Why Blockout?

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Hey all! I wanted to make a video on blocking out characters for sculpting. So.. uh.. here it is! I wanted this to be something that was software and medium agnostic so that it could apply to more people. Digital sculpting is tough, but I think if you practice those primary forms through doing character blockouts more often, you will see GREAT SUCCESS. hah. Anyway, hope the video is helpful! Feel free to throw any questions in the comments and if you are looking for more of a step by step guide on blocking out characters, check the link below. Okay I love you goodbye.
Want a step by step process guide for blocking out characters in ZBrush? Check out my character blockout tutorial below as well as some of my more recent videos for more awesome ZBrush sculpting tips and tricks!
ZBrush Character Blockout Tutorial
• ZBrush Character Block...
2D to 3D! Sculpting a Baseball Mage from Start to Finish ⚾ GRAND SLAMS ⚾
• 2D to 3D! Sculpting a ...
2D to 3D! Sculpting a Girl from Start to Finish 💪🏼 GETTING SWOLE 💪🏼
• 2D to 3D! Sculpting a ...
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[@gregorygrice5795]

Thank you for reading my mind. Pride is exactly what I as an artist and writer am struggling with, and I would be more than happy to go over it with you. 🌟❤️

[@justanameonyourscreen5954]

1:13...I sculpt in Blender... but your videos have helped a lot. The tools may have different names...but the technique is the same...thanks

[@ledf2012]

what you said about moving forward too fast and not having a solid foundation is basically the main challenge im facing right now 😂 I need to get better at this cuz I think this applies to both organic sculpts and hard surface modeling im currently doing at work. Thank you for this video!!!

[@pawpotsRS]

this month I intend to do make a block out first before trying to add detail and it helps a lot really,

[@quinnjdq]

I really appreciate the more technical video! I picked up the Charizard tutorial a bit ago on gumroad and its been very useful!

[@bradleycorreia2481]

wow, your modelling skills are amazing!!

[@hucancode9]

Super satisfying seeing you work

[@cyberpunkzombie9461]

You have a great grasp of human musculature! Amazing vid!

[@taylor_3d]

Great video, I enjoyed it and probably what I need to start doing more before rushing into details 😁

[@dsdgonna3479]

you are too much good. ok? too much good you brought me kind of deperate at my sculpts. i don't wanna sculpt after seen this video. hella!

[@CattyMintgum]

1:13 Stop it's done now, no need to go any further- A++++++++

[@garyainslie8200]

xD you got me

[@digitalisdoll9689]

how did you know I needed this exact video

[@ohlssonster]

Love this video! Thanks a bunch for doing this. It's inspiring and educational - perfect combo! :D

[@londalecarter3482]

I use blender for sculpting. But i needed this vid. Thanks a lot!

[@razeljoydejesus4506]

Great Stuff, Dude. New to sculpting, just starting Blender and now I'm kinda curious about this :>

[@_Junker]

Anatomy is so difficult O_O well done sir !

[@rich_3d]

Brilliantly consice as always! Keep it up mate!

[@canaldesugestoesa6651]

Bro, this is amazing, good for drawing reference.

[@vjm3]

Do you find it more accommodating for creative design by first hand drawing out your design? Or do you prefer to sculpt shapes first, and let it naturally evolve over time?

[@nofudastofu]

the videos are really helpful, Thanks so mutch!

[@Gazing-09]

I just subbed. I don't have a computer yet but the whole 3D sculpting thing is very interesting and you make me want to try it out.

[@TK-sr2hz]

When you start you're gonna want to quit. When they do it it looks so easy but it's not. One thing you need to remember is that if you really practice every day, at least one character or 1hr doing 3D a day. In 1 year/6 months. You'll be able to do what he can do probably. Just give it time and don't give up.

[@Karlthuluu]

I get the main idea of blockout, but what I want to know are the specifics around your workflow, like are you using some kind of boolean operation to combine your meshes? When do you increase the polycount(quality) of the meshes? Before or after you combine them?

[@redphantom2670]

Great video man, helped a lot

[@pan_man69]

I would love to see a tutorial on digitigrade legs I'm kind of having a hard time sculpting them

[@biggrundo6667]

Thanks for the brush pack Folly. Now my fingers don't look like sausages.

[@user-dk6hn5tf7k]

Ha! I've been doing same thing you do but I just didn't know what it's called. Basically assembling basic shapes into one form. I work with NURBS primitives and convert it to poly mesh only when it's complete. I totally understand your joy of sculpting. For me it's almost meditative experience.

