Introduction

In this lesson we’re going to move away from image editing for a while to take a look at another art form; sculpture. What is sculpture? 

Sculpture is about more than clay! You could think of them as art in 3D (three dimensions). Sculpture is made out of every material imaginable. It can be done through construction (adding materials) or through carving (taking away materials).

Tate kids has lots more great information to take a look at to introduce your class to sculpture, including a range of examples from sculptors like these:

 

https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/top-5/top-5-sculptures

 

And even more information on British sculptor Barbara Hepworth here.

 

ZBrushCoreMini

But as this is a computing lesson, and we’re not getting the clay out today! We’re taking a look at digital modelling with a free piece of software called ZBrushCoreMini. This software was previously know as Sculptris, however, it has now been updated and renamed as ZBrushCoreMini, to link it to other products in the range of ZBrush, who are the software's producers.

If you have existing versions of Sculptris installed they can continue to be used, but you can no longer download Sculptris, ZBrushCoreMini is very similar to Sculptris, but far more stable and reliable. It also has some changes and additions in brush function, how the camera is controlled.and we'd recommend asking your technician to download and install ZBrushCoreMini instead,

 

 

 

Getting started

Digital 3D modelling is used for many things, such as product or building design, computer games and animations. Students may have had experience using Sketchup before, which has some similarities, but where Sketchup is more about 3D drawing, ZBrushCoreMini is all about Sculpture. 

Introduce ZBrushCoreMini to the students showing them the basic controls for moving, turning and zooming around their model, plus the first 8 sculpting tools:

• Standard
• Clay build up
• Inflate
• Pinch
• Move
• Snakehook
• Slash3
• hPolish

 

This video guide from Follygon is a really helpful tutorial to get you started as each tool is demonstrated and some useful keyboard shortcuts are also mentioned.

 

 

You can also find a full user guide for ZBrushCoreMini HERE.

 

 

Take the students through some of the key things mentioned in the video, most importantly the controls and tools available for modelling.

 

Controls:

The Navigation buttons are on the right side of the interface. Click+drag inside a button to move, zoom (scale) or rotate the model.

 

 

ZBrushCoreMini also has alternate methods of navigation using hotkeys:

Right-Click Navigation

Move – Alt+Right-click & drag (can be over the model)
Scale – Ctrl+Right-click & drag (can be over the model)
Rotate – Right-click & drag (can be over the model)

 

Tools:

The key 8 sculpting tools to start with are:

 

 

With the Sculpting Brushes you can apply many different effects as you sculpt, allowing you to create the look and feel you are after.

• The Standard brush is the default sculpting brush. It creates a smooth finish.
• The Clay Buildup brush is more like modeling with actual clay. Use it to quickly block out a form.
• The Inflate brush will inflate the mesh, a bit like blowing up a balloon.
• The Pinch brush pinches the mesh together. This is good for creating folds.
• Use the Move brush to change the shape your model in dramatic ways. Note that Sculptris Pro does not operate for the Move brush.
• The SnakeHook brush is ideal for pulling out arms and legs or even for creating hair.
• The Slash3 brush carves into the mesh. This is good for creating cracks and wrinkles.
• The hPolish brush polishes the surface so that it resembles metal. It is good for adding hard surface details.

 

Also highlight the importance of using the Draw Size and Z intensity sliders at the top of the screen. 

 

 

This gives each tool many more possibilities. You may want to (at some stage) introduce them to the keyboard hotkeys for the sliders as using them can really speed up your workflow:

S = Brings up the Draw size slider

U = Brings up the ZIntensity slider

 

Task 1

Ask them to experiment with all the tools shown, not worrying about creating anything in particular.

They can undo mistakes by pressing Ctrl+Z and they can start again at any point by selecting a new sphere or block of stone in the top left of the screen.

 

Task 2

As we created alien landscapes in our last lesson, today we’re going to create an alien that might live there! 

Ask the class - What does an alien look like? - Collect some answers that will hopefully lead to the point that we obviously don’t know, all we know are the many examples from science fiction and people’s imaginations, which is great for our models as they can look however we want them to! 

Look at some of the examples of famous alien creatures from sci-fi (ensure these are age appropriate to your students) and examine how a lot (though not all) of fictional aliens are largely based around human features. They often walk upright, eyes, nose, mouth etc in the same position, this can help them as a starting point when they design their own alien.

But, for the purposes of creating an interesting model that makes use of a variety of tools in Sculptris, what we don’t want is for them to just add a face and some antennae to the sphere they start with, which is often what happens when students don't receive much guidance.

Instead, we’re after something a bit more interesting, and a model that shows they have shown awareness of working in 3D and therefore not just worked on the front of the sphere as if it was a piece of paper.

 

 

 

Getting a good result comes down to practice (as always) and getting to know the tools and which will do the job you want, but also getting off to a good start and creating the rough shape you want for your model before you start adding detail.

 

Creating a head and shoulders

Take a look at part 1 of our tutorial videos, which guides you through creating the initial shape for your alien model. We're aiming for a head and shoulders shape to begin with, and then we'll add some detail and facial features later.

You can use these videos in your lesson as they are in the teacher presentation (Youtube access required) or you can use them for your own learning and then demonstrate the same thing live with the software for your class in the lesson.

 

 

Saving your work

As with anything, it's important to save as you work. But 3D design is one of the more intensive things you can ask your computer to do, so even more reason to save regularly as you work.

Click the file with the upwards facing arrow below it to save.

 

 

Your normal Save window will appear where you can name your file. We recommend adding a version number each time you save a model, so you can always revert back to an earlier model if required.

 

 

The default format is ZDR file which is a ZBrushCoreMini project file. This saves the model and lots of other information about your project, including your brush settings and even your undo history. Use this option most of the time.

If you want to save an image of your model to print or add to another piece of software, we recommend using the Export image option instead and saving as a jpg or png image.

 

 

Adding a nose and eyes

Next, let's start to add some detail, and begin by adding a nose and eyes to our alien model. Watch our second tutorial. 

 

 

 

Adding a ears and a mouth

This third video looks at how to create ears and a mouth for your alien, using both the normal sculpting tools and the chisel features.

Remember to keep saving your work as you add to your model.

 

 

Other features and colour

In the final part of our tutorials we look at adding other features to our alien using some of the chisel options. This might include spikes, horns and texture to the skin of your alien. Finally we show you how to add colour and change the material of your model.

 

Remind the students to save a final version of their model.

 

Plenary 

Review the lesson by going back over some of the main sculpting tools asking the students to explain what each does and if/when they used them.

• Was there anything difficult about working in a 3D environment?
• \Which tools or techniques would you like to have some more practise time on?
• What was your biggest success in creating your model?