Studios. His work has been featured in Famous Monsters of Filmland, Imagine FX, 3D Artist, and 3D World. Wynia has a passion for teaching and sharing his creative process. He has taught classes and workshops at The Concept Design Academy, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, and Art Center College of Design. You can find out more about his artwork at bryanwynia.blogspot.com. Contents

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 ZBrush as a Character Design Tool 1 First Things First: Some Notes on Conceptualization 3 Realism and Expectations 3 Breaking Expectations 4 Creature vs. Character 4 Some Key Design Concepts 6 Sculptural Considerations 7 Shape Considerations 10 Shape Language 11 Anatomical Considerations 16 Culture and Lifestyle Considerations 17 About Color 17 Composition 21 ZBrush to Photoshop Design Process 23

Chapter 2 The Character Portrait: Sculpting the Alien Mystic 27 The Importance of Reference 28 Designing a Character Bust: Getting Started 28 Thumbnails 30 A Thumbnail Process for ZBrush 30 Another Approach to Thumbnail Ideation with Guest Artist Bryan Wynia 36 Refining the Character Bust 39 Shaping the Head and Facial Features 40 Further Refining 47 The Final Design 50 DVD Bonus Content 51 xi xii ■ CONTENTS

Chapter 3 The Interdimensional Traveler: A Full Body Character Design 53 Design Journey 54 Establishing Your Basic Figure 55 Gesture 55 Form 56 Proportion 56 Accentuating the Bony Landmarks 60 Refining the Head and Face 65 Position and Placement 65 Creating the Head Crest 67 Using Topological Masking 69 Continuing the Head Crest 71 Revising the Shoulders and Arms 74 Adding New Arms 76 Attaching the Arms to the Body 80 Finishing Touches and Final Passes 82 Adaboy and the Saints of Alchemy: A Sculpted Novel by Zack Petroc 84 The Story 84 The Process 85

Chapter 4 Posing the Interdimensional Traveler 89 Considerations in Posing 89 Lines of Action 90 Tangents 91 Posing the Secondary Limbs 94 Setting Up the ZBrush Document 95 The Golden Rectangle: Ancient Secret, Timeless Tool 95 Placing the Character on the Picture Plane 100 Creating Rim Light and Specular Passes 106 ■ Contents xiii

Chapter 5 Painting the Interdimensional Traveler 111 Adding Color and Texture with Photoshop Paintover 111 Preparing Images for Composite 112 Arranging the Layers 112 Adjust Specular and Collapse Layers 121 Painting Some Corrections 122 Create Color and Texture Overlays 124 Beyond Color: Lighting Effects 127 Adding Atmospheric Clouds 133 Final Effects: Noise and Depth of Field 135 Speculative Anatomy and Creature Design with Tristan Schane 139 Concept and Design 139 The Importance of Working Globally 141 Adding Color and Other Details 142

Chapter 6 A Biomechanical Character 147 Creating the Cyborg Design 148 Creating the Head 148 Creating the Body 153 Create a Spinal Cord and Pipes 162 Create the Arms and Chest Muscles 165 Create the Lower Body 169

Chapter 7 Sculpting a Mermaid Character with Dynamesh 175 Using Visual Cues to Communicate Character 176 Skeletal and Morphological Differences Between the Sexes 176 Introduction to Dynamesh 178 Getting a Feel for Dynamesh 179 Insert Mesh Brushes 181 xiv ■ CONTENTS

Creating the Figure 183 Start the Figure: Base Shapes 183 Working with Secondary Forms 188 Adding Final Details 196

Chapter 8 Sculpting the Forest Spirit 203 Using Reference as Inspirational Material 203 Sculpting the Body 207 Sculpting the Head Shapes 213 Refining the Face 218 Refining the Body 222 More Facial Refinements 228 Creating the Horns 229 Refining the Legs 232 Using GoZ to Reform the Foot 233 Refining the Arms 236 Adding Skin and Fat Details 238 Analyzing the Shape Language 240

Chapter 9 Painting the Forest Spirit 243 Preparing the Model in ZBrush 244 Posing the Figure 244 Exporting from ZBrush 245 Loading the Models to Maya 247 Preparing the Scene, Lighting, and Background in Maya 249 Creating the Backdrop 249 Setting Up Lighting 252 Setting Up Materials 253 Setting Up Render Pass Layers 256 Setting Up Camera and Render 257 Rendering the Image Passes 260 Compositing and Painting in Photoshop 261 Composite Layers in Photoshop 261 ■ Contents xv

