With this session we got to grips with Z brush to create a stylised sculpt of die with carvings on, allowing us to play around with Z brush and what it has to offer. I already have an idea of how to use Z brush from the first year and a bit of it this year with the Zbrush sessions. However I am still rusty with the controls for Z Brush due to its unusual controls so in my spare time I am going to learn the controls and short cuts.
With making the cube we imported it from Maya to Zbrush as a tool. Now that I know this process I can use it in future when I want to add more detail or to stylise an asset. With the cube in Zbrush I then cut away the edges with the clay tube brush to give off an effect that the stone has been cut away. Which took me some time to perfect the look as at first the texture didn’t look right but after some time playing around with the brush settings I managed to perfect the look.
After cutting the edges we were then let loose with playing around with Z brush and the style of the die. This left me wondering what I should style my cube on which left me confused on what I should do with my cube. So I started looking for references for styles which got me thinking about the style of “Sea of Thieves”. Which is what I am going for but with my own twist. However I am still unsure of what to put on my sculpted die as I could go with a typical dice. But I want to making it more interesting than a simple dice. In the end I couldn’t make up my mind so I just played around with the tools and brushes. Where I played around with chipping the corners on the cube and adding cracks to the cube faces. Which I achieved with the clay tubes and the trim dynamic, this turned out rather well. I would like to chip more off the cube but then I don’t want to over do it.
Overall at the end of the session it turned out alright as I made two dies which are incomplete however they have allow me to play around with the tools and methods. They still need to be finished which I will do in my spare time I’ll try to get one complete die. Bellow is the cube with the completed faces which I stuck with the Sea of Thieves look but choose to use symbols that reflect my personality. Which have turned out alright as I learnt how to create alphas for the brush to create my symbols. Allowing me to improve the quality of the symbols but also to save on time.
Thomas Morphew Games art 