Link via ZBrushCentral
How did you use ZBrush on Spiderwick?
On Spiderwick, Mulgarath, designed by Carlos Huante, was as a combination of demonic nastiness, snake skin, monster skin, and forest trees. He’s quite the combination of creatures. Once the model by Gionvanni Nakpil was completed, the models divided into multiple partitions, head, arms, legs, torso and back, then U/V’d. Groups of partitions (head group, etc ) were then imported into ZBrush for displacement goodness. The first stage of the work was importing “tree bark” reference images as alpha’s. Adjusting the radial fade, in combination with the “Drag Rect stroke” the alphas were applied to the surface. Other alpha’s created were done using the “simple brush” drawn in 2D mode. Then simply picked up using the “Grab Doc” option in the alpha menu window. This allowed me the freedom of creating a texture stamp on the fly when ever I needed something custom. Working in this fashion I was able to bridge the different types of tree bark image alphas to one another and their neighboring monster or snake skin surroundings. Other times I’d use a Start Up Alpha in combination with the “Inflate” brush or other and produce some really organic results. “Crop and Filling” an alpha to screen, was another method. I’d modify this with one of the 2D brush tools and then pick it the back up with the ‘Grab Doc” option. Simplicity was key for me; the more inventive I got with a simple approach, the better the results I was able to achieve. I was blown away by what I could do in ZBrush.
ZBrush 3.1 is available at an academic discount price of $380.
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