[@earsbleed]

exactly

[@anurakanecksinsub4557]

I love this channel😍😍😍

[@super117knight]

i love zbrush but cant figure out how to make new tools then move them around, mirror them, combine all tool as one etc does someone have a good vid on this-'

[@koketsok1513]

My brain read why workout,but still enjoyed the video,in a side note how does one change the theme of their zbrush ppage as i really like yours

[@user-wu7vt8je9b]

How cool it looks

[@RDD87z]

Could i get the colours you used for your UI? in the ebgining i thought it was a video filter then i realised its not.:D if you could share would be amazing i love the colours!

[@Khether0001]

But What is your though process in this stage in ZBrush? You work in low poly and subdivide to add ridges and details, but what if you need to move things too much around? soon you'll have stretched and squished polygons in areas.... So, do you ZRemesh it every now and then? (but that looses details, and might mess topology, though) ...You don't seem to work with Sculptriss On... I know that you already have so much experience that those issues often don't even show up in your demos, but how would you deal with them if they did? Thank you.

[@VaibhavSharma-fz5hs]

I don't know why this is in my recommendation, but i am not regretting after watching it.

[@vartanpanossian7331]

Could you actually do a video about being blinded to your own work? I think that will not only be interesting but make people aware of things we simply brushed off

[@10dev785]

But how do you combine them? What’s that process

[@andyone7616]

Can you make a tutorial how to make simple render like you did at the end of this video?

[@Tobi_A]

If you draw, this is quite essential, that's why my first chars looked quite good :v Also good video :3 (I started blender quite early, sure with practice I will get even better, I'm kind of a beginner, but all my drawing knowledge, like anatomy, forms and that is reaally helpful, would recommend starting with drawing fundamentals and then go into sculpting, because if you understand how to make 3d things on 2d then most of the hardwork sure is done)

[@WCCXtra]

Totally agree. I just started learning Blender last month (former Max user) and dipped into the sculpting tools last week. I was a little surprised at how easy it was to make something convincing. I'm probably going to do two types of anatomy studies - a 2D study and the same reference in a sculpt study.

[@CGGroovy]

thank you for this video ! :)

[@pedroruizcarmona1570]

can we download your ui color? Its so cool, i wouldnt mind to watch it for too long!

[@timefliesaway999]

Could you sculpt Cassandra and varian (from tangled the series) sometime? 🤟🏻🙏🏻 If you’ve got the time Your sculpting is amazing! I just downloaded ZBrush because of a workshop we had in school, so I’m learning through the workshop mostly, but your channel helps a lot as well!

[@megajeremy90001]

What software are you using?

[@hotpopcorncake]

What program is this? it is for free and is it easy to use?

[@_s_s_world_]

I need a detailed video about process! looks great, I can do same in blender but zbush is absolutly new and unfriendly for me now(

[@rebelangel8227]

im giving this a thumbs up because... you got the animae head going and the thic body... and thats what im talking about....

[@wormsfakeful]

can u test how to render on blender ?

[@FPChris]

What app is this ?

[@DutchDread]

I am so fucked, I studied 3d modeling, and am proficient with Zbrush, however, I am also a computer addict, and someone who gets anxiety attacks as soon as he feels he needs to do something for any reason other than "It happened to be what I felt like doing". This means that as soon as modeling and drawing became something I had to do, I stopped doing it, and I just don't know how to get myself to start again. The more I try to force myself, the more my mind rebels against it. I play D&D, so I figured I'd try to make those characters to 3d print and even that I could not convince myself to do because I felt forced by myself. God I wish I could just sculpt for hours the way I waste my life for hours and just enjoy it without stress.....

[@cerenerdogan7610]

pleaaase please can you share your custom UI if you have it?

[@abrokenmachinescreations5326]

What is this program?

[@lonewolf9380]

Hay do u take request for builds

[@UNSTOPPABLE-2]

damn am new here am about to start learning zbrush. any advice.

[@MyApriyan]

Hey, if we already made a 3D sclupt, then after that can we make it into a product/print it with 3D printer?

[@Follygon]

of course!

[@katana2665]

Nice share. thanks.

[@jadimatic1096]

This video was way overdue, a lot more people need to know about this.

[@neoxblackgold]

everyone knows about blockout, no one knows how to do it, in order to do it properly, you need to have a good knowledge in anatomy, which is what a lot more people want to know

[@TheArgoo]

how i change the interface to be like your style?

[@Follygon]

Watch these vids kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5WwoKRqicSIqpY + kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZvLnGp6j6mSaMU Or download my UI gumroad.com/l/PAKYr

[@BD-hy8bl]

You need SSL update on appeal academy. Tha k you for sll these great videos.

[@Follygon]

Hey B D! Transactions go through Gumroad, so no SSL cert required. Although I am grabbing one anyway :) lol

[@earsbleed]

that's cool! however I am a bit confused because in some places I have something related to zspheres, but I don't know which one I should learn first, or are they already two totally different things?

