cgnuggets

New shopping experience

2012-02-07T09:35:00.002-06:00

Hey folks - I've been getting a lot of requests for a better way of shopping on this site. Admittedly, it was pretty user unfriendly but I'm a bit of a beginner with the web thing.

Now I'm announcing a new change in the shopping experience here at CGNuggets....well, it isn't exactly like shopping Best Buy online, BUT I've added an individual ADD TO CART button for each video up until Jan 2011 on the respective blog post.

If you want anything before that, just hit me up on email at jessesandifer@gmail.com. Also, if you just want to purchase the entire male anatomy series, there's a link on the right that'll include all 15 videos at $10 each.

Once you purchase your video(s) with the Paypal prompts, it'll notify me via email and I'll send you the links/passwords as soon as I can.

Thanks and happy shopping! :D

January video - Hard Surface III in ZB4R2

2012-01-27T09:20:00.000-06:00

The New Year is upon us and we'll be continuing on with the Hard Surface series. In the first half of this video, we continue on with adding smaller elements to the overall design that will ultimately be the building blocks for further detailing in the future. The second half we hop over to the head where I start to refine the dynamesh into something more designed and refined. Hopefully it gets you excited about HS in ZB and that you're able to apply the techniques learned to your own projects.

New ZBrush Master Series

2012-01-06T09:15:00.001-06:00

I've finally had an opportunity to do a Master Series in ZBrush for character creation! This is Volume 1 where I'll show how to get a character designed and started with Dynamesh.

Volume II we'll retopo and finish out the sculpting with all the juicy details.

Volume III will be about painting your character.

And a possible Volume IV will be about taking the character into 3dsmax and Vray to create a final illustration for your portfolio.

Check out this link to cmiVFX for more information:
ZBrush Master Class Volume 1: Character Creation

December video - Hard Surface II in ZB4R2

2011-12-23T13:53:00.002-06:00

So the final CGNuggets video of the year is upon us. This time we move forward with hard surfacing in ZBrush with discussions about how to use CurveTube, CurveTubeSnap, CurveLineTube, CurveQuadFill, CurveTriFill, CurveLathe, and CurveSurface brushes.

THEN, we start to work on a new character that is hard surface in nature. Along the way we'll discover what each of these brushes might be good for and some techniques to use and situations to avoid.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

November video - Intro to Hard Surface in ZB4R2

2011-12-02T14:35:00.001-06:00

In the November video, I go into some basics of hard surface sculpting techniques which includes the use of the Polish, Trim, and Planar brushes, DynaMesh, Clip Curve brushes, and the Insert brushes. Lots of stuff covered in the 90 minute video.
Here's a sample:

Stay tuned for the December video in which we'll be hopping into a hard surface project applying these techniques!

what's next?

2011-11-22T12:17:00.001-06:00

So I've got some topics lined up for cgnuggets now and I figured I'd let you in on what's to come. It's not super organized or anything, just a list of things I'll probably be covering in the next year. The next video will probably be done next week since I've got Thanksgiving holiday coming up this week. So it's not too late to sign up for November!

hard surface (this is actually where my career started, but I've leaned towards organics in the last several years)

-- zbrush basics for hard surface...my approach at least, which consists of clipping brushes and polish/trim brushes - this one's next

--poly-modeling in 3dsmax for hard surface (same basic approach you'd take in Maya/XSI/etc)

applied to:

mech/armor type stuff
props
vehicles
environment

organics
cartoon characters
organic environment

render/lighting

Zbrush lighting/rendering

October video - Creating a light rig in Vray and 3dsmax

2011-11-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so things didn't work out with doing the Halloween-based tutorial. Sorry about that! Instead, I thought I'd do a tutorial on how I create light rigs for my character work in Vray and 3dsmax. I also show how to use Decimation Master in Zbrush to get a high quality model that will work in 3dsmax but still look as detailed as Zbrush.

Stay tuned for the real November video in the coming weeks.

Halloween video coming up!

2011-10-28T10:34:00.003-05:00

For the October video, I plan on creating something based on a Halloween theme (what the heck is Halloween?). So plan on seeing that action on Monday the 31st!

September video - Polypainting in ZBrush 4R2

2011-10-05T11:15:00.003-05:00

So we're finally done with the anatomy series and I thought it'd be fun to hop over into polypainting with ZBrush 4R2.

