Simply ZBrush
 

EDIT: This whole thread is me learning how to sculpt in ZBrush over the course of a year. I have gone through so much learning and can honestly say I am just now getting it... This is rendered out in C4D with their SSS and the sculpt was done in ZBrush. There has been no compositing done and the texture was tweaked in PS. I also have it set for FaceRobot and my own Facial Rig inside of C4D. Ughh this took forever to learn....

The other head is the initial one I had in ZBrush when I first posted. A year later and I am gonna go back and fix it. Especially the ears... Just never knew all the settings...

Looking good, are you using references or is this just free hand. I do like you skin texture it might be a little over the top but that some times works in 3D........dave

Looks good, agree with Dave the skin texture is a little harsh but overall nice.

Good start, the ears definately need some attention though -keep it up mate

J

@Dave - These are my parents. My mom and dad, so the references are plenty. I find myself at times just staring at them now. Weirds even me out...

@ClearAir - The skin is a little harsh and I am at odds about how it will render out. I would prefer to have too much now and be able to tone down the strength later rather than be stuck with pores I can't see. As of right now they are sitting in about 6 layers and I plan on dropping it down to one through the morph target trick.

@Jay - Yeah I agree the ears need some work. Didn't really focus too much at all on my dad and spent a couple minutes on my mom, but after that I just moved onto the face.

Gonna try and keep them coming. Today I think I am gonna venture out to the creature domain and test drive dynamesh. Wondering how it will hold up at a high subdiv or whether or not I will have to stop at a point and take it into topogun to do the fine details...

Just amazes me how fast you can progress. A year ago I don't know what edge loops were...

Some progress over the last couple of hours. Really digging the dynamesh. Looks like it caps out at about a mil though so I am gonna have to mos def retopo to get to the level I want. Started this with ZSpheres. Just much more manageable at the beginning to lock down form...

Todays Progress
 

So this is where I stand before going into Topogun and then back to ZBrush. Just feel as though I have gotten my critical form down and need to solidify the geo to go in deeper. You can get to a higher subdiv out of Dynamesh but I need it to be proper at this point. Kind of just a hybrid kind of creature. Was fun to make. Should be fun to refine...:)

Only changed a few things since I had to hit the gym and go out to eat. Trying not to turn into this guy.

Cool matey, look forward to seeing your progress with these over the next month. Creature design is a tough one and they say it best to leave until you really know anatomy 100 percent if you want to get pro results. That said the form is looking good to me and I know you are very meticulous when it comes to proportions. Also it is good to have some fun and try different things, plus you will be forced to learn and use other sculpting methods on different creatures.

Keep up the good work duder and look forward to seeing your progress with this

cool stuff mate...keep up the good progress man!

cheers bullet

Maybe SOMEDAY....
 

This dudes work is inspiring to say the least:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthr...893&viewfull=1

WOW...man thats impressive...and semi decent hard surface too!! crap Im never going to be able to do that LOL

cheers bullet

Yes, his work is very nice... Zbrush central will either inspire you to make something amazing too one day... or quit and go cry in a corner :)

But if you look at his work, especially the progress shots. You will see that he has nailed his proportions early on. The proportions and anatomy of your piece are not very clear cut. And once you retopo it, I think you'll find yourself making large proportional edits to your mesh, which would have been better done earlier on, before retopologising.

It might also help to think about how your creature is going to live. He has a rhino/triceratops head, so I imagine he will be doing a lot of ramming? Yet he has the lower body of a more flighty/light footed creature and might not have the power to throw that head around?

You might want to try a heavier set design. Head sunk lower, and a large arching back, so that the head is the first line of defense, and that armor frill can do some protective work. Maybe design the frill to arch around more, so it protects under the head a bit more, as this frill evolved on a dinosaur that walked on all fours, how might it evolve from a biped?

Anyway, nice start so far. It will be fun to see where you take this.

@Mayaniac - Yeah the whole proportions thing I kind of stuck toward the standard biped so that I could throw it on a rig. It is built off a 8 head scale and the proportions match that exactly based off the ZBrush floor. Just threw stuff together to see how it all played since I had not actually used Dynamesh at all prior to doing this thing. The real test will be to see how I displace the parts to merge different skin patches. As far as the muscles are concerned I agree that it did lack that detail but mainly because I was gonna do it after the retopo. I enjoy muscular structure and seeing how all of the pieces play. Knowing the names and connection points. I attached some earlier study pieces from around July just for the heck of it. Not natural but just allowing to show the insertion points.

I really find that people onZBrushcentral make these elaborate poses and this makes the thing impossible to rig. I plan on giving most of these away when I finish so that people in C4D can actually use them to animate. Just not a large market for it and I want to help facilitate this.

Thanks for the critiques though because I have gotten several comments on adding the muscles and it does honestly look better having done so. The "Frill" (Didn't know it was called that)around the neck is also something I have toyed with. Still up in the air as to whether make his back deep bumpy scales to transition to skin or a thick layer to surround the neck. Gonna have to think over that one....

Kind of always saw this guy as a dignitary or scholar when modeling him. A lover not a fighter.

10.13.2011 Progress
 

So I decided to sculpt a asymmetrical hybrid in the contact pose just to brush up on some things. This is the model so far and the ref to go along with it. Snagged the concept art from CGHub. Have no idea why I chose this one.

To add to the muscle talk mentioned above. I think the hardest thing to learn are the plane changes and not exactly the muscle itself. Knowing where exactly that radius and ulna dip to create the "v" shaped plane between the two muscles. Once you got that down you are golden. I will admit I know nothing of animal muscular and skeletal flow. Big weakness on my end....

Looking great, how long have you been using zbrush.............dave

@DaveRave - Been using ZBrush off and on for about 5 months. I tend to study programs for quite a while before actually creating anything in them. Lets me know the best workflows. LeonLabyk can attest to the amount of tutorials I have watched on a variety of applications. In under two years I have become quite fluent all across 3D just by hard work and dedication. Anything is possible once you ignore everything but the goal...

But like I said before I am not a 3D artist by trade. I have a degree in cinematography and freelanced as a DP in LA for 3 years before moving to the middle east to cozy up with Labyk...