DIGITAL SCULPTING WITH ZBRUSH Vincent Wang

ENGL 2089

Discourse Analysis

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ZBrush Analysis

Table of Contents

Context ........................................................................................................................... 3

Process ........................................................................................................................... 5

Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 13

Application .................................................................................................................. 27

Activity .......................................................................................................................... 32

Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 35

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Context

ZBrush was created by the Pixologic Inc., which was founded by Ofer Alon and Jack

Rimokh (Graphics). It was first presented in 1999 at SIGGRAPH (Graphics). Version 1.5 was

unveiled at the MacWorld Expo 2002 in New York and SIGGRAPH 2002 in San Antonio

(Graphics). Pixologic, the company describes the 3D modeling software as a “digital sculpting

and painting program that has revolutionized the 3D industry…” (Pixologic). It utilizes familiar

real-world tools in a digital environment, getting rid of steep learning curves and allowing the

user to be freely creative instead of figuring out all the technical details. 3D models that are

created in ZBrush can then be exporting into other software for rigging, animation, rendering, or

production.

The reason some industrial design professors at the DAAP program began teaching this

program was for its quick, iterative process and being able to freely sculpt what you are thinking

without the constraints of mathematical 3D modeling software. ZBrush is used to create models

for use in movies, games, animations, and product production. By exploiting the intuitive user

interface of ZBrush, almost anyone can open it up and sculpt out a workable visual

representation of a sketch or idea.

My professor, Chris Tackett, first introduced me to ZBrush in my Design Technology

class. The industrial design program’s Design Technology class is where we practice our 3D

modeling and learn skills through various modeling assignments. Chris currently works at LF

Creative Group, in Madeira, Ohio where he is the lead 3D digital sculptor, creating digital

models for use in the creation of toys, pose-able action figures, and theme park attraction

animatronic characters (Tackett). Since ZBrush was the chosen software that we would learn and

use throughout our summer semester, Chris was a great candidate for teaching us this new skill.

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Raphael, our studio professor, who had been a designer at various automotive companies

such as Porsche, Volkswagen, GM and Hyundai, has backed the idea of learning ZBrush and has

encouraged using it for his assignments as well. Chris presented us example of some work that

he’s done in his workplace as well as works from famous ZBrush modelers. This showed us the

capabilities of the program and getting me excited for all the potential things I could create;

Chris was there to show us how we would do all that. In Raphael’s syllabus, he states that sketch

sculpts done in ZBrush should be quick sketch models used to prove out dimensional realities, be

used as perspective underlays for ideation sketching, and be able to communicate the conceptual

intent of an idea.

I have chosen to increase my literacy with ZBrush because it is the program that we are

using to create out final semester appearance models, and a high fidelity, quality model is very

much needed for a complete presentation. My assessment of my literacy for ZBrush is how well

I use the program to show my concepts and how clear and believable the model is, though we all

want to achieve the look of a 3D model looking hyper-realistic and the audience not being able

to tell the difference. However, because we’ve only been using this program for a few months

now, getting to that point is a bit of a stretch and thus the main goal should be how well the

model communicates my ideas. Although process is always important and looked at in the design

world, what people really care about and what they judge your literacy on is your results and

how well it meets the client’s expectations. For using ZBrush during this summer term, I’m

expected to learn the interface of the program and know how to use and find the right tools that I

need, which is part of the process. But most importantly, the final model that I produce and

present needs to be accurate and fully communicate a believable concept that matches my

original intent. Our final project for my studio and design technology class will be my end of my

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semester project, focusing on a futuristic tire that will be able to climb embankments and adjust

height. The concept and the mechanism have been figured out on paper in sketches and approved

by both the professor and the sponsored company we are working for, Hankook. In order to

prove my literacy with using ZBrush, I must first have my final concept and design down on

paper and ready to be modeled. From there I need to make sure that all the features and functions

that I have designed are clearly shown on the model and that it could be understood with little to

no explanation. The model needs to be accurate and close to what was approved on paper and not

have any surprises or modeling errors that don’t match up to the approved drawings. When I 3D

print the model, the physical mockup should be accurate to what it would be if manufactured for

production, and if done successful can prove how the model is ready for the factory. Because I

will have a physical model on hand to see and feel, there will be no way to hide any flaws. Every

part of the model needs to be thought about and have some design intent behind it.

Having ZBrush as an extra skill and learning a different 3D modeling software also

makes me more appealing to companies as it shows that I am flexible and can use a variety of

programs. Knowing how to use this program will help streamline the design process, especially,

if I ever get any toy character or entertainment work while at a design studio. Knowing different

programs allows me to take on a variety of work and not just be limited to one type of 3D

modeling. I will be able to use my knowledge of this program to continue to use it to create 3D

models when I am out of school and am in a professional creative studio.

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Process

Christopher Tackett is a designer who has been conceptualizing ideas in 3D modeling

and digital illustration for assets used in games and video. For the last two years, he has moved

into sculpting for the toy, figures, and theme park animatronics industry (Tackett). His interest in

toy and figure 3D sculpting has led him to jobs at Red Carpet Studios, indiePub, and LF Creative

Group despite his initial degree in graphic design. The assets he creates get used in games and

videos that he enjoys on his spare time as well.

