278 chapter 8 ■ ZBrush Movies and Photoshop Composites
That completes our tutorial on using the timeline to create animation in ZBrush.
Please see the accompanying DVD for a video demonstrating many more functions and
options for using this powerful tool.ZBrush to Photoshop
While ZBrush includes a powerful renderer, when you combine it with Photoshop you can
get even higher-quality images, especially when combining different materials as render
passes and compositing them in Photoshop. The following technique is based on a workflow
shown to me by Scott Patton of Legacy Effects. Figure 8.20 shows three character portraits
created by exporting polypainted images from ZBrush to combine as layers in Photoshop.
The following tutorial illustrates this workflow in detail.
This technique is based on exporting a single render from ZBrush with various mate-
rial types and then compositing them together in Photoshop using blending modes to create
a deep, rich image. For this demonstration, we will use the Alien Head ZTool included on
the accompanying DVD. On the disc you will also find the tutorial files for the Fat Demon
from the previous edition of this book.Setting Up the Canvas and Placing the Character
Because this is a portrait image, we’ll reconfigure the canvas from landscape to portrait:- Open the main document window and dock it to the side tray by clicking the radial
button. Turn off the Pro button, which constrains proportions. Swap the Width and
Height values so they read 840 wide by 1120 high. Now click the Double button to
double this document size to 2986 × 2240. ZBrush will notify you that this is not an
undoable operation. Click Yes.
Figure 8.20 These three images were created using the techniques in this section.