This video is just to help you all understand how polypainting works and how to get going with it using different alphas, colors, brushes, etc.

Not much has changed with polypainting basics but at least you can put paint on different layers. You could actually do that before in ZB4.....There's just not blend modes like Mudbox that'll behave like Photoshop.

2011-09-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

Our completed anatomy study:

And boom goes the dynamite.....

2011-09-27T13:53:00.005-05:00

I've changed the price of the subscription to just 10 bucks a month.

It was previously two (2) videos a month for about $15 but I think it'll be more effective if I did one (1) longer video for $10. I'm aiming for 90 minutes.

***Old videos are still available for $10 each and those date all the way back to April 2010. You can find most of the previews on this blog and if not, you could find them in my youtube channel link on the bar on the right hand side.

I hope this change is exciting for those of you looking for honest and useful tutorials for creating characters. Your input is always welcome and thanks for checking things out!

August video - Sculpting the feet and bringin all this anatomy togetherg

2011-09-25T22:24:00.003-05:00

Well, it certainly took me way too long to get this out but it's finally here. The August video. Yes, I'm going back to doing one video a month. It's just gotten to be too challenging to get two out a month amidst my busy work schedule. Thanks for understanding and I look forward to getting this thing back on track now!

This video we go into the anatomy of the human foot, explore the shape of the foot and what's going on under the skin, and then we get to sculpting it out in Zbrush. Then to wrap up the anatomy series, I take you through the steps of how to take separate subtools, combine their low-res cage in 3dsmax, and then reproject all the previous sculpting back onto our new merged and clean mesh.

Yes, I'm still alive. Barely.

2011-09-08T15:10:00.002-05:00

What a crazy last couple of months! Work has been kicking my booty and now I'm overdue for the August content and September is already burning up. But don't fret, my plan is to get this back on track within the next week or two, all at once. So stay tuned for new stuff! Gonna wrap up on the anatomy series and then it's onto new tasty vittles. Maybe some texturing talk for the time being....

July video #2 - Detailing hands in ZBrush

2011-08-05T17:19:00.002-05:00

So yes, I'm a little late with July's 2nd video but here's the preview of the 90 minute tutorial. I go over taking it from that low-res mesh and building up the pertinent forms and details as we climb up the subdivision ladder in real-time. Hand work is hard but it's necessary for being a solid character modeler. Plus, having knowledge of how to detail a human hand will carry over into any other type of character you may want to do. It's about the process, not just the fancy brushes or alphas you may use.

July video #1 - Modeling hands in 3dsmax and ZBrush

2011-07-29T07:57:00.002-05:00

As we get close to wrapping up on the anatomy series, we'll be hitting some of the hardest areas to model on the body in the next four videos. Hands and feet. The July video #1 goes into hand anatomy, getting a low-res base mesh mocked up in 3dsmax, and then to ZBrush where we'll begin the process of preparing it for detailed sculpting. The July video #2 will go over that phase where we bring the hand to life and that comes out in the coming days. Then next month in August we'll go over modeling and sculpting the feet.

For now, here's the preview of July video #1:

June video #2 - Final Leg Sculpting

2011-07-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

Barely squeezed this in by the end of the month! This session I finish up the leg sculpt (real-time) and talk about different kinds of brushes to use for finishing. Lots of talk about muscle flow, where to inflate vs claybuild, which muscles need more definition than others, etc.

June video #1 - Leg anatomy and initial sculpting

2011-06-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

In this session of our anatomy series, we'll explore the anatomy of the leg and then break it down as we sculpt in ZBrush. The next video we'll finish up the final leg sculpt.

And since we're working on the butt in this series, be prepared for the inevitable wonderment from people walking by as you're sculpting the gluteus maximus full screen!

June videos are coming soon!

2011-06-22T13:42:00.000-05:00

Hey world!

I've had quite the delay in getting out the next round of videos for cgnuggets this month due to some vacation time as well as work being especially busy. Sooooo....I just wanted to let everyone know that they're coming in the next couple weeks and we'll be focusing on LEGS! As usual, we'll break the down the musculature and how it relates to the bones underneath and then get to sculpting out the masses.