Beyond his academic discourse, Chris is pretty well known on the biggest ZBrush’ forum

on the web and produces good work that other people agree with. He was in a featured member

spotlight and was selected to be interviewed back in 2008 (Featured Member). All of Chris’

work is done in ZBrush now and he will find any way to use that program to produce what is

needed.

Within the design community, information is mostly presented through PowerPoint

presentations and hanging up works on the wall. The presentations are mostly used to present

design briefs and project information to a large group of people. If you are not hanging up a final

poster or your work on the wall, then it could also be scanned and presented digitally through a

PDF presentation. These presentations, whether digital or on the wall, go through your design

process of where you began and how you ended up with your final result. It showcases your

design goals, process and ideation, and final digital models that explain your final result. Usually

a final poster is hung up on the wall with your appearance model sitting on a pedestal in front of

it. You will talk about your process and your project and go through a critique with your class,

professor, and any other guest critics. They made ask questions about your design, or why you

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designed to pick one design over another and you are expected to know everything about your

own design. Having a poster on the wall showcases your entire process in a way that is visually

appealing and concise. The model reemphasizes your final concept physically so that it can be

seen and touched and understood by others. Your presentation appearance is important and it is

crucial to show good design layout and taste. The poster should be able to explain most of your

poster without you standing there talking about it.

A design portfolio or final presentation is probably one of the best examples of using

many textual components without one form of media. By starting out with a design brief, the

project is introduced, its existence is explained, and the project goals are stated. Within a final

project poster, there are the uses of annotations and callouts, imagery, 3D model renders,

sketches, a design brief, and diagrams all used to explain the final concept. Sketches are

extremely important to showcase the process and how you got from an initial napkin scribble to a

final idea. Within these sketches, annotations are used to call out and explain different sketches

and design features on a page. Diagrams and 2D graphical elements are used throughout the

presentation to ensure clear communication to the viewer and critics. Lastly, the final 3D model

is used to accurately communicate all ideas in a way that is realistic and ready for manufacturing

or further steps.

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Table of most commonly used tools

Figure 1. ZBrush Menu of Default Brushes (ZB00330)

Tool Description ZModeler The ZModeler brush features a set of

polygonal modeling actions that allow you to create geometry by manipulating lines and vertices.

Dam Standard Move The Move tool is used by pushing and pulling

the geometry of the selected area Smooth The Smooth brush works by averaging the

vertices in the area, evening out the surface. Clay Buildup Clay Buildup is just like adding clay to a

sculpture and adds in strips of geometry to the drawn area.

Transpose The Transpose tool is the master move tool of shifting your geometry and is used to move, scale, or rotate any selected area.

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Modeling Terminology

Though the field of industrial design is wide and involves everything from shoe design to

car design, there are still many universal terms that are often used in a professional work setting.

Using these terms is not only mandatory in getting people to understand what you are talking

about, but prove that you are literate in design and are not just an intern or assistant designer.

Given that a lot of these terms are acronyms, it is also helpful to become acquainted with using

these terms in order to quickly understand conversations and not have to ask too many clarifying

questions. By applying these terms to my design discourse and using them correctly, I can easily

display my literacy in being able to communicate with other designers.

CAD

CAD, as described by Autodesk, a software corporation, is “the use of computer

technology for design and design documentation” to create 2D drawings or 3D models (CAD

Software). It encompasses all artifacts and products that are created with the “aid” of any

computer program. Almost all products that exist nowadays are worked out in CAD software

first and then passed onto a factory to begin production. The ability to test products digitally and

make changes instantaneously saves money and time throughout the entire design and production

process.

Sentence: With a diverse selection of CAD programs, ZBrush continue to stand out as a unique

program that has an intuitive user interface and the ability to create models in a variety of ways.

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For this project, I utilized the NURBS modeling feature within ZBrush to create a realistic 3D

model that could be 3D printed and rendered out for final images.

NURBS Modeling

Non-uniform rational b-spline is a geometry type that is useful for constructing many

types of organic 3D forms because of the smooth and minimal nature of the curves they use to

construct surfaces (Boudon). NURBS modeling is what I will be mostly using when modeling

my project for this semester and it is important to understand what type of modeling you use for

specific types of models. See this image from Nicolas Bega on a model that has been modeled

with NURBS, curves, and polygons.

Sentence: By choosing to model my concept with NURBS, I’m able to create a smoother model

with cleaner geometry, making it easier to make changes and prevent issues downstream.

Design Brief

A comprehensible, detailed brief becomes the guiding document for the entire design

process, and spells out exactly what you, as the designer, need to do, and the constraints within

which you need to do it. Here are the essential elements of a good design brief: objectives and

goals of the new design, budget and schedule, target audience, scope of the project, available

materials/required materials, overall style/look, any definite “do nots” (Chapman). Yet what is

most important is that the brief containers enough information and data so that every stakeholder

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and guest present is able to understand what they need (Phillips). The overall design brief tone

can range from being informal and verbal to a full hour-long presentation with accompanying

visuals.

