Introducing ZBrush Review

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(More customer reviews)As a fellow author, I have bookshelf upon bookshelf of 3D books. Most of these don't get much use. "Introducing ZBrush," however, will get a good workout. Although I've always been impressed by the work produced by ZBrush, I've never been a fan of the interface or workflow and thus have used it relatively little to date. Eric Keller's book makes it all less intimidating. His book covers all the basics, plus includes ample step-by-step guides. The illustrations and example models are a step above many 3D books. I'm also happy to see instructions for importing from and exporting to Maya (ZBrush displacement maps look fantastic in Maya). The DVD includes models, materials, textures, movies, tools, and macros, plus a trial of ZBrush 3. Admittedly, there is a wealth of ZBrush information on the web. However, if you prefer to have a book at your fingertips and would rather not slog through forums for quick answers, this book is a good investment. (If I had a wish, it would be that more of the illustrations were in color, and not black-and-white.)

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If you want to take advantage of one of the hottest CG tools available, Introducing ZBrush is the perfect place to start.
Introducing ZBrush helps you jump into this exciting drawing and sculpting software without fear. Learn ZBrush 3.1 basics inside and out and get comfortable sculpting in a digital environment with this relaxed, friendly, and thorough guide. Master these practical techniques and soon you'll be creating realistic, cartoon, and organic models with flair.
Introduces you to ZBrush 3.1, the sculpting software that lets you create digital art with a fine-art feel, which you can transfer into Maya or other 3D applicationsCovers painting, meshes, organic sculpting, hard surface sculpting, textures, lighting, rendering, working with other 3D applications, and scriptingWalks you through a series of fun and engaging tutorials where you can start creating your own work, including human, cartoon, and organic models

Learn to create lush, beautiful digital art with ZBrush and this detailed guide.

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Introducing ZBrush 4 Review

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(More customer reviews)So I'm currently enrolled at Gnomon School of VFX. and I can not put enough emphasis on how important zbrush is to the pipeline in much of visual / video games today. This book is exactly what you need to get up and get going on the latest version of zbrush. With all the upgrades bells and whistles this program has now, this should easily be an important book in you library. If you are interested and intimidated by computer graphics programs and such, you couldn't pick up a better intro book to one of the most important programs in visual graphics today. Eric Keller has a way of introducing a very complex program in the most understandable way. Can't tell you how awesome it is to have a guide to zbrush 4 on my desk and not scouring the internet for answers. A must buy for anyone interested in learning this program a must have for anyone who is zbrush user.

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Design remarkably realistic creatures, people, and objects using ZBrush and the new edition of this top-selling book. Professional Hollywood animator and ZBrush artist Eric Keller combines his firsthand experience with detailed, step-by-step explanations to make you feel right at home with the interface and tools. The book reinforces the core concepts of ZBrush through fun, hands-on tutorials that will help you achieve amazing results.
Understand ZBrush's unique sculpting and painting technology

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d'artiste Character Modeling 3: Digital Artists Master Class Review

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(More customer reviews)d'artiste: Character Modeling 3 is the eighth book in the Digital Artist Master Class series. Each d'artiste title features the digital art techniques and approaches of a small group of artists.
The 208-page book comes in a sturdy slipcase. There's also a signed and leather bound limited edition if you're into it.
The featured artists here are Giovanni Nakpil, Jan-Bart Van Beek (Killzone creator) and Cesar Dacol Jr. Their bios are further down this review.
Each artist has three sections: background on their career, the invited artist gallery and the tutorial section. So it's actually part art book, part tutorials. Everything's written in first person by the artists. The stories are on how they got started in computer graphics, and got to where they are today. All pretty inspiring.
Different 3D software packages are used but the primary one is Zbrush, and to a lesser extent Maya and Mudbox. The tutorials are actually step-by-step walkthrough on how the models are conceived, modeled and rendered. My favourite tutorial is the one on the Helghast sniper from Killzone 2, which is modeled using Zbrush and Maya. It shows how the sniper is modeled, texture mapped and how the ridiculously cool cloaking shader is created.
The invited artist gallery is filled with top notch 3D characters, be it realistic or stylistic, personal or commissioned work. There's a nice variety of all shapes and sizes, humans and not. A few pieces are actually created from clay, and some, latex. The ones in latex are incredibly realistic and I've no idea how they are created. Anyway, all invited artists have their contact and info provided should you want to check out more art from them.
This book is recommended to 3D character modelers and artists in the CG industry. Those who use Zbrush will benefit a bit more from the tutorials.
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For those buying from the Ballistic Publishing website...
Ballistic Publishing has made available some downloads for the first 500 customers who pre-order the slipcase or 200-copies limited edition. The downloads are high-resolution meshes (ZTL and OBJ file formats) of Giovanni Nakpil's quadruped creature and Cesar Dacol Jr's Pond Guardian from the tutorials. On the download page, I also found an additional (bonus?) media pack download. Inside are three walkthrough videos by artists who created the cover art for Matte Painting 2, EXPOSÉ 6 and EXPOSÉ 7.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