Adding Noise Layers for Skin Variation 264 Painting Hair 266 A Quick Approach to Painting Eyes 272 Adding Atmospherics 274 Sculpting the Space Ghoul 277 Finishing in Photoshop 280

Chapter 10 Rendering the Enforcer 285 Advantages of BPR 286 Establishing the Lighting Using LightCap 287 Create a Skin Material 290 Material Shaders 290 Create the Diffuse Shader 291 Create the Specular Shader 293 Create the Subsurface Scattering Shader 293 Create a Material from the Three Shaders 295 Paint the Skin Highlights 296 Image-Based Lighting 298 Create a Background Image 299 Create the Look of Worn Leather 301 The Material Mixer 301 Paint In the Worn Areas 302 Rendering Metals 303 MatCap Materials 303 MatCap Library 304 Create the Final Image 305 Render the Enforcer 306 BPR Render Filters 307

Chapter 11 ZBrush for Digital 3-D Printing 311 Methods of Rapid Prototyping 312 3-D Printers 313 3-D Milling 314 xvi ■ CONTENTS

Applications for 3-D Printing 315 3-D Printing for Digital Maquettes 316 3-D Printing for Toys and Collectibles 316 3-D Printing and Milling for Props and Manufacture 319 Prepare the Model for Printing 320 “Watertightness” 320 Workable File Sizes 321 Creating a Maquette 321 Reconsider the Model as a 3-D Object 322 Posing for 3-D 328 Exporting the Geometry for Print 336 Decimating the Figure 336 3-D Print Exporter 338

Appendix About the Companion DVD 341 What You’ll Find on the DVD 341 Chapter Files 341 System Requirements 342 Using the DVD 342 Troubleshooting 343 Customer Care 343

Index 345 Introduction

Welcome to ZBrush Character Design. In this book, we will take an in-depth look at the tools and thought processes behind creating compelling character designs using ZBrush and Photoshop as our primary tools. We will be using ZBrush not just as a modeling or paint- ing program but as a fully featured conceptual design tool, like many creature and character designers do for the film and game industries. The point of these lessons is to create compel- ling and evocative images of characters with assets that can be further developed by a digital team in a production pipeline. This mirrors the production techniques used in many studios today. By learning how to use ZBrush and Photoshop together as concept illustration tools, you will discover ways to create exciting characters quickly in an evocative style that excites viewers and gives them an idea of how the final character may appear on screen. These tuto- rials also focus on the design process—the thoughts and motivations that go into guiding the decisions I make while creating a specific character. We will look at compositional concerns, structural and proportional judgments, color language choices, as well as how to exploit the rules of basic 2-D design with shape relationships to communicate character traits. We will even look at how to influence the viewer’s perception of an alien character by utilizing visual cues in the face and body shape based on human preconceptions. These are extremely useful things to understand and I rarely see them discussed in one place. I hope that pulling together some of my own thoughts in the form of these projects may help other artists expand their own process when it comes to creating new characters.

Who Should Read This Book This book is for anyone who wants to sculpt creatures and characters in ZBrush and take them to a final-image finish. It is best to work from the first exercises through the book because many of these chapters are project-based. These projects span several chapters so that we can address the concerns inherent to each stage. The Forest Spirit, for example, is broken into sculpting, posing, and painting stages. This allows us to give specific attention to the concerns of each stage in development. Because this is a visual process and a series of still images can show only so much, I have included most of the exercises on the DVD/download files in video form. You can watch these and see the steps performed in real time to get the clearest possible picture of the steps shown. This book, is for the intermediate ZBrush user. I assume a certain amount of experi- ence, but I have also been careful to include enough information so that a new user can grasp the topics quickly. For a more foundational introduction to the tools, I recommend looking at Eric Keller’s Introducing ZBrush, also from Sybex.

