Nomad Sculpt - 3D modeling thread -

Kevin Longueil · 17 Mar 2021, 02:47

@Valerie-Light Thanks! Yes, i have found a couple of useful tools for sure, crease being the main one - there are so many i have not figured out yet but i'm still having a great time. I have not used any of these as reference for an image yet. I sculpted the yeti and the fox for that reason though so when i come up with a good composition/story i'm sure these will come very in handy. My guess is that i'll probably use this a lot in the future. It is really great to be using my 3d brain again.

Kevin Longueil · 17 Mar 2021, 04:46

A bit too ordinary of a Pixie.

Kevin Longueil · 19 Mar 2021, 01:03

Daily sculpt...looks a little Medusa’ish - super fun the eyes are a bit creepy... but i'm just trying to learn and practice...

Kevin Longueil · 21 Mar 2021, 03:10

Chasmfiend portrait..any Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive fans? ..not very children’s bookish ....just practicing

BradAYoo · 21 Mar 2021, 04:28

Dude, @Kevin-Longueil how much have you been sculpting? These are looking great. You have a fantastic sense of shape and form.

MissMushy · 21 Mar 2021, 14:51

Wow! These are awesome @Kevin-Longueil. I just downloaded this program and trying to figure it out. I struggle with visualizing characters in 3 d so hoping it will help. Any tutorials you would recommend for learning the program?

Kevin Longueil · 21 Mar 2021, 20:41

@BradAYoo Thank you Brad!!! It has been almost 2 weeks since i downloaded the app. I've not really done 3d sculpting before. I have done real clay many years ago... i loved to use architectural clay which had a ton of grog in it ...i hate grog...but you could get much better forms with it because it would not droop as much as the pretty clays...i have not really worked in 3d for years though... i did teach metal sculpture for about 8 years at the college where i work. So i definitely have a 3d background...but no 3d software experience. The MacBook Pro i'm typing on is something i purchased specifically to load and learn Zbrush on..but i talked myself out of it... i'm 52 so there is definitely an element of feeling too old to learn something like that....but i would sure like to be able to apply a texture to the Chasmfiend...that would be very cool and i think i could do that in Zbrush?? I tried drawing this creature when i read the last book and it was a real struggle ...so much easier to sculpt it.. i'm hoping to use this in an image actually. Sorry about the novel length response... thank you again for your kind words
@MissMushy Thank you Michelle!! I'm so glad you're going to give it a try! I have not read any instructions or watched any tutorials yet...i think @demotlj mentioned having watch a couple though so she might have an idea? I have figure out adding and subtracting clay, smoothing, creasing, voxel remeshing and adding new items like a new sphere or block to build off of...that is about it so far. I remesh things to a higher resolution and remesh often - the polygons get stretched and very crazy if you work them too much... its is very much like metal in a way...remeshing kind of anneals the sculpt and makes the grain size smaller so you can work with it again..... i try not to worry about keeping details which can always be put back in because remeshing definitely changes tiny details .. i'm also mostly keeping thing symmetrical but you do not have to.... i'd be glad to try to help if you have any questions that i could answer..thanks again

MissMushy · 21 Mar 2021, 19:04

@Kevin-Longueil thanks Kevin! That’s kind of you to offer I have been playing around with it a bit today but I have never worked in 3D before so most of the terminology is new to me. I found a few videos on YouTube so am reviewing those while I play. Sorting out the interface and what’s what so far. Might try seeing if I can sculpt a head or something like that as a trial.

Kevin Longueil · 21 Mar 2021, 19:14

@MissMushy Very cool! Making the portrait heads is challenging and fun...I'm pretty sure the Reilly method of portrait drawing is going through my head when i'm sculpting the portrait heads..(not really portraits i guess since i'm making them up?) it is a super easy way to visualize and divide the head into planes to get close to something workable..would love to see what you come up with

MissMushy · 21 Mar 2021, 21:47

My first attempt - it seems to be a very angry dog? ‍️ at one point the tips of ears became separated from rest of ears - have no clue how that happened. Clearly lots to learn

Kevin Longueil · 22 Mar 2021, 00:54

@MissMushy Awesome!

BradAYoo · 22 Mar 2021, 16:20

@Kevin-Longueil It's never too late to learn new tools and software! That's a stigma that's gotta go. I feel like I'm a mirror of your journey. I've been learning to sculpt in Zbrush over the past 6 years and now getting back into illustrations.

I've only used Nomad once but I'm guessing it can export obj or fbx extensions, which you could the use in any 3D package, like Zbrush or Blender for texturing. In Zbrush you'd probably use projection master, spotlight or paint by hand.

