ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy [Paperback]

Scott Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2010

Taking into account that many of today's digital artists -- particularly 3D character animators -- lack foundational artistic instruction, this book teaches anatomy in a coherent and succinct style. A clear writing style explains how to sculpt an accurate human figure, starting with the skeleton and working out to muscle, fat, and skin. Insightful explanations enable you to quickly and easily create and design characters that can be used in film, game, or print, and allows you to gain a strong understanding of the foundational artistic concepts.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Create memorable human figures for movies and games

To create compelling characters, you need to make them realistic, and ZBrush by itself can take you only so far. You also need solid artistic skills. This full-color, illustrated guide teaches you the basics of human anatomy, so you can create captivating human figures that really come to life on screen.

Using ZBrush 3.5 tools, you'll sculpt a heroic male figure, learning each body part as you go, including head, neck, torso, arms, legs, bones, and muscle. This book emphasizes concepts that have guided artists for centuries, such as gesture, form, and proportion, helping you develop foundational skills you can draw upon throughout your career. Transform your animation into professional-level artistry with this must-have guide.

• Understand the basic tenets of form, proportion, gesture, and rhythm

• Master basic anatomical terms for skeletal regions and muscle groups

• Break down the regions of the body into simple geometric shapes

• Begin roughing in your figure with Claytubes and other tools

• Create the impression of flesh over underlying muscle and bone

• Learn ZBrush remeshing and color-mapping techniques

• Flesh out your figure with fine detail and costuming

• Repurpose your figure for film, video games, Web, or digital output

• Build skills you can also apply to Maya®, 3ds Max, Blender, and Photoshop

VALUABLE COMPANION DVD

Enhance your learning with video instruction that walks you through the projects in the book. You'll also find anatomy models to use for practice.

Use ZBrush tools to perfect the fine detail of muscle construction

Sculpt different kinds of fabric to clad a heroic character

Lay the groundwork for believable facial expression with a solid foundation

About the Author

Scott Spencer is a freelance character designer and sculptor currently working at the Weta Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand. Scott has worked on titles such as Iron Man, Golden Axe, Species 3, and others. His work can be seen in film, video games, and a variety of collectible figures.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (January 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470450266
• ISBN-13: 978-0470450260
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > 3D Graphics
  • #64 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Photography & Video > Video Production

More About the Author

Creature creator, sculptor, author, caffiene enthusiast.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must have, January 27, 2010

By 

Isdom24 "zbrush learner" (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy (Paperback)

This book is an excellent follow up to all previous zbrush books. Why?, two reasons...One, it refers to zbrush version 3.5 which has some major changes from previous zbrush versions. But the greatest joy is in following the tutorial of a "realistic hero" character. My lady friend always asks me about all other zbrush books..."why do all the characters look ugly?" the answer is simple. It's far easier to create an alien or an ogre. But now Scott Spencer enables us non academically educated artists to create a somewhat life-like character. This is no easy task, but Mr. Spencer enables even a non artist like myself to do so. I no longer have to create aliens and ogres and can actually create a character that is aesthetic to the layperson's eye! BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF ZBRUSH IS A MUST! So keep that in mind. But once you understand the zbrush interface and you are comfortable with the basic standard, clay, inflate, and flatten brushes, you will love this book. Hopefully, the next version will be of a "life-like" female superhero.

THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE along with "The Essential" by an author who now advocates mudbox. ZSpheres have come a long way with v.3.5 zspheres2 so he might regret leaving zbrush. BTW...There is no info on zsketching in this new Scott Spencer book, but nevertheless, your skills will grow leaps and bounds as an artist (digital sculpturist) as he does a great job explaining gesture and form as well as detail.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must have for any digital character sculptor's library., February 1, 2010

By 

Ara (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy (Paperback)

Whether you are sculpting human or alien characters with ZBrush, your ability to create convincing results with an efficient workflow is extremely dependent on your knowledge of sculpting anatomy. As any established character artist will tell you, the education you get through sculpting your first human body following anatomically correct guidelines is one of the most important learning processes you will go through. Scott's book is an indispensible companion for you on this journey.

The book thoroughly covers the head, torso, arms and legs, all the way from the skeletal regions and muscle groups to fatty tissue and skin. It also covers how to sculpt them with top level ZBrush expertise. If that's not enough, the book's companion DVD has videos of Scott going through and showing you how to do the steps in the book, base models from you to start your human sculpture, and the results of his work that you can study.

If you are struggling with the gap between your creations and the ones you see on ZBrush Central or CG blockbuster movies, the content of this book will get you closer to making top shelf characters. It is extremely well written with excellent step by step instructions you can follow. I wish I had it during my journey of sculpting my first anatomy figure; however, I am thankful to have it now because it is extremely useful as reference when I am struggling with a certain area in my character work.

An absolute must have for any character digital sculptors library.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have, April 25, 2010

By 

B. E. Murray III - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy (Paperback)

This is my second Scott Spencer Book. the first - ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting,set the standard, and this one exceeded it. The first book really impressed me, this second has blown me away. With both books, the accompanying DVD is worth the price of purchase. it is full of example files, sculpting demos and tutorials.

The book is big, thick and heavy. The reason for this is not its text content, It's the very large number of illustrations, all of which are printed in full color.

I own both The Atlas of human anatomy, as well as Bridgemans Drawing from life, and this book compares very well with those books. In fact i would recommended this book to any artist studying human anatomy, the instruction and illistration is that good.

The real wow factor for me on this book, is it is different from any other computer application text i have ever read. The book is far less about click hear and click there, or dated by just the current version of the software. In fact the vast majority of this book cover the timeless study of the human body. not only that, but its sculptural construction. This helps any artist, where they are using ZBrush, Mudbox, Modo, Blender or even traditional Clay to create characters. This is the first and only book Ive seen address the issue of more classical education for modern technical artists.

The only drawback to this book is also its strength. The model created in the book is of a Heroic Male. This model serves well for a good number of applications, but I would have really enjoyed a section on anatomical differences. For example, female, older, obese , and youth.

Overall i strongly recommend this book to any artist that wants to learn the figure, no matter what the application. It is one of the few books out there that helps not only with familiarizing yourself with a program, but will help you improve your art as well.