Turtle IPad Stand

This Instructable shows how to 3D sculpt a little character for an iPad stand. Using a 3D printer you can then print out the sculpt and attach it to your iPad. In this tutorial I will be making a turtle using Zbrush and some Cinema 4D to display the final image.

Step 1: Zspheres

Firstly create a Zsphere in Zbrush. Zsphere's are a great way to block out the structure of a model.

Step 2: Zspheres

You can access the ZSpheres in the menu shown above.

Step 3: Zspheres

Using the Scale, Rotate, and Move tools, you can shape the ZSpheres into something resembling your character.

Step 4: Adaptive Skin

Once you are happy with the shape, click "a" on your keyboard to show adaptive skin. And then "a" again to go back to Zspheres. This allows for quick editing where you can switch between the two previews. Once happy, click "Make Adaptive Skin" to convert your mesh.

Step 5: Dynamesh

For sculpting the basic shapes of your character you can use Dynamesh. This allows you to make big changes without stretching the mesh. When your mesh begins to distort too much, simply Ctrl Click Drag on your screen and Dynamesh will fix this.

Step 6: Some Details

I used the Move, Clay Buildup, and Dam Standard brushes the most for this sculpt. Using Dam standard I began cutting in the shape of the shell for the turtle. I also changed the material from the default red clay. This is just personal preference for working.

Step 7: More Details

I continued adding some details such as the shape of the head, and the shell. This was done mostly with the Clay Buildup brush.

Step 8: Eyes and Mouth

To create the eyes, I "Appended" a Sphere and moved it into place. Then for the mouth you can use Dam Standard to cut it in easily.

Step 9: Arms

For the arms, sculpt a hole using the clay buildup brush. Then append a sphere and move it into place. You can then use the move brush to pull the arm out and begin to form the shape.

Step 10: Arms

Then using the mask brush you can pull out the shape of the fingers and begin to shape them. This was done using the move brush and the inflate brush to get the size of the fingers right. I then imported a simple rectangle shape to represent the iPad. This is just temporary and will be replaced later with another model.

Step 11: Hands

By clicking "Transparency" you can make everything else transparent and work on one part. I began adding more detail to the hands.

Step 12: Spotlight

Using Spotlight you can bring in an image as reference. I used this iPad image to make sure I had the turtle sitting in the right position.

Step 13: Shell

Now it was time to begin work on the shell of the turtle. Sketch out the shape using the clay buildup brush and then fill it in. Then further define your lines using Dam standard. You can also add some extra detail on the sides of the shell using dam standard and clay buildup.

Step 14: Polypaint

To paint the turtle, select any brush and chose RGB. You can then choose a colour and begin directly painting onto your model.

Step 15: Eyes

To paint the eyes, you can use an image and import it into spotlight. Line it up with your sphere, and then you can paint through the image onto the sphere. The model is now complete.

Step 16: Finished IPad Stand

I brought the model over to Cinema 4D and imported an iPad model for display purposes. This is a representation of what the turtle will look like once it has been 3D printed and connected to your iPad.

I hope everyone has found this tutorial helpful for starting out sculpting simple characters in Zbrush. I am submitting this Instructable into the Formlabs contest in the hope that I can create a whole section of these characters, which I can then 3D print and set up a small shop.

I also have a timelapse video of this turtle being sculpted. You can watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdIllHgmN7U&feature=youtu.be

If you liked this Instructable, please vote for me in the contest. :)

Happy sculpting :)