04: ZMats

So, I was kind of bored with using standard/downloaded materials in ZBrush for sculpting purposes. This led to me creating my own materials using Maya & V-Ray. I based a lot of them on my favourite sculpting material, the dk_hulk. I find that it is the best for reading the form as you are sculpting, with a front on light and rather strong cavity detection.

The final result of my experiments, a front on light with a very dark lower half and a brighter upper half. The rim-light is optional as I have a version of the material with, and without it.

Another material, with a slightly rough texture applied to it, similar to the above material but with a slightly angled lower light.

A highly specialised material, similar to things like car paint or polished latex. It is best used on relatively flattish surfaces, as the number of highlights can make other surfaces hard to read.

A top-down style material based on the final result. Its more useful for getting a look at the model in a dramatic lighting setup than for actually sculpting.

Quite a strong rough texture on this one, its also very good for checking sculpts in different lighting and not quite as good for actually sculpting.

The different materials applied to an older model of mine, as you can see the paint style material is applied to a much smoother model (a stock ZBrush skull).