About the Course

In this course you will learn how to create a dynamic character in pose to use for 3D Printing and how to render the character in Keyshot, Zbrush and Marmoset. Every week you will have a new lecture to help you understand anatomy and Zbrush that you can watch at your own pace.

Learning Outcomes

  • Be able to use Zbrush to create a male/female character  

  • Be able to create hard-surface props and objects 

  • Know how to set up a render in Keyshot/Marmoset/Zbrush 

  • Know how to avoid common anatomical mistakes with the body and face 

  • Know how to use Marvelous Designer to create clothing 

  • Know how to use Substance Painter and Zbrush together to achieve high details 

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What are you waiting for?

What Exactly is This Course?

A lot of character artists sculpt just what they see on their reference and try to replicate it. We are going to go deeper into the understanding of the skull and skeleton. Develop the knowledge and confidence to hit our landmarks and proportions. Separating you further from the rest.  No more guessing and shadow sculpting.  After we have our new anatomy knowledge, we will move onto posing our character. Focusing on movement, balance and directing the eye of the viewer to provide the best impact.   We will be creating props, clothing, armor and base to complete our collectible. Then we can start exporting our assets into Substance Painter. Then we will apply the fine details and believable surface textures to take your sculpt to the next level.   After this, we take a quick look at setting up a render in Zbrush, Keyshot, and Unreal Engine. Giving you the versatility, you need to present your collectible in your portfolio or to a client for approvals.  

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

  • 2

    Mug Check

  • 3

    Building an Empire

    • Rig Overview

    • Posing Overview

    • Maya to ZBrush Setup

    • ZModeler Basics and Beyond

    • Quick Armor Generation

    • Quick Clothing Generation

    • Weekly Files

    • Homework
  • 4

    Rock Your Body Right - Part 1

    • Upper Body Overview

    • Chest Overview

    • Abs Overview

    • Deltoid Overview

    • Upper Back Overview

    • Homework
  • 5

    Rock Your Body Right - Part 2

    • Lower Back Overview

    • Arm Overview

    • Forearm Overview

    • Upper Leg Overview

    • Lower Leg Overview

    • Homework
  • 6

    Rock Your Body Right - Part 3

    • Neck Overview

    • Hand Overview

    • Foot Overview

    • Anatomy Sketch Timelapse

    • Homework
  • 7

    ZBrush In-Depth

    • Workflow Overview

    • Creating Clean Geo

    • Creating IMM Brushes

    • Using Nanomesh

    • Using ArrayMesh

    • Homework
  • 8

    It's Marvelous!

    • Marvelous Workflow Overview

    • Preparing ZBrush Model

    • Creating Clothing - Part 1

    • Creating Clothing - Part 2

    • Marvelous Designer to ZBrush

    • Homework
  • 9

    Import / Export

    • Import / Export Workflow Overview

    • ZBrush to Maya

    • Maya UVs

    • Substance Overview

    • Substance to ZBrush

    • Homework
  • 10

    High-Class Details

    • How to Sculpt Skin Details

    • How to Sculpt Hair

    • Rapid Prototype Keying

    • Homework
  • 11

    Rendering Overview

    • ZBrush Rendering

    • Compositing Overview

    • Rendering in Keyshot

    • Rendering in Unreal

    • Rendering in Marmoset

    • Weekly Files

    • Homework
  • 12

    Bonus: Actions of a Champion

    • Actions of a Champion

    • Creating a Sword – Timelapse

    • Magic and Dragons – Timelapse

    • Scales – Timelapse

    • Hair and Dragon Hands – Timelapse

    • Refining the Dragon Head – Timelapse

    • Refining the Dragon Head - Timelapse - Continued

    • Lips & Hair Refinement – Timelapse
  • 13

    Bonus: Actions of a Champion - Part 2

    • Hair Keyshot Composite

    • Marvelous Designer

    • ZBrush Refinement

    • Keyshot Rendering

    • ZBrush Armor & Clothing Creation

Pricing options

What Students are Saying

“What I’ve learned from taking Character Creation for Collectibles has not only improved my knowledge of the human body and how to better my personal models, but has already made for vast improvements in my work for clients starting from the first couple weeks of classes. I think anyone wanting to better their figurine models will benefit from this class.”

Joana Abbott

“Simply amazing. The best experience in an online course I have ever had. Spicer is a wonderful instructor. A great experience overall, worth every penny!”

Nina Haftka

“A very fun and interesting course, for any intermediate artist who wants to be better. With a large focus on anatomy, Spicer taught us with a lot of patience and great guidance. Was an awesome course from awesome people like Spicer and Michael.”

Andres Ruibal

“An amazingly immersive and informative 10 weeks of professional advice and critique. Mr. Spicer is an incredibly patient and extremely helpful instructor. Small learning curve up front, but overcame that very quickly with easy access to the XMD Academy website, the course resources and engaging with classmates. Loved that the lectures are recorded and that I can go back to any of the modules as often as I want. I definitely learned alot; the course exceeded my expectations.”

Amir Perwaz

“XMD Acadamy has hired some real Heavy Hitters!! Spicer is the "REAL DEAL" I learned a lot, and I've been in the game Industry for 15+ years! This was simply an amazing course.”

Dan Bingham

“Spicer is an amazing teacher, I can't wait to apply everything I learned. Thanks to this course, I will improve my future work for sure.”

Nicolas Bigeard

Software Requirements

  • ZBrush
  • Maya will be used for lecture work, but you can use any other 3d modeling package such as 3dsMax, Blender, Houdini or Cinema4D (Trial and Educational Versions Available)
  • Graphics Tablet (Wacom or similar)
  • Substance Painter (Trial and Educational Versions Available) 
  • Unreal Engine (Free)  
  • Photoshop (Trial and Educational Versions Available) 
  • Marvelous Designer (Trial and Educational Versions Available)


I will be using ZBrush, Maya, Keyshot, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer and the Unreal Engine for the examples and lectures but you can substitute any other programs as the concepts will remain the same.   

The rigged characters provided with the course are made to be used with Maya.  

Must have a beginner’s understanding of ZBrush as time will not allow us to go over the very basics of the program. Knowing the basics of ZBrush such as how to get to main menu items and basic hot keys is preferred.  

Bonus Content

2 Extra Modules and Counting!

Over 3 Hours of Bonus Content in 2 bonus modules! Spicer lives up to his promise of always over-delivering. In these 2 bonus modules, you get several hours of time-lapse content as well as Marvelous Designer and Keyshot content!

Meet Your Instructor

Spicer McLeroy

Instructor

My name is Spicer McLeroy and I'm the 1x CG Channel Frank Frazetta Homage Digital Sculpting Champion of 2010. Certified by Ryan Kingslien himself. I'm the super hero sculpting machine that delivers on time and above expectation. It's what I do best and have learned how to expand my knowledge, skills and execution through the comic book world. With these abilities I've delivered projects ranging from creating custom super hero statues for private high-end collectors and commissioners all the way to creating beasts and beings that end up in high class boutiques like Dior in all the major markets of the world. On top of creating characters and props for high-demand clients such as Universal Studios, Dior, Gearbox Software, Petersen Games, Scenic Sets and 2k Games I also teach Organic Modeling at the University of the Incarnate Word in which the head of the department has repeatedly said, “These are the best results we have seen out of this class.” So, don't get it twisted ladies and gentlemen! We are going to level you up like you've never been upped before. Join. Commit. Dedicate yourself now to the most exclusive and high-end character creation course in the on-line cg education community. Join the XMD Academy now and let's get to work!

Register Today!

Are you ready to take the leap?

Course Features

  • Unlimited Life-Time Access to the course!

    As an XMD Academy member, you get unlimited Life-Time access to the course. Every time the course is updated with new content, it is yours to keep!

  • Join an Evergrowing Community

    Join 1000s of artists in an online massive community where you can show your work, get insight, and critiques from fellow industry professionals.

  • Login 24/7

    All content is digital and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed your continuous learning appetite.

  • XMDSource.com Included!

    A FREE Membership to XMDSource.com is included with your course purchase.

  • 10 Complete Modules

    There are 10 action packed modules for several weeks worth of learning.

Users of XMD

Some of the Amazing Companies that use XMD

The Mill
BioWare
Cloud Imperium
Axis
gazillion
ZeniMax
Hi-Rez
Bethesda

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