Creating Creature Concepts

Guest Speaker: Madeleine Spencer

Webinar has finished on
18.06.2020, at 20:00 GMT
Recorded session
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Abstract

This masterclass will focus on creating concept sculpts for VFX. It will start with the ideation of a concept before moving on to adding shape and form, anatomy and character.

Presentation

Madeleine Scott-Spencer

Madeleine Scott-Spencer has used ZBrush extensively for over 14 years as a visual effects concept artist as well as an instructor for The Gnomon Workshop. She has worked in visual effects, toys and collectibles design as well as the creation of digital maquettes for concept design.

Maddie has worked with Weta, Double Negative, Pixologic, Gentle Giant Studios, Activision, Hasbro, and numerous other major studios. She served as a designer at Weta Workshop on the Hobbit trilogy as well as working on design and textures at Weta Digital. She has worked on a variety of films such as Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Hobbit Trilogy, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Life, Wonder Woman, and Valerian.

Madeleine has taught classes for Gnomon since 2006 and has produced numerous video tutorials and manuals for the ZBrush community, 3D World Magazine, and others. Madeleine is also the author of the highly-regarded books ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting, ZBrush Creature Design, and ZBrush Digital Sculpting: Human Anatomy.

She graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2005, studied classical figurative sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, and performed cadaver lab studies in support of multiple artists’ anatomy projects. She currently lives in London, England where she works as a creature artist at DNEG.

Masterclass Notes

  • Form is more important than small details.
  • Make it pipeline-friendly, but don’t let it affect the design.
  • Don’t overthink anatomy, but know the main muscles, and what do they do / how do they move.
  • Give characters attitude and presence.
  • Don’t worry much about material properties.
  • Book suggestion: Edouard Lanteri: Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure.
  • Getting the silhouette right is important.
  • Gravity is pulling the shapes down.
  • Make cool stuff

Our Sponsor

Many thanks to VES London for supporting CAVE Masterclasses. For more information on the VES and the fantastic work they do, make sure to check out their website: