Making the Orb

I modelled two simple half spheres in maya and extruded them inwards. I then used the GoZ tool to bring them in as a subtool into maya.

I used the masking and deformation settings to inflate the designs inwards.

I created some little texture marks on the insets and used the damian standard brush to create more lines around these. I also used some vein like alpha channels to add more texture. I used the rotational symmetry tool to create more designs with aplha channels and with the damian standard brush. It was really fun and quick.

I knew that creating the orb in zbrush would be good. I tried to stick with the deformation options to change the shape as its a lot easier to control than the regular options in the workspace. I also thought it was very good to learn how to do some hard surface modelling using the flatten brush and cutting pieces away.

Another part of the design on the inside was created in maya and brought back into zbrush as a subtool using the GoZ option. It’s so handy.

I reduced the topology of the mesh by creating a duplicate and projecting the high quality mesh onto the lower one. I lost some detail but this should be good for bringing my creature into maya.