In the meantime, here's an image of the ARMS anatomy work we did last month...finally had some time to put together an image of the different angles. Now, if I could only sculpt my own body to look like this guy! :)

May video #2 - Refining and finishing off the arm sculpt

2011-06-01T09:49:00.000-05:00

This session I finish off the initial arm sculpt that was blocked in for our first May video. I'll talk about a few kinds of finishing brushes I like to use as well as what to look for when putting the final polish on the arm sculpt.

May video #1 - Intro to Arm Anatomy and Sculpting

2011-05-16T10:54:00.002-05:00

We're hopping over to studying the arms this month. We'll break down the anatomy via some reference and then we'll hop over to ZBrush to build a sculpt out of Zspheres and finish up by roughly blocking out the major forms and muscle groups. The next video will go into detailing and finishing off the arm study so stay tuned for that video next week.

April video #2 - Refining and detailing the male torso (Zbrush)

2011-04-29T13:16:00.004-05:00

We're continuing on with the male torso in this video where we'll be refining and adding subtle details. Think subtleties and asymmetry! And be sure to give your character some skin and fat. Anatomy knowledge is a work in progress for all artists, young or old, so learn the stuff before you start trying to sculpt it.

Next month we'll start talking about the male arm and understanding the muscle/bone relations and how to express the forms and details.

April video #1 - Sculpting the male torso (Zbrush)

2011-04-19T10:52:00.003-05:00

This month is cgnuggets' birthday (well sorta - it was called Monthly Zbrush Training before cgnuggets) but I thought I'd celebrate the day by announcing the new video for April 2011. :D

For April, I go over the approach I take to sculpting out a torso. We go over some anatomy diagrams to get to know the bone structure and musculature and then hop over to ZBrush to sculpt it out to a medium-res mesh. Next video we'll take it to the finished level and add more detail.

March video #2 - Detailing the Head (Zbrush)

2011-03-31T12:37:00.001-05:00

So here we are, finally detailing out the head that we've worked on for a few hours (over the last couple month's videos). I'll be showing you how to add wrinkles, folds, pores, and texture in a way that makes sense. Detailing takes some thought but once you get the hang of it you'll get some great results!

March video #1 - Refining the Head (Zbrush)

2011-03-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

This time we go into more refined facial forms as we prepare the face for fine detailing and polish which will be the topic for next week's video. This is just a 5 minute preview of the full 60 minute video. To subscribe to the full length stuff, click on those fancy buttons to the left! :)

February video #2 - More head studies

2011-03-02T09:12:00.000-06:00

This video we continue on with sculpting the head and work on secondary forms and do some more refined blocking of the facial features. I think it's starting to take some shape and look forward to the iteration that we'll do for the March video.

February video #1: Anatomy series - head studies

2011-02-14T10:18:00.000-06:00

As part of our continuing series on anatomy, let's talk about the skull and head structure as we get into Zbrush work.

January video #2: Anatomy series - Skeletal and Muscular Systems

2011-02-08T12:49:00.001-06:00

Second video for January - finally caught up now! This time we go over skeletal and muscular systems and then we hop into ZBrush to sketch out a rough torso. It's done in ZB 3.5r3 but the principles still apply. February videos we'll start to get into detail on the different areas of the body...should be a doozy!!

January video #1: Anatomy Series - Proportion and Foundation

2011-02-01T14:07:00.001-06:00

Still catching up on January videos, so here's the first one...we're getting back to basics with this one where we'll be going over the study of proportion and foundation. It's this kind of stuff that'll make you a stronger character artist.

This is the first video in my new anatomy series where we study more about the art of sculpting anatomy rather than all the technical stuff that Zbrush (and other software) does.

December video #2 - Hard Surfaces

2011-02-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

First of all, the audio after the intro is just awful and I apologize. I had the webcam mic on while recording instead of my usual headset mic. I may need to explore hard surfaces more in the future to make up for this one. :)

December video #1 - Using Layers for Design Exploration

2011-02-01T13:16:00.002-06:00

Yes, I realize that it's February but I neglected to send out previews of the December videos back when I made them. Today is catch up day! :)

In this video we go over how to use the power of layers to further explore and present design options in ZBrush. I hope it helps your workflow!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T12:08:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

I hope you've had a wonderful year so far. I thought I'd let you know that I plan on posting some previews of the December videos after I get back from Christmas break (beginning of January). The two videos have already been created and sent out to subscribers just haven't had time to post the previews here yet.