xvii xviii INTRODUCTION

What You Will Learn In this book, we will be looking at a series of design projects using a combination of ZBrush and Photoshop. Just like in my previous books ZBrush Character Creation and ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy, we will focus on the artistic considerations as well as the techni- cal applications. In this book, I move deeper into exploring how I approach a variety of differ- ent design problems. We have already covered the ZBrush program in the two aforementioned books. In this title, we will set up a series of projects and look at how to approach them using the specialized toolsets of ZBrush and Photoshop with the intention of creating a final character design suitable for film, television, games, or the collectibles market or even your own fine art. By approaching the projects in this way, I will illustrate the thought process behind the decisions made when creating a character. Most concepts don’t spring from nowhere; on some level decisions are made to hopefully create the most compelling images possible. I will share with you some of the ways I approach creating characters for film, games, and just for fun. We will look at several different character projects. Each project is presented as a design problem or a “brief.” This brief is then resolved using various techniques combining ZBrush and Photoshop. This is intended to show a more holistic approach to using ZBrush as a character-design tool rather than focus in on specific technical elements. In my previous two books, I have shown the program in depth as well as a workflow for sculpting a human figure. Here I will illustrate how to use the tools we already have in a logical way. We will look at why we make some decisions in designing the character—for example, why some shapes are placed as they are. Finally we will look at some unique workflows to illustrate how we use ZBrush and Photoshop to move from an idea to a final image. This is an excit- ing journey because we will learn much more than just how to sculpt or how to use ZBrush. As we work on these projects, I hope to help you see how I personally think about a design while I work. I have found that it’s very helpful to understand how other artists approach the thought process of sculpting and design. For example, I work with a very talented sculptor and designer named Jamie Beswarek. Jamie shared with me his design theory that when you look at a maquette, it should represent your first encounter with a character. The look on his face, the posture, the attitude should all be carefully designed to inspire the feelings you want associated with the character. This applies to digital maquettes and painted imagery as well. It is my hope that by sharing my own process in this book I may inspire some new considerations in your own workflow. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share these lessons with you!

How to Use This Book I have structured the text to be entirely project based. We begin with basic design sculpting and then quickly move into gradually larger projects. All the chapters are self-contained lessons and result in a finished piece. Many chapters feed into each other—for example, “Sculpting the Interdimensional Traveler” naturally flows into a chapter on posing the figure, which then leads to a chapter that focuses entirely on the painting process. For this reason, I think it is important to start at the beginning of the book and work through each lesson. ■ How to Use This Book xix

This book will be especially useful to those who have some ZBrush experience but want to find ways to explore the sculpting and painting process in more detail. Once we know where the tools are in a program, we enter into an exciting phase where we start to want to find ways to effectively use them together. This is less a book about technicalities and more a book on technique. I hope those artists eager to find new and exciting ways of creating imagery with ZBrush will find these lessons helpful.

Hardware and Software Requirements To complete the core exercises of this book, you need ZBrush 4R2 or higher. Some sections also include material related to Photoshop and Maya and using these programs together with ZBrush. Hardware requirements are a PC or Mac running ZBrush with a gigabyte or more of RAM. The more RAM you have, the better the results you can get with ZBrush. It is also imperative that you have a Wacom tablet. While it is possible to use a mouse with ZBrush, it is like drawing with a brick. A Wacom or other digital tablet will open the doors for you to paint and sculpt naturally. Personally, I recommend a Wacom Cintiq. There are two variations of this tablet screen available as of this writing: the desktop model with a 21-inch screen as well as a smaller portable model. The Cintiq allows you to sculpt and paint directly on the screen and can vastly improve the speed and accuracy with which you can use ZBrush. It is essential to use some form of Wacom tablet, be it a Cintiq or a stan- dard Intuos, with ZBrush.

The Companion DVD and Downloads On the DVD, I have included several support files for each chapter. Many exercises have video files accompanying them. The video files were recorded using the TechSmith screen capture codes (www.techsmith.com) and compressed with H.264 compression. The videos will, I hope, help further illustrate the sculptural approach I take in ZBrush. Being able to see a tool in use can better illustrate the concepts than still images alone. In addition to vid- eos, I have included supplementary materials such as sample meshes, materials, and brushes. There is more material than we can fit on one DVD so some material is available on the book’s website, www.sybex.com/go/zbrushcreaturedesign.

For e-book Readers If you purchased an e-edition of this book, you may download the project files by going to wiley.booksupport.com and entering the book’s ISBN.

A Special Deal for Readers Zack Petroc and 3d.sk (mentioned before) are offering promotions to readers of this book. Zack Petroc is offering a discount on membership to his tutorial site, www.zackpetroc.com, and 3d.sk is also offering a discount on membership to the photo reference site www.3d.sk. Please see the respective websites or the DVD or download files for more details. xx INTRODUCTION

How to Contact the Author I welcome feedback from you about this book or about books you’d like to see from me in the future. You can reach me by writing to [email protected]. For more information about my work, please visit my website, www.scottspencer.com. Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check www.sybex.com/go/zbrushcreaturedesign, where we’ll post addi- tional content and updates that supplement this book if the need arises. Thank you for buying this book. I hope you enjoy the exercises within as much as I have enjoyed putting this book together. Being surrounded by like-minded artists who all have something to contribute makes every day a learning experience. It is an honor for me to share some of what I have learned with you. I hope you enjoy this book. Happy sculpting! ZBrush® Creature Design CHAPTERone ZBrush as a Character Design Tool