Sentence: When kicking off the start of this project, the investors and sponsors, Hankook Tires

had a design brief that was presented to the class of industrial designers and our professor,

expressing what their goals were for the project and what our design parameters and limitations

were to be.

Rendering

3D rendering is the means of being producing a communicative image that is based on

three-dimensional models or data that is created through the use of CAD programs (Birn). It is a

creative process that is compared to photography or cinematography, with the only comparison

being that the lighting and staging is done through computer rendering software. Software

delivers physically accurate lighting and use of materials that allow us to experiment and make

changes all through our viewport in real time.

Sentence: After the 3D model was finalized, I began experimenting with different materials and

lighting setups within ZBrush to obtain a realistic looking rendered image.

User Experience [UX]

User experience is extremely important, because without a focus on it, no one would ever

buy or use the product that you’re designing. User experience takes in everything about a

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product, and makes sure that the user is satisfied and not frustrated when using any aspect of the

product.

Maria Luisa Rossi, chair of the graduate program in Integrated Design at CCS, “ we need

to know how to incorporate, in the early stages and as a central part of the process, the voice of

the final user in the product… We design for people. So we need to be respectful about who the

people actually are. And as designers, we need to understand our intent as much as possible in

order to be comprehensive in addressing the user’s needs.” (Trailblazing Designer).

Sentence: Although as designers we’re tasked with making a product look good, it is also

important to consider the user interaction and the overall user experience: how does the user feel

through all processes of using the product?

ZModeler

ZModeler is a tool in ZBrush that is mainly used for low polygonal modeling function

and has features that allow you to manipulate vertices and lines in order to create an object with

as few polygons as possible (ZModeler).

Polygon Modeling

Polygon modeling is when a model is divided into polygons of mostly triangles and

quadrangles. The model is fully made up of vertices, edges, and faces that define the surfaces of

the model (Key Modeling Terms).

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User Interface [UI]

User interface is analyzing the interface given to users, and discovering the struggles the

users may have in operating the interface and finding the right design language that will speak to

the user.

Human Factors

Human factors as in design, is the intent and application of making products form-fitting

and appropriate for human use. Whether this is through anthropometrics, ergonomics, or human

to computer interaction, the product must be comfortable and safe to use.

Usability

As a tie-all to user experience, user interface, and human factors, usability is obtained

when all three of those are accomplished. By analyzing the usability of a product, designers are

then able to identify problems that need to be addressed and sort them into the various

categories.

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Analysis

Artifacts

Sketches

Figure 2. Initial concept and function exploration

Since the beginning of this project, I’ve been working out ideas and concepts on paper

through notes and paper sketches. Through my own sketch style and method of communication, I

am able to showcase my thinking process in my own unique design language.

Sketching proves my design visualization and communication skills and shows how I

think and advance my ideas to something concrete and believable. Sketches generally start out as

pretty crude “napkin sketches” that go through various sketch fidelity phases to get to a nicely

drawn image that includes details on how everything works. Towards the beginning of this

process lots of callouts and notes may be required to explain how something works, but by the

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end of the sketching phase, there should be a final design that can be easily understood by any

stakeholder.

In class and in the industry, we will usually pin up our sketches on the wall in order to

brainstorm and pick concepts that we think we should move forward with. Because of this,

although crude sketches are necessary, they do need to convey information in order for them to

be fully criticized when pinned up. Although these sketches were not specifically graded, they

are integral to the process and final design, which does end up being graded. With my bold yet

refined sketch skill, I can show off my excellent sketch communication skills as well as my

creative design thinking and how I can come up with innovative and aesthetic solutions.

Screenshots of Modeling Process

Figure 3. Low polygon count model

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Figure 4. Same model as figure 2 at a higher polygon count due to subdivided geometry

Figure 5. Basic groundwork for rim of the wheel design

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Figure 6. Rim incorporated into the mechanism of the wheel design

Figure 7. Model in Normal RGB mode which articulates the high and low surface areas of the model

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Figure 8. Colorway exploration for material and color combinations

Figure 9. Final wheel design in both open and closed mode

These screenshots of my modeling process show how I went from a literal blob to a

refined rim, wheel, and working mechanism. Showing these screenshots also captures my

workflow and can help guide a viewer along the process rather than just showing a before and

after image. The reason these artifacts go right after the sketch artifacts is that it parallels the

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process that I go through when I am designing; after sketching out my ideas and finding a final

concept, I go into a 3D modeling program to create a 3D representative model.

By showing various steps of the modeling process, I am able to prove my literacy within

the 3D modeling program itself, as well as in design thinking and being able to take a paper

sketch into a workable 3D model. Each step shows how I advance further and further with the

project and how I got to a refined final model ready to be 3D printed. 3D models are presented as

digital images as well as prototypes and final models that are either printed or machined out of

different materials. Occasionally two 3D models need to be built and presented, one for the

digitally rendered images and another for the actual model making. The reason for this is that the

one prepared for prototyping needs to adhere to the limitations of the machines while the

digitally rendered models are created in order to look realistic and compelling as an image. The

final 3D model was analyzed and graded as a 3D file, but the digital images I got from using

them were used within my final poster to illustrate different parts of the model.

