Photoshop
Maya
ZBrush
Houdini
Substance Painter
Blender
Arnold
Nuke
KeyShot
V-Ray
Marvelous Designer
Mari
Marmoset Toolbag
Substance Designer
3ds Max
Redshift
3D Coat
Lightroom
Faceform Wrap
After Effects
Octane Render
Speed Tree
Daz3D
Reality Capture
Agisoft Metashape
Modo
Fusion
Gravity Sketch
Gaea
Premiere
Cinema 4D
Procreate
Katana
Quixel DDO
Mudbox
Mixamo
SketchBook Pro
SketchUp
Adobe Medium
Clip Studio Paint
Natron
Quixel Bridge
Quixel Megascans
Quixel Mixer
Substance 3D Modeler
World Creator
Yeti
Ziva VFX
Massive
Materialize
TreeIt
Ornatrix
PreForm
SynthEyes
Corel Painter
QuickTime
StoryboardPro
xNormal
animBot
Unity
ReCap
MeshMixer
Gaffer
DaVinci Resolve
World Machine
Krita
Learn how to use ZBrush's powerful tools to create dynamic and expressive hairstyles for your stylized characters. In this 2.5-hour workshop, Lead 3D Character Artist Dan Eder shares a deep dive into his process for sculpting stylized 3D hair with ZBrush. Starting from an original character as his subject, Dan walks through his complete workflow for approaching character stylization using ZBrush, teaching an understanding of what creates an appealing character and talking through the technical tools and practical applications he uses to achieve his distinctive style.
Through a series of step-by-step demonstrations, you will explore a variety of topics, including an introduction to ZBrush's essential tools and their capabilities when it comes to stylized hair creation; a look at the fundamentals of hair sculpting and styling for characters; strategies for adding texture, volume, and movement to hair; as well as Dan’s top tips for using color and lighting to enhance the look of hair in a 3D scene. He also shares his best practices for optimizing hair for use in games, animations, and other digital media.
You can expect to come away from the workshop with a solid understanding of how to create appealing and believable hair for your stylized characters, along with new knowledge about a variety of ZBrush tools that will help to level up your digital-sculpting process.
6 Lessons
Dan Eder begins this workshop by emphasizing the need for proper planning and research. By carefully selecting appropriate references, and matching specific techniques to different types of hairstyle, artists can achieve more realistic and believable results.
Duration: 54s
This lesson establishes why proper planning is essential for creating convincing 3D hair meshes. By breaking down complex hairstyles into manageable sections and understanding their unique characteristics, artists can approach hair modeling with a clear strategy that will result in more controllable and realistic results during the construction phase in ZBrush.
Duration: 1m 46s
This lesson covers the block-out phase: a critical foundation for successful hair creation in ZBrush. By knowing what to prioritize and what to avoid, artists can establish solid groundwork that will support detailed sculpting later. Prioritize directionality, variation, and clean silhouettes. Avoid wobbliness, repetitiveness, and clumping. Remember that this stage is about functionality and proper structure, not final aesthetics.
Duration: 2m 13s
This lesson sets out a sculpting method that offers maximum flexibility and control when creating 3D hair, particularly for stylized, chunky hairstyles. Patience plays an important role, with results developed gradually through constant refinement, and attention to the hairstyle’s silhouette. Make sure that you keep your polygon count low to ensure flexibility, focus on creating varied strand sizes for visual interest, and don't be afraid to delete and rebuild parts that aren't meeting your goals.
Duration: 40m 48s
This lesson explores how to create stylized hair with curves in ZBrush: a method that requires patience, proper technical setup, and strategic workflow decisions. The key to success is keeping your polygon count low to ensure flexibility while achieving high-quality visual results through curve manipulation, minimal smoothing, and topology management. The process may be tedious, but with practice, it becomes second nature, allowing you to produce professional results efficiently.
Duration: 1h 10m 37s
The final lesson in the workshop demonstrates a more complex hair creation technique that uses the Curve Alpha brush. It provides exceptional detail and control, but requires careful consideration to maintain a balance between simplicity and complexity. Too much added detail can potentially distract from the character.
Duration: 31m 5s
Primary tools
For this workshop you’ll need:
* Note that these programs and materials will not be supplied with the course.
Skills Covered
Who’s this Workshop for?
This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced 3D artists, character modelers, and digital sculptors who want to enhance their skills in stylized character creation. Artists looking to master ZBrush's hair sculpting capabilities will find this particularly valuable.
Concept artists transitioning into 3D and students studying digital art will also benefit significantly from Dan Eder's professional workflow and industry insights. The workshop provides techniques that can immediately improve portfolio work and prepare artists for character-focused roles in gaming, TV, and film production.
Learning Outcomes
By completing this workshop, artists will have mastered professional techniques for creating dynamic, stylized hair that enhances character appeal and meets industry production standards.
Key skills include:
- How to utilize ZBrush's tools for stylized hair sculpting and character development.
- How to apply fundamental principles of hair structure, flow, and styling for believable character designs.
- How to add texture and volume to create visually compelling hair.
- How to implement color and lighting techniques that enhance hair presentation in 3D scenes.
- How to optimize hair assets for efficient use in games, TV, and film.
- How to develop a professional workflow for consistent, appealing stylized character hair creation.
