`THE CORROSIVE MARINE`
a
ZBrush Tutorial by Glen Southern |
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1.
THE PROJECT BEGINS
For
some time prior to creating the Corrosive Marine image I had
been wanting to work on a full body image in ZBrush. In my first
year with ZBrush I tried to specialise in head studies (mainly
because I wanted to become as good as Ofer Alon who created
the RRRRR series of images)
and
I had been happy with the level of detail I had reached at that
stage.
To move forward I wanted to put together a `scene` that showed
a full figure set in a 3D environment. I chose to use the Warhammer
40,000 universe as a setting and settled with an old favorite
from my youth, the Space Marine.
I wanted to create an image that would allow me to stretch my
skills with the new Texturemaster ZScipt and I also wanted to
use the tequniqe that Ofer introduce in a thread at ZBC, namely
rust and corrosion.
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| 2.
STARTING OFF WITH A SKETCH |
| To
begin a project like this I usually set up the document first.
|
 Open
ZBrush and set the document size to that required for the project
(2000x2400) |
| Add
about 4 layers at this stage as it`s quicker to add them now than
when the program is holding lots of information. |
| Place
a `plane` in one of the layers. This will be used to paint the
background onto in a flat material later on. However at the start
I use this layer to `sketch` out the image I want to create. |
In the past I have used hand drawn sketches (scanned in and resized)
for this layout job. The main reason I do this is to ensure that
I keep proportion and composition right, and you will know, there
is nothing worse than detailed an area of an image only to find
that it`s in the wrongplace ar too big.
(See IMAGE 1) |
IMAGE : Initial Sketch on its own layer |
| 3.
METAL/RUST MATERIALS |
| To
create the materials for this project I used a method described
in Pixolators
Golden Idol ZScript. This ZScript shows you how to make contrasting
materials that when combined give a good likeness to corroded
metal. I have made the ZMT (materials available below). However,
please be aware that the corrosive texture (ie. the colours) were
created by mixing up the materials and adding different shades
of brown and orange. |
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TOOL
MODIFIERS
DEFORMATION
INFLATE
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| 4.
MODELLING THE PARTS |
 |
With
a project of this size that requires a large number of
ZTools (models/objects) I usually open a default document
of 1000x1000 with a black or grey background and then
model, texture and save them out as .ZTL files before
assembling them in the main document.
 See
larger version
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|
Most
of the pieces that I created started out as a sphere, ring, tube
or box. There are a number of good modelling tutorials around
to help you get to grips with the basics. Try my head
modelling tutorial that was produced for EFX magazine.
Most of the ZTool parts were modified using an alpha mask to inflate
or deflate areas of the mesh. Here`s an example:
Use
the Ring3D tool for this pipe object and in the
TOOLMODIFIERSINITIALIZE
set the Hdiv and Vdiv to maximum and the COVERAGE
to 90 degrees and the SRAD down to 20
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|
Import
the alpha that you want to use as a mask:
ALPHAIMPORT |
Use
the:
TOOLMODIFIERSSELECTIONALP
This will take the alpha and wrap it around the selected
ZTool. In our case the Ring3D. If it is not in the right
position you can use the flip horiz, flip vert, rot and
even the neg buttons in the ALPHA panel. Your ZTool
should now have grayed out areas. The darker the areas the
less effect any deformation will have on that area. |
Use
the:
TOOLDEFORMATIONSINFLATE
slider and set it to about 20 (or whatever you like.
The ZTool should now be inflated only ob the unmasked areas. |
| This
is the basic method of modifying a ZTool using alpha masks. |
|
| 5.
PAINTING THE BACKDROP |
The
background is painted onto the plane that I created at the
start of the project.
I used the flat material and a range of the standard alpha
brushes that come with the program. The process is just
like using any standard 2D painting package, you simply
paint onto a canvas until you achieve the desired result.
To get the cloud effect I used a few different colours and
went over the same area time and time again without having
any depth switched on (Z off). To blur the clouds I used
the smudge tool, again with Z off, and smudged around the
whole canvas. Finally I used the shading-enhancer brush
to give some contrast.
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6. PUTTING THE SCENE TOGETHER
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After
all the pre work and modelling I was eager to start compiling
the image. Using the sketch in a back layer (turning it on and
off regularly) I started to put the pieces into the compostion.
Using a layer for the armour and another for the pipes and chains
I started building up from the chest plate in the following order:
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The
order of things.....
Chest platetorsoshoulder
padshelmetbicepsforarmshipsthighscalvesfeethandsstaffflailchest
pipeships
chainspouchrear
gunssword
and scabbardorc
headassorted
floor rubbish
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| 7.
INTO THE LIGHT |
|
Here the choice is as wide and varied
as you care to make it. I tried several different permutations
until I settled with the final one:
 1x
Sun (Default light), white, from top left, shadows on, ZMode,
set to 1.0 |
| 1x
Sun (Default light), white, from top left, shadows on, ZMode,0.4 |
| 1x
Sun (added), blue, from bottom right, ZMode,1.0 |
| 1x
Glow, aqua, placed on the flail spikes to the right, shadows
off. 0.7 |
| 1x
Glow, pale orange, placed on the Orc head to the left, shadows
off, 0.3 |
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