Hot Keys in ZBrush Are Your Friends

Originally I was going to make this post all about setting up a custom User Interface (UI) inside ZBrush to help make the work flow easier because I feel that the default UI is not very friendly to my style and work flow. I say "style" like I have been using ZBrush for years but after just a month of use you can really get a work flow that you really like and thus, you have a style. But our instructor for Production Modeling gave us a couple of Custom UI's to use and I fell in love with one of them instantly and have been using it all month long for my assignments.

There she is... I love this UI. The most commonly used brushes for me are set up across the bottom and the Edit, Draw, Transpose, and a few other useful tools on the right side. I just make one small change because I am left handed and I HATE reaching across my Wacom Tablet to get to the "Tool" menu so I just pop it over to the left side and I leave the right side open for items like the "Stroke" menu.

So since I didn't have to make a custom UI to make life inside ZBrush easier I set about making Hotkeys for SEVERAL tools and brushes so I don't have to go looking for them. The main one being the Solo tool, because while Yes, it is on the tool bar on the right side, but on the MacBook Pro that I am using you can't see it too well on the bottom of the screen. And if you are in the middle of a Retopology project and you want to check to see how things are looking that Solo tool comes in handy but you have to find the thing. So I my instructors advice and assigned it to the "S" key in ZBrush so it would be easy to get to. That was what got me started on the path of setting up my own Hotkeys, now let me take you down that path if you are unsure how.

To start off with setting your own hotkeys I recommend writing them down so you don't forget (like I did a few times). Next up once in ZBrush (this is for the Mac mind you cause thats what I am working from) you hold down the CMD and Opt (alt) keys and click on the tool or brush you want to set up as a Hotkey. At the top of the screen you will get this message telling you to hit the key or combination of keys to act as the hotkey for that tool.

Once you pick the key you want to assign to that tool you will get a message telling you that the Hotkey is set up.

And that is really all there is to it. Super simple really. Something that I recommend and this is something that I also got from my instructor for Production Modeling was to assign the brushes you use the most to the number keys. I would start with the most common being on number "1" and working your way across. But again I am left handed so I started at "0" and worked backwards so I could keep the stylus in the ready position and not have to reach across with my right hand for my "Move" brush. One other quick thing I can recommend for making ones life much easier and way more productive inside ZBrush is to make sure you set up your HotKeys on your Tablet as well. I will save that for another post because not everyone uses a Wacom Intuos tablet.

Oh one last thing... when you close ZBrush you have an option box pop up that asks you if you want to save your Hotkeys. Please click yes so you don't have to do what I did and set them up a second time. You will thank yourself later.

Character Design and Creation: Arm Project

This month I had to build an arm for my Character Design and Creation class. I am still getting the hang of using ZBrush so this is not one of my best builds but for being one of the first done in ZBrush I am actually rather proud of it. Ons of the things that I really take from this assignment is to not be afraid to just get in there and start playing with the tools. As my awesome instructor told us "If you make a mistake just hit undo and do it over again." So working in the digital medium is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Something else I have to take away from this assignment is that since it forced us to use Photoshop as well I am less bothered by that program than I was a few months ago. 

If I were to go back and redo this assignment one of the things that I would have to do with this project would be to just quit second guessing myself and just get in there and do it. And I would just reassure myself that mistakes are okay and they are part of learning. 

As you can see in the screen shots below... fingers are not my friends... but the rest of the arm looks great.

Methods of Design: Aesthetics Project Pt. 3

The Blue and Beyond

Christopher West

Colored Pencil on Bristol

2016 

Untitled (Cat #257)

Phil Sims

Paint on Canvas

1996

In the above project I took inspiration from the Untitled work by Phil Sims and in my opinion made it more appealing. I did find a colored pencil in my supply box that was very very close in the shade of blue that Phil Sims used in his original work. I used that color as the outer ring of blue just before you get to the black that was used in the corners. Another similarity is between the two work is that I kept with the abstract minimalist feel of the original just not as minimalist. For the most part that is where the similarities end, by using more blues I really added to the value range taking it from almost white in the middle to black on the outer most areas. Also by using the approach that I did it gave the work a sense of movement, your eyes are drawn from the outer dark colors to the inner lighter colors. The light "streaks" throughout the work help with this sense of movement by making it look blurred as if you were falling into the light in the middle. 

Methods of Design: Aesthetics Project Pt. 2

Into the Blue (WIP)

Christopher West

Colored Pencil on Paper

2016

So out of the three pre production sketches that I did for this project this is the one that we decided looked the best. So I am going to rework it and make it look better. I am thinking of trying art markers instead of pencils. Also I am going to add a bit of movement I think. 

Methods Of Design: Aesthetics Project Pt. 1

Untitled (Cat #257)

Phil Sims

Completed 1996

Paint on Canvas

Subjective Critique

Since taking an Art History class here at Full Sail I have learned to appreciate more different kinds of art and one of those that I have learned to enjoy is abstract expressionism, but the art movement that I have a hard time grasping the concept of is the Minimalist movement. I just have a hard time understanding how someone can paint a canvas a solid color and call it art. Its not creative nor is it original. It has no movement nor does it tell a story. Though it does evoke feelings but not good ones. Honestly in my own personal opinion anyone could have painted this and called it art. If this were my work of art I would break it up with other colors or give the work a sense of depth or movement. Anything really to keep it from being a boring stretch of blue canvas. 

Objective Critique

In this Untitled work by Abstract Minimalist Phil Sims, the artist painted the canvas a solid color of blue using several layers of paint to create slight variations in the shade of blue. This lends to a very unified solid painting. What this painting lacks though is any sense of movement or a solid focal point to draw the viewers eye. Paintings in this style should be viewed almost in a meditative state to get any sense of meaning from them.