From my process shots, it is clear to see that I am able to push through various design

changes and challenges to master my 3D modeling ability with ZBrush, and showcase my ability

to learn a brand new program in just a few months. It’s amazing to see the ability to take a sketch

and recreate it as a 3D model that is fully detailed.

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Photos of 3D Printing

Figure 10. Learning the 3D printer software, Cura, and setting up my ZBrush file

Figure 11. ZBrush model being printed on Ultimater 3D printer

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Figure 12. ZBrush file was successful in loading to the printer and printing out a 3D model

Figure 13. Results of the model being powder printed with the plastic PLA print shown in the background

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Showing photos of the 3D prints is not only intriguing and impressive to look at, but

proves my literacy in mastering the 3D modeling program, knowing how to setup a 3D printer,

and being able to print a model that is demonstrative of the digital 3D model. All these literacies

revolve around my discourse communities both in design school and in the professional world.

These models were shown in conjunction with my poster hanging up on the wall. The poster

explains how everything works while the physical model is there to reinforce the concept and

give the audience a firm grasp on the message I am trying to convey. For this project, the model

was mainly to show my professor that I could go through the processes and create a model out of

a 3D file.

This artifact shows off more of my software literary both within the 3D modeling

program and the 3D printing program. It shows my ability to transfer files seamlessly and work

within the professional creative workflow of printing and prototyping. The 3D model on the

computer was pretty cool, but now I have a machine actually printing out what I modeled!

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Final Render

Figure 14. Main scenario page showing how the wheel would be used in context

Figure 15. Side view of wheel showing compressed side and expanded rim

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Figure 16. View of expanded side and compressed rim

The final renders are crucial assets to any design project as they are the detailed “money

shots” that capture the attention of the viewer. The final renders are perfect computer-generated

images that are rendered to be believable and attention grabbing. Renders can greatly increase

the chances of selling the idea, and help make the overall presentation professional and

appealing.

Renders show my literary within the rendering software as well as my design taste

expertise. Because the user controls the positioning of the object, the lighting, and the

environment all within the rendering program I am emulating the skills that of a cinematography

director, ensuring that everything is in line for the perfect shot. By having an aesthetic and

realistic looking final render image, it proves that I understand the basics of lighting, materials,

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and how to apply real world physics within a rendering program. The final renders are then used

on the poster to help convey to story to the audience and ensure that the concept is clearly

communicated. Combining the accuracy of mathematical 3D software and the artist touch of a

designer allow me to create precise images that are detailed and clear while still maintaining the

emotion and life that the final product needs.

Project Poster

Figure 17. Final project semester poster showing off my wheel concept

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We’re reached the end. A 13-week semester has ended, and this poster encompasses all

the crucial elements that came together to bring one final resolved design. The final poster is the

efforts of my curating and picking out the important things I’ve done since the start of this

project. Although having a concise poster is nice and shows off some of the things you’ve done,

it really does not cover the quantity of work that a designer does to an outsider viewer. However,

since it is being presented to my class and professor who already have a basic understand, it

exhibits my literacy in various design skills such as sketching, 3D modeling and rendering as

well as the ability to clearly and professionally communicate my ideas across in a visual manner.

The final poster is hung up on the wall while I talk through my process and concept, relating my

oral text to what is visually shown on the wall. Although it is presented to my class, the focus is

still on my professor being the main member giving feedback, criticism, and my final grade.

The final poster is the media to showcase what I’ve done this semester and the work that

I needed to do in order to arrive at the solution I went with. And even though I am an industrial

designer by trade and am mainly focusing on the product, the poster does prove that I am also

fairly competent at graphic design and am well-educated on clear and concise visual

communication.

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Application

When I was first given the task to design “the future of transportation” I went total blue

skies and thought of everything from skyrail trains to sphere personal transportation vehicles.

But although we were designing for decades into the future, the ideas still needed to be rooted to

the technology of the present. After more ideation and collaboration with my peers, I decided

that I wanted to work on the system of public and autonomous transportation. I geared my

solution towards a user that was living in the city and wanted to get around different areas of the

city fast and efficiently. Due to the studio’s sponsorship from Hankook Tires, I wanted to push

past some engineering limits and see how much functionality I could specifically put into the

wheel and tire. Going through rounds of sketches helped me explore a variety of options until I

ended up with a tire design that I started to really like. This new concept involved a public

transportation system [skyrail] and an autonomous vehicle that was able to laterally climb an

embankment to go from the street level to the skyrail boarding level. By putting public

transportation access above the city traffic, the skyrail clears the roads of traffic and the space

below is cleared for further development.