@MissMushy Well done for your first go through! Keep it up. Keep posting. Once you get familiar with the tools it becomes so much easier to focus on the creative!

For both of you another option for sculpting is Blender. It's a bit more robust so it can be intimidating at first. It is a one stop shop for 3D (sculpting, texturing, vfx, rendering, animating, etc.) but they have a bunch of tutorials, support and have been gaining a lot more traction as a lot of pro artists and some movie houses are gravitating to it. It is software that I've been wanting to add to my belt for awhile but priorities have been keeping it on the back burner. If you do want to try it this is the best Blender crash course tutorial to get you up to speed. Highly recommended.

Blender Guru- Blender for Beginners

BradAYoo · 22 Mar 2021, 16:27

This actually brings up something that I've had in my mind recently. I know that picture books could be done entirely in the 3D medium but I wonder what people's opinions are on if 2Dvs3D should be kept separate. Does is have it's place in the kidlit world? Maybe I should make a post...

Kevin Longueil · 22 Mar 2021, 19:38

@BradAYoo Here is a Caldecott Honoree that used 3d models he built in Maya for his book.

I don't know... if feel like if you make it yourself you can do anything you want with it - even though he used Maya to build his city it all just started with an idea in his head .....Maya did not build the city...he built it in Maya .... i remember seeing this book when it first came out and i though to myself wow this guy knows his perspective

MissMushy · 23 Mar 2021, 12:05

@BradAYoo thanks for the encouragement! Slowly finding my way around the various tools. Honestly, the hardest part for me has been getting the various shapes to connect together. When it looks from the front view like it is in the right place but then I turn to side view and realize the two objects aren’t even touching each other ‍️Then I try to move them together and they just move past each other. I feel as if I am missing something basic in my understanding ....

I think I looked at Blender but found it a bit overwhelming- a bit like how Photoshop is to me.

demotlj · 23 Mar 2021, 20:47

@Kevin-Longueil said that I had mentioned watching tutorials. Being absolutely new to 3D sculpting, I did try watching Youtube videos but kept getting lost because I didn't understand the terminology and I needed someone to start with the basics. I could do simple modeling but I was really limited by my lack of fundamentals. I finally decided to buy a class on Nomad from Southern GFX which has been great. Someone who has done some 3D work wouldn't need it but it was worth it for me. I'm still working through it and have still had to do some trial and error but at least I think I understand terms like remeshing and topology and orthographic.

@MissMushy I had the same problem with joining things but it gets easier when you begin to really understand the gizmo tool so watch tutorials on that. Some other things that helped me overall:

I was getting confused at times when I thought I was moving the figure but was really moving the camera. I changed the settings in Pressure (the hand holding a pen icon) so that the camera is controlled only by my finger and the sculpting is controlled only by my stylus which helped.
Also, I started using the camera "Snap" function which you can add as a shortcut through the interface menu. This brings the correct face (front, back, left, right) into line to make sure things aren't slightly tilted.
Finally, (and I learned this from the class) I use the re-mesh button and smooth tool frequently as I work. If you try to make big changes like joining parts, it gets messy and jagged if you don't re-mesh it and smooth it.

That's my tiny bit of knowledge so far. It's really fun to play with and will definitely help me with visualizing things in 3D.

BradAYoo · 23 Mar 2021, 22:37

This post is deleted!

BradAYoo · 23 Mar 2021, 22:42

@Kevin-Longueil said in Nomad Sculpt - 3D modeling thread -:

@BradAYoo Here is a Caldecott Honoree that used 3d models he built in Maya for his book.

Wow! I have not seen this book yet. That is very inspiring and makes me feel like it can open some mental barriers that I've been holding onto. Thank you so much for sharing that @Kevin-Longueil.

@MissMushy As you get more acquainted with the software and movement and functionality it'll become easier to build upon those skills and then also move on to similar but more robust software like Blender. Get comfortable with Nomad because that will open some doors later... Or you could just stick with Nomad too, I've seen some great things come out of there.

MissMushy · 25 Mar 2021, 20:58

@demotlj thanks for the info Laurie. I signed up with southernfx’s course this morning, before I saw your post so phew! Glad to hear you think it is great. I was watching so many of their YouTube videos I figured might as well go for it.

I think I am starting to figure out the gizmo tool, I moved things off the wrong axis by accident before I realize what I am doing. Still tricky. I will try making that adjustment re camera vs sculpting that you suggested.
I am already finding my drawing brain is thinking more in 3D terms than before I started playing with Nomad, so am really excited to see where this takes me.