[@Follygon]

They're different. Try both and pick what you like!

[@DABZYSS]

What do you ise

[@ekyanso4253]

Hey! Any chance you could share your UI/Layout for Zbrush, please? I also love the colors you have, but I'm not really familiar with getting Zbrush to look any different.

[@Follygon]

It's available on my Gumroad follygon.gumroad.com

[@MouthyKnight]

Hey I'm trying to do some blender sculpting, but when I try to enable dynamic topography, I lose parts of my sculpt. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[@DirtiestDeeds]

Be super careful about your zoom level? You can destroy a sculpt with a single click if you're zoomed out...

[@WJS774]

The dynamic topology drop-down at the top right also lets you set it to only increase or only decrease detail, and also to set constant detail independent of zoom level.

[@MouthyKnight]

@@DirtiestDeeds oh yeah I figured out how the whole relative detail thing works and I've actually learned a lot in my last 2 weeks of practice with it. I'm just super lost when I try to rig my sculpts.

[@harshadjoshi3944]

how do you balance dynamesh and remeshing?

[@Follygon]

I made a vid to answer that exact question :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpuUqKZ7qM-Bn5o

[@tumultuousforce6204]

Beginner question: can I sculpt a model such as this, and then reduce its polycount a reasonable amount for game use? like in unity

[@Follygon]

Yep. That's the industry standard.

[@WWS3D]

love it

[@Tuckwolf000]

Okay so I just wanna say that this is a serious question. Why did you put a sphere-ish form in her lower regions?

[@richardlowton2818]

I tend to model something in maya and then import it to zbrush afterwards. We use high poly to low poly workflow at my college (mainly because of the shit PCs) and i'm quite new to zbrush (I especially hate the camera controls and have trouble with them) , so it would be great if you had any basic advice for me since i cant really afford your course. P.S. You might want to switch to a monthly subscription, rather than having to pay a whopper at the start. A lot off people who would want to join your course would mainly be students trying to get into industry meaning they wouldn't necessarily be willing to part with a good portion of their bank account for an online course which is already risky enough.

[@DevilRees]

Would love to see what you could do in Dreams for PS4. Sculpting with move controllers is just something else.

[@Follygon]

If I had it I would be playing with it constantly! Looks like a ton of fun

[@TutorialesKames]

Master!!

[@earsbleed]

un master diciendole master a otro master. saludos capo.

[@lawrencelawine9082]

really nice video and helpful tips. do you have a video where you go into very detail what steps you are doing to get what we see here in the video? for me personally, it applies 100% what you say about moving on too early, because I don't get what I want during blockout. I use dynamesh from the very beginning and it feels like i'm doing something wrong from the very start. Your sculpt has at 3:54 already such a nice and clean topology. What are the different steps you are going through? hope this is somehow understandable :D

[@clay-sculpting]

I have the same questions. Have you figured it out?

[@rubyy.7374]

Subdivision levels and ZRemesher

[@artistdanielquinones]

Great work. WHat program are you working in and what do you recommend for beginners? Also Im looking for a 3d environmental artist?

[@zoeynightshade5550]

Blender is free. While tools are named differently it is similar to Zbrush that you can follow his tutorials and you can practice enough to know what your doing enough that a switch of programs should work out ok. Just Maya and 3D Max need some work before you buy and hopefully you don’t have to.

[@artistdanielquinones]

@@zoeynightshade5550 Thanks FOr the info!

[@DannyMac3d]

Shit dude you've improved loads lately!

[@ellisfriedman7563]

What is the best way to contact you for business interest if one is so inclined?

[@Follygon]

[e-mail]

[@NsanePixel]

Because it’s the most important

[@darkknight4353]

Does this blockout also works for organic Sculpting too and not just Stylized?. what if i want to start a realistic looking humanoid Orc or even a Human. Should i do this type of Blocking in order to make the basic shapes?

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

Absolutely, blocking borrows a lot of very old traditional art theories involving anatomy, one of which is breaking down the body, and the face, into basic shapes. Think about diagrams you may have seen on something like this, or exercises you may have done in highschool/University. The old masters would have had to do something similar if they were working on something more finite like stone or marble, mediums that would cause a lot of grief if mistakes were made.

[@Follygon]

Absolutely!

[@Ukiya44]

It works for everything 👍

[@darkknight4353]

i have bought rafael Grassiti Anatomy course. and it is very different than Folygon Blocking method. i am getting really hard time getting into Rafael Grasseti style blocking. this method on the other hand looks easy to understand

[@TheJobCompany]

1,8K likes and 7 dislikes (as of the time of writing this comment)!? I haven't seen such a great like:dislike ratio in a long time!

