recatek/cg-art-resources

A collection of resources I found useful while attempting to learn 3D art workflows and technique.

cg-art-resources

Tags

• MEC - Mechanical, how to use tools like Blender and others, recommendations for setting up brushes and other settings
• THR - Theory, breaking things into shapes, understanding shapes and curves, understanding references, etc.

Free Resources

Video Channels

Grant Abbitt

Tons of tutorials and resources for everything from sculpting to low poly modeling.

• Sculpting in Blender 2.8 | Beginners Detailed Guide | Every Brush - MEC
• Sculpting | Beginner Follow Along Tutorial | Easy | Blender 2.8 - MEC, THR

Daniel Kreuter

Multiple playlists on modeling a character from start to (sort of) finish. Covers shape/curve understanding, aesthetics, references, as well as technique. Uses ZBrush sometimes for modeling, but discusses Blender as well.

• Anime Character 3D Modeling Tutorial 2020 - MEC, THR
• Anime Character 3D Modeling Tutorial II - MEC, THR

YanSculpts

Lots of videos on character sculpting with some discussion of sculpting and anatomy. Channel is a little "HEY WHATS UP YOUTUBE ITS YA BOY" but once you get past the intros there's lots of good content.

• Sculpting In Blender For Beginners - Tutorial - MEC
• 3D Character Creation Walkthrough - Part 1 - Sculpting Tifa from Final Fantasy VII - MEC, THR

Lukas Kutschera

Has a great series on sculpting a realistic human with very specific anatomical detail. Uses ZBrush but theory carries over the practice in Blender.

• Sculpting a realistic human in Zbrush Part 1: Torso Anatomy - MEC, THR

GDC Talks

• The Ultimate Trim: Texturing Techniques of Sunset Overdrive

Other Resources

Interesting Artstation Accounts

• Alex Pi - Lots of very clever timelapse videos for composite and concept art work.
• Chao Dong - Some good anatomy sculpts to use as reference.

Reference Sources

• https://human-proportions.tumblr.com/ - THR
• https://www.artyfactory.com/portraits/pencil-portraits/proportions-of-a-head.html - THR
• https://anatomy360.info/anatomy-scan-reference-dump/ - THR

Paid Resources

Books

Anatomy for Sculptors ($45-$55) - THR

Very useful picture-book with demonstrations on how to break down human anatomy into more basic shapes for sculpting, and better picture the bones and muscles and their arrangement under the skin.

Courses

CG Boost ($~60 per) - THR, MEC

Handful of courses for Blender and other tools like Substance Painter. Haven't tried any yet but they come highly recommended.

References

3D Scan Store (prices vary) - THR

High resolution and detail scans, especially with their écorché scans with full anatomical detail.