Now knowing my main concept, I dove into 2D ideation on the wheel and tire functions,

mechanisms, and aesthetics. This process helped me work through the various engineering and

design problems in order to arrive at a refined and development idea. The concept I decided to go

with was an embedding piezoelectric material within the tire in order to expand and contract

pieces that moved when activated. Because of the wheel’s ability to expand to a tall, skinny tire

and contract to a small, wide tire; the wheel is able to keep the vehicle perfectly level while

laterally climbing the embankment up to the skyrail. I then took the 2D model into ZBrush,

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where I decided to create my model using a combination of NURBS and polygonal modeling.

This combination allowed me to get the crisp surfaces I needed in some areas, while still giving

me the fluidness and flexible of smooth organic forms. I began with creating the rim starting

with a QCube and moving geometry using the ZModeler brush. I choose to use the ZModeler

brush here because I needed the tight control of surfaces, points, and lines for the rim which was

designed to be a harder, more polished surface. Once the general underlay was created, I then

went into Dynamesh mode to create a free-forming mesh that let me manipulate the geometry to

get even further in detail. With a six million polygon model, there was too much data for the

powder printers in the rapid prototyping lab to read, so ZRemesher and Decimate were used to

simplify the mesh and create a smaller file. I then exported it out as a STL file, which was taken

into ZPrint to create a ZBD file that was submitted to the prototyping lab. In the meantime, I was

also able to use the STL in the program Cura and test out a plastic PLA 3D print as well.

After the ZBrush model was completed, I utilized the Best Preview Render mode and the

rendering tools within ZBrush to come up with colorway options. The colorway I chose best

showcased the functionality of the wheel and did not steal the spotlight from the design itself.

The computer renders that I have were all rendering within ZBrush using materials that would

match a realistic manufacturing process.

When we eventually get to the future of transportation, we will start to see more

autonomy and seamless blends between different modes of transportation. Autonomous pods that

are able to pick you up on demand make a solid foundation due to its familiarity and connection

to our current vehicles and on-demand services. By taking it further and allowing that pod to

access a high speed rail when needed would make for a holistic system that operates all within

one shared-economy system.

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Professional Skills These are skills that I incorporated and used throughout project in my discourse community.

• Design communication

• Design thinking

• Sketching

• Concept presentation

• ZBrush modeling skills

• Utilized the Best Preview Render mode and the rendering tools within ZBrush to come

up with colorway options.

• ZPrint to create a ZBD file that I then submitted to the prototyping lab

• A design portfolio or final presentation is probably one of the best examples of using

many textual components without one form of media

• I was also able to use the STL in Cura and test out a plastic PLA 3D print as well

• I began with creating the rim starting with a QCube and moving geometry using the

ZModeler brush. I could to use the ZModeler brush here because I needed the tight

control of surfaces, points, and lines for the rim which was to be a harder, more polished

surface. Once the general underlay was created, I then went into Dynamesh to create a

free-forming mesh that let me manipulate the geometry to get even further in detail

• Now knowing my main concept, I dove into 2D ideation on the wheel and tire functions,

mechanisms, and aesthetics.

• The final poster is the media to showcase what I’ve done this semester and all the

different tools and processes that I had to go through to make the final concept happen.

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• The final renders are perfect computer-generated images that are to be rendered

hyperrealistically

• Collaborative design thinking

• Sketching and design communication

• Digital 3D Modeling

• Client and internal team review

• Rendering and final concept presentation

• Creation of graphs and 2D diagrams

• Timeline and project planning

• Identifying road blocks and problem solving

• Visualizing concepts

• Generating ideas

• Working within constraints

Other skills that I will need to gain in the future are rapid iterative prototyping and efficient

3D modeling that is engineering and manufacturing ready. Rapid prototyping is important,

especially to design consultancies, because everything now moves at an extremely fast pace.

Clients want results as soon as possible, and timelines for getting product out onto the market are

severely shortened due to competition, the rate of technology growth, and modern mass-

production equipment. I will also need more experience and knowledge with engineering and

manufacturing because in the end industrial designers still need to be able to create a physical

product and not just a pretty render on the computer screen. Beyond these two main skills that I

think I am currently weakest in, all my other design skills can be constantly worked on and

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significantly improved with time and practice. Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are often

brought up as examples to living and breathing your passion, shooting and hitting on the court

multiple times every day. If I’m not a professional basketball player but am a professional

designer, then I should be 3D modeling and sketching everyday.

The designers who are able to adapt to our rapid culture will be the ones that people look to

when they need design solutions. Those who are proficient and have harnessed the skill of

creating products that not only look good, but are ready to be sent to the factory to be produced

will be the ones that people hire. Every designer will have the basic design skillset of sketching,

3D modeling, and concept development, these two skills propel you forward and can be the main

point of differentiation between two designers.

In writing this paper, I discovered that I am a quick learner who is able to process

information right away and not only learn the basics, but am able to synthesize the information

and understand deeper concepts. In just a few weeks, I can understand a new software and use it

to generate my concepts while knowing enough of the program that I can ask and research for

specific questions I encounter. There is a lot of room for improvement with using this program as

well as my other design skills, but I can gain those as I constantly practice.

