Wicked Cool CGI Art.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?177616-Defiance-Character-Art-Dump

Very nice stuff... Liked this one better though, just my taste.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?136873-Cedric-Seaut-s-Little-Box&p=1016219&viewfull=1#post1016219

Quote - Wicked Cool CGI Art.

I agree.

But, modeling is a lot easier if you can use fifty-elevenbajility polys....

"But, modeling is a lot easier if you can use fifty-elevenbajility polys...."

you're definitely right in that point (just watching a few "speed" modeling videos shows you how different a process it actually is), also calling ZBrush or Sculptris modeling in virtual clay is somewhat deceptive as anyone that has ever done extensive modeling with clay will tell you. With clay you have to worry about gravity, structural support, drying, cracking, and numerous other technical considerations. Anyway, I'm hesitant to call the process of modeling in a 3D app legitimate sculpture in the common usage of the term, as the whole evolution of sculpture has been based around support in the face of gravity and material considerations... Painting in Photoshop is closer to it's ancestral roots than 3D modeling "sculpture" is I'd say. Anyway, yeah... Definitely some talented artists on display over at ZBrush Central, I mean regardless of the amount of polys these guys are demonstrating some serious chops with anatomy, design, and overall imagination. Doesn't matter how many polys you have if you don't know how to use them;).

Quote - ...Doesn't matter how many polys you have if you don't know how to use them;).

/agree

But, on the comparison between physically modeling something, like with clay, versus 3D, I'd have to say there's some similarity, but it's how you perceive the model your're working on and how the surface will deform as you use certain tools. I've done a little bit of clay modeling and you're absolutely correct - It requires much more than just pushing clay around. But, 3D art is similar in that regard - You need to know what you're doing.

I haven't used Zbrush, but I've used some other software that is similar to how it works. (Can't remember the really old one I used to use, long ago.) I think there's some unique characeristics of using Zbrush that you won't come up against in a raw 3D Modeler. ZBrush seems to take care of some of the technical stuff for you. That's good. But, it also means that someone who plops down the cash for ZBrush isn't going to be learning how to "do 3D modeling", most of the time. They'll push verts around and subdivide like crazy, but won't necessarily know why. Just my two-coppers on that. Now that I have a version of Poser I can use normals with, I may look into ZBrush. Then again, I may just stick with my modeler and use Xnormal... That's free. :D

zBrush takes skill & talent but it's still 99.9% faster ,easier ,cheaper than real world sculpting.
Don't even half to worry about the humidity.
Same for Photoshop.

I don't do any Art in the real world any more.
Don't even have a real world studio any more.
Some times I miss doing real world Art.
But I'm sticking with CGI.

Work like that gives me hope that lazer scanning will never become the norm. Just can't get the same style and effect with scanning that you can with an artist's eye and its that sort of style that adds volumes of life to games and films.

Quote - But, modeling is a lot easier if you can use fifty-elevenbajility polys....

That's really a misconception about z-brush, and a comon beginners mistake to divide a model 300 bajillion times and then start trying to sculpt on it. You're just fighting yourself that way.

You still start out with roughly the same numer of polys on your base model as you would in any other ap. The more polys/sub-div levels you have the more difficult it becomes to really get your basic forms right, and until your basic forms are right, nothing else is going to be right no matter how much you fight with it. So the trick is to get your base model - which should be around 1k or less to start - into the proper shape before you start subdividing. Just as it is in traditional poly modeling, where you only add edge loops when you absolutely need them, the same is true in z-brush, or mudbox etc - you only add subdivisions when you need them. 

Even if you're working with a dynamesh, starting out with a lower res mesh will help you a lot in the long run. Its only when you need more detail that you increase resolution. High resolutions should be reserved for when you're sculpting fine details like skin pores and wrinkles. If you're starting out with a decent base mesh then there's no reason to have to divide a hundred times to get the shape you need. 

~Shane

I have Scuptris, which is ZBrush's free little brother. I haven't used it much, and I am still trying to figure out how to move the camera around the model so I can work effectively, but I like what I was able to do with it.

These guys who have mastered ZBrush blow my mind. I know they have been working with it 10 times longer than I have, so that thought keeps me going.

But I have to learn basic modeling before I get there. I am picking it up pretty quickly, but I know I am still lightyears behind the 8 ball...