Jesse

November video #2 - Design Exploration in ZBrush

2010-12-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

This time we go into using ZBrush as a design tool. Specifically to sculpt rough designs from a sphere. I talk about the design principles that I think about as I begin to start something from scratch.

November video #1 - UV's

2010-11-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

In this video we discuss the wonderful world of UV's. It's not exactly a truly exhaustive look as we'll be mainly going over the methods I use to build my uv's for my characters, which consist of ZBrush's UVMaster and 3ds Max's Unwrap UVW and pelt map methods. We even get a little into bringing our brand new uv'd character.back over to max and slapping some displacement maps on it.

October video #2 - body detailing

2010-11-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun one I just did that covers detailing the body of our character we've been working on the last few months. We cover techniques that include sculpting manually as well as when to use alphas to make the process easier.

October 2010 video #1 - Prop/Environment Creation

2010-10-19T11:12:00.000-05:00

We go over techniques to create a prop or environment object. Enjoy!

3DCreativeMag: Volcano Monster!

2010-10-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned for the new full-length tutorial I created for 3DCreativeMag.com - Volcano Monster! Release date TBD....Here are some shots from the project:

September 2010 video #2

2010-09-24T13:11:00.000-05:00

This is the second video for September 2010. We talk about going over the body with a more clear idea of concept and then put it into action as we start to shape the design into the sculpt.

Extra button to push!

2010-09-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

We all love extra buttons and that's why I added a new one for purchasing previous month's videos. I've had some new subscribers ask me how to purchase previous videos that they've missed out on and here's the solution:

Just click on the Add to Cart button on the left, it'll take you to Paypal checkout where you can choose your quantity and it'll do all the fancy math for you. Once you've done that, I'll get a notify and I'll send you the video links based on how many you've purchased. You can always email me to clarify which months you would prefer for those of you who don't want all of the past videos and would rather have only the previous three.

An introduction to CGNUGGETS!

2010-09-17T17:01:00.000-05:00

September Video #1 - sample!

2010-09-14T11:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a sample of the first cgnuggets video for September. We go over the principles of adding details as well as go over some techniques for sculpting them in Zbrush.

Goodbye MZT, hello CGNUGGETS!

2010-09-11T00:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I've decided to kinda rebrand this whole thing now that I've done it for several months. I'm realizing that this isn't truly Zbrush training even though most of what I'm doing is in Zbrush. It's more about the character creation process as a whole. Also, this has become a service through my company Green Grass Studios rather than something I'm doing personally. That way I can give you a better product and release videos more frequently (a 60 minute video virtually every other week). I'll still have my MZT videos from April to August from this year available for those of you who sign up and still want the previous videos. Just keep in mind that they'll be in the old format. Soooo, the next step is getting my awesome subscriber folks their first September video - that's coming early next week....

August video! - Let's retopo.

2010-08-30T17:25:00.000-05:00

This video walks through fixing your topology issues so you have a solid mesh to work with when doing your high level sculpting like pores and wrinkles. I use the GoZ function of ZBrush 4 to connect with 3dsmax 2011. Next month we jump back into sculpting by detailing out his face design. Should be fun!

Two videos a month for the same price! Say wha??

2010-08-28T16:03:00.001-05:00

That's right folks.

Starting in September, I'll be sending out TWO 60 minute videos each month to those of you who subscribe to the training video service. And the price stays the same at $14.95 per month. I was feeling like it was a really long time in between each video and this way it's a bit more frequent. They'll generally be a couple weeks apart.

I may even throw out a short little bonus video that addresses something outside of the project we're working on the regular videos to keep things fresh.

I'll also be doing some changes on the name and look for this whole thing but that'll come a bit later.

Remember, it's never too late to subscribe or get past videos. :)

Jesse

Zbrush 4!

2010-08-15T01:33:00.000-05:00

So it finally came out - ZBrush 4. This release actually has a number of items from my wishlist that have been addressed along with some cool surprises that'll come in handy too. Instead of focusing on the features individually, I'll just show them off in practical ways as we progress through our character sculpting. The August video should be coming out second half of this month....

July - finally...

2010-07-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit late getting this one out so thanks for your patience everyone! This month's all about taking our character's face to the next level as we start talking about sculpting in the secondary and tertiary forms, volumes, and details. Here's a preview: Thanks for checking it out!