With my ability to learn quickly and understand concepts right away, I am fluid and mobile

in whatever team or environment I work in. My unique and rapid sketching ability helps me

throw out a sizable amount of ideas and concepts right away, allowing me to rapidly pick out

concepts to further develop. My co-op experiences with the University of Cincinnati have

allowed me to work in different environment from technical apparel to soft goods to consumer

hard goods. These eclectic skills add up to make me a well-rounded designer who is always

ready to work and produce quality work at whatever timeline is required.

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Activity

The audience is broken into many sections such as premed, design, and computer science.

Although coming in with a graphical and design sense makes my 2D presentations appealing to

most, the topics discussed will still need more detail and explanation due to the unique nature of

the topic outside of the design world.

In order to clearly communicate my literacy, I will have to make clear what I’m doing

and what the final result will be in order to connect to my audience. Everyone in the class seems

to be pretty hard working, and mindful of what they need to achieve and do with their time,

especially being honors students. Because of this, I think that the class will be able to wrap their

heads around my futuristic concept and the design process given the information I will present.

Everyone in the class is actively learning and if I’m able to present my literacy in a way that

makes 3D modeling cool and show how ubiquitous it is, they will learn more about 3D modeling

and ZBrush; maybe they’ll even want to learn and explore it themselves!

For this audience, I think I need to begin with showing examples of what ZBrush can do

and how it can be applied, whether to entertainment digital models or manufactured molded toys.

Once they are familiar with the 3D modeling program that I will be using, I can then show my

literacy in the program by having screenshots of my process.

Potential Activity Topics:

• How to model in ZBrush

o Utilizing ZBrush for 3D modeling and commonly used sculpting tools

o Show off some things that ZBrush is able to do [good examples]

• Different Types of Modeling

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o Show the different types of 3D modeling and explaining how the same object can

be made in slightly different ways

• What is 3D Modeling

o Show what 3D model is good for the work pipeline [go to print, production,

entertainment] the importance of 3D modeling and what happens to the model

after it is complete

Genres for Presentation:

• Live Demo

o Use a live demo to quickly show how something can be made in person

• Tutorial walk through [this is a cube, this is a blob… done]

o Screen-capture setting up a new document, putting in an object and distorting the

object to create something simple. Make a blobby Pokemon.

• PDF Presentation

o Show the process of how I work and quickly analyzing it step by step

The design brief for this semester’s studio project was “the future of transportation”,

identifying mobility in the future while heavily emphasizing the design of the wheel and tire.

After identifying what modes of transportation I thought would be utilized in the future, I began

to ideate on wheel mechanisms and designs that could elevate the functionality of the vehicle.

From there I decided on a final concept and took my 2D sketch to begin creating my 3D digital

model. Because I was creating the 3D model in ZBrush, a program I have not learned before this

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semester, I wanted to focus on learned the program so that I could execute the model to the best

of my ability.

I will be presenting my wheel concept as my semester project while having a main focus

on the ZBrush modeling portion. From seeing the entire project, the audience will see how I am

able to find inspiration, incorporate inspiration into ideas, sketching and ideating quality ideas,

and then taking ideas and executing them into 3D models.

In order to appeal to my classmates, I must ensure that the concept and functionality of

the wheel is fully communicated across. If they are able to understand what the wheel can do,

then they will be able to see its uniqueness and ability to do something beyond that of a normal

wheel. The biggest knowledge gap would be what 3D modeling is and what it’s used for. To

solve this, it will be crucial to show my entire process and show the initial sketch I started with

and end with my final rendered image. This shows how I executed from 2D to 3D, utilizing

ZBrush and kept the design intent as close as possible. It also shows that my 3D model can be

prepared for 3D printed and any other forms of manufacturing. This unique project brief and

intensive process will be interesting and will give an accurate, in-depth look of how projects

begin and end. I will not need to adapt too much information for the audience, but will just need

to communicate and show my ideas clearly. Designers will always have dirty sketches that will

never be shown to anyone else besides another designer on the same project. The sketches are

then refined, and the best quality work is then shown to the client. Although I do need to

showcase my entire process, I also need to refine it and make sure that what I’m showing is

understood and follows the story of the project.

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From my presentation I hope that my classmates will be reinvigorated to see design as

something cool and meaningful, while also useful to creating real life products. Whether it’s

employing design thinking, manufacturing, innovative solutions, human-centered design, user

interface, or user experience, design is relevant and prevalent in almost every field now and is

utilized in collaboration with other majors.

While a designer may not have the extensive medical knowledge of a radiologist or the

complex coding knowledge an app developer, their basis knowledge of a variety of topics are

amplified with their abilities to design elegant solutions and incorporate the user into the final

product. They know about the user experience and anthropometry, so that the radiologist can

help a patient get into a MRI scanner comfortably. They know how users feel when they find a

frustrating user interface with an app. And they know how to make products look great, so that

everyone will want to use them.

In regards to my presentation, if I don’t get the question: “so what does this tire do” and

everyone does understand its functionality, then I will be successful, as I have effectively

communicated my concept to the audience. If my purpose is focused on inspiring, then there is

no way of finding my success within a short amount of time. Maybe one day someone will be in

the work field 5 years from now and say, “why don’t we bring in an industrial designer and try to

make a better product for our customers?” If they realize the values that an industrial designer

can bring to any field, then I would be successful.