In the past few years ZBrush has gained an enormous amount of ground among professional concept designers as a fast way to develop organic ideas for character design. This process has many advantages over traditional clay or painting techniques. For example, ZBrush allows you to implement real-time edits while sitting in front of a director, taking feedback as you work. With this approach, quick variations can be created and compared so you can be sure the best solution is arrived at as soon as possible. This work flow has gained significant popularity as it can greatly enhance and speed up the design process. Another advantage of this approach over conceptualizing designs in clay is that there is far less of a wait for sculptural changes to be made. In most cases, massive design alterations can be implemented in a matter of seconds! In addition, with the ZBrush layers tool variations on the sculpture, texture or color can be stored on a single model and compared to each other. You can even use the ZBrush timeline tools to examine how the character may move or change shape. This kind of digital work flow offers huge advantages for everyone from the designer to the director and the artists in the production pipeline who will eventually bring the design to life.

(a) (b) 2 CHAPTER 1 ■ ZBrush as a Character Design Tool

With all these advantages, one of the strongest benefits to using ZBrush as a character concept tool is the ZTool itself. Once a character design is approved, there is a 3-D model already in existence. This ZTool can be passed on to the artists in the models and tex- tures departments. There will be no need to remodel the concept design. The artists will be free to create animation-ready models of the design for further development. It is often in this stage that more changes are made to a character. I feel that the design process is not done until the final shot is on screen. The process is evolutionary, and there are many artists involved in the journey.

In the recent ZBrush update, Pixologic has created new tools that allow the same level of gestural intuitive design to be applied to mechanical and hard surface forms as well. We will look at using these tools to create mechanical elements for our biomech design.

One unique application of the digital assets created in ZBrush is the 3-D printer or mill. Anything created in ZBrush may be printed as a digital maquette for reference to other departments. There are several low-cost companies offering this service to the public, and the prices will only continue to drop while print quality improves. We will look at how to pre- pare a model for exporting and 3-D printing to create a physical design maquette. Figure 1.1 shows an actual design maquette created in ZBrush and printed on a 3-D printer. There are even situations where I have created full-sized props by sculpting in ZBrush and having the data milled into foam and further finished by sculptors and other artists. The possibilities for this tool really are endless, and new avenues continue to open up.

Figure 1.1: This digital sculpture was printed on a 3-D printer from a ZBrush file to create the central figure in this maquette. This is a design for a monumental public sculpture created at Weta Workshop, courtesy of the Wellington City Council. ■ First Things First: Some Notes on Conceptualization 3

First Things First: Some Notes on Conceptualization Before we jump into the examples and lessons of this book, let’s take a look at some useful guideliness to help you make design decisions. The following are a selection of guidelines and helpful considerations I try to keep in mind as I work. The idea is to familiarize yourself with thinking in these terms so these questions and approaches come naturally when you try to solve a design problem.

Realism and Expectations One of the things I always try to do when creating a character is to anchor as much as pos- sible in reality. This usually manifests as basing creature anatomy on real-world animal or human anatomy. When working on a creature, I will often try to draw elements from real world sources to ground the design in a sense of reality. Figure 1.2, for example, is a design by Paul Komoda that pulls elements from a variety of real-world seal life to create an intimi- dating new design. The same approach holds true for biped physiology as well. This helps make the creature more believable to the viewer. We recognize what an actual body looks like, and when confronted with a distorted form, it makes the character seem all the more compelling if there are elements we recognize from ourselves. Figure 1.3 shows a biomech with physiology based on the human shoulder girdle. You can see that there are recogniz- able shoulder muscles such as the pecs and deltoids as well as the mechanical forms molded into the shapes of collar bones and a rib cage.

Figure 1.2: This creature carries many elements pulled Figure 1.3: The shoulder structure of this biomechanical from various natural sources to help ground the design in character is based on human anatomy. reality; the parts are unified by being arranged into a strong overall design or silhouette. (Krishnu by Paul Komoda) 4 CHAPTER 1 ■ ZBrush as a Character Design Tool

Breaking Expectations Try to break from the viewer’s expectations as much as possible. There have been thousands of creatures and characters made for film in the past 100 years. If you want to be a successful designer, you must not only capture the audience’s attention, you also must show them something that is appealing and looks new. This is best accomplished by deciding what the expectations are and what the clichés are, and then finding ways to break those expectations. The triangle of the face is one example we use in the book as well as stretching the space between the facial features to subtly play on audience expectations. One of my favorite examples of breaking expectations is The mouth of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings (Figure 1.4). This character breaks the audience expectation about the size and placement of the mouth and removes any other facial features that would allow us to relate to the character.

Creature vs. Character When working on a design, it is often important to ask yourself whether this is a creature or a character. Is this an animal with emotions we can relate to, and does it have an internal life to which the audience is privy? If it does, it is a character with drives and emotions. A creature is more of a monster or an animal the viewer cannot relate to. These tend to be motivated by basic needs such as food, hunting, power, or the desire to simply be left in peace. A peaceful beast of burden and a ferocious hunt- ing beast are both examples of creatures, whereas an alien who wants to communicate with our race, for good or bad ends, is a character. This is Figure 1.4: Here the mouth of Sauron shows how expectations in important because it helps us understand what we need to communicate the proportions and placement of with the design. A character (good or bad) needs some way for the audi- features can be broken to great effect. ence to connect and empathize. This usually occurs in the eyes. A creature Image courtesy of Weta Workshop only needs to appear to be a viable life-form that is suited to the task it is portrayed to undertake. A beast of burden needs to appear to be bred to carry packs across the land, while a ferocious hunter beast needs to look like a powerful, fast, and dangerous predator. When finding a point of reference for the viewer, we have already said how familiar ana- tomical details can create a sense of veracity, but this won’t help us relate. I find the key to relating to a character is in the eyes (Figure 1.5). If you give your character deep eyes with a sense of emotion or inner dialog, the audience will be

Figure 1.5: The eyes will be a natural focal point for the viewer. Eyes that communicate humanity will inspire empathy, while eyes that veer away from human traits will inspire distrust or fear. ■ First Things First: Some Notes on Conceptualization 5 drawn in and, hopefully, interested in what’s happening in the mind of the character. Consider creatures like E.T., Gollum, and the Na’vi: they all have eyes that communicate. Creatures like those in Alien, Predator, and Jaws have eyes that are impossible to relate to—they lack humanity and are therefore even more terrifying as a force of nature you cannot reason with! We will take special care to look at techniques to paint realistic eyes on our characters that communicate emotion.

Visual Development in Thumbnails and Quicksketch As you start working up ideas, try to avoid jumping right into the final sculpture. Allow yourself the time and space to explore thumbnails and see where the design journey may lead. You will find your best ideas come not in the first 10 or even 20 attempts. You may hit on ideas of great originality 30 or 40 ideas in. You cannot do 40 finished ZBrush sculptings in a day so you must explore in thumbnails. This can be accomplished as quick sketches in ZBrush, as we will do in Chapter 2, “The Character Portrait: Sculpting the Alien Mystic” (see Figure 1.6). Thumbnails don’t need to be finished drawings; they can be messy little sketches for your own use only. The point is to get ideas and shapes done so you can evaluate them against each other. You may also do this in pencil on paper or even with a small ball of clay. The important point here is to not jump into your first idea—explore and take a design journey to the best solution to the problem. Figure 1.7 shows a series of design explorations by Bryan Wynia. Bryan uses grayscale values to paint over a ZBrush sculpture and create several striking character options quickly.

Figure 1.6: Silhouette thumbnails created in ZBrush

continues 6 CHAPTER 1 ■ ZBrush as a Character Design Tool

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Figure 1.7: A series of character concept options by Bryan Wynia. Bryan paints in grayscale over a ZBrush sculpture to generate multiple characters quickly.

Some Key Design Concepts In this section we will look at some of the major design considerations that we will revisit over the course of this book. These are just a few of the important lessons we can use to inform our choices as we work on a design. I hope reading over these tenets will help you understand why I make some of the choices I do as we work through the lessons. I will often refer back to these concepts, and when I work, I try to keep them in the back of my mind as a set of guidelines to help steer the artistic decision-making process. These tenets represent concepts drawn from the varied disciplines of graphic design, sculpture, and painting, and each of which will come up as we work through the projects in this book. Ultimately these all apply across multiple media because the rules of good art are consistent whether you are using clay, pixels, Pixols, or paint. That’s why we have so much to gain by looking back at the art instruction of painters, sculptors, and photog- raphers. Just because we are using a computer doesn’t mean those lessons are invalid. Rather, it’s even more important now to understand how artists arrive at pleasing images. When I approach a design, I try to keep these tenets in mind at each stage of the sculpture or painting. They represent some fundamental concepts in art and design, and you will benefit from trying to remember them as you work on your own designs.