I have recently been promoted to 3D modeller (Yay, job security!) which gives me access to lots of fun stuff. Currently, I work in SolidWorks, and we (there is one other employee in my little mini-department) do inorganic models. But I've decided to learn other software, with the goals of a) increasing my own value as an employee, and b) being able to create all kinds of cool stuff to 3D print for my own projects.
I played with Modo and Maya a bit, but they make me get dizzy and fall down. I sort of get it- it's like a cross between CAD and artsy program. Sort of. (I'm sure anyone here who uses one or the other will tell me how wrong I am, but that's how it seems to me.) ZBrush, however, is super intuitive and makes a lot of sense, as it's essentially like playing with digital clay. (Though it is odd that I know SolidWorks inside and out, and ZBrush feels intuitive, but software that seems like a halfway point between the two feels incomprehensible.)
So, here is a WIP of my first Zbrush sculpt: Sam Axe, aka Bruce Campbell. He started out as a generic head [EDIT: By generic head, I mean I wasn't sculpting anyone in particular, not that I began with a stock head model. I started the sculpt from scratch using a sphere mes .] but I decided it would be more of a challenge and a better learning experience to sculpt an "real" face rather than one I made up. Burn Notice happened to be on at the time, and that's where the inspiration came from. Actually, I wanted to do a young Bruce, and then if it looked good, I'd 3D print it and paint it up as Ash from Evil Dead, but there were way more references online of older Bruce.
Admittedly, it's still very rough, and doesn't look much like him. I'm still roughing out basic shapes at a very low polygon count. This is about an hour's worth of work, not counting the three or four hours of screwing around, false starts, and do-overs.
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterclockwiseminis.com%2Fimages%2F2013%2FBruce%2FBruce_v01%2FBruce_v01_01&hash=dc47941b22ef870b9d1eb561cdfcd5a8f0b065dc)
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterclockwiseminis.com%2Fimages%2F2013%2FBruce%2FBruce_v01%2FBruce_v01_02&hash=09593ba4efb68fa71226bcf0b2f8f865658919db)
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterclockwiseminis.com%2Fimages%2F2013%2FBruce%2FBruce_v01%2FBruce_v01_03&hash=7501a36fd3bbd8ae07fa580a874af7868c69de22)
Nice start. It's all way beyond me.
It's actually surprisingly uncomplicated. There's a bit of a learning curve at first, especially if you've never done any polygonal or subdivision modelling. (Which I hadn't, but thankfully, there are a million or so YouTube videos to explain most of it.) Once you get past that, and learn how to set up a document, it is really pretty much like moving around globs of clay.
I have several friends in the digital arts arena, tht have been urging me to give this a try....so far my excuse has been that it looks too complicated, and I don't model anything tryly organic in form.......hmm....maybe I will have to revisit this......once I get my new render machine. :)
There is apparently a free version ...somethin called "princess"?...or such (having a brain fart).....that funcions very much the same way (think it esven by the same company as Z-Brush), and is supposed to be a good learning tool for those that want to give this form of modeling a test drive, before diving into Z-Brush.
Close- Sculptris. It's okay- it gives you a feel for the actual sculpting, but it's missing a lot. It doesn't give you a way to build an armature, for one. You can get by without, but it's much easier to start with a form that's at least in the ball park of what you're trying to accomplish. Zbrush lets you pretty quickly build an armature, then convert it directly into a sculptable mesh.
Also, you likely don't need a new machine, unless you've got a really old system. It's still 32 bit, and so can only use 4GB of RAM. It also doesn't make use of 3D hardware- it's all processor driven. Despite that, it handles millions of polygons with ease, due to the slightly different way it handles them vs. more "traditional" polygonal/mesh modellers.