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d'artiste: Character Modeling 3 presents the techniques of leading character modelers Jan-Bart van Beek, Giovanni Nakpil, and Cesar Dacol Jr.

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3D Modeling in Silo: The Official Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)If you really want to learn the program Silo, this book will have you covered. It is rated for the Novice to Intermediate and that is what the book is for, though a beginner or expert may be able to use the book as the basis for learning Silo's features, the project would be a bit much for the beginner and probably bore an expert level user.
The book's layout is excellent and there are plenty of pictures. Most the of the images, and they're referenced often, lack enough contrast to allow you to actually see what the authors are talking about. However, you can download the models on a chapter by chapter basis if you really need to visually confirm how something was done. There is also a Bonus chapter on UV Mapping that is a must download.
I'm not someone who feels they need to model everything from scratch and only model when I simply cannot find what I'm looking for or need something special and got the book to get a better grasp of some of the more advanced features of Silo (Displacement Painting, etc.) So for me, I found the book to be an excellent purchase from Amazon.
If you own Silo, and your name is not Glen Southern, Amazon has the book for you!

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Create high-quality models in no time at all with these comprehensive, full-color, techniques and tutorials from Antony Ward and David Randall. These step-by-step tutorials walk readers through the creation of a high-quality female model while teaching you the basics and principles behind 3D modeling in Silo - including modeling the face and clothes, creating textures, and posing the character. The companion website includes all of the tutorial and project files. This book is officially endorsed and co-written by the creators of Silo, Nevercenter. Features include:* See how to create three main models - A base mesh, a detailed female base mesh and the final cover character, Jade Raven.* Covers both organic and hard surface modeling techniques.* Introduces the reader to more advanced Silo tools like Paint Displacement and UV Mapping.* Full of bonus material and information to make you a more efficient 3D artist.* The techniques featured can also be applied to other 3D applications, making the skills you will learn easily transferable.* Get money off Silo with the discount code included.

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Polygonal Modeling: Basic and Advanced Techniques (Worldwide Game and Graphics Library) (Wordware Game and Graphics Library) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was looking to learn Maya after years of using 3ds max, and this book's Maya Quick Start chapter got me right to the poly modeling tools and workflow without any detours. The tutorials have lots and lots of pictures--any semi-experienced modeler could work from the pictures alone. There is also a short, well-worded, to-the-point chapter on modeling for games, with the best explanation I've ever seen of poly arrangements and their importance. It's great to see a book with so little fluff and so much substance.

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Polygonal modeling is the process of creating objects in a 3D environment. It is the foundation for the creation of all 3D graphics and the essential building block of a career in computer graphics. Polygonal Modeling: Basic and Advanced Techniques provides in-depth coverage of polygonal modeling, including practical lessons on topology construction, a focus on the fundamentals of subdivision workflow, and a discussion of the technical aspects of modeling organic and inorganic objects. The book includes illustrated quick start modeling guides to 3ds max and Maya.Explore and evaluate a variety of subdivision techniques. Learn about polygonal objects and their most common properties. Discover how to use the tools and operations found in major 3D packages for polygonal modeling. Follow along with the step-by-step illustrated exercises that demonstrate the process of character modeling.

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