Intro to 3D Sculpting with Photographs - Creating a Snow Covered Well

In this 90 minute tutorial divided into five chapters artists will learn how to create displacement and texture maps from photographs in Adobe Photoshop which can then be used to sculpt highly realistic models in ZBrush. The sculpted ZBrush model will then be imported into Luxion Keyshot where texture maps can be applied as materials to create a stunning final render. 

Whether you are new to computer graphics or a seasoned veteran you are sure to learn many valuable techniques and skills in this free tutorial.

Chapter 1 – Creating Tileable Texture Maps in Photoshop

In Chapter 1 artists will learn how to create tileable texture maps from any photo or image using a variety of valuable Adobe Photoshop techniques.

Chapter 2 – Creating Displacement, Bump, Diffuse and Specular Maps

In the 2nd chapter, using our tileable texture maps, we will learn how to paint displacement, bump, diffuse and specular maps. Artists will also learn how to control displacement map values by learning how positive and negative displacement is controlled with RGB color mapping.

Chapter 3 – Zbrush – Creating a stone well base mesh with UVWs.

In Chapter 3 artists will use ZBrush to create the base mesh of a stone well using some standard ZBrush techniques. Artists will also learn how to create Boolean objects to cut holes into Subtools, followed by how to create and edit UVW maps with the Zplugin “UV Master” Tool.

Chapter 4 – Zbrush – Displacing our stones and sculpting snow.

In our final ZBrush chapter we will use our hand painted displacement maps to displace stones onto our well. Then artists will learn a handy technique for laying snow onto our stones using and old but powerful trick.

Chapter 5 – Keyshot – Applying and editing materials and HDRI lighting.

In our final chapter for this tutorial we will export our stone well and snow into Luxion Keyshot where we will apply and edit materials to our surfaces. Additionally, we will learn the basics of how to adjust HDRI lighting and background images to create a stunning render.

Downloadable Content:

When you download this tutorial you will also receive the following:

Maps - All the final Displacement, Diffuse, Specular, and Bump maps demonstrated in this tutorial as well as the original PSD file for the original displacement map.

Two ZBrush Files:

– The Base model of the 3D stone well with UVW mapping before displacement is applied.

– The final sculpted snow covered well which can be sent to Keyshot.

Software Demonstrated:

Adobe Photoshop CC

ZBrush 4r7

Luxion Keyshot 6

Additional Information:

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Video Resolution: 1920 x 1080