Intro- Continue the “Goblin” Project with ZBrush Face Tools This article is a continuation of our “CC Topology GoZ Goblin Body” article. We’ve already sculpted and baked the body and head textures for our goblin, but we only have default face shapes and neutral default expression wrinkles. In this article, we’ll use the powerful ZBrush Face Tools plugin to update our face shapes, eyes, teeth, and tongue, and of course create custom expression wrinkles that match our unique character perfectly. However, all of these articles have relied on CC topology projects in order to fully utilize the Rea ..read more

Gone are the painstaking days of piecemeal 3D building assembly. The iClone BuildingGen plugin empowers architects, professional designers, and hobbyists alike to effortlessly create diverse 3D buildings using procedural Blueprints. This plugin streamlines the entire process by allowing the organization of 3D module collections into effective and cohesive packages. Watch Tutorial > Construction styles can be defined using interchangeable components and materials to enjoy maximum design flexibility. Best of all, BuildingGen’s nondestructive workflow ensures that design iterations can be ma ..read more

Creating Ultra Realistic Digital Humans for the 3D Fashion Industry . At its core, Unexplored Fields is a collective of 3D artists who intricately blend art, fashion, and CGI. Specializing in art direction and the production of digital campaigns for the fashion industry, the studio boasts a diverse team skilled in various areas such as art direction, 3D modeling, avatar and environment creation, cloth simulations, material generation, realistic renderings, and sound design. Through collaborative efforts, they infuse the essence of partnered brands into their visuals like Calvin Klein ..read more

I admit it. I had a deep-rooted, long-embedded phobia of 2D work. This was due to its complexity early on in my freelance career. Motion Graphics were great, but character-driven 2D animation was time-consuming and tedious. This was long before Adobe bought After Effects. Cell shading was making a retreat as digital art had taken root. Being as I was a grunt at the bottom of the animation chain, I generally got the jobs that no one else wanted, and that somewhat tainted my view of 2D work.  As strange as this sounds today, back then my experience was that 3D was easier and less stressful ..read more

A Step-by-Step Guide from ZBrush Master Pablo Munoz Gomez The Facial Profile Editor Alright, to wrap up this in-depth guide to the Face Tools plugin, I want to give you an overview of one of the most powerful features in CC4 when it comes to expressions: The Facial Profile Editor. With the workflow we’ve been following in this guide, we manage to create an original custom character with its unique set of expressions and of course unique wrinkles. However, all of the custom tweaks we’ve created are being applied to the generic rig in CC4, this means we can definitely generate some really cool ..read more

A Step-by-Step Guide from ZBrush Master Pablo Munoz Gomez Adjusting Expressions with Face Editor in CC Alright! Time to get into the custom expressions; this is what all the fuss is about! Up to this point, we’ve refined the base mesh, incorporated basic high-frequency details, and adjusted the textures, resulting in a visually appealing ‘static’ character. However, our goal extends beyond mere aesthetics; we aim to create a character capable of dynamic animation and conveying natural expressions. Hence, the forthcoming stage is dedicated to achieving precisely that. In CC4, I used the Face ..read more

A Step-by-Step Guide from ZBrush Master Pablo Munoz Gomez Detailing the Skin One of the biggest advantages of the connection between CC4 and ZBrush is, of course, that you can leverage the ZBrush capabilities and features to sculpt intricate sets of details into your characters. Gather the Reference of Skin Details In this next stage, we are going to concentrate on the skin details. One of my favourite resources to study the intricacies of skin patterns is a website by photographer Daniel Boschung: https://www.danielboschung.com/. This website has a bunch of portraits in incredibly high reso ..read more

A Step-by-Step Guide from ZBrush Master Pablo Munoz Gomez Concept and introduction of ZBrush Face Tools This comprehensive tutorial dives into the world of expression creation and dynamic wrinkles using Character Creator 4, ZBrush, and the Face Tools plugin. Learn how to leverage this powerful combination to create facial rig and breathe life into your characters. Before we get started with the step-by-step process of how you can create custom expressions for your characters, let’s take a look at an important stage of the process that is sometimes overlooked: The planning stage. The planning ..read more

The Stone is a 3D animated short film Dom Fred – Director / Producer / Editor / 3D Animator “The Stone” is a 3D animated short film, by Maya animator and director Dom Fred, showcasing action cinema techniques, featuring a formidable stone monster under attack by a military team. Leveraging ActorCore’s motion capture library, Dom and team achieves exceptionally realistic body movements, enhancing the authenticity of live combat sequences. With a focus on realism, the project seamlessly integrated iClone, ActorCore, and Unreal Engine to produce a cinematic short, boasting detailed rendering of ..read more

Crafting an entire 3D cityscape bustling with animated characters engaging in daily activities was a formidable undertaking that consumed months of effort to accomplish. New technological advancements paired with the right tools paint a new and better picture — Today, such a feat can be achieved with spare minutes to the hour. What is also a boon to the movie and gaming industry represents a paradigm shift in how individual artists express themselves: By harnessing software such as iClone 8 and its newly introduced Crowd Simulator, any enthusiast — regardless of their skill level — can swiftly ..read more