Genre elements I will be including in my PDF presentation are callouts and notes,

rendered models, inspiration and mechanism photos [where I got my mechanism ideas from], 2D

diagrams and icons, photos of my 3D print, and screen captures of my process. This genre is the

best way to present a dense, semester long project that is easy to tell a story with and keep the

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audience engaged. It covers a large amount of information, but because of the dynamic

compositions of each page, and having sketches, renders, and varying design elements, there is

no real relationship to a “bland PowerPoint”. Using this genre also reemphasizes my design

skills and my ability to communication clearly and presents my ideas to an audience with no

prior knowledge. It shows my ability to curate a 15 slide or so presentation that provides the

perfect amount to be able to understand everything.

Materials needed for project:

• Laptop

• Adobe Acrobat to open PDF

• Organize all of semester work: scan sketches, format all images

• Finish modeling and take render photos

• Finalize layout and communication

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Appendix 1. Textual Elements 1. Process books – analyzing the process and step-by-step posts from blogs/forums

Learning from the process and seeing how people who are good/professionals do it

2. Zbrush Summit Conference videos

3. Diagrams and infographics

4. Blogs and forums specializing in 3D modeling in Zbrush

5. Lecture/class material for Zbrush if possible

6. Interviews with professional Zbrush modelers

7. Lots of tutorial videos

8. Organization handbooks and instruction manuals

9. Zbrush reviews and how-to’s

10. Reading posts on forums

11. Reviews from Chris

Chris is the expert and tells me what he expects from our assignments; this is where I learn a lot

of my skills from.

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Appendix 2. Chris Tackett Research

• Miami University B.F.A in Graphic Design

• Lead 3D Digital Sculptor/Production Artist at LF Creative Group for 2 years, 4 months

• Owner of Chris Tackett Designs, 2D/3D Artist at indiePub, Art Director at Red Carpet

Studios for 8 years

• ZBrushCentral 2009 Action Hero Character Design Contest runner up

• Illustration, Illustrator, Graphics, Photoshop, Art Direction, Product Design, ZBrush

• Digital sculpture, painting, illustration, product design, video games, movies, bowling

• Tutorial posted on 3DTotal with 35,000+ views

• Interview posted on ZBrushCentral

• He’s pretty well known on the biggest ZBrush forum on the web, and has been in a

featured member forum post.

• He has a profile on CGSociety

• His portfolio lands in the top 5% with 73,000+ views, and top 1% with 18 CG badges.

• Showed us some examples from people on the web [not tires in particular] but other

sculptures

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Appendix 3. 10 Textual Components

• Annotations/callouts

o Callouts for specific designs that you like/moved forward with

• Images

o Use imagery to showcase your examples

• Final renders

o Realistic renders of final concept, different views

• Sketches, auxiliary views, details

o Showcase process and the different views and details needed to explain an idea

• 2D graphical elements/simplified icons

o Use simple iconography to demonstrate concepts, ideas, and graphical elements

• Inspiration imagery

o Show where I got inspiration from and where I pulled some of my ideas from

• Animations/GIFs

o Use animations and GIFs to show a product in movement; to show complex ideas

• Abstract/design brief

o Explain why the project exists and what the goals are

• In context photos

o Put the product in context and in use so that users know how it works

• Tables/diagrams for research

o Present any research that you’ve done for the project

• Videos and images of past examples

o Reference old work to see where I need to be quality wise

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Works Cited

“Featured Member: KrakenCMT (Christopher Tackett)”. ZBrushCentral. ZBrushCentral, 03

January 2008. Web. 2 July 2016

Birn, Jeremy. 3D Rendering. 3dRender. Web. 12 July 2016.

Boudon, Grant. Digital Tutors. 21, November 2013. Web. 12 July 2016.

CAD Software. Autodesk. Web. 12 July 2016.

CGMeetup. ZBrush 4r7 ZModeler Tutorial. Web. 3 July 2016.

• Computer Graphics Meetup is a news-like site that presents the latest news related to any

computer animation or graphics work.

• They have their own forum for discussions, a gallery for displays of works, tutorials, and

news. Usually the posts are videos and are done in a “demo” like way of some showing

how it is done or how they would do it.

• The specific article that I pulled out was for a function called “ZModeler” and it is a way

of building 3D parts and that’s what we’re currently learning and will be using for our

final model in studio class.

Chapman Cameron. “7 Basics to Create a Good Design Brief”. Webdesignerdepot, 17 March

2011. Web. 12 July 2016.

Edge-CGI 3D Tutorials and More. Edge-CGI. 2013. Web. 21 June 2016.

• Worthwhile because they’re one of the most popular 3D modeling YouTube channels that

post up weekly videos and tutorials.

• Anyone that wants to learn 3D modeling on his or her own, Internet audience. Also

covers some specific ways to do things and specific tools within 3D modeling programs.