Quote - Wicked Cool CGI Art.

The TV series isn't bad either (albeit only two episodes in so far).

I actually play the game those models are used in, the models in game even on the highest settings do not look even half as nice on PC, they had to massively scale them down I wish my characters face looked as pretty and smooth as that xD Though yeah not feasible to have that high poly stuff in a MMO.

AmbientShade :
I model the base mesh in C4D about 3000 polygones.
in zBrush rase polycount to around 4 million .
4 millions about my limmit or it slows down zBrush.
on a Windows 8 - 64 bit ,Quad core ,8 gig RAM,500 Gigs harddrive ,Geforce GT 620.

You can go much hier then 4 million with HD Geometry up to a Billion.
But I'm good with 4 million.
Don't know about a Billion in C4D.

Rokket :
I use C4D to model base meshes then detail with zBrush.
Basic polygone modeling with C4D ,Blender etc etc.
is all the same no matter what app you use.
Once you learn the basics ya can model anything.
Make some easy meshes to learn the basics.
a house ,table ,chair ,fireplace, fire hydrant.
look for good exsamples.

Keith :I liked the TV show.

Laylah : Game render engines are real time render engines.
0 render times. 
I've been waiting for real time render engines to get as good as are render engines.
any where from 1 minute to 3 hours render times.
Maybe one day.

Game looks good for a game thou.

@RorrKonn:

I have been steady practicing for almost 9 months now. I still have a few things to figure out, mostly to do with using Wings, but I downloaded Blender 2.66 and another free app called K-3D that I am going to start figuring out.

Yeah, the basics are the same, it's in how you accomplish the basics with the app you use that matters. Once I get that part down, I don't think I will have any problems modeling almost anything I can think of.

I have a few things already in the the freestuff section here. I am adding some more today.

Quote - AmbientShade :
I model the base mesh in C4D about 3000 polygones.
in zBrush rase polycount to around 4 million .
4 millions about my limmit or it slows down zBrush.
on a Windows 8 - 64 bit ,Quad core ,8 gig RAM,500 Gigs harddrive ,Geforce GT 620.

You can go much hier then 4 million with HD Geometry up to a Billion.
But I'm good with 4 million.
Don't know about a Billion in C4D.

Holy crap 4 mil is way too much. You only need that level of resolution when you're painting texture maps, displacement maps, etc. HD geometry is for when you're sculpting fine details like skin pores and bumps. HD is only meant for working on small areas at a time. For sculpting your base form, before working on maps, there's no reason anyone should need to go above about 1 to 200K res, and even that is pushing it. When you're at millions, it completely distorts your base topology cause there's no way to know where your edges are.

Z-Brush is still just a 32-bit program, so it doesn't matter that you have 8 gigs of ram, it won't use it. I think it caps out at about 3 gigs. Maybe 4.

Try watching some of the tutorial vids on pixologic's site, or at eat3D, gnomon, etc. The lessons are done by professional instructors in the games and film industry. None of them go that high in res until they start working on painting and fine details. Cause all that detail is projected back onto the low-res game meshes, as long as the maps are done correctly.

~Shane

Z-Brush is still just a 32-bit program, so it doesn't matter that you have 8 gigs of ram, it won't use it. I think it caps out at about 3 gigs. Maybe 4.

That's the main reason I haven't tried Z-Brush yet. I'm waiting for them to come out with a 64 bit version.

zBrush 5 will be 64 bit 
But none of the 64 bit highend app's can even come close to 32 bit zBrush.
Maybe if you had super computers.
But on my home PC ,32 or 64 bit zBrush woun't matter.

AmbientShade
low ploycount meshes get zbrush texture maps.
but a 4 million polycount character with vextor or displacment maps will render a little better.

Rokket : While your window shopping might want to check out DAZ Hexagon ,it's Free.
I don't know anything about Wings,K-3D.

I know some about Blender.
It's a powerfull App that can do just about anything the HighEnd App's can.
Blender has the oddest work flow thou.

I've used C4D 9 for years & years but C4D 9 not working out on Windows 8.
So I'm window shopping also.

Rokket or any one know if
Wings
K-3D
Carrara Pro8
Can model like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQPe_weXJI&list=PL7953FBE70B748E4C

with open meshes that have holes in the meshes ?