[@batuchthebruh5165]

I really love your sculptures but I would really wish you would make a video about the basic stuff like how do you make those seperate meshes? does it have a shortcut?, how do you cut an symmetrical thing and still work on it like in 4:36?, what resolution do you use? Do you change them?, 1:20 how did you clone that cheek that easyly? I'm a total beginner and love watching this kinda stuff but it gets overwhelming when there is so many techniques and styles. I wish you would make a video (or series) about this kind of absolute basics. I know you have a course and you probably teach these there but 699$ is just so big of a number specially for someone like me that doesn't live in US.

[@Follygon]

I have a course for absolute beginners as well as a couple other small courses. It’s 10 buckaroos. Also if you scroll through my channel’s tutorials playlist I have 100+ free videos.

[@vladx3539]

What about using zspheres?

[@Follygon]

I answer that in my last video within the first few minutes :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5Oxg5qFqLSlr6c

[@StitchLich]

I'm really struggling right now with combining and blending subtools. I've watched some videos on it but can't seem to get things to work out consistently and even end up causing crashes sometimes in the process. I'd really like to see some more on how you went about blending in this video because I haven't seen it done that way yet :) (Or if you've already done that, please direct me there :D ) Thanks a ton, I've learned a lot from watching your channel over the last couple of weeks!

[@DocWolph]

This is like construction methodology in drawing of a character or object, if the construction process is bad or flawed, or simply handled poorly, the final drawing is almost always [not good].

[@harmony2786]

1:13 DAMN SHE THICC

[@dragongemgaming8294]

are you assuming "her" gender. SMH...

[@cane9965]

@@dragongemgaming8294 Not sure if joking or just being genuinely annoyed...

[@xXSoapXx]

Damn! I wanted to bee as good as you **

[@K9Tvz]

blocking out phase is 100% the thing i've struggled with the most. getting a good silhouette too.

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

Have you read into drawing art anatomy much? Generally the same principles apply. Sometimes a trip to the library can provide good resources.

[@justanameonyourscreen5954]

Don't give up...try starting out with just really simple shapes. An oblong sphere for the body...cylinders for arms and legs...spheres for joints...you'll work up to a block out like in this video...

[@ReyZar666]

i just click kit coz it looks really could, making organic form in zbrush, for me is easier than hard shapes like this, but now that i have watch the vid, welp its looks like its not that hard after all, i will give it a shot

[@user-yt3ns8hx3u]

спасибо

[@JSG-mw4qr]

Is there a tutorial for the Male character? I mostly sculpt Male heroes .

[@Follygon]

Didn't record that one specifically, but I do have many other male character sculpts on my channel :)

[@jadimatic1096]

I suggest deconstructing your characters into base shapes and block out sculpt them out of those shapes, a lot of stuff that applies to 2d art translates almost directly into 3d.

[@channelofstuff6662]

just remember women have no straight line, males have them

[@moon10833]

first love it

[@RubenSterlingS]

@Follygon, I have found your channel today and would like to ask you if you can advise me on the best way to start learning anatomy and proportions for a person who has zero experience at all. I have seen many videos where artists say that if they had learned that first they would have grown better and faster as artists. U are great artist keep up the good work and have a nice weekend. :)

[@kaoset1237]

Oh shit i draw like this!

[@LizzyTheLizard]

where does poor people get zbrush

[@trooperbooper9543]

noice

[@wildgrem]

how are you doing that crease so perfectly at 1:09?

[@Quang_Tran_asdf]

1:14 That's thiccc

[@arcuscerebellumus8797]

This sounds nice but you have some odd anatomical mishaps in pectoral, clavicle and scapular regions and the proportions look a bit off to me even accounting for a fact that the character is stylized.

[@t.b.m.5718]

3:53 You alright dude?

[@TNinja0]

Sculpting is hard. You spend so much time admiring your perfect thighs, and even more when you start texturing in those amazing stockings.

[@piecheese1214]

I thought Blockout was the program you were using. Never mind.

[@BLOODPANIC]

Would love to see you make a full ZBrush course on sculpting a stylized female... Would spend my money for that !

[@Follygon]

I literally have one and mention it in this video :) go to the link in the description for the Appeal Academy.

[@BLOODPANIC]

@@Follygon Yes I've seen it but I meant a "technical" course on how to "sculpt" it in Zbrush

[@Biddymacp]

2:56 halo jones

[@Biddymacp]

also you sound/feel like a 3d version of Sinix (kzbin.info). That is a very good thing.

[@ismailtopa3671]

Looks like justice league cartoon artstyle

[@AdonnesDerrell]

Can I find more blender blockout tutorials on skillshare, cause if I can't then I'm not getting skillshare. I've been looking everywhere for a tutorial that focuses on blender character blockout. So if some could answer my question then you'd be a life saver

[@l3monguy]

So this is how those thick 3d porn models are made