No more private tutoring....for now.

2010-06-30T01:41:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been taking private tutoring or have considered it, I wanted to inform you that I'm taking a break from doing any further private zbrush tutoring. My wife and I just had our third child a couple weeks ago and I'm finding that I just simply don't have any extra time or energy to devote to private lessons in addition to having time with my newly expanded family. Thank you all for understanding!

June baby!

2010-06-09T11:17:00.000-05:00

The latest MZT video is done! I go into how to approach blocking in hands and feet. Also we discuss some things on how to make them believable but still unique to the character. Then it all gets wrapped up with some overall design adjustment. Check out the sample to get a glimpse.

Pixologic ZClassroom Webcast - Sculpting with Layers

2010-06-04T08:15:00.000-05:00

I was approached by Pixologic to participate in their new ZClassroom Webcast series. Here's my first with hopefully more to come in the future:

http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/tutorial.php?lesson=webcast

Certified!

2010-05-27T07:13:00.000-05:00

I just got added to the ZBrush Certified Instructors list on Pixologic. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn't it? :)

http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/schools/ - and then go to the Certified Instructors tab.

MZT #2 - May is released!!

2010-05-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

Gotta tell ya - this one was a lot of fun for me. We go over how to approach the blocking and rough sculpting process of the character workflow in ZBrush. This is our time as artists to give some breath to our creation and see it come to life. The personality and attitude finally starts to show and we get a glimpse of something exciting to work on for the upcoming lessons. Here's a 3 minute sample of the 95 minute video:

It's May already?

2010-05-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

Hey fellow-lovers-o-zbrush! It's a new month (May, for those keeping track) and another subscription video is coming out by the 15th this month. This session we go into blocking out the main forms to "discover" the design of our character and going over the techniques involved. This is a very important phase of the character building process and should be loads of fun. So if you haven't signed up via the SUBSCRIBE button on the left, then do it darnit. You're missing out on the party!

First video released!

2010-04-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

Official release of the first video for the Monthly ZBrush Training subscription has been made. If you'd like to sign up for the service, you can still get this first video when you subscribe via the button on the left of this page. To tantalize your ZBrush tastebuds, here's a short sample of the 90 min video:

First video is aaaaalmost ready!

2010-04-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

Alright, faithful subscribers - the first video is exporting as I type. I should have it out to you all in the next couple hours! I hope you like it and tell others. ;) Stay tuned....

Recording tonight!

2010-04-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

The very first episode, er, video lesson is being recorded this evening. I'll have it out to you fine folks sometime tomorrow so you have something to watch over the weekend. I'm excited to get this thing started!! :)

Another sample

2010-04-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

Hey folks! With the Monthly ZBrush Training kicking off next Wednesday, I thought I'd add another sample of the kind of thing I'll be using to teach. This video has been sped up for demo purposes but the original was done in realtime (1 hour) to walk through sculpting a head in ZBrush. Subscribe today - just click on that "subscribe" button on the left. :)

First video date!

2010-04-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

I've got the first video planned to release by April 15th. Subscribe via Paypal today so you can be on the list for the launch of the Monthly ZBrush Training series!

And you know it's totally legit since I'm doing this via Paypal right? :) If you don't like it, you can always unsubscribe anytime.

Monthly ZBrush Training Videos!

2010-03-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hello my fellow ZBrush artists! I'm announcing a new service called Monthly ZBrush Training.

In a nutshell, it's a monthly video that challenges you as an artist and helps to hone your understanding of our favorite digital sculpting tool, ZBrush. We'll be covering a wide range of topics and trying some different characters from all sorts of genres. Anywhere from humans, creatures, cartoons, monsters, cute things, and on and on. I may try to incorporate some environmental type things as well. I'll go over techniques and workflow as well as go over each step that I'm doing.

For lots of information about this, please see the FAQ for Monthly ZBrush Training button on the left sidebar.

Also, there are links to my personal work so you can get an idea of the kind of characters I've created in the past. Lots of free timelapsed videos on my personal site to see my ZBrush workflow too.

Ok, now that you know what it is, all you have to do is hit the Subscribe button on the left there and you'll be signed up to get a new video each month. I really want the videos to be something different than other tutorial dvd's and training. I hope you come along and get ready to live!

Normally these videos are 60 minutes or longer but here's just a sample excerpt of what it would be like: