62795ffirs.qxd 3/25/08 7:18 PM Page iii Introducing ZBrush® ERIC KELLER WILEY PUBLISHING, INC. 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page ii 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page i Introducing ZBrush® 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page ii 62795ffirs.qxd 3/25/08 7:18 PM Page iii Introducing ZBrush® ERIC KELLER WILEY PUBLISHING, INC. 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page iv Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo Development Editor: Stephanie Barton Technical Editor: Gael McGill, PhD Production Editor: Rachel Gunn Copy Editor: Judy Flynn Production Manager: Tim Tate Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde Media Associate Project Manager: Laura Atkinson Media Assistant Producer: Josh Frank Media Quality Assurance: Kit Malone Book Designer: Caryl Gorska Compositors: Chris Gillespie, Kate Kaminski, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreader: Ian Golder Indexer: Ted Laux Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed Cover Images: Eric Keller Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-26279-5 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 Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, 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 accu- racy 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 services. 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 Web- site 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 Depart- ment within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Keller, Eric. Introducing ZBrush / Eric Keller. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-470-26279-5 (paper/dvd) 1. Computer graphics. 2. ZBrush. I. Title. T385.K397827 2008 006.6—dc22 2008008346 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 permission. ZBrush is a registered trademark of Pixologic, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 62795ffirs.qxd 3/25/08 7:43 PM Page v Dear Reader Thank you for choosing Introducing ZBrush. This book is part of a family of pre- mium quality Sybex books, all written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching. Sybex was founded in 1976. More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the authors we work with, to the paper we print on, 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], or 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 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page vi For my dog Blue —Eric Keller 62795ffirs.qxd 3/25/08 7:48 PM Page vii Acknowledgments I’d like to thank the editors at Sybex and Wiley for helping make this book a possi- bility. In particular, thanks to Mariann Barsolo for her support. Thanks to Stephanie Bar- ton for her excellent editorial work. I’d also like to thank Gael McGill, my tech editor, for agreeing to much more than he anticipated. And thanks to all the folks on the book team who brought it all together: Rachel Gunn and Judy Flynn. ■ Special thanks goes to the folks at Pixologic for creating such a wonderful program. Thanks to Ryan Kingslien for his help and Scott Spencer for his inspiring teaching and artwork. Thanks to everyone at ZBrushCentral.com for their enthusiasm and all the fantastic creations they upload every day. 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page viii About the Author Eric Keller is a freelance animator working in Hollywood, California, at some of the finer design and effects studios. He got his start in the field of digital visual effects developing animations for scientific visualization at the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where he had the opportunity to work with some of the world’s lead- ing researchers. He has been a professional 3D artist for 10 years and has been using ZBrush since 2004. Along with molecular visualization, bacterial invasion, and cellular function, Eric has pitched in on numerous animations for film, commercials, and televi- sion. Eric used ZBrush to create the surrealistic intracellular environment sequence seen at the end of the feature film Invasion. He has also been a guest lecturer on animation and scientific visualization at Harvard Medical School. He has written articles and tuto- rials for numerous industry magazines and authored Maya Visual Effects: The Innova- tor’s Guide (Sybex, 2007). If you have questions, you can email Eric at [email protected] or check out his website, www.bloopatone.com. 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page ix CONTENTS AT A GLANCE Introduction ■ xv Chapter 1 ■ Pixels, Pixols, Polygons, and the Basics of Creating Digital Art 1 Chapter 2 ■ Facing the ZBrush Interface 21 Chapter 3 ■ Painting with Pixols, Part 1 71 Chapter 4 ■ Painting with Pixols, Part 2 105 Chapter 5 ■ Digital Sculpting 141 Chapter 6 ■ Advanced Sculpting Techniques 191 Chapter 7 ■ Color, Texture, and Alpha 251 Chapter 8 ■ Rendering, Lighting, and Materials 299 Chapter 9 ■ ZBrush with Other 3D Applications 349 Chapter 10 ■ Plug-ins and ZScripts 395 Appendix ■ About the Companion DVD 423 Index ■ 427 62795ffirs.qxd 3/23/08 8:30 AM Page x 62795ftoc.qxd 3/23/08 8:32 AM Page xi Contents Introduction xv Chapter 1 ■ Pixels, Pixols, Polygons, and the Basics of Creating Digital Art 1 An Introduction to ZBrush 2 Understanding Digital Images 4 Understanding Resolution 11 Understanding 3D Space 14 Resources 19 Chapter 2 ■ Facing the ZBrush Interface 21 The Zen of ZBrush 22 Trays and Palettes 37 The Title Bar 66 Hotkeys 67 Summary 70 Chapter 3 ■ Painting with Pixols, Part 1 71 Setting Up the Document 72 Working with Document Layers 79 Working with Parametric Primitive 3D Tools 81 Loading Tutorial Macros 87 Working with Deformations and Materials 89 Chapter 4 ■ Painting with Pixols, Part 2 105 Introducing ZSpheres 106 Creating the Vent 113 Creating the Ocean Floor 119 Adding Fog and Distant Background Elements 123 62795ftoc.qxd 3/23/08 8:32 AM Page xii Adding Undersea Flora and Fauna 129 Creating a Sea Creature with 3D Tools 133 Merging Layers and Final Changes 137 Summary 139 Chapter 5 ■ Digital Sculpting 141 Subdivision Levels 142 Sculpting Brushes 146 Creating Reference Planes 157 Roughing Out the Forms of the Skull 165 Creating a Turntable Movie 188 Summary 189 Chapter 6 ■ Advanced Sculpting Techniques 191 Hiding Geometry 192 The Medusa Maquette 204 Finishing Touches 247 Summary 249 Chapter 7 ■ Color, Texture, and Alpha 251 Understanding Color, Alpha, and Texture 252 3D Layers 258 Creating Tiling Alphas 263 Using the Stencil 268 Detailing the Medusa Maquette 272 Polypainting 291 Summary 298 Chapter 8 ■ Rendering, Lighting, and Materials 299 Rendering Basics 300 Using Lights 306 Understanding Materials 318 Summary 347 62795ftoc.qxd 3/23/08 8:32 AM Page xiii Chapter 9 ■ ZBrush with Other 3D Applications 349 UV Mapping 350 ZBrush and Poser 355 Bump, Displacement, and Normal Maps 366 ZBrush and Maya 370 Summary 393 Chapter 10 ■ Plug-ins and ZScripts 395 Projection Master 396 ZAppLink 404 Multi Displacement Exporter 407 Transpose Master 411 ZMapper 414 ZScripts 420 Summary 422 Appendix ■ About the Companion DVD 423 What You’ll Find on the DVD 424 System Requirements 424 Using the DVD 425 Troubleshooting 425 Index 427.