41

Everything is presented through a screen recording of someone using the program while

the instructor commentates with a voiceover.

Gaboury Paul. “ZBrush Professional Tips and Techniques” Indianapolis: Sybex, 2012. Print.

• One of the most popular books on Amazon that provides information and tips from an

industry professional.

• This is for people trying to learn how to model in Zbrush, but is more directed towards

intermediate and advanced users as it covers some more specific processes and methods.

• The book goes through different processes and tools, but also goes in depth into specific

areas of the program with screenshots of step-by-step processes.

Lee Jei. KeyShot 3D Rendering. Birmingham: Packt Publishing, 2012. Print.

Phillips, Peter. “Creating the Perfect Design Brief: How to Manage Design for Strategic

Advantage.” New York, Allworth Press, 2004. Print.

Pixologic. Zbrush Training. Web. 21 June 2016.

• These tutorials are all straight from the software company and are great for learning new

tools and practicing skills within the program. It can be used to learn or be used as a

reference when you encounter something while using the program.

• This text is for anyone that is using Zbrush as it covers almost all topics and is helpful for

both beginners and advanced users. It is from the software developers themselves and

there are pretty darn skilled in their own program.

• All the information is presented through video tutorials with voiceover commentary from

the instructor.

• Teaches everything from the basics to specific advanced tools

Tackett, Chris. “Assignments Due 6/8 and 6/15.” Message to the author. 23 June 2016. E-mail.

42

• This text is for me as it is feedback about projects that I have turned in for my design

technology class, which is the class that we’re using this program for.

• It’s pretty casual and he will just state any outliers or any issues that stood out to him. If I

wanted more detailed information I could go to him as well

• He is a great resource because my beginning knowledge of this program came from him

and he gives us a core education on how to use the program with supplemental videos

and other tutorials

• I can ask him any questions that I have with what I’m working on and he can usually help

me or find an answer for me later

Tackett, Chris. LinkedIn. Web. 2 July 2016.

Thacker, Jim. “Expert Advice: Marvel Character Artist Josh Herman.” CGChannel. Web. 3 July

2016.

• CGChannel is a community for the entertainment arts that includes the latest news and

technologies, training videos, interviews, artist galleries, and a community forum.

• This site is for all those interested in computer graphics and animation for the

entertainment industry

• The site consists of a variety of tutorial videos, interviews, and news articles.

The Gnomom Workshop Introduction to Zbrush 4R7. Online video clip. YouTube. 1 Jan 2016.

Web. 21 June 2016.

• Popular subscription based tutorial website that covers many topics and specializes in

Zbrush

• Gnomom Workshop features many different professionals and artists which is great to

learn from different instructors and see their different approaches.

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• Their stuff is mostly for the online learning community, and functions a lot like an online

college due to it’s members only videos and subscription-based plans.

• Their video tutorials are from different professionals and include voiceovers with

directions and step-by-step processes

• Mostly used to learn the program when you are starting out and when you are looking to

improve, but there are some videos that cover how to use specific tools/functions of the

program.

Trailblazing Designer Patricia Moore Talks Empathy And Life By Design. College for Creative

Studies. Web. 12 July 2016.

WetaWorkshop. Web. 3 July 2016.

• This studio site is for displaying the works of WetaWorkshop and showing off what

services they offer within the film/entertainment art industry

• The sites shows the services they have as well as the projects that they have worked on in

the past, demonstrating their real world skills and results.

• Using this source to compare to an industry standard would be helpful, as well as seeing

how things are done and made in the professional industry.

ZBrushCentral. Pixologic. Web. 21 June 2016.

• This is the software company’s own forum where people can share tips, post their works

in progress, and give you feedback. Lots of famous modelers on here too.

• This text is for all users of Zbrush – professionals, students, people learning, and

everyone in between.

• It is a place to gather and share knowledge, share your work and get feedback, get tips,

and see what professionals are currently doing out there

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• Mostly just blog-type posts from people and other’s responses leading to online

discourse. However many people will post photos or screenshots of their work and show

their process and how to get there.

• Design is very collaborative, and having a place to learn from others as well as see what

other’s are doing and get feedback on your stuff is very helpful

ZB00330. HenningsAnden. Web. 05 July 2016.

ZBrushCentral Forum. Space Cadet. Web. 3 July 2016

• This is the software company’s own forum where people can share tips, post their works

in progress, and give you feedback.

• This text is for all users of Zbrush – professionals, students, people learning, and

everyone in between.

• It is a place to gather and share knowledge, share your work and get feedback, get tips,

and see what professionals are currently doing out there

• Picked this specific thread because the user “marconogueirajr” who is pretty active on

the forum and does pretty good work

• This thread shows the method of rendering that he does and how he uses different

techniques to achieve the look he is going for. Rendering is important because they is

how to “sit” your object and find a way to make it presentable and marketable.

• It is also a great thread because you are able to read other people’s comments and see

what they think and what other ideas they may also have.

Spencer, Scott. ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting. Indianapolis:

Sybex Publishing, 2011. Print.

ZModeler. Pixologic. Web. 12 July 20016.