Week 4 - First Day Using Zbrush
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| Fig.1 - Character Blocking Kimpossible |
First day using Zbrush was a pain, it was completely disarranged my muscle memory from using Maya, the UI was amazingly difficult as the function was entirely different and seem to rely a lot on right-clicking.
We started the day by learning about characters and how they are built. Even though I have already been introduced to this topic before it was interesting to see it from a different perspective. For example; Squares, circles and triangles can define a character, such as a triangle translates to a villain, a circle creates more a friendly warm presence and squares interpret a bulky muscly character. Not only does the shape expresses one's character it also helps with character modelling, by blocking. As shown in Figure 1. Since Kim Possible is my chosen model I decided to go with a circular shape as it is obvious that Kim Possible is made with circles.
I struggled with creating Kimpossible as it was really hard for me to understand the tools and control them. Noticeably Judging My work there is a lot to be refined. There should be more shapes used to create the blocking for example the knee could be split into two which could have made it easier to extrude. Shapes Could be smoother by duplicating the vertices, again making it easier to manipulate the shape. And change the posing into something more neutral for easier sculpting.
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| Fig.2 - Exploring Tools |
Controlling Zbrush was frustrating as I did not understand the tools I was using and the buttons to press, as problems moved into more uncertainty. So I decided to use the tools and experiment on a circle. I was able to learn how to smoothen an object by pressing the 'shift key', and understanding what each brush do. In conclusion, manifestly using Zbrush was unsuccessful and successful, as I was able to learn from my mistakes and understand the functionality of this software. Although the character blocking was not perfect, I now know what to refine and have to follow up tutorials to master Zbrush.
It's an understandable frustration; it can be quite challenging to learn new software and new ways of doing things. But ultimately, this is a good challenge to face now and get used to, as you'll find learning new software and workflows will be a big part of the job and staying up to date with CGI technology. As you said, you're learning from your mistakes and that is what will accelerate your development going forward.
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